Two Pints - addendum

My last blogpost on British TV comedy classics was shamefully incomplete. Of course such lists cannot be expected to be exhaustive, but I did leave out two major classics and for that I must repent. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Keep the lions at bay as I make amends!

Mind Your Language

Mind Your Language was a show which ran in the late seventies. The first season was broadcasted before I was born, but I did get to watch it as a kid in Mauritius since the show was immensely popular in the entire Commonwealth. The humour in Mind Your Language is universal and as such it has aged like fine wine. I reckon it is just as funny today as it was back then, if not more given the quality of the puns - a bull's eye each and every time. 

Be warned though, the show is thick with stereotypes. Mind Your Language was produced in those days where being politically correct didn't matter as much as being artistically creative. The racial stereotypes - which might make Americans uneasy - are also accompanied by generous splashes of sexual innuendo here and there. That notwithstanding, the show remains very bon enfant. It was the spirit of the times. The seventies. Anyway, as I see it Mind Your Language celebrates multiculturalism through laughter. Everyone gets their share and all the characters in this show are quite charming.

You'll quickly want to fit in that class of looneys too. 

Witty humour in all good fun. 

Spitting Image

Spitting Image was a puppet show which ran in the eighties through the mid-nineties. It was a satirical depiction of royalty and politics. The show inspired the French equivalent Les Guignols de l'Info which currently enjoys similar popularity in France as Spitting Image did in the Commonwealth. Most other satirical puppet shows on politics and current affairs find their roots in Spitting. To be fair, this type of humour - heavily contextual and culturally specific - doesn't age very well. In fact, it's so not funny anymore that I'll spare you the clip. But it deserved to be mentioned as a classic.

Two pints please!

It's been quite a while now since I wanted to write something on British humour - that dry, wry and witty thing which charmingly reveals the warmer features of the otherwise phlegmatic and pragmatic folk of Great Britain. As you are aware, the United Kingdom is quite foggy. It is an island grey, dank, and cold. Yet or perhaps because of this, I've always been pleasantly surprised by the cosy feel that permeates the carpeted indoors of British households. Unmistakably so, every time I curl up with a funny British book or watch British comedy, this familiar feel gets conjured up much in the manner of a overly friendly blob monster oozing out of nowhere.

As the winter spell still huffs and puffs outside, grab a cup o' tea and cuddle up as I decant some of the finest gems of British humour. One blogpost to crack you up with the best of Britannia in a nutshell!

What's on the telly?

Yes Minister

I clearly recall the trumpeting opening theme of this programme which would gather family members around the telly. If you were living in a Commonwealth country in the eighties, you must have heard about Yes Minister and its sequel Yes Prime Minister. If not, well this is your opportunity to discover what to this day still stands as an ageless monument of exquisitely intelligent humour.

The plot satirically depicts power plays between the cynical public service and calculating politicians. It is about government – or the lack of it. And shows how the country manages to run itself while everybody is selfishly running after the ball under the guise of national interest.

Sir Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humpfrey
in Yes Minister was no yesman

The outstanding character of the show, Sir Humphrey, excellently played by late Sir Nigel Hawthorne, stands unrivalled to this day for his sarcasm, wit and... excessively lengthy and über-coherent sentences. Salut l'artiste indeed!

Yes Minister is one of the most brilliant pieces of humour ever made. And it hasn't taken a wrinkle. Relish it!

The Black Adder

Rowan Atkinson is famous all over the world for his iconic character, Mr. Bean. A show which has its merits of conveying humour beyond the barriers of language and culture, and honours the legacy of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy.

However, there is so much more to this formidable artist that it is profoundly ironic that one of the most eloquent and witty comedian ever to grace national television be world-renowned for a dumbo character who almost never utters a word!!! So let me introduce you to my personal favourite of Rowan's fictional characters - The Black Adder. An infamous, vicious and calculating mind that you are bound to like!

The Black Adder spans over the history of England. The first season is set in the Dark Ages, where we find Black Adder as a medieval prince lurking and plotting in the obscure nooks of a Norman keep. In season two, we follow the turpitudes of his descendant Lord Black Adder as he manoeuvres in an elizabethan court for power and survival, under the erratic rule of a mad queen. Season three is a delicious excuse for an aristocratic Black Adder to hatch nasty schemes while he butlers for the brainless Regent (played by a young Hugh Laurier, yes that's Dr. House for ya!). In the last season, we find captain Blackadder knee-deep in the trenches. Throughout the series, Black Adder is accompanied by his servile sidekick Baldrick, “an oppressed mass” of humble origins.

'Allo 'Allo

“Listen carefully, I will say this only once.”

'Allo 'Allo is one big feast of laughter. The show is set in occupied France where we find René, the owner of a small Café. René is your average French bourgeois of the times - striving to earn a decent living while the world is going berserk. René doesn't like trouble and has managed to keep his business afloat by catering to the German officers. His main concern is to conceal his ongoing affair with Yvette, the seductive lead waitress (Awwwww René!). While also hiding his affair with the lovely junior waitress from both his wife and Yvette. 

This is the tranquil life René aspires to. Then a twist of fate wreaks havoc in the plans when the French resistance decides to hide two British airmen in René's private apartments above the Café, which suddenly becomes the hotbed of intringue. Things get more complicated when the Gestapo dispatches steely and cunning Herr Otto Flick to investigate...

Private Helga Geerhart (Kim Hartman)

Our reluctant Résistant and héros malgré lui is supported by a whole bunch of notable characters who wonderfully pepper this series to give it its warmth and flagrance.

Now that I think about it, it is probably 'Allo 'Allo which gave me my first insights in European accents and in the wealth of marked cultural differences in Europe. The little boy inside still clearly recalls the sultry French waitresses, Yvette and Maria, the feline Fraulein Helga, Michelle from the Résistance,... Thank you René!

Fawlty Towers

At its peak, Fawlty Towers towered over national television like no other. The show stars Monty Python's John Gleese, and though not in my personal top three – I'm the first to admit that it is the British classic par excellence. Fawlty Towers is less elitist than Yes Minister, less offensive than Black Adder and less “politically incorrect” than 'Allo 'Allo. The genius of it, however, is that it is brilliant humour whilst appealing to the broader audience.

Remember the cosiness I was talking about in the intro. Well, I'd definitely spend a weekend in Fawlty's hotel just to relish that feel. John Gleese, in the role of the Basil Fawlty, magnificently plays the part of the cynical hotel owner who is so despicable that you can't help but like him.

Basil The Rat is renowned as being the funniest episode of the lot. I dare you watch this without laughing out loud or “lolling” as it goes nowadays.

Two Pints of Lager and Pack of Crisps

After the classics, a breeze of the contemporary lifestyle. Two Pints of Lager is about the daily tribulations of a small group of friends in their mid-twenties. Set in the industrial town of Runcorn, the storyline sticks to the décor and is about the simple lives of ordinary blokes. What is unexpected though is how easily one gets attached to the characters – Donna, Gaz, Janet, Johnny, and Louise. Effective acting and quick humour makes this show quite addictive. Must be the reason it ran for ten years, which is quite a survival feat in today's TV jungle.

The Misfits

Now what would happen if a random group of young people doing community service suddenly gets struck by lightning and develop superpowers?

Well, in the US, they'd become superheroes.

But in England, they remain a bunch of simple lads suddenly endowed with superpowers. And all sorts of silly things ensue. Basically that's the plot in Misfits. A plot which won the show a BAFTA award and many nominations. The acting in Misfits has to be highlighted. Watch out for Nathan (Robert Sheehan), he'll come across as an irritating prick and he is definitely the star of the show, even though there are no lead characters as such in the gang. Kelly (Lauren Socha) is also wonderfully refreshing in her role as a chav.

Alan Partridge

I'm Alan Partridge.

The ordinary bloke thing seems to be a recurrent aspect in contemporary Brit humour. But allow Alan Partridge to make it sub-ordinary and lower all your expectations... as to humanity itself. If there ever were words to describe Alan, amoebic would most likely come closest. Alan works in a local radio - Radio Norwich - where he runs a live show airing at around 4 a.m. This is just how exciting Alan can be. You'll hate him. But somehow, inexplicably, you'll absolutely love to hate him. Alan Partridge is played by British comedian and writer Stephen Coogan.

Well off you go. Indulge in that porridge of funniness. Aha!

Minor criticism. More distance between the eggs and the beans. 

I may want to mix them, but I want it to be my decision.

My personal favourite. 

p.s. The movie Alpha Papa based on Alan Partridge series was released in August 2013. Haven't watched it yet though, so you'll have to tackle this one on your own!

UPDATE: Alpha Papa watched and my advice: Watch it!

Men behaving badly

To finish with the ordinary bloke string of shows, here's the classic in the genre. Men behaving badly is about two roommates and how badly these everyday joes go about with their lives. The show is probably the trend-setter which inspired those aforementioned, and encapsulates life in the 1990's.

Absolutely fabulous

Ab Fab is about cougars and milfs before the terms were coined. A feminine take on humour, the show is very entertaining. The show delves mostly into family relationships from a surprisingly sarcastic and hilarious perspective.

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That's it for the shows I'd recommend to cheer you up on an icy day. Hope you'll enjoy each and every one of them. The list is certainly not exhaustive and there are also a number of other shows like Little Britain (trash humour), Red Dwarf (sci-fi comedy), Only Fools and Horses, The Office and the like, that might also be your cup of tea.

Cheers!