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THE YOUNG ONES

My dad absolutely loves this show...Spike Milligan; what a 'broke-the-mould-when-they-made-him' sorta guy....a Central Coast of NSW human, much like my petite self...:)
 
I watched The Young Ones earlier this year. I reckon it still holds up, though lots of other shows have obviously been influenced by it (e.g. Boosh), just as TYO was obviously influenced by Python. My first introduction to Python was people retelling entire sketches in kitchens at parties ... Python fans used to always hang out in kitchens at parties, lol.

I love The Life of Brian, and The Holy Grail is pretty good too (still love Brave Sir Robyn, and the Knights who say Ni), but for me Python were a bunch of talented but elite private school boys who lived in a comedy world where women either weren't overly important or mustn't have been considered funny.

To some extent, the same could be said of TYO, but at least they had French and Saunders (and others, like Vivian's mum, she was so funny), and their plot actually accommodated a lack of women, and women were always used for the women roles. Plus Ben Elton is a true feminist and social activist. So I find TYO easier to watch. (Not trying to diss Python fans, Monty Python were hugely talented and iconic, and who doesn't love the Four Yorkshiremen or the parrot sketch. But as well as loving them, they also bugged me.)

TYO is so fun to quote too. When things go wrong I still say 'Only pop music can save us now'. We used to quote a lot of the lines mentioned here, but a couple not already mentioned that we used to say ad nauseam are:
'Yes we've got a video' and
'Crop rotation in the 14th century was considerably more widespread after John.'
As well as calling people 'complete and utter bastards'. Plus plenty more I can't remember now.

I loved Alexi Sayle too. He thought that by the end of TYO the team had joined the establishment they were sending up, which may well be true. But I still love it. Plus I was a huge Madness fan. Nough said.
 
I was only little when The Young Ones came out, but I remember first watching it when I was about 12 or 13. My sister's boyfriend at the time had them all recorded on VHS and swore that I would love it. I watched one episode, and I was hooked. I remember asking other kids at school "have you seen The Young Ones?" and when I found one or two that did, it felt like we were the cool kids of a secret cult.

It's only a shame they made 12 episodes, but that show definitely sparked my love of UK comedy.

Also, that show Bottom, with Rik and Ade in it. I like to think that is Rick and Vyvyan grown up.

RIP RIK MAYALL
 
...The Young One's/Monty Python/The Goodies/Bottom and The Goon Show!!!!!... seriously... I have died and gone to insane heaven!!!!... I have loved all of these shows at one time or another!!!... the Python movies are priceless!!!... I will be watching this thread forever lol!... thanks for starting it up Lionheart... a great idea!... cheers.
 
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