My previous blog entry focused on those personal favourite series we return to time and again. Although we’ve rewatched Only Fools and Horses and One Foot in the Grave countless times, it had been a while since I last exercised my laughing muscles with the one and only laughter factory: Monty Python’s Flying Circus. That doesn’t mean my enthusiasm for this particular brand of humour has faded over the years — I still find it maddeningly funny. In fact, several other shows have since stolen both my heart and my attention. And let’s face it: British humour is an infinite bucket of amusement.
Speaking of buckets, I cannot fully express my astonishment when I first watched the opening episode of Keeping Up Appearances
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keeping_Up_Appearances). This is a show where watching the main character, Hyacinth Bucket — pronounced Bouquet — can be almost tangibly painful. One can only imagine, and sadly relate to, the embarrassment her entire “entourage” must endure throughout five seasons. Woe betide anyone with a similar family member — or anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in her orbit. That sense of second-hand shame explains perfectly why relatives or acquaintances in such situations often choose to quietly turn their backs and disappear.
Speaking of buckets, I cannot fully express my astonishment when I first watched the opening episode of Keeping Up Appearances
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keeping_Up_Appearances). This is a show where watching the main character, Hyacinth Bucket — pronounced Bouquet — can be almost tangibly painful. One can only imagine, and sadly relate to, the embarrassment her entire “entourage” must endure throughout five seasons. Woe betide anyone with a similar family member — or anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in her orbit. That sense of second-hand shame explains perfectly why relatives or acquaintances in such situations often choose to quietly turn their backs and disappear.
I often mention You Rang, M’Lord? to my teachers, only to be met with blank stares
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Rang,_M%27Lord%3F). It first aired in Hungary in 1992 and was immensely popular here. One might argue that it isn’t worth watching at all — the plot is slow, and the characters are hardly dynamic. However, if one watches carefully, stays open to something quietly extraordinary, and doesn’t mind slowing down a little, the magic happens. Suddenly, you are there in the basement with the servants, sharing their everyday lives — their sorrows, their fleeting joys, and their dreams. It becomes a genuine emotional rollercoaster, wrapped in unmistakably British humour.
Let’s finish this entry with Fawlty Towers, shall we?
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawlty_Towers)
John Cleese plays Basil Fawlty, an ill-mannered, snobbish, incompetent yet fiercely ambitious hotel manager in Torquay, the so-called British Riviera. The comedy is driven by Basil’s constant attempts to vent his frustration and conceal his own inadequacies — more often than not by unleashing them on Manuel. His lack of competence is apparent almost immediately, and the opening episode leaves little room for doubt. The series that follows has plenty of surprises in store, but rest assured: if Monty Python–style humour is dear to your heart, Basil Fawlty will inevitably find his way in.
There are more shows to come, and I can hardly wait to share my take on British humour once I’ve worked my way through the final sitcom on my favourites list.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Rang,_M%27Lord%3F). It first aired in Hungary in 1992 and was immensely popular here. One might argue that it isn’t worth watching at all — the plot is slow, and the characters are hardly dynamic. However, if one watches carefully, stays open to something quietly extraordinary, and doesn’t mind slowing down a little, the magic happens. Suddenly, you are there in the basement with the servants, sharing their everyday lives — their sorrows, their fleeting joys, and their dreams. It becomes a genuine emotional rollercoaster, wrapped in unmistakably British humour.
Let’s finish this entry with Fawlty Towers, shall we?
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawlty_Towers)
John Cleese plays Basil Fawlty, an ill-mannered, snobbish, incompetent yet fiercely ambitious hotel manager in Torquay, the so-called British Riviera. The comedy is driven by Basil’s constant attempts to vent his frustration and conceal his own inadequacies — more often than not by unleashing them on Manuel. His lack of competence is apparent almost immediately, and the opening episode leaves little room for doubt. The series that follows has plenty of surprises in store, but rest assured: if Monty Python–style humour is dear to your heart, Basil Fawlty will inevitably find his way in.
There are more shows to come, and I can hardly wait to share my take on British humour once I’ve worked my way through the final sitcom on my favourites list.
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