Are You Being Served? was on for years; and, for good reason. It's filled with wonderful characters, played by incredibly talented actors, who were able to elevate some rather old jokes and repetitive plots. You could forgive the groaners because the cast had such impeccable timing.The show features a microcosm of socio-economic status, via the pecking order of the staff. As such, it presents humor form several points of view, though its sentiments seem to be decidedly traditional and a tad conservative. The show had a lot of great moments; but, it's real strength lay in the characters and actors. Molly Sugden is the haughty Mrs. Slocombe, who betrays her origins when she gets angry and via her malapropisms. She's a lonely woman who isn't adverse to a bit of fun, though she is more than a bit snooty (most likely out of jealousy). Wendy Richards is the cheeky Cockney Miss Brahms, the junior associate in the Ladies Department, forever the object of the male characters and more than a little sarky. Frank Thornton is the imperious Capt. Peacock, a man whose legendary military career is more fantasy than fact. He floats between the worlds of the workers and management, his allegiances constantly changing, depending on what he has to gain. John Inman is the improbable Mr. Humphries, who is neither one way nor another, though he is certainly not ordinary. Arthur Borough is Mr Grainger, the slightly grumpy head of the Men's Department. He tends to be there to react more than the rest of the characters and would eventually depart the series (and passed away soon after). Trevor Bannister is the less than stellar Mr Lucas, who lusts after the birds and avoids work as much as possible. Bannister would also depart the series and his loss was keenly felt. Nicholas Smith is the manager of the floor, Mr Rumbold, a rather ineffective leader, though he gets a few good moments, usually putting Capt Peacock in his place. he also gets a few sexy secretaries, from time to time. Harold Bennett was the wonderfully dirty old man who owns the store. Benentt was a late comer to acting and had tremendous comedic timing. His presence is greatly missed in the later series. In later years, the cast would be joined by James Hayter (Mr Tibbs), Alfie Bass (Mr Goldberg), Milo Sperber (Mr Grossman) and Benny Lee (Mr Klein) in attempts to replace Mr Grainger. They eventually gave up and made Mr Humphries the senior salesman, and added Mike Berry, as Mr Spooner, to be the junior and take up the role of cheeky young man.The show probably stayed on too long; but, the characters became old friends and you tended to forgive the worn out jokes and plots. In fact, the characters became so familiar you could often anticipate the punchline. Regardless, you were happy to see your old friends.The show became a staple on PBS, as it is genuinely funny, well acted, and not too adult or too juvenile. It's bawdy enough to give you a chuckle but never enough to really offend you, though a few of the more insulting elements are usually cut out in US broadcasts (such as a couple of episodes featuring actors in blackface).This series is loads of fun and won't disappoint.

Are You Being Served was a sitcom made in Britan that lasted 10 Seasons mainly focusing on a department store. People do seem to have a lot of nostalgia for this show and it did define itself an audience at the time. However, I don't really find it that good.The main premise for this show is to take the Ladies and Gentlemen's department from a departmental store an hi-jinx ensues. Sometimes with new situations and others it's a similar rehash of the same situation (such as Young Mr Grace having a whacked out idea, they go along with it, it doesn't go well, it all goes back to normal).I can see that there is an audience for this show. For the first few seasons it wasn't that bad. It was gaining and maintaining an identity. However, the big problem I have is the more the show went on, the more recycled and tired the whole thing seemed to get.So what is the humour. Mostly there are your standard double entendres, events going on at the time such as a bad economy and constant strikes and pop cultural references. The reason why I don't like the events going on at the time and pop cultural references is that they're dated to the extent of them not being funny and the double entendres were okay at first. Then (like I said) they started recycling them. I'm serious Mrs Slocombe makes double entendres about her cat because she refers to it as her "pussy" and Mr Humphries is usually respondent to homosexual double entendres (which actually weren't funny to begin with) just to name a few.To name a complaint I have, I know I'm nitpicking when I say this but in the last few seasons we hardly see these characters do their job. I know, it's a nitpick but for a show about a department store there are some episodes where we never see them working.Then there are the replacement cast members. I know Arthur Borough died and replacements were the only way to go and sometimes they did get some decent comedic actors to take his place but the problem I have is replacing Trevor Banister with the guy who plays Mr Spooner. All the original cast members, while this show wasn't exactly my humour it's very clear that these people have a sense of comic timing and are somewhat decent comedic actors. I don't get any of that with Mr Spooner (I use the characters name because I'm too lazy to look up what his real name is) he looks more as if he's going through the motions than anything else.So Are You being Served isn't that great of a show. It just becomes repetitive and recycles jokes and story lines. I do get the feeling that these people can be funny. It's just it's not my humour. I guess if you lived in the 70's you would like this but to a modern audience it isn't anything spectacular.

I don't understand how anyone could bash this show. Yeah, there were a lot of sexual references in it, but it's not near as bad as some of the shows we see on TV these days. There are other Brit-coms like Monty Python that show actual nudity. AYBS does not. I could never get tired of this show. Frankly, I've been a fan of it for years and I hate that it's not currently on our local PBS station. Thankfully, I have taped episodes from when it did air so that if I feel like watching a real comedy, I can just pop in a videotape of AYBS and laugh away. This is an outstanding comedy and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a good laugh. To all the people who have left nice comments about the show, all I can say to you is "You've all done very well."

"Are You Being Served?" is one of the best British comedies to hit American television screens! The show is about workers in a department store and their everyday lives. Every show the workers have adventures from being stuck in the store due to bad weather to one of them becoming a Pop Star for a day. "Are You Being Served" does not have any hidden messages like the average comedy it just tells about life in a plain old department store. What makes the show unique is the personalities of the workers; where in this store the customer is not always right. While the show ended in 1982 the show remains an icon due to the simple story lines which lead to hilarious side-splitting misunderstandings. "Are You Being Served?" is a must see for people who enjoy comedy. If you are looking for laughter, the search is over with "Are You Being Served."