This week marks the opening of our first ever Battle of the Britcoms here at British Television @ Suite 101. Every two weeks for the next couple of months we'll be posting a group of five classic britcoms from which to choose your favorite. The top two finishers in each round will move on to the Quarterfinals, I'll have more information on the final stages of voting when they arrive. Here's a review of the nominees for the first two rounds :
Round One:
Are You Being Served?: What makes this stagebound camp comedy an all-time favorite from London to Los Angeles? Through diligent scientific study (that is to say
after watching every episode nine or ten tomes thus far) I think I've worked it out. It's
comfortable. Silly, campy, politically incorrect, though seldom mean spiritedly so, but
most of all comfy. When you watch AYBS you know what your going to get, jokes about Mrs.
Slocomb's frisky feline, Mr. Humphry mincing about and announcing that he's
"free," pompous incompetents in management and a bit of leg and cleavage from
Miss Brahms. The scripts are remarkable strong and, as sheer, entertainment, hold up very
well against even the most revered of programs. Steptoe and Son may be a classic but I
still find myself passing over it for AYBS time and again.
Comedy Zone: Are You
Being Served Are You
Being Served(J.Rice)
Dad's Army: This all-time great featured Arthur Lowe and John Le
Mesurier doing their bit in England's Home Guard during W.W.II. The characters of Dad's
Army are ingrained into British Pop Culture and have moved seamlessly from the telly
screen to the silver screen to the stage and even radio.A quick bit of trivia; most people
assume the show's opening theme "Who Do You Think You Are Kidding Mr. Hitler"
was a popular propaganda tune from the war years but, in fact, it was composed for the
show.
Dad's Army(Comedy Zone)
It Ain't Half Hot Mum: Another politically incorrect favorite
featuring Windsor Davies, Michael Knowles and Donald Hewlett.. Created my the brilliant
comic minds of Jimmy Perry and David Croft (Hi De Hi, 'Allo 'Allo, and the above-mentioned
Dad's Army) IAHHM takes place in post war India amidst the USO-esque Royal Artillery
Concert Party and there's more camp and jungle jocularity than you can shake a stick at.
It Ain't Half Hot Mum
On the Buses: Set, wait for it, on the buses driven by Reg Varney's Stan Butler and Bob Grant's Jack Harper. There's a program guide at http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~culttv/buses.htm but little else on the Web.
The Vicar of Dibley: Dawn French's marvelous comic confection set in
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