Blackadder - Dritter Teil

The life and times of Edmund Blackadder, butler to the Prince Regent.

This is a very strong third series of Blackadder, displaying more of the great Curtis and Elton writing partnership and fantastic performances. For me it is on par with Blackadder II, albeit containing a few recycled concepts.

We see Blackadder in the services of a Prince who is characterised as a lazy, moronic yob. He frequently has to solve the Prince's problems, which indirectly impact him. This presents a number of hilarious situations that result in great comedy.

The continued Blackadder theme of Edmond's place within power structures is the driving factor. His resentment for having intelligence and being in the servitude to such ignorance is constantly simmering. In the final episode we see the tables completely turn and the darkness come racing to the surface.

Other themes tackled are poverty, class structures, revolution, anarchism, literature, politics, monarchy and war.

All episodes for me are strong, with my favourites being Dish and Dishonesty, Ink and Incapability, and Duel and Duality.

Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson and Hugh Laurie are brilliant in all episodes and there are several excellent cameos, the most memorable being Stephen Fry as Wellington, Robbie Coltrane as Dr Johnson and Kenneth Connor/Hugh Paddick as a pair of theatre actors.

We could still use Black Adder even today. Imagine Rowan Atkinson resuming the role of assistant to the prime minister played by the wonderful Hugh Laurie. Hugh is sensational as the dimwit Prince George and Edmund as his brilliant assistant. I love the episode which Kenneth Connor guest stars as a British thespian. Every time, Edmund says Macbeth. The two thespians do a silly little act to ward off evil spirits. It's the funniest things that you will see. Of course, none of this brilliance and comedic genius could be without Ben Elton and Richard Curtis who are also behind the films like Love Actually, The Thin Blue Line, Four Weddings and A Funeral. Black Adder is funny and almost too good for television. Humor can be smart, sexy, and funny all at one. I was hoping last night on Saturday Night Live that Hugh Laurie would pay homage to his background in British humor. If the gang at SNL did some research, they would know what a treasure it was to have Hugh Laurie grace their stage.

Blackadder 3 is probably the Blackadder series that people have least heard of - it has basically the same principles as the second and fourth ones and has nothing revolutionary in it. But it is still great - a fiery Duke of Wellington and a fat foolish Dr Johnson (writer of the first dictionary in England) make this series one to be reckoned with. There are still more hilarious one-liners to be delivered in this series, and it brings out the humour in a lesser-known era - in historically accurate and enjoyable episodes. Blackadder's third outing is not the most famous and well-known of the lot, but Rowan Atkinson's role as a butler to a stupid prince is a funny and effectively done one, and Hugh Laurie is at his best in this series. Very good! 9/10

Holy crap this is so hysterical! Why aren't American comedies written like this? For anybody who thinks comedy has to be dumb-- there is more wit and intelligence in the six episodes of this series than in a shelf of novels! Hugh Laurie is a complete hoot. I couldn't believe it was the same guy as House! There are so many great lines and gags in this series you could watch each show dozens of times and still pick up on new things each time. Rowan Atkinson is hilarious as the verbose and put upon butler Edmund. This is my favorite of all the Blackadder series. And Tony Robinson is wonderful as ever as the somewhat obtuse heart of the series, "the oppressed mass" Baldrick. Some of my favorite lines: "When someone messes with a Wellington he really puts his foot in it" and Baldrick explaining how he got his name and cousin Macadder "the top kipper salesman" and homicidal swordsman from Scotland.

I own the DVD box set of all of the Blackadder series and this one and "Goes Forth" are my favorites, but I love them all. This series skips through history with tongue firmly planted in cheek and is just superb. I call it "smart yet silly" comedy. The British are, or were, pros at this. Seeing some more recent "Britcoms", as some of us Yanks call them, I lament that they are taking too much from our lame American sitcoms. The brilliance of the recent "Coupling" gives me hope for the future.

I really enjoy Rowan Atkinson and the cast of Blackadder. They are all fabulous, but Steven Fry just cracks me up as the Field Marshall in the Fourth Series.

To get back to the Third series I really enjoy the guest appearances of Tim McInnerny as Lord Topper/Le Comte de Frou Frou, Chris Barrie (of Red Dwarf and Brittas Empire fame) as the French Revolutionary Guard, and who can forget the role of Dr. Johnson played by the illustrious Robbie Coltrane (who later played Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter series of movies).

If you like "smart" comedy then check out Blackadder!!