Men Behaving Badly

It still makes me mad that the lousy American version is called Men Behaving Badly and this version is called British Men Behaving Badly It should be reversed.

This is the only comedy series I have ever watched that whether you are male or female you can absolutely relate to.

Either you have done or experienced first hand everything that happens in each episode.

Series 1 with Harry Enfield was fantastic, but when Neil Morrisey replaced him in Series 2 things only got better!

If you have the DVD set (a great investment) then don't forget to check out the outtakes (via the Pub Quiz) - Very funny!

Having read comments from others and external reviews, decided to add a bit more to my comments...

Men Behaving Badly was interesting because it was a show that jumped channels. It started on ITV (only Series 1 I think) and then moved to the BBC. However it was still Pearson TV that were behind it so I'm not sure if the change of channel contributed to the fact that Series 2-6 and Last Orders were better (not only my opinion) than Series 1 or if it was purely better chemistry between the leads plus the public becoming more and more comfortable with them that gave this impression.

In any case, I am only happy that I have never been subjected to the US version of this and I can remember it in its original mode!

A classic example of great brit TV that didn't make the grade when translated into an American sitcom. (You may recall the "Men Behaving Badly" with Rob Schneider, Ron Eldard and Ken Marino which flopped despite a good cast, decent chemistry and desperate reformatting.) I wished it to survive due to my partiality to this original.

The formula is simple: Responsible guy with wacky roommate, relationship humor and sticky situations...but it works splendidly. It's comparable to Dennis' better known "Coupling", which is scripted just a bit tighter, and obviously more attractive. But "MbB" is just every bit as witty while being a little more down to earth and not confined to the sexual humor genre.

The reason I bought my DVD player was so that I could play the DVD's in the Men behaving Badly box set that I was fortunate enough to buy back in 2001.

It was a hefty investment at the time but it has been worth it in repeated laughs since then.

Having shared flats in my youth with friends, I found it easy to relate to the situations that Tony and Gary found themselves in. Work problems, girl problems, hygiene problems - oh how the memories come flooding back!

Who can forget Gary's antics at the all-night rave-party, or Tony's attempts to tattoo himself on the cheap. Even the first series with Dermott (Harry Enfield), though not as good as later series, had many good moments. Just how hard is it to assemble a book-case?

Simon Nye deserves a medal for this stuff!

Not since The Young Ones have I been so hooked on a British comedy!

I lived in England for a brief period and while over there was introduced to Men Behaving Badly, possibly THE funniest sitcom I've ever seen. I was embarrassed when we (that is, the United States) tried to remake it with Ron Eldard and Rob Snyder (how does this guy continuously get work??). As TV censors are more uptight here, it was impossible to replicate the show's madcap, off-color humor, which is what made it work in the first place. (Ditto when High Society - another sitcom that thankfully flopped - tried to mimic Ab Fab.) The part where Gary finds his girlfriend's diaphragm and tries fitting it in his mouth - the way little kids do orange sections - was priceless, and would never make it past censors here, aside from maybe a Saturday Night Live sketch.

As a woman, I probably should have been repelled by some of Tony and Gary's antics, but found them oddly endearing and fun to watch. (Of course, if I was dating either one, the story would be different!) The only complaint I have was that the Gary-Dorothy romance wasn't very convincing...but then again, maybe she dated him because "I wanted someone I could feel superior to!" as she herself once said.

Gary's dad/officemates are also a hoot...I don't know if it's just because ageing British eccentrics are played for laughs (see The Major on any Fawlty Towers episode) or what.

I wish this show would come out on video!!!!!!