No one does comedy like the Brits!
928061
No one does television comedy as well as the Brits, and this series was (is) one of the longest running and the best.  The characters become your personal acquaintances, and you can watch their antics over and over in reruns without tiring of them.

This book is replete with photographs, many in full color, and behind the scenes introductions to the actors and their characters, and a synopsis of each of the shows, as well as a section devoted to trivia questions about the show for aficionados.

The show, it says, never used canned laughter.  They didn't have to.

A great book about a great comedy television series that is still going on American public television, and we hope will continue indefinitely.

Joseph H Pierre
1356952
British comedy is funnier than anything else in the world. The extras are great, too. I recommend the Hard of Hearing and Uses for Coconuts.
1656437
I have never been as perplexed by a show as I have been by Lucky Louie. If you have ever seen Louis C.K. in anything, especially his stand up and his later show entitled "Louie", you will instantly know that this is the anti-thesis of his true humour. I thought this entire season was a big joke on the audience, like some kind of incredibly elaborate, insanely expensive joke to himself and his close friends. I was expecting him to eventually address the camera directly and admit this was the kind of show that he hates and that you as the audience should never, ever watch it. The low-brow, 90s-sitcom, filmed-in-front-of-a-live-audience, one liners is hard to watch. The cringe-worthiness is absolute. All I could think of while watching this show was the Ricky Gervais "Extras" series. In it, the character Ricky got his own sitcom on TV and the producers butchered his creation to the point where it became like just another "lowest-common-denominator" sitcom. Maybe that was the entire joke? Or maybe HBO actually did that to Louis' original idea? Then when it failed, FX said they would allow him to do his own show for real. Can you see my utter confusion?
3574065
The Goodies have not played much on TV here in the US. In Washington, DC, the PBS station had it on for, I think, a week--they mistakenly put it on in the middle of their kids' block, and this is by no means a kids' show.

But don't jump to the conclusion that The Goodies is as filthy as what generally passes for adult entertainment. The Goodies is an amazingly funny show that excels in both witty dialog and physical comedy. The show's stars, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Bill Oddie, will do anything for a laugh, and they know how to acheive what they want. Some of the stunts, which they performed themselves, are flat-out amazing. The Goodies must have been fans of silent comedies, and they easily equaled the best of Keaton, Lloyd, and other comedy legends.

There are more laughs per minute in any Goodies episode than in any Monty Python episode, but The Goodies just haven't had the exposure the Pythons have had. And somehow, inexplicably, the label "kids' show" has plagued the show, perhaps because of the prevalent physical comedy. The Goodies even had fun with this--in one episode (not on this DVD) John Cleese shows up and dismisses the goings-on with the disdainful utterance "Kids' show!".

This DVD includes The Goodies' signature show, Kitten Kong, plus two other episodes that may be a bit obtuse for non-anglophiles. But Kitten Kong is worth the price of the disc by itself. Just let the frenetic silliness of the Goodies' theme song set the mood, and ride the comedy wave.

I had to subtract one star for the DVD itself. This was mastered from an older videotape source, and the picture is a bit soft. Beautifully restored DVDs of The Goodies are available in England, but if you don't want to go to the trouble of obtaining them, this disc is a good enough way to get introduced to The Goodies. Then you can start clamoring for MORE! MORE!!
4815552
When they proclaimed this travesty of a movie to be "a dark comedy", they were only half right.  Even with a spotlight and a magnifying glass, you won't find any comedy here.  This movie is the black hole of comedy.  I've seen a more entertaining film on the inside of my bathtub after bathing my dog!
4279452
This has to be one of the funniest BritComs ever. Non-stop laughter, hillarious situations and great characters. Only the Brits can do this.
597874
Couldn't stop laughing, a great cringey comedy!
1760315
This old BritCom from the 1980's is hilarious.  In my opinion, it's the best BritCom they put out. Not repeated lately on PBS, I believe because somebody thought it was "insensitive" to the various ethnics involved...but heck, it is what it is (or, actually what it WAS - it was WWII in France).  This comedy has just the right characters playing the various parts and is so well done; very original.  Only an Englishman could think this stuff up.  I re-run it for myself about once a year (takes weeks to watch).  I never get tired of watching it and laughing myself sick. And BTW, listem up "Her Majesty!" Gordon Kaye should be knighted for the fine acting he did in this series.
3541741
Little Britain to me is the funniest show Ive seen in a very long time. It takes a lot to make me laugh, and these guys make an art out of it. Non stop hilarity!
1822822
This show is so hilarious! If you love British humor, I'd definitely recommend! Be warned, some of the humor is very adult, so don't let the kids watch. The whole series has a nice ending that felt complete.
1233980
My whole family is a huge fan of Atkinson - which is nice because his comedy has been the one thing everyone loves.  Mr. Bean, Blackadder, and some other various things he's done have provided great amusement.  I bought The Thin Blue Line based on the great reviews here, but it's absolutely terrible.  We watched the first few episodes and they were painful.  Thinking maybe the series got better over time, we skipped along to a later episode - again, nothing funny at all.  I can't believe Atkinson took part in such a pathetic show.  The laugh track makes it even more annoying.
2255373
I can't get enough of this show!!!  I started watching toward the end of the first season and was hooked immediately by the clever writing, the comic timing, and just the overall hilarity of it all.  Probably the best-written comedy on TV.  James Roday and Dule Hill rank right up there with the best comedic duos of all time. Their chemistry is flawless, and I love how they weave in the slapstick physical stuff with all the pop-culture-laden references. And as if the show itself isn't funny enough, the DVD includes a blooper reel (can I just say, no DVD ever includes enough of this stuff!!), and also great behind-the-scenes insight and cast interviews.  James Roday's audition video is pretty great, too, showing what a talent he is. I highly recommend this show for anyone who is looking for a good old fashioned, gut-busting laughfest. This will cheer up anyone!!!  Can't wait for season 2 to come out on DVD!
3839589
Martin Clunes is spectacular as the country doctor in this series.  He plays the part as nobody else could.  It is quirky, as are the characters.  I love each and every one of them.  I highly recommend this superb British comedy series!  It is top-notch entertainment that is rare this days!
263638
I love the understated Brit comedy.  They don't hammer you over the head every second trying to prove how funny they are!  Great cast from to bottom. Curls!
1231924
I was a great fan of Red Dwarf for years. Season VII put me right off, and while its successor improves minutely, the difference is so very small its hardly detectable. None of the capable actors are given humourous material  to work with - and we know they /can/ - and much of the satire is  grimace-inducing rather than the intended effect. Avoid at all costs. Or  rather pick up any vid from the first six seasons...
58005
I decided to catch this show on Netflix based on the great performances of two actors in REALLY bad American films (Ayoade in "The Watch" and O'Dowd in "Bridesmaids"). As bad as those two films were (IMO), I thought they stood out and had not heard of them doing a show together...particularly one this funny!!

From the cheesy 8 bit graphics of the opening credits, to the set design (a geek/technofile's dream if you really pay very close attention to the items laying about their basement office), this is easily one of my favorite BritComs (next to SPACED that is). Although it pre-dates "Big Bang Theory" by a year, if you are a fan of "BBT", you simply must check out The IT Crowd. Moreso if you miss how funny "Big Bang" USED to be before they "jumped the shark" or "nuked the fridge" in season four.

The more I go back and watch these episodes (bought all four seasons since Netflix no longer streams the show), the more I even pick up similarities to a little show called "Seinfeld". Now...before you Seinfeld fanatics seek to berate me with your scorn, think about it. Seinfeld was really the first show on TV that truly perfected the method of finding insanity in the mundane. I find this show, on several occasions, manages to put incredibly mundane situations into the realm of absurdity.

In short...I can't recommend this show enough!
4074815
If you have ever watched the (vastly superior) series "Extras", and can recall their spoof of a horrible British sitcom (titled "When the Whistle Blows"), this is exactly the kind of series they were making fun of.  Obnoxious laugh track, every single joke is utterly too familiar, and the characters are stock sitcom prototypes.  In other words, watch this only if you enjoy bland network television.  Repeat warning: contains obnoxious laugh track.  And oh yeah, their idea of a geek joke is to remind someone that they need to hit the power button on their computer for it to work.  *groan*