Two's Company

Have the dvd series. Absolutely love this series! As a teenager, mother would watch this show when it originally aired. Now, years later, I also have the pleasure to see what made my mother laugh all those years ago. Stritch and Sinden worked very well together and you can tell they both got quite a charge out of performing in this series.

This show aired in the early eighties on A&E, and I never missed it. Elaine Stritch was an American authoress living in England, and Donald Sinden was her very British butler, called "Robert". My favorite episode had something to do with his preferences for gaudy kitchen tiles and Bach fugues played at full volume. I wish somebody still aired this.

I remember this from its original airing in the good old days. Donald Sinden, a highly respected Shakespearian actor and Elaine Stritch, a similarly regarded American performer team up for some of the best, wittiest humour that has been labelled 'situation comedy' ever. When I found it on Ebay, I had to buy it and I'm delighted that I did. The next generation also enjoyed watching it. The humour comes mainly from the clashes between employer/employee (the power tilts like a see-saw) but also from the silly situations they find themselves in. The invitation to a luncheon at the Palace was absurd, as was the trip to the Casualty ward at the local NHS hospital. Very funny, a snapshot in time and well worth capturing if you like quick repartee.

Terrible show.

It is amazing that Are You Being Served? Absolutely Fabulous, Keeping Up Appearances even Monty Python and Fawlty Towers in their own unique way, can break down cultural barriers in humor and sitcom style, but this thing utterly fails to do likewise.

And this show even has an American at the center of its cast, for crying out loud!

It is also amazing that virtually whatever Elaine Stritch offers on the stage, none of it transfers at all to any form of celluloid on either side of the ocean.

The problem may be in the thinking that she conveys the image of being overly sharp tongued, witty and classy, none of which emerges in tv or movies.

Nevertheless in this show, she isn't alone. The concept that she is an authoress is far-fetched, that as an American writer, she appeals to both sides of the Atlantic is odd, and Donald Sinden as the butler is on the same low level with her.

Two's Company presently airs on the local PBS network Saturday nights, after Keeping UP Appearances and As Time Goes By with Judy Dench. It's intriguing to watch to just observe the contrast in how English life is perceived, in this case represented by a butler, in comparison to Keeping Up Appearances astonishing depictions.

I would hardly recommend this show to anyone wanting to understand the English culture, whether sitcoms are good representation or not. I wouldn't even recommend it for a good laugh.

Two's Company describes the interplay between a female American author and a traditional British butler.

Is this TV show a laugh a minute riot-fest filled with double entendre, broad humour, and farcical shenanigans? Nope. What this series is about is understated, witty humour between two people who both think they can best the other.

So, there is sharp dialogue, witty comments, razor sharp wordplay, with both characters easily being able to dominate the screen on their own. The fact that they are both trying to do so is where the humour shines through.

If you are looking to be hit over the head with humour and not have to think, then this show is not for you. But if you're willing to be patient, and have the ability to analyze smart writing, delivered by two great actors of the stage--you'll love "Two's Company".