The Comic Strip Presents...

Many episodes of 'The Comic Strip Presents' were parodies of specific films or TV shows, or parodies of film/TV genres. The episode transmitted 3 November 1984 was titled 'The Bullsh**ters', and it's an hilarious parody of the ITV action series 'The Professionals' in particular and thick-ear matey action shows in general.

The crime-fighting partners in 'The Professionals' were named Bodie and Doyle, so here in 'The Bullsh**ters' we have Keith Allen and Peter Richardson (both of whom also wrote the script) as Bonehead and Foyle, taking orders from their commanding officer, hilariously played by Robbie Coltrane. Bodie and Doyle, of course, had an expensive car with all sorts of gizmos ... but Bonehead and Foyle have to make do with bus passes as they rush from headquarters to their deadly missions.

Coltrane has one very funny set-piece routine, in which he shows Bonehead and Foyle the proper way for a TV action hero to get into a car. Elvis Costello is also funny in a brief turn as a deaf man. Alana Pellay and Jimmy Fagg (don't ask) play themselves.

Fun, but a lot of the humor is going to go over a lot of heads if you're not actually English.

It was great seeing the origins of three of the four / five Young Ones, and I was pretty well impressed by Nigel's breadth of character, and later Abe and Rik as Bottom (fart jokes and random violence are universal,) but yeah, I'm pretty sure I missed a lot as an American. You had Thatcher and the Falklands, we had Reagan and pretty much all of Central America. Also a great introduction to French and Saunders.

9 discs of the entire cast of The Young Ones and French and Saunders before they hit their stride. From the opening night of Channel 4 in 1982, to mid-nineties burnout. "Hit 'n miss" is the best description for this collection, but you will have to sit through every episode to find the few you agree with (keep in mind they are over an hour long each, with some at feature length). Each (with the exception of the Famous Five, Bad News and Bullshitters reprises) is completely different, and range from bold and original, to unfunny, or unbearable.

Personal favourites include:

Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door - resides somewhere between Rick and Viv, Bottom and the movie Guest House Paradiso. No-brow humor that will only appeal to those born with a penis. And depends on whether you find Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson screaming "Nicholas, Bloody, Parsons! You BASTARD!" funny. Most will.

Bad News / More Bad News - Predated Spinal Tap. As this is made by actual Brits, it gets right a lot of what Tap got wrong.

The Strike / GLC - Brilliant send-up of pretty much everything, the real highlight of the collection and espoused by all. You will never view a British film in quite the same way after seeing this.

Four Men in a Car/Plane - One-offs independent of the series, and the comedians at the height of their maturity. The best each has to offer.

Spaghetti Hoops - Not laugh-out-loud funny, but not meant to be. Toward the end they were finally able to make the art house short they were aiming for.

Private Enterprise and Gino don't have belly laughs, but they do have an enjoyable forward momentum. Whilst others will make you ask "what the hell were they thinking?" The entire series was timely and topical, which means that all the short films are incredibly dated. And most will no doubt play better in the mind's eye than actually watching them again. Making the first few discs write-offs on repeat viewing. Even at their worst, you have to admire their originality.

unique, hilarious parodies of cliche-ridden entertainment by a semiregular group of brits. I particularly remember their spoofs of spaghetti westerns ('a fistful of travelers checks') and post-apocalyptic flicks ('the slags'), as well as shots at kids shows, Rebecca, back-to-the-wilderness retreats, and a pre-Spinal Tap metal band's misfortunes. the Slags featured a young Anthony Stewart Head (Giles on Buffy tVS) as the leader of a gang called the Hawaiians ('that's not...nice!'). my personal favorite is the 'Travelers Checks' episode; the music and scenery and camera work would have made a perfectly good movie of the genre (especially the guitar-and-whistle music); and who could forget 'Billy Balfour, the Man with No Name'?! some of the regulars (Ade Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer) played in the bizzare 'Young Ones' series.

"The comic strip presents" team is made up of numerous hero's of British comedy, Rik Mayall, Ade Edmundson, French + Saunders, Peter Richardson and Nigel Planer to name just a few. Starting in The "Comic strip night club" in the early 80's they turned many a famous head. Getting their break with channel 4 was in my opinion, the best choice the channel has ever made. Ranging from famous five re-makes to posing as heavy metal super-stars, the comic strip team have excelled in over 30 TV films and a number of feature movies. Building a base for Mayall and Edmondson to leap foward, they have gone on to become household names appearing in such favourites as "Bottom" and "The young ones" (also with Nigel Planer.) All in all the comic strip team have achieved comic greatness at the very highest level. A shining example to young and old comedians.