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June 12, 2006
DVDs
"Are You Being Served?" I first discovered the BBC sitcom “Are You Being Served” in 1990, when it aired in the United States, unedited, on public television. At the time, few TV series were available on home video; but because I loved the show, I decided to tape all 69 episodes onto Super VHS tapes for future enjoyment. In the intervening years, DVDs were invented and today are commonplace. And in recent years, networks and production companies have learned that, for each TV series, there are at least a few (like me) who are fanatical about it. “Are You Being Served?” is about the “antics” of the salespeople in the ladies’ and gentlemen’s departments of a fictitious London department stores called “Grace Brothers”. The show is marked with a plethora of double-entendres and innuendos. Problem is, they’re all still hilarious, no matter how often you hear them! While I won’t go into detail about the complete cast of characters, the one character – and actress – whom I will single out is Mollie Sugden, who played the 50-ish senior saleslady, Mrs. Slocombe. Over the ten seasons that the series aired on BBC1 (a TV season on BBC consisted of only 6-7 episodes), Mrs. Slocombe coined some of the most memorable phrases, such as: - “Weak as water, that’s what you are!” - “I refuse to wait for my raise … and I am unanimous in that!” - and, of course, her frequent references to her housepet, which she called her “pussy” There are, of course, other funny characters, like the stuffy floorwalker, the randy junior salesman, the ambiguously-gay senior salesman who enjoys selling underwear, the out-of-touch department manager, and the octogenarian store owner who has heart palpitations whenever his secretary opens the lower file cabinet drawer. In addition to the series episodes, there are also bonus discs which contain related BBC specials, as well as the first episode of the 1996 reunion series called “Are You Being Served? Again!” (the show was called “Grace and Favour” in the UK). I’m so happy that the complete series is now available on DVD; I can now throw away 30-plus VHS cassettes which were worn down anyway!
CB
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