Classic surreal hyperactive British sitcom/skit show from the early 80's. MTV picked it up in the late 80's and showed it for a while in the States (thankfully, for this is not the stuff of PBS). If you haven't seen it yet, then you must. Yes, some of the subtext seems a bit dated now, but through it all the show really is all about attitude, and that it has in spades. Highbrow, lowbrow, and everything in between- all delivered with the precision of a gattling gun.

Uber-classic
"Bambi"

Dialog(some of this may be paraphrased)
Neil: "How come you never do anything around here, Vyv?"
Vyvian: "Neil, when we first moved in we all agreed that you would cook and I would look after the plants and goldfish."
Neil: And what did you have me serve that night?"
Vyvian: "Plants and goldfish"

I've only seen one episode of this show - the "Bambi" episode, which reads like a who's who of British acting talent. Oh yes, and has Motörhead.

Doing "The Ace of Spades", no less.

That's the one to see if you're only going to see one, that's for sure. Let's see if I can remember...it has Mel Smith, Ben Elton, Hugh Laurie and of course Emma Thompson.

Sorta Blue Language Warning can't be helped when discussing TYO

Some more Immortal Dialog: (again, this is all from memory)
Bambi(Smith) (University Challenge host) poses the question "Who is the richest person in the world?"
Lord Snot(Elton) rings in with "...it's me, isn't it?"
To which Bambi quickly informs him that no,his "father's multinational went bust this morning."
Lord Snot then looks more disappointed that he got the question wrong.

The Peoples Poet has spoken...Hands up who likes me...Dear facist bullyboy...(Rik was a hoot)..Remember the episode where Viv was pregnant..How about the college game show they went on....Scumbag College

The one where Brian Dammid (that's Mr. Dammid to you copper) stops in. Contains this joke: (sorta, can't remember exact wording)
Neal's Dad: (speaking of an actress on "The Good Life") I want to admire and protect her.
Vyvian: That's first time I ever heard it called that!
And of course, the 'driving instructor from Johannesburg'.

That was in the ep.Sick, Brian. And it was Brian Damage (like Brain Damage)...sometimes it's hard for us yanks to totally to pick up on the accents, I suppose. Especially Alexi's.

Lots of great moments in that one- when the topic of TYO was mentioned in the Argument Clinic board I made a passing reference to Brian Damage. The whole bit goes like this "I was walking a dog, and this bloke, he comes to me and says, "Nice day, innit?" But it wasn't. It wasn't a nice day. It was a little bit cloudy. Which makes him very sar-carstic. So acting as if nothing would happen, I took his head, right, put it in me mouth, right, acting dead casual-like, clamped me teeth, and BIT HIS HEAD OFF!! Cause I hate people being sar-carstic."

And Vivyan's "highly articulate outburst" against The Good Life, which gets Neil's Dad defensive about Felicity Kendall goes like this- "NO!! No! We're not watching the bloody Good Life!! Bloody bloody bloody!! I hate it!! ... They're just a couple of reactionary stereotypes, confirming the myth that everyone in Britain is a lovable, middle-class eccentric - and I - HATE - THEM!!"

Great stuff- definitely a top 3 ep.

oops, sorry Butch. Musta had Brian on the brain...

Not a problem Miko, I do sometimes have trouble with accents.
Speaking of brain damage, what was the episode with the psycho blonde that kept trying to kill the boys?

I remember that, but can't recall the ep.

To tell the truth, as much as I love the show I haven't really watched it for 7 years or so. Last weekend I got out the tapes and checked out Cash and Oil since the thread got me in the mood. Great fun, after all these years.

Unfortunately one of my tapes, containing three eps (including Nasty ), is damaged though I shall be getting to all the rest eventually...

To answer my own question, the episode with the psycho blonde axe murderess was "Time" with Jennifer Saunders playing her.

BBC America ran "Sick" last night and they cut the bit where Brian pins the policeman's head to the door with a knife. Blasted censors! Hmph!

Dear Fascist bully-boy, give me some money, Boomshanka, Neil.

Can't remember which episode it comes from, but I love this exchange:

Rik: I'm going to write to my MP!
Neal: You don't have an MP, Rik - you're an anarchist!
Rik: Alright then, I'm going to write to the lead singer of Echo and the Bunnymen!

I may have paraprahed it a bit!