Best of the Britcoms: From Fawlty Towers to Absolutely Fabulous

It's almost inarguable that Britain has more than its share of classic sitcoms: Are You Being Served?, The Good Life (Good Neighbors to Americans), To the Manor Born, Fawlty Towers, Yes, Minister, Black Adder, Red Dwarf, Absolutely Fabulous . . . the list goes on and on.This book is a splendid overview of most of these that have made it to America. Each one gets several pages of text and a few photographs. The text provides an overview of the series concept, how it came about, and usually an episode summary or two to give one a flavor of the series. I found that I learned a little bit about the series I had seen and had some fond memories brought back. I also felt that I got a good idea of what the unfamiliar series were like. An excellent book for the Anglophiles among us.

i love british comedy..this book is well described and has been loaned many times..a keeper.

For aficionados of British comedy, this 140-page book is a must-have. It is specifically directed toward North American audiences and includes synopses of 50 of the most popular British situation comedies to have been viewed by North Americans. Most of the favourites are here--from Fawlty Towers and Are You Being Served in the 70s to Keeping Up Appearances and The Vicar of Dibley in the 90s. Many of the lesser-known comedies are also here--comedies like Only When I Laugh or Rising Damp. As with any "Best of" collection, there is bound to be the odd favourite that didn't make the cut (shows like Fresh Fields or No Job for a Lady, for example).The comedies are categorized by decade. The amount of space devoted to each show ranges from a scant one-half page to as much as four pages, largely dependent on the popularity of the series with its North American audiences.For each comedy, author Garry Berman provides a splendid summary of the story-line and characters. Often Berman includes brief summaries of what he calls "typical" episodes, occasionally with snippets of dialogue to elucidate the type of verbal humour at play. The result is that the reader has an idea not only of what the series in general is about, but of what to expect in any given episode. Although the focus is very much on the series themselves, Berman frequently treats us to tidbits of behind-the-scenes information--things like how the series came about, why certain actors left a show, what other series they have appeared in, and so on. Often much of this information is provided through comments from the writers and even from some of the actors themselves.As for the book itself, it is an oversized paperback and includes a fairly detailed index, a list of Britcoms available on video (as of 1999), a foreword by Richard Briers (Good Neighbours), a very interesting introduction on the differences between British and American situational comedies, and an equally interesting conclusion on Britcoms that have been made into US comedies (and vice versa) and why they more often than not flop.This book is sure to be of interest to anyone who loves British comedies. For the familiar programmes, the behind-the-scenes tidbits will be of particular interest. Where this book is especially useful, however, is in its synopses of the unfamiliar programmes. It gives the reader a good feel for the shows he or she may wish to purchase on video or request of his or her PBS station. Very highly recommended.

I've been a big fan of Britcoms for many years, and I'm so glad to have found such a complete and well-researched book about them. It's the first such book I've seen on the subject, and the fact that it covers so many shows is especially useful. All of my favorites are included, plus many I haven't seen yet. The interviews with the stars, writers, and directors reveal many interesting behind-the-scenes stories. I recommend "Best of the Britcoms" to all fans of British comedy.

Some time ago after a meeting of some sort, I happened to call out, "You've all done very well!" and every person there laughed. If someone else ever uses the word "bucket," all you have to do is say "Pronounced bouquet" and very few will not get the reference. Or a simple "Nudge, nudge" might get knowing chuckles. Now for the very few of you who are wondering what that was all about, you have obviously never seen (in order) "Are YouBeing Served?" "Keeping Up Appearances," or even "Monty Python's Flying Circus." Although those three and many other exports from England are so familiar, very few of us over here know anything of their backgrounds. Well, the solution is now available from Taylor Publishing Company. Garry Berman's has just been issued.At $18.95 it is a goldmine of information about three sorts of British comedies: (1) those you know and love, (2) those you have known and loved but are not shown any more, and (3) those very popular over there but never shown over here. Of the over 30 programs discussed in the all too few 140 pages (I only wish it was longer) of this book, several are still around on the PBS stations other than the three mentioned above: "Red Dwarf," "'Allo! 'Allo!," "One Foot in the Grave," "Waiting for God," "The Vicar of Dibley," and more. ("Absolutely Fabulous" was a bit too much for Public TV and can be seen on the Comedy Channel with lots of commercials.) From the golden past we have "The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin," "Butterflies," "Yes, Minister [and] Yes, Prime Minister," "To the Manor Born," "The Black Adder," the fairly recent "Thin Blue Line," and others. As for those never seen in the Colonies, why don't you just look for yourself? You will see a lot of familiar faces, mind you, who went on to do things you have seen. Each entry gives us the years it was shown in Great Britain, and how many episodes were shown in all. You are then given the writers, directors and producers; told if any of the episodes are available on tape; and then you get the basic casts. What follows is the heart of the matter: anywhere from a half page to four pages of the history of the series (which is used in two senses in this book), comments from the critics, and personal reminiscences from members of the casts. For example, we learn that the basic idea of the maniacally rude Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) was based on an actual hotel owner at whose establishment the Monty Python group once stayed. And that the very first "Are You Being Served?" episode was hurriedly put on the air in 1972 when a telecast of the Olympics was suddenly canceled because of the massacre of the Israeli contestants. And things like that. The book starts with a general overview of British sitcoms and ends with some thoughts about American spin-offs. (You did know, of course, that "All in the Family" was based on the British series "Till Death Do Us Part"? Dear me, then you must read this book.)