One Foot in the Grave

every time they re-run episodes of this i go out of my way to watch it. It is the single most funny British comedy/sitcom thing i think i have ever seen. Its so sarcastic its almost unbelieveable and the situations whilst odd are certainly interesting and give the character of viktor mildew full oppurtunity to make something go wrong. I love this show and i cant wait to sit down to some more reruns!

This is just an incredible series. It deals with just about EVERYTHING! Not for the easily offended, though it doesn't go out of its way to offend. It's irreverent and pulls no punches. The series shows what it wants to how it wants to and makes no apologies. Sometimes it can be darkly humorous, but in these cases it usually has a valid point to make and does so quite well.

The best way to describe this series is as follows: Imagine if absolutely everyone and everything on the face of the planet were really as miserable, stupid, loud, obnoxious, belligerent, deceitful, crazy, lazy, greedy, unfair, ironic, annoying, etc., as one sometimes feels them to be. Put a bitter (but not unlikeable) retiree in the middle of this world as the protagonist. Now watch how he interacts with and reacts to the people, places and things in this world. Sometimes he's in the right, sometimes he's in the wrong. Sometimes he gets what he deserves, sometimes he gets what he doesn't deserve. Sometimes he gives others what they deserve, sometimes he gives them what they don't deserve. No matter where a particular episode goes, you will most likely bellow with laughter at some point, usually at many points. There are a few episodes that were created not so much for a laugh as they were for irony; some of that irony being quite bitter or just plain sad. In episodes such as these, one will at least feel something, even if it is not what was expected.

As of this writing, the first season is available in the UK on DVD and the second season will be released there soon. With absolutely every other Britcom available in the United States, it's unfortunate that this series isn't popular enough to be released here. I suppose the fact that public television didn't play it ad nauseum like "Are You Being Served," "Keeping Up Appearances," or "Red Dwarf" (not that they're bad shows) is why. Remember, it's not how good something is that makes it popular and available, it's how visible it is.

Actually, it's kind of fitting that "One Foot in the Grave" isn't receiving the recognition it deserves and is fading into obscurity while being surrounded by so many more popular yet inferior programs. It's exactly the sort of point that one of its own episodes might have made!

Although not as funny as Fawlty Towers, this is one of the best comedy series to come out of the UK in recent years. I can understand it not appealing at all to non-British people but to a normal Brit, this series embodies everything that is typical of British humour of the latter half of the twentieth century. The crisis of trying to adjust to retirement is a universal one and Victor Meldrew reactions to present day society are in fact those of all or most of us, even if he has the courage to express them vocally and us, not. Certainly the catch phrase from the series "I don't believe it" is common in people's mouths today. Just think when you have to call a company and you are no longer put thru to a switchboard but to some kind of robot and to access the department you want you have to press button one, then two etc etc. If you make one cock-up, the whole thing goes wrong. This is the kind of stupidity Meldrew is having to battle with. SOme of the episodes are so funny ( when Meldrew finds a strange old lady in his bed !! ) that you seriously risk of ending up in the grave yourself from too much laughter. Others can be tedious and you feel that the scriptwriters were more inspired some days than others. That said, from the fairly large number of episodes I've seen, I would say that about at least 65 to 70 percent of the episodes are side-splitting. When I watch this programme, I feel I am watching something peculiarly common to BRitish Humour. I could not imagine Amercians laughing at this, not to speak of French, Germans or Spanish ! Some of the humour is indeed fairly "morbid" and "sick" and would have limited appeal outside the UK. THat doesn't matter at all, but I'm just stating it as a fact. The last episode to end them all has to be seen but is bitter and sad and not funny at all - very strange compared with the others. Obviously, the BBC had decided to number Meldrew's days for once and for all but weren't too sure how to go about it. When I saw the final result, I "just didn't believe it" !!!!!!!!!!!!

I happened across this show quite by accident whilst channel surfing on Christmas Eve a couple of years back. I came across this show featuring a couple in their sixties: him a catankerous old codger who seemed to be a magnet for misfortune and trouble; her, his wife who suffered his constant moanings and groanings. Through the plot, which involved all manner of mayhem, I simply could not stop laughing. Unfortunately, it was only a one-off to fill time on the night: I did not hear of more episodes of this show until six months or more later. However, it again disappeared after only a handful of episodes, until six weeks ago it returned to my television screen. However, tonight I have just watched the final episode (ever), which leads me to believe its seasons were very short indeed.

Anyone who has not seen this show will do well to find videos of it. And those who have not seen the finale for the show, watch it. From the first time you hear Victor Meldrew's famous signature quote, "I do not BELIEVE this!", you'll be hooked. 10/10

if anybody has been set upon by a company, felt hard done by in life, thought as if people aren't as moral as they should be, this is the programme that they should watch. Some people may feel that it is predictable but it does so with intelligence and humour that is such that the viewer doesn't care if they have guessed the ending or not, the programme relies on receiving the empathy of the viewer which I believe, for the most part, this programme achieves extremely well. Very well written, very well acted, and extremely missed.