Allô allô

I have little to add to this what the other have written here. Accept that what few people seem to know. This brilliant series is a parody on another very good series, Secret Army, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075579/ The cafe, The Gestapo officers, the singing wife, even the characters look the spitting image. But, in all fairness, I think the parody is more brilliant than the original series. Strange, but true. I Think that this is one of the few cases where the parody is better know than the original, and a true red herring in that it is also better. I cannot think of one where this is also the case, although there are more parodies better known then the original (Airport-Airplane to mention one).

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with it, "Allo, Allo" is a British comedy series about the French Resistance during World War II. It is a comedy series that could never be produced today, and certainly could not be produced in the U.S. Only the British could have come up with a comedy series that contains more politically-incorrect material than would be found in an entire season of any present-day television show. To this day "Allo, Allo" remains among the things for which the French have never forgiven the British (along with Crecy, Agincourt, Joan of Arc, Blenheim, Trafalgar, Waterloo and Dunkirk). However, the French are not alone. The humor in "Allo, Allo " would be perceived to be equally offensive by Germans, Italians, women, homosexuals, the Catholics Church, the British themselves, and just about everybody else.

"Allo, Allo" was created by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, the same pair who created "Are You Being Served?". Consequently, it should come as no surprise that the show leaves no depth unplumbed in the pursuit of a laugh. "Allo, Allo" represents British burlesque humor at it's lowest. On the other hand it is also, for those whose sensibilities are not easily offended, truly one of the funniest shows ever produced.

The best news is that "Allo, Allo" has recently been re-released on Netflix. That means that former fans can enjoy being offended by it all over again, and new fans will have the opportunity to enjoy being offended by it for the very first time.

Words can't explain how much I love this show, it's just amazing. It's extremely funny, but the only downside is that it's not easy to find on tv these days... In the 80's and early 90's it was very well known and loved, but then disappeared into nowhere... A small town in War time France makes a great setting for this wonderful tv show, and the language barrier is easily fixed... everyone speaks in English, but the British have British accents, the French, French accents, the Germans, German accents etc. Th storyline follows on from the previous episodes, with Rene explaining what happened in the last episode. Watch it, you won't regret it.

If you like Britcoms, then you'll love this series. Every line is a joke, and they're all hilarious. Lots of double entendres/sexual innuendoes and a ridiculous amount of zany one-liners.

The episodes are similar, with some running gags that appear every episode, every time with a different twist. As expected with the British playing Frenchmen, the sarcasm is biting, but almost turned around: the English policeman (bobby) who keeps trying to speak french, with the horrible pronunciation and accent makes tears come to the eyes.

This series is excellent, and missed greatly. Buy it if you can.

David Croft has to be seen as one of the greatest British comedy writers ever. He was the writer for 'Dad's Army', 'It Ain't Half Hot, Mum' and 'Are You Being Served?'. Although not as good as 'Dad's Army', 'Allo 'Allo' is a fine piece of work. Set in war-time France, this show made use of stereotypes of Germans, Frenchmen and Brits. Gorden Kaye gave a tremendous portrayal of unwilling hero, Rene, but the fine cast doesn't stop there. Carmen Silvera (Edith), Guy Siner (Gruber) and the fantastic Arthur Bostrom (Crabtree) also played their parts well. The show was 'Carry On'-esque, unashamedly camp and full of sexual innuendo. I think it is impossible not to hear Crabtree with his customary greeting of 'Good Moaning!', without laughing. Demand from the American market saw the series stretched a bit further than it could manage, but 'Allo 'Allo recovered. The repeats are certainly worth watching.