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British Men Behaving Badly

Try as they might the politically correct powers that be can't keep a good lad down. The sixties and seventies were the heyday of laddish pop culture but then the 80's and political correctness reared it's ugly head and men were forced to be more sensitive, more in touch with their feminine side. The lad was dead. Thank heavens then for Simon Nye, the man who brought Men Behaving Badly to the little screen.

"Men Behaving Badly?" you may ask. "Wasn't that an atrocious sitcom on NBC a few years back?"

Well yes and no. The success of the original Men Behaving Badly inspired an American version of the series. A version that entirely missed the point. A telly atrocity eight up there with the ill-begotten attempt to recreate Fawlty Towers with Bea Arthur. The less said about the American Men Behaving Badly the better, though because of it the good folks over at BBC America have had to re-title the original series as British Men Behaving Badly, in order, no doubt, to avoid confusion with the Rob Schneider version.

Men Behaving Badly focuses on the exploits of flat mates Gary (Martin "Shakespeare in Love" Clunes) and Tony (Neil Morrissey) two men whose emotional growth is, shall we say, stunted. Lager, telly and rock and roll rule their lives. Gary has a steady love interest in the ever suffering Dorothy (Caroline "Jonathan Creek" Quentin) while both Gary and Tony are in deep drooling lust with upstairs neighbor Deborah (Leslie Ash). This simple premise, sort of a variation on the "Three's Company"/"Man About the House" theme (only different), is elevated to instant classic status by the exceptional work of the aforementioned Simon Nye and the spot-on performances of the four leads. Along with Father Ted, Men Behaving Badly is the only consistently,  laugh out loud until there's a real risk of embarrassing bladder leakage, funny, show after show, season after season. Innocuous sounding plot lines like "Tony Gets Glasses" and "Deborah's Mum Comes to Visit" become masterpieces thanks to the brilliant cast and crew. The one slightly disappointing note sounded by BBC America is the non-appearance of the show's inaugural series which featured Harry Enfield as Gary's original flat mate Dermot.

Accolades aside, and MBB has earned more than its fair share, some more sensitive folk may find the dialogue a tad sub-Masterpiece Theater and things to have a tendency to get rather silly rather quickly but compared to recent offerings such as Big Train and The League of Gentlemen, Men Behaving Badly is actually surprisingly well heeled.

If you like comedy, British or otherwise, viewing Men Behaving Badly is compulsory.

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