Time Gentlemen Please

Set in a no name pub somewhere in England, it was a brilliant sitcom full of satire such as the guv's speech on proper food after insulting the Germans and the Koreans "bangers and mash...the genitals and offal of a pig mashed up and stuffed into an intestinal sheath...now thats proper food". The amazing catch phrases that sprang up and not bothering to give half the characters proper names such as the old man and up to a point which gave birth to a wonderful line.

(on the phone) Old man: Yes its the old man with no name...at the pub with no name.

It was a sitcom completely unafraid to be non-PC, poking fun at religion and countries whilst making fun of the Guv's small mindedness and ignorance. I believe this to be one of the best sitcoms to ever be made definitely in this day and age. I hope its released on DVD one day.

This is without a doubt one of the funniest shows British television has produced in ages. Al Murray is superb as he translates perfectly his stand-up character, the landlord, into a sitcom star. His unusual and un-PC rantings almost always hit the spot and though his supporting characters are rarely given any material to work with who cares? He carries the show on his own with only Terry and, more recently, The Prof lending any comic support. Julia Sawalha is completely wasted. Steve is equally unfunny, and he's a stand-up comic apparently, but to be fair to them they haven't much to work with. The gags come fast and often and with most of them revolving around the pub trade (which has been meticulously copied, go to a real pub during the day and you'll see what I mean), the French and the landlord's own take on life, they're always good. A rare treat and I've become quite hooked, here's to a second series.

Yeah it isn't the best comedy ever, but as someone who grew up watching shows such as "mind your language" and "Love Thy Neighbour" it is a refreshing return to the great sexist, racist un-pc British sense of humour that those shows had. For the most part the characters are amusing and I get at least a few laughs out of each episode. Considering how "nice" comedies have generally become in recent years it is a pleasant change.

The sheer amount of racism, sexism and general bigotry in this series is unbelievable - and it's all the better for it. Other shows water down their comedy to make it "acceptable", but this one doesn't bother and is absolutely hilarious. Great performances and some great lines.

I don't know what Teotihuacan was watching, but it obviously wasn't Time Gentlemen Please.

My wife is American and it's about the only British comdy she watches, laughs at and really enjoys. The programme has now moved on and Julia is no longer there, so any other Australians put off by Teotihuacan's comments can rest assured that they won't be cringing at her accent, not that I thought it was that bad. The strong characterisations (slutty Aussie, maloderous Drunk, still in the closet gay pervy guy, failed-at-everything landlord) and catchphrases add immensly to the humour of this thoroughly hilarious show. Perhaps it's just *too* British for Teotihuacan to understand.

Give it a try!