When you're talking classic brit-coms you can't go too far before mentioning the BBC's The Good Life (which was also known in the USA as Good Neighbors). The Good Life took a "cute" premise and then transcended the situation comedy genre to create a show that could be, in turns, riotously funny, slyly satirical and heartwarmingly sentimental. The "cute" premise? Tom and Barbara Good have decided to drop out of the rat race and live a simpler more natural and self sustaining life on the farm. The only problem is they're staying put in suburbia to do it.
The Good Life premiered in 1975 and featured as fine a quartet of actors as you'll ever see on the small screen, each one fully capable of starring in any number of series. Together they created an unbeatable ensemble. The series' official stars were Felicity Kendal and Richard Briers as the Goods. Felicity Kendal, a veteran of stage and screen (Shakespeare Wallah) provided the warm and fuzzy sex appeal to become the object of countless boy's crushes while Richard Briers, one of his generations finest actors, provided the sturdy foundation to lay this admittedly somewhat flimsy plot. The comic tension was supplied by the Good's next door neighbors the Ledbetters played by the elegant Penelope Keith (To the Manor Born) and the late Paul Eddington (Yes Minister) who are still in the thick of the rat race the Goods have left behind. Keith's class-conscious Margo and Eddington's harried Jerry provide the perfect foil for the sometimes too good Goods.
As you might expect from the series premise there are plenty of gags involving tractors, compost and pregnant livestock but a combination of top-flight acting and surprisingly good scripts turned the series into a classic.
After the final season of the Good Life in 1978 the cast went on to further pad their resumes with brilliant turns on telly as well as the big screen and stage. Felicity Kendal appeared in the BBC production of Shakespeare's' Twelfth Night, Penelope Keith starred in a number of TV series including the classic To the Manor Born, the popular Executive Stress and No Job for a Lady and the recent Next of Kin. Richard Briers must be one of the hardest working actors in the UK, moving effortlessly from stage to screen to telly. His recent work ranges from many of Kenneth Branagh's films to Spice World. Briers good friend Paul Eddington sadly passes away a few years ago but not before giving the world the marvelous character Jim Hacker in Yes Minister and its follow-up Yes
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