9 discs of the entire cast of The Young Ones and French and Saunders before they hit their stride. From the opening night of Channel 4 in 1982, to mid-nineties burnout. "Hit 'n miss" is the best description for this collection, but you will have to sit through every episode to find the few you agree with (keep in mind they are over an hour long each, with some at feature length). Each (with the exception of the Famous Five, Bad News and Bullshitters reprises) is completely different, and range from bold and original, to unfunny, or unbearable.
Personal favourites include:
Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door - resides somewhere between Rick and Viv, Bottom and the movie Guest House Paradiso. No-brow humor that will only appeal to those born with a penis. And depends on whether you find Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson screaming "Nicholas, Bloody, Parsons! You BASTARD!" funny. Most will.
Bad News / More Bad News - Predated Spinal Tap. As this is made by actual Brits, it gets right a lot of what Tap got wrong.
The Strike / GLC - Brilliant send-up of pretty much everything, the real highlight of the collection and espoused by all. You will never view a British film in quite the same way after seeing this.
Four Men in a Car/Plane - One-offs independent of the series, and the comedians at the height of their maturity. The best each has to offer.
Spaghetti Hoops - Not laugh-out-loud funny, but not meant to be. Toward the end they were finally able to make the art house short they were aiming for.
Private Enterprise and Gino don't have belly laughs, but they do have an enjoyable forward momentum. Whilst others will make you ask "what the hell were they thinking?" The entire series was timely and topical, which means that all the short films are incredibly dated. And most will no doubt play better in the mind's eye than actually watching them again. Making the first few discs write-offs on repeat viewing. Even at their worst, you have to admire their originality.
