Comedy Playhouse 1971) starring Nicky Henson and Angela Scoular The Importance of Being Hairy (6 May 1971) starring John Cater and James Copeland The first episode of "Are You Being Served?" was broadcast as an episode. Of Funerals and Fish (4 January 1973). The pilot episode of the World's longest-running sitcom, "Last of the Summer Wine". The Rescue (11 January 1973) starring Moyra Fraser, Peter Jones and Nicholas Parsons. Elementary, My Dear Watson: The Strange Case of the Dead Solicitors (18 January 1973) starring John Cleese, Willie Rushton and Bill Maynard. The Birthday (25 January 1973) starring Gordon Peters, Frank Thornton and
British sitcom world's longest running sitcom. The commercial station ITV had popular successes with "Rising Damp" (1974–78, sometimes called the best of all ITV sitcoms), "Man About the House" (1973–76) and "George and Mildred" (1976–79). "Rising Damp"'s star, Leonard Rossiter, also played the lead role in the BBC's highly popular "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" (1976–79). The decline in cinema attendance in this period meant that many of these series were turned into cinema films; the first film version of "On the Buses" (1969–73) was the biggest hit at the British box office in 1971. According to Jeff Evans, "On