Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Forever Young

Some things will always be funny. The Young Ones is one of them.

The Young Ones premiered on British television 25 years ago. Like many other British shows, it had a short run; 12 episodes. They understand the concept of not running an idea into the ground. Those 12 episodes contain some of the funniest moments I've ever seen.

The series revolves around 4 college room mates(although they never seem to go to college or study). The Young Ones are Rick (a self-absorbed anarchist poet), Neil (a hippie), Mike (the self proclaimed cool person) and Vyvyan Bastard (the punk rock medical student). They live in a filthy apartment that serves as the main stage for the show, and seems to be a magnet for strange situations. Many of the situations involve the characters fighting in violent and hilarious ways, in part due to their boredom with everyday life.

The Young Ones mixes a sitcom with a variety show. This was actually done so that they could get a larger budget by being classified as a variety show. The result is a surreal comedy that includes stand-up comics, puppets, and musical acts. Motorhead, Dexy's Midnight Runners and Madness all made appearances on the show.

I have seen all the episodes many times but I always go back for more. I highly recommend this if you have never seen it before. If you have seen it, watch it again. You can get the entire series in a DVD collection called The Young Ones: Every Stoopid Episode.

2 comments:

KBHR said...

Watch this show! It may seem like it's full of silly humor at first, but it's actually a very smart and well developed show. Nice write up Chuck. UP CHUCK...get it.

Chuck Power said...

Thank you sir. And yes, I do get it.