Are You Being Served? DVD Collection
I used to consider it a guilty pleasure, I used to be slightly embarrassed that I enjoyed it so much. I just assumed I'd eventually get over it. I never have gotten over it and I no longer think of it as a guilty pleasure. I'm an Are You Being Served fan and I simply love the series - warts, double entendres, political incorrectness and all. Needless to say I was over the moon at the announcement, earlier this year, that the BBC were going to release the first five seasons on DVD.
The Complete Are You Being Served? Collection Series 1 - 5 box set is a seven-disc affair. The first six collect the first five seasons, and are available separately as well, while the seventh is devoted to bonus material. Classic episodes featured in the set include Dear Sexy Knickers, His and Hers, German Week, Big Brother, Up Captain Peacock, Wedding Bells, Fire Practice, The Father Christmas Affair and Goodbye Mr. Grainger. But, really, all 34 episodes are classic and it's a joy to have them all available on DVD.
The bonus disc is a real treat. While the other discs have bits of trivia and well some written bios , disc seven collects a trio of career retrospectives, all originally aired on British television, dedicated to John Inman (Mr. Humphries), Mollie Sugden (Mrs. Slocombe) and Wendy Richard (Miss Brahms), respectively. All three programs are terrific and feature plenty of AYBS? related reminiscences and trivia.
My only, compliant with the set is that it's not quite as fully packed as it might have been. There are no commentaries, no documentary about the making of the show and it's phenomenal worldwide success, no blooper reel.. Hopefully the next set will focus on the extraordinary career of Frank Thornton and give us peeks into the lives of the many other cast members. However, it's hard to have any real issues with this marvelous collection of classic British silliness. A fine job and a must own for fans of Grace Brothers and it's colorful staff.
Radio Times now available to USA subscribers
Do you love British television so much that you'd be willing to pay for features on and schedules for networks you can't get and shows you may never see? If so, it's good to know I'm not alone and better to find out that BBCAmerica.com is now offering subscriptions to the Radio Times, the TV guide that thoroughly outclasses "TV Guide". Now if only I could get all these stations here in NYC....
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