Two's Company

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.

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.

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.

The British tend to take greater care to craft and create their television comedies. This is one of them. There are so many Britcoms which are far superior to American fare...the only thing is that as Americans we never get to view them except for the exceptional Public Television offerings. And thank God for them.

Two's Company is a rare gem! Enjoy the relationship between Dorothy and Richard. It is precious and priceless! I own all these episodes and I can honestly say they are a treasured collection since I savored them nearly two decades ago, and the soothing bantering and comedy hold true today.

My recommendation is buy buy buy the four season collection before they are discontinued...and they will be!

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.