Blackadder the Third

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.

The 3rd and in my view the best of the Blackadder series.

The only downside is that there is no Lord Percy who was the funniest character from the previous series but Hugh Laurie's Prince Regent is suitably madcap laugh a line.

As a package it's quality through and through with convincing regency sets, superb cutting sarcasm and little bits of the wacky, the 'macbeth' actors standing out and Prince Georges 'lucky us' chicken impression, and the missing words from Dr Johnson's dictionary.

Few comedies have been quite as both clever as they are funny, okay the odd lame observation or line gets in but mostly it's a scream.

Someone said that they thought the British humour of "Blackadder" might not be appreciated in the United States......WRONG!!!!! One would have to have the brain cell(s) of the Prince Regent not to enjoy this series. It is brilliant......sarcastic, cutting, witty, beautifully written, beautifully acted and generally outstanding. Rowan Atkinson is not the Mr. Bean we are used to......as Edmund Blackadder, he hits his comedy stride as the conniving butler to the Prince Regent. We miss the Percy character in the third series but Hugh Laurie, as Prince George more than makes up for his absence. Baldrick is still with us and still has "cunning plans" but his IQ has taken a definite drop in score.

If you want to laugh until you weep, then catch BA3 on BBCAmerica or better yet, go out and buy the tapes and the book "Blackadder, the Whole Damn Dynasty". It will keep you amused for years to come as this type of humour does not date. Rowan Atkinson, we salute you!!!!

I love this series. No, scratch that, I ADORE this series! Rowan Atkinson is fantastic as Blackadder (Macbeth!), Tony Robinson is perfect as Baldrick (I'd buy a little turnip of my own), and Hugh Laurie is wonderful as the Prince Regent (Why is it, that however many socks I buy, I never seem to have enough)! It was a shame that Tim McInnery and Stephen Fry could only be in it for one episode - but hey, they made the most of that one episode! Dr. Johnson is a brilliant character (EVERY word), like Pitt the Younger (What kind of jelly?) and those actors! Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends!

In England 1790-1815 we follow the continued annals of the Blackadder family. Edmund Blackadder is now butler to Prince George – a man who is as `thick as a whale omelette'. Over 6 episodes his lot goes from the dizzying heights of ruin to disaster to opportunity with little or no help from his dogsbody the `mouse brained' Baldrick.

The third in the Blackadder series is not the best (although it's a very close). The scripts are very sharp and typically British. Every word is hilarious and Blackadder is given plenty of juicy lines to throw at his below-average-intelligence master. The plots are ludicrous but inventive – Baldrick accidentally elevated to the house of lords, Blackadder saving the Scarlet Pimpernel, the destruction of the world's first dictionary etc, but they're all carried off with style and great humour.

Rowan Atkinson is hilarious – Blackadder is one of his finest hours and he fits the character perfectly. Tony Robinson is cursed forever to be remembered for Baldrick (no matter how many Time Teams he does) and he is brilliant in a thankless role. Hugh Laurie is superb as the stupid Prince and brings inbred stupidity to life! But each episode is also underpinned by a wealth of talent including Helen Atkinson Wood, Robbie Coltrane, Kenneth Moore, Chris Barrie, Ben Elton, Stephen Fry etc. The casting is great.

Overall Blackadder is one of the finest British comedy series for decades – it deserves to be up there with Monty Python and the like. Anyone who loves to laugh at intelligent sarcastic humour will love this. One of the best comedy series I've ever seen.