What a sitcom. These days of political correctness where people in England cant fly the English flag in case it offends, this is such a relief. Made in 2000 and 2002, Al Murray is the pub landlord of a pub with no name and only 5 regular patrons. Prof - Named because he wears glasses.Lesley and Leslie who sit quietly in the corner.Terry - Who thinks hes gods gift to women where in reality last time he had a bath was when the vicar chucked him in the font. And he has a farting problem.Old Pops - Sits there reminding when the prof won £2 on the quiz machine and doesn't have a real name.Throughout the series, Guv is explaining he mad logic on the world, taking the pi** out of everything and everyone who walks in and treating his barman Steve (who has inspirations to by anything including a postman and ploughman) very badly and paying him £1.80 an hour. First series introduces to Janet - the loud mouth Aussie who's looking for work; Aussies - Bread for bar work. Its instinct!!! is the usual cry we hear and also Vicki "Ms" Jackson who's the brewery rep and never pulled a pint in her life. She has a habit of singing a popular song that no one claims to have heard of. The Second series, Janet has ran off back to Aus to avoid her ex and we have the rather gorgeous Connie and everyone apart from Terry is in love with her (and so am I). Shame she doesn't feel the same.Guv's local rival (Greg Thompson) turns up every now and then always accompanied by a young lady and makes a joke about the Guv, the pub or his manhood trying his best to pull either Janet or Connie. The other local landlords also show on occasions (one is the guv's "uncle" Barry.)Thats all I'm saying for now about it - watch it on Paramount Comedy 2 or catch Happy Hour in ITV on Fridays.The pub landlord creation by Murray is fantastic. Hes big headed, xenophobic, completely un-PC and its refreshing when PC is thrust ed upon us all the time in everything. I hope they make more of these or at least bring them all out on DVD.Its amazing when an Australian comments on this, its always negative. Hey its meant to be funny, if you don't like it we don't particularly like being called poms - even in our own country. 12-10 12-10 lets hear it for the beer, All hail to the ale and welcome the wine, for the ladies.
... View MoreOne of the funniest British comedies in a while. It has more episodes per series than the usual six so naturally it is less consistent than some comedies but most of the episodes are pure TV gold, the last episode in series 2 has to be one of the funniest pieces of television ever made.Unfortunately, it was first shown on sky one, and as far as I know sky one has never released any of it's programmes onto DVD, so the only way you're going to be able to see this is a repeat. If you do see it scheduled you really should find some time to watch it, because deep down in every Englishman's heart, behind all of that fluffy, new labour PC, we all know that the best jokes are extremely xenophobic.
... View MoreAl Murray's Pub Landlord, famous to most people in Britain now due to his stage shows and stand-up, starred in this hilarious Sky-One commissioned bar room comedy, in which he and his staff, regulars, and various other characters rattle through the same routine each week. The comedy is not in the jokes themselves, but the fact that you know what is coming and just wait to see how it all fits together.Meet the gang: GUV (the Landlord) is the bigoted, frustrated, desperate proprietor of an ancient pub, and a central focus for its collection of staff and regulars. Although he claims to have been 'never confused,' it seems the GUV underneath the bravado is something of a 'new man'! His main sparring partner is the vile TERRY (Phil Daniels), a chain-smoking, beer swilling, self-employed serial monogamist with a great line in chat-up lines! Behind the bar are STEVE (Jason Freeman), a thickheaded impressionable type, and JANET (Julia Sawalha), who got her job by dint of being an Australian, who according the GUV "are bred for bar work, its instinct!" The bane of the GUV's is VICKI JACKSON (Rebecca Front), the rep from the brewery who has to keep him in line but really just wants to be everyone's friend. She owes her position to the fact that her father owns the brewery, not any knowledge of the licensed pub trade! Also don't forget OLD MAN (Roy Heather) nobody cares enough about him to ask for his name and PROF (Andrew McKenzie), an intellectual type who is secretly a notorious flasher and murderer! Add into the mix the GUV'S former college peer and now landlord of the Queen of Hearts (They've got a thirty foot bar and a carvery!) GREG THOMPSON (Marc Bannerman) who loves to lord it over the GUV, but is secretly in love with the GUV'S newest recruit, CONNIE (Emma Pierson), a 'bloody student' who manages to get the GUV'S blood flowing in more ways that one!With that said, down to the routine. The entire show is usually based around the following instances, with plenty of mock-patriotic humour, fart jokes, sex jokes, and 'plot' mixed in: · GUV will proclaim: "rules is rules pint for the gentleman, white wine or fruit-based drink for the lady!" · Terry is usually barred for one reason or another (often involving a misdemeanour with Gary, the pub dog), but is let off "just this once" · Terry will enter the pub asking: "got any lunch left?" · Vicki will try to impress everyone by singing a famous old song. Nobody will have heard of it however · Prof will usually make an un-noticed slip revealing his identity as the flasher · Everyone remembers fondly the day Prof won £2 on the Fact Hunt machine · Greg will appear, sporting two gorgeous young ladies on his arms! · Despite her being a student, Guv will be forced to suppress his carnal desires for Connie · Terry will see a woman and proclaim "that is the woman I'm going to marry!" · Usually Steve will utter a desire to be in another profession, often related to the plot e.g. postman, ploughman, work for Riley's. · Guv's uncle Barry will appear, along with his fellow landlords Mike and Dave · Said Barry will get covered in beer, vomit, or other liquid, causing his black hair rinse to wash all over his face · Janet will make a pass at Steve, who is uninterested/oblivious · Janet will make an inappropriate/ill-timed/unwarranted crack about a former boyfriend · The Postie with the face shaped like a bean will appear, and scream out in frustration: "damn my bean-shaped face!" · The Guv will use his mock sympathy catchphrase: "oh well, what a pity, never mind!" · He will also curse himself by asking: "why do they all leave???" · He will cover up repressed non-hetro desires by loudly proclaiming: "never confused!" · The Prof's resentment of his mother, including his desire to kill her, will surface. This is a very amusing satire on the 'Cliff' character from ''Cheers'' · Old Man will make some reference to his immense age and/or his wish to die. Nobody however is interested. · At the start of every episode, the sign on the front of the pub door is different every week, usually a humorous mis-quotation at the Guv's expense. · The strange silent couple, Lesley and Leslie, sit in the corner of the pub at every episode, a huge man in leather and a bandanna and a short, skinny woman; neither will utter a word, and just watch proceedings.Although it wasn't mainstream stuff, with strong language throughout, TGP was defiantly a riotously successful comedy, which developed a cult following. The idea of putting The Pub Landlord into a sitcom could have been mishandled but in the end it works rather well, with Murray and Daniels displaying tangible on-screen chemistry. Credit should also go to the co-writer (with Murray) and director Richard Herring, and the casting people who got such a great cast together, all of who were great for their roles. TGP managed something like 24 episodes, which is more than The Office, of which it was a lesser known, but no less funny, contemporary.
... View MoreThe sheer amount of racism, sexism and general bigotry in this series is unbelievable - and it's all the better for it. Other shows water down their comedy to make it "acceptable", but this one doesn't bother and is absolutely hilarious. Great performances and some great lines.
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