The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin

There's nothing like Reginald Perrin. The only things that approach it are Ronnie Barker's stammering speeches in Open All Hours, or his cockney patter in Porridge, and John Cleese's tantrums in Fawlty Towers. Leonard Rossiter's gift for rattling off a screed like a machine gun is amazing. If Reg Parrin ever did walk into the sea he'd never drown because he never has to stop to take a breath!

Every episode is remarkably simialar. Elizabeth sends him off to work, to which he is invariably late. He fantasizes about his secretary Joan until he's called on the carpet by his boss CJ, who didn't get where he is by . . etc . . . who gives Reg the completely mad assignment of the day.

And then he goes home for the day, where his dinner, which is invariably rizotto, is interrupted by his nutty military brother-in-law's cockup on the catering front, or his pipe smoking son-in-law's latest attempts at nettle wine. And then he thinks about his weekend visit to his mother-in-law whom he pictures as a hippo. I know! It sounds about as boring as anyone's routine. What isn't boring is watching him slowly go into meltdown, and start spouting off like a volcano erupting. It just get's better and better as Reggie's life gets worse and worse.

Reg really does try to make his way through the day. But if you or I had days like his we'd probably turn our hand to eccentric occupations too. But hang on, because with every new twist in his otherwise monotonous road there will be another fall and rise in this roller-coaster ride of a comedy.

Let's try to get the BBC to release Reggie on American format DVD!! Apparently, BBC America is responsible for all commercial content in the States, and I was given the following information by BBC in the UK.

Write or call:

BBC Worldwide Americas 747 3rd Avenue 6th floor NY, NY 10017 USA Tel: 001 212 705 9300 Fax: 001 212 888 0576

It's available in the UK, I just think they don't realize what a fan base there is here in the US. I just re-read both "The Fall and Rise of" and "The Return of" for the hundredth time, but I'd give anything to own the series.

After years of trying to find this on VHS, I now find that it IS available. The problem is, now I have a DVD player, and would prefer to have this series on DVD.

This was one of my favorite Britcoms, although I haven't seen it in quite a while. Having two great Britcom actors: Leonard Rossiter ("Rising Damp") and Geoffrey Palmer ("Butterflies"), this series was bound to be a winner. Rossiter, of course, as the title character, really is almost a one-man show with everyone else supporting him rather than having major roles. When Perrin, talking to himself after his failed (or, some would say, faked) suicide attempt, realizes he cannot go back home, and decides that he will use, as his new name, the first thing he sees as he looks over a fence, then realizes that "cow pat" would NOT be a good name, one knows that the series is just getting started, and will really take off from there.

PLEASE make this available on DVD!

There is no shortage of excellent sitcoms - the U.S. gave us Seinfeld, and Soap, the Brits Good Neighbors, Fawlty Towers and Butterflies. The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, rises above even these, and is a true masterpiece of television.

What makes The Fall and Rise so exceptional is its incredible depth. While other shows were content to earn certain points and then coast (e.g. Seinfeld acts as a catalog of ridiculously mutated and twisted social convention, but rarely moves beyond it) The Rise and Fall never lets up on its observations, criticisms and offering of wild and crazy solutions, providing a hero who sees everything wrong with the world and is desperate and willing to change as much as possible.

The absurdity of corporate culture, suburban monotony, flaky post-hippie child-rearing concepts, condescendingly manipulative advertising and marketing, sexism, racism, class conflict, are hung, drawn and quartered for laughs. And Leonard Rositter's posturing and snarking make it surreal. It is Voltaire, Brecht.

Of course, the hero's plans rarely turn out as he expected, and Perrin is constantly thrown off course as each of his absurd plots is met by an even more absurd response from the world. Rositter's Perrin reacts with even more absurdity, all the while stammering and mugging to underline the fact that, well, that's life.

The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin, is a must to television viewing as Mozart is to music, Citizen Kane to cinema, and Dickens to reading. You will probably like it, but even if you don't, it will do you great good, and be the yardstick by which you judge all other related material.

I didn't get where I am today without knowing a good show when I see it!

What average Joe suffering through the daily grind does not have a bit of Reggie Perrin hidden inside, boiling and bubbling just under the surface?

Reginald Perrin is perhaps the most thoughtful character ever seen in a comedy series. He is a deep and complex man.

Supporting characters each have an unforgettable "trademark" (for lack of a better term)... Sometimes direct, sometimes symbolic -- the creator of Reggie Perrin effortlessly distills the essence of real life oddities.

Brilliant and funny. On the whole, this is the only British comedy I put ahead of MONTY PYTHON and FAWLTY TOWERS. Reginald Perrin is worthy of such a supreme compliment. A sitcom Masterpiece. All else is just Grot.

Comedy-City, Arizona! Super! Great!