sometimes in the background of season one there’s another unnamed person in the house! They’re just known as the 5th housemate but some people have dubbed them Petyr
@@dannyspelman1468 mr bolovsky is his name that's what I was thinking but he's no really a housemate in the sense but alexi sayle does appear in the opening credits
Maybe you had to be there. I was 11 when it started. It was unlike anything else. My brother and I knew every word of series 1 (Yes, we had a video!) and we used to get to sleep by reciting entire episodes to each other. We also had a major dog in the fight because Rik was from my hometown, and we used to see his dad out walking in the park of an evening. He was a lovely man, always ready with a joke or snarky comment. It was the first thing we felt was truly ours, after all the other comedy of the late 70s.
Living in the US, we got the episodes later without any details (how many seasons/eps?) and I would have dreams about a new episode-and then wake up upset. Also, for years I thought it was, "Bambi goes crazy eight bonkers with his drill and *sex*" and not "set". Mine makes more sense as a video nasty, eh?
I agree. I was 13 years old when the first series was aired and 15 for the second series. It felt revolutionary, anarchic humour for us the youth, our parents didn't understand it or like it, which was a bonus. I was also born in Droitwich but moved to Malvern when I was 4.
The young ones absolutely anarchic. But it kept within the sitcom rules. The episodes were very structured. But contained sscenes of anarchy like the bed falling twenty feet from the studio ceiling.
I was 12 when it started and it's hard to explain the impact it had. There was nothing like it before and there really hasn't been anything quite like it since. I remember being with a bunch of kids at a friends house and all of us crammed round a small 80s television watching it. Devouring every moment, feeling depressed when the episode ended. Then the next day in school everyone quoting lines from it.
@@EnchantedEssays You’re welcome. It really was a hugely impactful show. The Comic Strip was great too but I don’t think it was quite as important as The Young Ones.
@@grahamblack1961 Five Go Mad in Dorset was the best episode from that, and was also the first one. It was also shown on the very first evening of Channel 4, when loads were watching just to see what a fourth TV channel would be like.
@@RevStickleback My favourites are Five Go Mad in Dorset, Dirty Movie, Bad News and The Bullshitters. Some episodes are quite forgettable but the best ones are absolute classics.
As a kid at the end of Season 1 Episode 1 of The Young Ones, I just could not stop laughing even after the credits rolled and it actually hurt to the point that I thought I was going to 'die laughing'. That's probably only happened 4 or 5 times in my entire life where I just could not stop laughing and it hurt. Looking back, it was just a surreal farcical comedy but it was done so well, you just couldn't predict what was going to happen next, it was anarchic humour.
It is actually possible to die laughing. It happened to some poor man while he was watching the Goodies in the 70s...it was the Ecky Thump episode when Bill Oddie is going around using a black pudding as a cosh and knocking people out with it. TIm and Graham are trying to come up with a martial art that can beat it and keep getting a good coshing, its hysterical and its sending up the tv show Kung Fu...it looks dated now, but its still fun and inventive. The chap in question had a heart condition and was not well...his wife did say that she was glad he was happy when he died, despite everything and he had loved the Goodies....
@@EnchantedEssays Its a classic. If you want to see some really funny 70s tv. There are so many great episodes of the Goodies. It really does showcase the 70s as they are often sending up the problems of the day, and riffing on the films and pop culture of the time. Some greats are The Goodes and the Beanstalk...that one is just pant wettingly funny from start to finish. And Kitten Kong is a classic. Then there is the Movies with its inventive madcap chase and tricks, and stuff like the Saturday Night Fever pastiche from later in their run, Bunfight at the OK Tea Rooms was another moment everyone was talking about for some time after as well.....These days some would look down on the Goodies as silly, childish, dated, racist etc. But if you were there watching it ( I was too young, and just about got old enough for its later series) then it was event Tv like the Young Ones, it ran right through the 70s and covers the whole mess of events of that decade. Try the Goodies Rule OK if you want to know what it was like to be a 70s kid....
@@Simon-xc5oy dunno about the 'dying happy'' part; you could be laughing uncontrollably and then suddenly pain envelops you and you get difficulties breathing - I expect that the sudden sense of dread when you realize that something terrible is happening to your body must be horrendous.
Oh that's good to hear. I saw him twice before I really knew who he was. Once in the play he did with Adrian Edmondson and once at a book festival. I'm planning on seeing him on the Comic Strip Tour too
Strangely this was family viewing in my home, well, me and mum, mum loved it, but she was raised on the Goons and was a fan of Monty Python. You could, if you squint, see it as continuing the chaotic tradition of those comedy troupes.
Indeed! There's a fantastic interview that Mayall did on Wogan where he said that they were both a huge inspiration. I know Spike Milligan didn't like him, but I asked Eric Idle what he thought of them on twitter a couple of months ago and he said that he loved them. Thanks for watching!
Same. I watched it with my parents. We all thought it was the most incredible thing. There literally wasn’t anything like it at the time. Happily my 14 year old son loves it and we even visited the house a few years ago.
A good review. Thank you. The show was very much of its time. Watching as a teenager from Australia, it was like an amazing insight into how anarchy can also be clever, when everything we had been watching from the UK was bawdy vaudeville (e.g. Carry On, Benny Hill, Kenny Everett, etc). The references were big in the schoolyard and in parties. I am not sure it can be as well understood 40 years on. There is no Thatcher, Cold War or Apartheid as there was then - just different stuff to worry about.
Thank you! Yeah, I see what you mean, but I understood the topical references and they aren't the main body of the humour. A lot of the political comedy of the 80s has renewed relevance in the UK, as we've had a conservative government for over 10 years now and they are even more openly ruthless than they were then! Thanks for watching!
Overrated? NEVER! One of the most imaginative and creative shows ever made. I saw it back in the day, and I remember the last episode "Summer Holiday" ending where they all died in the bus crash, jesus that was bleak, it hit hard and it was like an era ending.
It was deeply upsetting. I still have not forgiven them for that ending. I half expected them to come staggering out of the quarry all charred and burnt like the end of the Bomb episode or whichever one that was....I really need to watch these things again. Its a while since I watched season 2. I think out of all of them that last episode is the weakest one. So maybe it was a good thing to end it there, what else could they do next after all?
@@Simon-xc5oy I like the ending and I think it was good that it had such a definitive ending so that they could leave on a high, but I can certainly see how that must have been devastating for fans at the time!
@@EnchantedEssays Yes I know. It works. At the time though, we were all bereft. And Filthy Rich and Catflap was not as good as a follow up. After watching your other video on that I ended up getting hold of it again. And I have watched the first two, and found myself laughing so much at it, far more than I expected. I suppose I miss Rik and Ade so much and even their worst material is still so much better than comedy today, its grown into a better show as the years have passed. As quality for everything else has fallen.
I remember watching the Young Ones with my older brother. I wasn't even 10 years old but It made such a lasting impression on me with it's anarchic, mad, violent comedy. All my friends would attempt to do mimic Vyv or we would play the characters in the playground lol
You use "revolutionary" and didn't touch upon what made their fame possible: the vcr. Because of the vcr, people recorded and shared the show *and then* it became a hit. Note how many of the episodes have a one frame shot that goes by too quickly...unless you have a vcr with a pause button.
@@EnchantedEssays In 1982 only 10% of UK households had a VCR so I think it's probably a stretch to say that people sharing tapes is what made their fame possible. Even by 1985 it was still less than a third of households that had one.
@@sauljeavons9934 Yes. Exactly. Videos were shockingly expensive back in the early to mid 80s. You were talking anywhere between £350 - £800 or more. At our school you were lucky if one person in the class had parents rich enough to buy one. At the time the country was in a mess, same as today. Inflation, job worries, strikes, civil unrest...people were fighting to get by. A video was a serious luxury item. People wanted one, but it took a long time to catch on with the vast majority and become mainstream. It was not till about 1986 / 87 that the prices had come down and more people started to buy them. Heh...happy days...In the early 90s I was working in electronics, before I got into I.T. and one of the things I used to make some money on as a sideline was repairing peoples VCRs and Tvs....it let me get enough cash to buy my own...a Panasonic...I will never forget that thing. The noise it made when you loaded a tape, it sounded like it was getting dropped down a flight of stairs...that was before the whirring started....Want to watch a dodgy film late at night in your room without the parents noticing...not a chance......heh.....
I was 12 when it first appeared. It was less like a breath of fresh air and more like you'd snorted a pile of Trebor Mint dust. I went to a school Christmas fancy dress as Vivien and my mate went as Rik. I won first prize. 😆 I'm a huge Alexei Sayle fan...hence the name. Alexei's best Stuff...ironically, isn't his Stuff TV series. If you can find it, his live show called 'Cak' from the early 80s is probably as essentially Alexei as it gets. Some of the material gets an airing in the Young Ones.
I was ready to comment "overrated, what is wrong with you?" but watching to the end of the video is always advisable before reaching for keyboard - I am glad you warmed to it. I found the whole show laugh out loud funny. Born in 1980 I must have seen them on reruns but wow they are great. With the little puppet character side scenes, it was like a doff of the cap to Terry Gilliam's animated scenes of Monty Python.
The Young Ones I saw at a very young age when it orginally aired and it was mind-blowing. When Viyvyan is decapitated in the Bambi episode that scare the wits out of me as a child but I became fascinated with these guys ever since. I still think it is one of the greatest TV sitcoms ever form any country. Excellent video. Subbed for life! BTW Alexi Sale did a cool show from the 90s called Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round I highly recommend that
As Mike would say, "Uncanny!" I just finished rewatching this series early this morning, and I'd vote Revolutionary. The Young Ones and The Monkees are my two favorite shows, and there's quite a lot of similarities if you think about it: both have groups of four distinct personalities, musical numbers with elements of "the romp" thrown in, strange and surprising editing techniques, breaking the fourth wall, and they both have a "Mike" in them, both of whom are "cool".
Indeed, and both Mikes are leaders! It's never been cited as inspiration [as far as I can tell], but Mayall would have been 8 or 9 when it first aired over here and Mayer and Elton were younger than him, so they would have almost certainly seen it. Thanks for watching!
Ahh the Monkees...the staple, go to show for kids morning Tv during the school holidays. Every single summer, for six weeks you knew that at some point in the mornings the Monkees would be on that beach being groovy. Along with Champion the Wonder Horse, The Hair Bear Bunch, Top Cat and Robinson Crusoe...Its so sad to think that Mike is the only one left alive now. I have come to respect the music they did far more as I have got older. And yes it was not all written and played by them but its streets ahead of what passes for pop music now. It has its own identity in the 60s, especially American music...its amazing they kept the show so upbeat when you think of what was going on with Vietnam and the civil rights movement....and songs like The Porpoise song and Going Down are just trippy...far out man....
Revolutionary from my perspective. I was nearing my teenage years when the show was first broadcast so unsurprisingly got lured in by the promise of a balls to the wall, irreverent, anarchic, rock and roll comedy packed with a host of familiar faces I was already a huge fan of especially Rik and Ade who I was mired in than familiar with from their Dangerous Brothers skits alone. So I still clearly remember how impactful the show was on my childhood not to mention my sense of humour in general as each show gleefully bounced from scene to scene all the while tossing in extra mayhem with surrealism, stand up routines, musical interlude, talking animals and good old fashioned comedy violence. And so it rapidly became one of those “talk of the playground” topics whereby you’d eagerly boast to your classmates about last nights episode whilst quoting entire scenes and risking the teacher’s wrath should they discover what you were talking about! And so, as is the case, I think it resonates most with the people who were there from the start though it’s also found great admiration and fanaticism from modern audiences. As a Brit I’m unaware of how it landed worldwide but certainly the legendary Rik wasn’t quite the global phenomenon overseas that he was back in Blighty with Drop Dead Fred being his calling card first many instead of the cavalcade of chaos that includes The New Statesman, The Comic Strip, Kevin Turvey and Lord Flashheart. Besides how else was a young innocent kid to delightfully discover that crop rotation in the 14th century was CONSIDERABLY more widespread after John?!? Come on, shut up and tell me the answer!
Thanks for watching! I always love reading comments from people who saw these things when they came out! Yeah I know it did very well in Australia [as well as Rik and Ade's later stuff, I think] and it had at least some following in the US, as it was shown on MTV and they had Neil on as a video jockey when he was promoting his album. I know it was huge in Catalonia and I think they did well in a few other places in Europe [I know Rik at least was famous in the Netherlands, but I don't know when that fame started].
The first series was great, but the second really went up a gear with such a strong opening episode, not to mention Motorhead's cameo actually feeling like part of the episode rather than a strange 3 minutes of a band being shoehorned in. I was about 12 when it first came out, and while people will always say it was unlike anything before, and it was, in truth I never noticed that it was groundbreaking. I just found it funny.
The Young Ones was the highlight of the decade to me. Nothing else was like it at the time and the anarchy was most welcome at a time of humdrum mediocrity and vile politics.
Oh awesome! I don't think it's shown over here [I think it was shown on BBC Four in recent years, but I don't know if it still is and it's mostly an arts documentary channel]. Thanks for watching!
It’s odd. I watch it now and it is far less funny. But then, there was nothing like it at the time. It had a manic energy. I think They came from somewhere else even came before it. Now THAT was groundbreaking, and few know about it. It’s on youtube somewhere..
@@EnchantedEssays I think influence. Young ones gave us very young guys like alexi sayle…Ben Elton throwing stuff out to see what stuck.. anything goes comedy..which was brave…as opposed to what was on…Terry and June… but actually easier to write… stories went nowhere…gags ended..and moved on..falling flat often..I think they were all learning their craft… alternative comedy grew…went up its own butt a bit.. but young ones was essential viewing at the time. It was thatchers Britain. We needed something.
I've been a huge fan of this show since I first watched it. I remember my earliest experience of it when the episode Sick was on the same tape as the Wallace and Gromit episode, A Grand Day Out. I properly watched the Young Ones at about age 9. I told my mam all about how awesome it was and she was like; "yes, well you shouldn't have watched it". Mind you, it ain't exactly for kids innit.
Yeah I'd say that the perfect age for the Young Ones is about 12 or 13. You're old enough to get the adult jokes, but it's still radical and exciting [I think most episodes are rated 12 and some are rated PG]. Thanks for watching!
I do think you had to see it at the time. At the time it seemed like nothing I'd ever seen before, but seen "post", it just looks like random nonsense in many ways.
I was 14 when The Young Ones first hit our screens and I thought it was revolutionary, it was like our Monty Python, i still watch it along with Bottom and the comic strip presents 😜
@@EnchantedEssays no probs ⚡ you will love it, all the usual people are in it...rik mayal, fry and laurie, dawn french, jim broadbent and helen lederer 😜 enjoy
Madness sold more records in the 1980's in the UK than any other act. They deserve every sale a fantastic group and I have enjoyed these essays into Rik and ades work. The young ones is something I saw when about 10 on reruns and it was incredible at the time since it's so like a live action cartoon and while it hasn't held up as well as bottom it's influence is enormous. I doubt the boosh or the league of gentleman would have been on screen if this hadn't changed what comedy could be
Absolutely! I've just recorded a video on Madness! Yeah absolutely, and a world without the Boosh or the League would be a dull world indeed! Thanks for watching!
Sop many comments from people who were 11, 12 etc. at the time who loved it. Kind of sums it up for me. I was about 13 at the time and loved it at the time but I look back now and it's infantile slapstick dressed up as comedy. Very childish and that's why it appealed to children. Good for people who are nostalgic for their childhood
In the Summer Holliday episode where they’re playing Botticelli Rik reveals the answer, “I was Paul Squires!” To which Viv and Mike say, “who?”. For years it was a mystery to me. Who was Paul Squires? Kids at school didn’t know. My parents didn’t know. I asked a librarian and she didn’t know. It was one of life’s unsolved mysteries that I would often return to usually when unable to sleep. Then a few years ago during a bout of insomnia the eternal question came to me once more and in a eureka moment I realised I had the internet and looked him up, apparently he was a actor/comedian who had his own self titled show on the bbc in 1981 before fading into obscurity and the Butlins circuit shortly after. Surely only a revolutionary show could set a lad off on a forty year long existential quest of self discovery
You might like Alexei Sayle's Stuff, a sketch show from the late 1980's and early 90's. The Young Ones was a huge hit here in Australia when it was shown on ABC TV. Rik (in character) and Ben even hosted an episode of Countdown, a very popular local music programme similar to Top Of The Pops.
I've been meaning to check it out. Ah yes I've seen that! I've been meaning to listen to that bootleg of their Australian tour that was found a few months ago
I was 13 years old when the first series was aired and 15 for the second series. It felt revolutionary, anarchic humour for us the youth, our parents didn't understand it or like it, which was a bonus.
Yeah you have to remember what the general viewing situation was like in the UK in those days. Terry and June was the most popular show on TV at the time. Or It Ain’t Half Hot Mum or Mind your language type shows weren’t that long before. The Young Ones comes across now as what it was - gleefully amateurish and about as funny as food poisoning. In some way you knew that was the case, even watching it at the time. But no one cared, everyone forgave it completely and enjoyed it. Why? There was a lot to rebel against, See above. It was needed. It opened the gates wide open for just about everything that came after.
Really? I mean, the violence of punks was definitely blown out of proportion by society at the time, but some of them believe in political violence, don't they?
I used to like The Young Ones at the time but watching episodes a few years later it's a little cringe and it's mainly just shouting...really aged poorly
I see what you mean. As I said, it took me a long time to warm to it, and I couldn't get my brother into it at all. I think the perfect age to watch it is about 12. Thanks for watching!
I would say there's some good stuff from the early 2000s [Green Wings, Black Books, the Mighty Boosh, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, the IT Crowd etc.] but not as much since then. Even then, it never felt like a movement, really. From the sounds of it, networks no longer trust creators and don't give them the free reign they used to. Thanks for watching!
I loved the Young Ones when I was, well, young, and the well-worn cliche is that the parks, football pitches and playgrounds would empty whenever the Young Ones was on.......but it's hard to think of many sitcoms that have aged as badly as the Young Ones. Of course, with the passing of time, and what is deemed acceptable and not acceptable when it comes to certain language and themes constantly changes, and therefore many sitcoms fall victim to this. Love Thy Neighbour and 'Til Death Do Us Part are the two that spring immediately to mind, but there are so many. The Young Ones is odd in that it didn't really use racist language in an offensive way (the famous 'n' word scene with the policeman was absolutely not racist, and in fact was tackling police racism - context is everything) that maybe other comedies did, and was in fact a very progressive comedy in many ways, but has aged really badly. So why is that? Well, I think that while it was undoubtedly a revolutionary comedy which mixed surrealism and the punk ethos of the time, and rode the zeitgeist with topical references, it's those topical references that most young people these days wouldn't get ("I HOPE YOU'RE SATISFIED THATCHER!" being one), and some of the language, in particular the insults, are immature to the point of being incredibly cringeworthy - I think most 10 year olds would find some of the language embarrassing now, while the studio audience are in absolute fits of laughter. I get why - language like that on the BBC was revolutionary at the time, but it really hasn't held up well. I would also add I always found Alexei Sayle's deliberately manic, over-the-top cameos to be incredibly irritating and just not funny at all. To sum up, I would say the Young Ones deserves it's place amonst the all-time classics of British comedy, but has it aged well? Absolutely not. A classic very much of it's time, but not one I can see myself going back and watching again.
Thanks for watching! Actually, I partially disagree. I think that it is quite of its time and would never have the same impact now, but a lot of the comedy is innately timeless in its simplicity. There are very few topical references and I understood nearly all of them. Even at the most ideal age to watch it [12/13] I would have known about Thatcher and apartheid. I agree with you on the ploppy pants stuff though. It's a good thing they allowed them to swear on Channel 4! I'm actually curious as to what the Beeb's policy was on swearing [I'm guessing it changed between Bottom and League of Gentlemen]. Sorry it took so long for me to reply to this comment. I wanted to give it the time it deserved.
Hmm I hadn't thought of comparing it to that. I suppose it's very different structurally, but Rick has a similar angry intensity to Basil. I have already checked out Filthy Rich and Catflap and you can find out what I thought of it here: th-cam.com/video/JdaOAu3JQKI/w-d-xo.html
It's definitely a bit overrated. Half of the comedy seems to be trying way too hard to appeal to teenagers and young adults. As someone who absolutely adored this show when I was 18 and now is nearly over a decade older most of the humour doesn't hit as hard as it once did
Yeah absolutely. That random style of comedy definitely strikes a chord with teens. from the stuff the pythons did to the stuff I watched on TH-cam as a kid to the stuff kids watch online now! Thanks for watching!
I was about 7 when this aired and I love every episode this sitcom was the only sitcom other than the stand up Dave Allen Benny hill and fawlty towers great dialogue very wickedly funny
@@EnchantedEssays me too yes primeminister are you being served absolutely fabulous black adder mr bean Fawlty young ones man about the house neigbours
Yeah that's partially true, although I think he is quite self-deprecating. He called his performance in Happy Families "appalling", and he was my favourite thing in it! I think Bottom is better though. It's more timeless. Thanks for watching!
Oh...wow man...Heavy!!!! I feel sorry for you in some ways. You had to be there. It was the 80s...It was indeed as Rik said, Thatchers Britain. In other words, miserable, depressing, everyone worried sick about their jobs and nuclear war (thats still the same now I suppose) the dole....and then suddenly there was the Young Ones. It was the antidote to Terry and June, The Good Life, Open All Hours and Are You Being Served. It was made by young cool people for young people. It was utterly bonkers, and it had no narrative at all, that was the point. It was just four totally different people, stuck living in the same house, who all hated one another for various reasons or did not get on, or were just so different, they may as well be from another planet. That was the point of it. That was where the comedy came from, how they all approached the various crazy problems with different methods. It was iconic after the first episode! The whole country was talking about it, the adults and older people hated it. If you were in your twenties or younger you would be on the floor laughing at it. I lost count of the amount of times I talked to people at school who used to dodge out of various post school activities to ensure they did not miss it. As they DID NOT HAVE A VIDEO!!! So Cubs and Scouts were skived from, swimming lessons were escaped, home work ignored and one lad I knew faked a fall from a tree and twisted ankle so he could stay home to watch it rather than be dragged off on a weekly Supermarket shop...it was that important to us all. Every episode is so totally different. Each is a self contained masterpiece. Rik and Ade perfected their slapstick violence and constant bickering and fighting in this show, that is why Bottom is so good. They never reached the hights of the Young Ones again, and spent a long time trying to top it...Bottom comes close a lot, but it was Rik and Viv and Neil and Mike, the differences between them that made it....Neil!!! Your Bed's on Fire!!!!!!! The following poor Neil responds with sums the whole thing up!!! Its a good job the guys told me otherwise I would have got in and burnt to death! How can you top comedy like that? There is not a single line or scene in any episode that is not pure gold.
Made for young people, by young people? Sounds like Nozin' Around! 😂 I always love stories from people who were there at the time! It must have been so exciting! Thank you so much for sharing your story!
@@EnchantedEssays Yes Nozin Around was pretty much the truth. It always made me laugh as it was such a send up of what they were actually doing and what was going on. They were pretty much mocking any show aimed at a younger / teen or 20 something audience. A parody of itself by itself. When Ch4 started their entire output more or less seemed exactly like Nozin Around. They had a show on Sundays called Network 7 with Magenta Devine, sadly no longer with us, and that truly was Nozin around....
Yeah he's an acquired taste. It took me a long time to get used to him along with the pace in general. I liked him by the end and I think his work in Comic Strip Presents was just brilliant
@@PC1974 I liked it. I'll review it at some point. It's a bit like Comic Strip Presents but with an ongoing narrative. Adrian Edmondson plays this idiotic posh guy who has to look for his 4 long lost sisters, all of whom are played by Jennifer Saunders
@@rogerhage1377 Yes I must watch more of his stuff. I recommend the 2 Comic Strip Presents episodes he had a leading role in: Didn't you kill my brother? and The Strike
@@EnchantedEssays Not only was it a springboard for some of the best comedians, The Young Ones also made some important political and social commentary. Admittedly, that dates this series a bit. But if you were around at the time, it still has the magic. 👍
@@EnchantedEssays Oh, for sure. But all the Thatcher stuff, and the Scarman report jokes (for example) are definitely "of their time." Unless you know about them, a lot of the jokes can go over the head. Luckily, I'm old enough to remember.👨🦳😄 (It's nice to talk about this stuff. Thank you.)
It's integral to the episode. Vivien's entry into the win a new Ford Tippex competition has been successful and the bloke ringing the doorbell is the rep coming to tell Vivien he's won. The racist policeman is lurking in the bushes with intent, the joke is the glasses make everyone look Black, so he's justifying to himself the arrest - also poking fun at the Met at that time who were (and let's face it, still are) inherently racist.
No more tagged on than any of their cutaway gags, but, at the same time you don't notice that there's been a cut in the edited version. Thanks for watching!
It's funny to read the comments of people who think they are too grown up now to still be fans of the Young Ones. They have obviously been molded by society instead of staying in touch with their inner child or maybe they're just humourless twats.
It's a show I can absolutely understand someone personally growing out of, as I think the most ideal age to see it is around 12 or 13, but to say definitively that adults can't enjoy it is almost certainly false. I enjoyed it by the end and, because I was staying with my dad whilst writing this, I rewatched it with him and he enjoyed it, despite missing it when it came out. Besides, the live studio audience, made up of adults, were laughing. Anyone who was anyone in comedy was in it. I think a lot of people forget how subjective comedy can be.
Why does she say 5 people live in the house
sometimes in the background of season one there’s another unnamed person in the house! They’re just known as the 5th housemate but some people have dubbed them Petyr
@@squarebracket565 there is?
Mike, Rick, Neil and Vivian. 🤔 Maybe she counted the Bulgarian landlord.
One of the running jokes is the mysterious fifth housemate who goes un-named and never gets any lines, but can sometimes be spotted in the background.
@@dannyspelman1468 mr bolovsky is his name that's what I was thinking but he's no really a housemate in the sense but alexi sayle does appear in the opening credits
Maybe you had to be there. I was 11 when it started. It was unlike anything else. My brother and I knew every word of series 1 (Yes, we had a video!) and we used to get to sleep by reciting entire episodes to each other. We also had a major dog in the fight because Rik was from my hometown, and we used to see his dad out walking in the park of an evening. He was a lovely man, always ready with a joke or snarky comment. It was the first thing we felt was truly ours, after all the other comedy of the late 70s.
Living in the US, we got the episodes later without any details (how many seasons/eps?) and I would have dreams about a new episode-and then wake up upset. Also, for years I thought it was, "Bambi goes crazy eight bonkers with his drill and *sex*" and not "set". Mine makes more sense as a video nasty, eh?
@@mikeszilagyi6781 it was 2 series. Only about 12 eps in total. I still think it’s ’drill and sex', it makes more sense.
I agree. I was 13 years old when the first series was aired and 15 for the second series. It felt revolutionary, anarchic humour for us the youth, our parents didn't understand it or like it, which was a bonus. I was also born in Droitwich but moved to Malvern when I was 4.
@@garethtatler6886 the weird thing was, my parents loved it. My dad spent the rest of his life calling me a complete and utter bastard!
The young ones absolutely anarchic. But it kept within the sitcom rules. The episodes were very structured. But contained sscenes of anarchy like the bed falling twenty feet from the studio ceiling.
I was 12 when it started and it's hard to explain the impact it had. There was nothing like it before and there really hasn't been anything quite like it since. I remember being with a bunch of kids at a friends house and all of us crammed round a small 80s television watching it. Devouring every moment, feeling depressed when the episode ended. Then the next day in school everyone quoting lines from it.
Thanks for watching, Graham. I always love hearing from people who watched the stuff I talk about at the time it came out
@@EnchantedEssays You’re welcome. It really was a hugely impactful show. The Comic Strip was great too but I don’t think it was quite as important as The Young Ones.
@@grahamblack1961 Agreed!
@@grahamblack1961 Five Go Mad in Dorset was the best episode from that, and was also the first one. It was also shown on the very first evening of Channel 4, when loads were watching just to see what a fourth TV channel would be like.
@@RevStickleback My favourites are Five Go Mad in Dorset, Dirty Movie, Bad News and The Bullshitters. Some episodes are quite forgettable but the best ones are absolute classics.
"Not necessarily their best work but perhaps their most important." Perfectly said, I have never thought of it that way.
Thank you!
As a kid at the end of Season 1 Episode 1 of The Young Ones, I just could not stop laughing even after the credits rolled and it actually hurt to the point that I thought I was going to 'die laughing'. That's probably only happened 4 or 5 times in my entire life where I just could not stop laughing and it hurt.
Looking back, it was just a surreal farcical comedy but it was done so well, you just couldn't predict what was going to happen next, it was anarchic humour.
Indeed! I think even if you're not a fan of that style of humour, you have to admit that they were probably the best at it. Thanks for watching!
It is actually possible to die laughing. It happened to some poor man while he was watching the Goodies in the 70s...it was the Ecky Thump episode when Bill Oddie is going around using a black pudding as a cosh and knocking people out with it. TIm and Graham are trying to come up with a martial art that can beat it and keep getting a good coshing, its hysterical and its sending up the tv show Kung Fu...it looks dated now, but its still fun and inventive. The chap in question had a heart condition and was not well...his wife did say that she was glad he was happy when he died, despite everything and he had loved the Goodies....
@@Simon-xc5oy Wow! That is an interesting story! It's one of the few Goodies episodes I've seen as well
@@EnchantedEssays Its a classic. If you want to see some really funny 70s tv. There are so many great episodes of the Goodies. It really does showcase the 70s as they are often sending up the problems of the day, and riffing on the films and pop culture of the time. Some greats are The Goodes and the Beanstalk...that one is just pant wettingly funny from start to finish. And Kitten Kong is a classic. Then there is the Movies with its inventive madcap chase and tricks, and stuff like the Saturday Night Fever pastiche from later in their run, Bunfight at the OK Tea Rooms was another moment everyone was talking about for some time after as well.....These days some would look down on the Goodies as silly, childish, dated, racist etc. But if you were there watching it ( I was too young, and just about got old enough for its later series) then it was event Tv like the Young Ones, it ran right through the 70s and covers the whole mess of events of that decade. Try the Goodies Rule OK if you want to know what it was like to be a 70s kid....
@@Simon-xc5oy dunno about the 'dying happy'' part; you could be laughing uncontrollably and then suddenly pain envelops you and you get difficulties breathing - I expect that the sudden sense of dread when you realize that something terrible is happening to your body must be horrendous.
Served Nigel Planer years ago when I worked for a well known UK retailer. Lovely guy.
Oh that's good to hear. I saw him twice before I really knew who he was. Once in the play he did with Adrian Edmondson and once at a book festival. I'm planning on seeing him on the Comic Strip Tour too
Strangely this was family viewing in my home, well, me and mum, mum loved it, but she was raised on the Goons and was a fan of Monty Python. You could, if you squint, see it as continuing the chaotic tradition of those comedy troupes.
Indeed! There's a fantastic interview that Mayall did on Wogan where he said that they were both a huge inspiration. I know Spike Milligan didn't like him, but I asked Eric Idle what he thought of them on twitter a couple of months ago and he said that he loved them. Thanks for watching!
Same. I watched it with my parents. We all thought it was the most incredible thing. There literally wasn’t anything like it at the time. Happily my 14 year old son loves it and we even visited the house a few years ago.
@@punzai72 Awesome! I must visit it at some point! It would be cool if they made it into a museum, wouldn't it?
A good review. Thank you. The show was very much of its time. Watching as a teenager from Australia, it was like an amazing insight into how anarchy can also be clever, when everything we had been watching from the UK was bawdy vaudeville (e.g. Carry On, Benny Hill, Kenny Everett, etc). The references were big in the schoolyard and in parties. I am not sure it can be as well understood 40 years on. There is no Thatcher, Cold War or Apartheid as there was then - just different stuff to worry about.
Thank you! Yeah, I see what you mean, but I understood the topical references and they aren't the main body of the humour. A lot of the political comedy of the 80s has renewed relevance in the UK, as we've had a conservative government for over 10 years now and they are even more openly ruthless than they were then! Thanks for watching!
Overrated? NEVER! One of the most imaginative and creative shows ever made. I saw it back in the day, and I remember the last episode "Summer Holiday" ending where they all died in the bus crash, jesus that was bleak, it hit hard and it was like an era ending.
Indeed, but I think they were right to stop using the characters when they did. They would have been stale otherwise. Thanks for watching!
It was deeply upsetting. I still have not forgiven them for that ending. I half expected them to come staggering out of the quarry all charred and burnt like the end of the Bomb episode or whichever one that was....I really need to watch these things again. Its a while since I watched season 2. I think out of all of them that last episode is the weakest one. So maybe it was a good thing to end it there, what else could they do next after all?
@@Simon-xc5oy I like the ending and I think it was good that it had such a definitive ending so that they could leave on a high, but I can certainly see how that must have been devastating for fans at the time!
@@EnchantedEssays Yes I know. It works. At the time though, we were all bereft. And Filthy Rich and Catflap was not as good as a follow up. After watching your other video on that I ended up getting hold of it again. And I have watched the first two, and found myself laughing so much at it, far more than I expected. I suppose I miss Rik and Ade so much and even their worst material is still so much better than comedy today, its grown into a better show as the years have passed. As quality for everything else has fallen.
Alexei Sayle's stand-up performance at the 1981 Secret Policeman's Ball is a must see!
Ooo I'll check that out! I met the man himself a couple of weeks ago and he was lovely! Thanks for watching!
I remember watching the Young Ones with my older brother. I wasn't even 10 years old but It made such a lasting impression on me with it's anarchic, mad, violent comedy. All my friends would attempt to do mimic Vyv or we would play the characters in the playground lol
It must have been so exciting to be that age when it came out! Thanks for watching!
You use "revolutionary" and didn't touch upon what made their fame possible: the vcr. Because of the vcr, people recorded and shared the show *and then* it became a hit. Note how many of the episodes have a one frame shot that goes by too quickly...unless you have a vcr with a pause button.
Oh really? I hadn't read anything about that. Thanks for watching!
@@EnchantedEssays In 1982 only 10% of UK households had a VCR so I think it's probably a stretch to say that people sharing tapes is what made their fame possible. Even by 1985 it was still less than a third of households that had one.
@@sauljeavons9934 Yes. Exactly. Videos were shockingly expensive back in the early to mid 80s. You were talking anywhere between £350 - £800 or more. At our school you were lucky if one person in the class had parents rich enough to buy one. At the time the country was in a mess, same as today. Inflation, job worries, strikes, civil unrest...people were fighting to get by. A video was a serious luxury item. People wanted one, but it took a long time to catch on with the vast majority and become mainstream. It was not till about 1986 / 87 that the prices had come down and more people started to buy them. Heh...happy days...In the early 90s I was working in electronics, before I got into I.T. and one of the things I used to make some money on as a sideline was repairing peoples VCRs and Tvs....it let me get enough cash to buy my own...a Panasonic...I will never forget that thing. The noise it made when you loaded a tape, it sounded like it was getting dropped down a flight of stairs...that was before the whirring started....Want to watch a dodgy film late at night in your room without the parents noticing...not a chance......heh.....
You must watch Guest House Paradiso.
Indeed! I must get round to it at some point! Thanks for watching!
I was 12 when it first appeared. It was less like a breath of fresh air and more like you'd snorted a pile of Trebor Mint dust. I went to a school Christmas fancy dress as Vivien and my mate went as Rik. I won first prize. 😆
I'm a huge Alexei Sayle fan...hence the name. Alexei's best Stuff...ironically, isn't his Stuff TV series. If you can find it, his live show called 'Cak' from the early 80s is probably as essentially Alexei as it gets. Some of the material gets an airing in the Young Ones.
That sounds awesome! I'll check it out. Thanks for watching!
I was ready to comment "overrated, what is wrong with you?" but watching to the end of the video is always advisable before reaching for keyboard - I am glad you warmed to it. I found the whole show laugh out loud funny. Born in 1980 I must have seen them on reruns but wow they are great. With the little puppet character side scenes, it was like a doff of the cap to Terry Gilliam's animated scenes of Monty Python.
Haha indeed! I hadn't thought of that! Thanks for watching!
The Young Ones I saw at a very young age when it orginally aired and it was mind-blowing. When Viyvyan is decapitated in the Bambi episode that scare the wits out of me as a child but I became fascinated with these guys ever since. I still think it is one of the greatest TV sitcoms ever form any country. Excellent video. Subbed for life! BTW Alexi Sale did a cool show from the 90s called Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round I highly recommend that
Thank you so much! Ah yes I've heard of that! I think Edgar Wright directed it
As Mike would say, "Uncanny!" I just finished rewatching this series early this morning, and I'd vote Revolutionary. The Young Ones and The Monkees are my two favorite shows, and there's quite a lot of similarities if you think about it: both have groups of four distinct personalities, musical numbers with elements of "the romp" thrown in, strange and surprising editing techniques, breaking the fourth wall, and they both have a "Mike" in them, both of whom are "cool".
One Mike has a wooly hat, the other has a blow-up doll.
Indeed, and both Mikes are leaders! It's never been cited as inspiration [as far as I can tell], but Mayall would have been 8 or 9 when it first aired over here and Mayer and Elton were younger than him, so they would have almost certainly seen it. Thanks for watching!
Ahh the Monkees...the staple, go to show for kids morning Tv during the school holidays. Every single summer, for six weeks you knew that at some point in the mornings the Monkees would be on that beach being groovy. Along with Champion the Wonder Horse, The Hair Bear Bunch, Top Cat and Robinson Crusoe...Its so sad to think that Mike is the only one left alive now. I have come to respect the music they did far more as I have got older. And yes it was not all written and played by them but its streets ahead of what passes for pop music now. It has its own identity in the 60s, especially American music...its amazing they kept the show so upbeat when you think of what was going on with Vietnam and the civil rights movement....and songs like The Porpoise song and Going Down are just trippy...far out man....
Revolutionary from my perspective.
I was nearing my teenage years when the show was first broadcast so unsurprisingly got lured in by the promise of a balls to the wall, irreverent, anarchic, rock and roll comedy packed with a host of familiar faces I was already a huge fan of especially Rik and Ade who I was mired in than familiar with from their Dangerous Brothers skits alone. So I still clearly remember how impactful the show was on my childhood not to mention my sense of humour in general as each show gleefully bounced from scene to scene all the while tossing in extra mayhem with surrealism, stand up routines, musical interlude, talking animals and good old fashioned comedy violence. And so it rapidly became one of those “talk of the playground” topics whereby you’d eagerly boast to your classmates about last nights episode whilst quoting entire scenes and risking the teacher’s wrath should they discover what you were talking about!
And so, as is the case, I think it resonates most with the people who were there from the start though it’s also found great admiration and fanaticism from modern audiences. As a Brit I’m unaware of how it landed worldwide but certainly the legendary Rik wasn’t quite the global phenomenon overseas that he was back in Blighty with Drop Dead Fred being his calling card first many instead of the cavalcade of chaos that includes The New Statesman, The Comic Strip, Kevin Turvey and Lord Flashheart.
Besides how else was a young innocent kid to delightfully discover that crop rotation in the 14th century was CONSIDERABLY more widespread after John?!?
Come on, shut up and tell me the answer!
Thanks for watching! I always love reading comments from people who saw these things when they came out!
Yeah I know it did very well in Australia [as well as Rik and Ade's later stuff, I think] and it had at least some following in the US, as it was shown on MTV and they had Neil on as a video jockey when he was promoting his album. I know it was huge in Catalonia and I think they did well in a few other places in Europe [I know Rik at least was famous in the Netherlands, but I don't know when that fame started].
Rik Mayall has made me laugh more than anyone other person ever!
Same here! Thanks for watching!
The first series was great, but the second really went up a gear with such a strong opening episode, not to mention Motorhead's cameo actually feeling like part of the episode rather than a strange 3 minutes of a band being shoehorned in. I was about 12 when it first came out, and while people will always say it was unlike anything before, and it was, in truth I never noticed that it was groundbreaking. I just found it funny.
Yeah I agree with you on the Motorhead one. Thanks for watching. I always love hearing from people who saw these things when they first came out
The Young Ones was the highlight of the decade to me. Nothing else was like it at the time and the anarchy was most welcome at a time of humdrum mediocrity and vile politics.
"A time of humdrum mediocrity and vile politics" no wonder it still resonates today! Thanks for watching!
I much prefer The Young Ones to Bottom, it felt truly wild, whereas Bottom became very reptitive to me.... I also really like Filthy, Rich and Catflap
I can see where you're coming from. I'd definitely say The Young Ones is more exciting
this was shown on YTV (youth television) in canada.....i was like 14 and just getting into punk rock when i found this show in like 1995........
Oh awesome! I don't think it's shown over here [I think it was shown on BBC Four in recent years, but I don't know if it still is and it's mostly an arts documentary channel]. Thanks for watching!
It’s odd. I watch it now and it is far less funny. But then, there was nothing like it at the time. It had a manic energy. I think They came from somewhere else even came before it. Now THAT was groundbreaking, and few know about it. It’s on youtube somewhere..
Do you mean the actors/ comedians themselves or those who influenced them?
@@EnchantedEssays I think influence. Young ones gave us very young guys like alexi sayle…Ben Elton throwing stuff out to see what stuck.. anything goes comedy..which was brave…as opposed to what was on…Terry and June… but actually easier to write… stories went nowhere…gags ended..and moved on..falling flat often..I think they were all learning their craft… alternative comedy grew…went up its own butt a bit.. but young ones was essential viewing at the time. It was thatchers Britain. We needed something.
@@Toracube Indeed! Thanks for watching!
I can see why others enjoy this show, as the humour is so zany and out there. My mum loved it when she was younger!
Yeah it's easy to see the appeal. Thanks for watching!
I've been a huge fan of this show since I first watched it. I remember my earliest experience of it when the episode Sick was on the same tape as the Wallace and Gromit episode, A Grand Day Out.
I properly watched the Young Ones at about age 9. I told my mam all about how awesome it was and she was like; "yes, well you shouldn't have watched it". Mind you, it ain't exactly for kids innit.
Yeah I'd say that the perfect age for the Young Ones is about 12 or 13. You're old enough to get the adult jokes, but it's still radical and exciting [I think most episodes are rated 12 and some are rated PG]. Thanks for watching!
I do think you had to see it at the time. At the time it seemed like nothing I'd ever seen before, but seen "post", it just looks like random nonsense in many ways.
I see what you mean. Then again, you can say the same about Monty Python's Flying Circus! Thanks for watching!
Alexi Sayle's imaginary sandwich bar is excellent - but it is on radio
Oh yes people have been recommending that to me! Thanks for watching!
I'm watching this with a cuppa and a Bourbon biscuit from my Peek Frean Trotsky assortment.
😂
I was 14 when The Young Ones first hit our screens and I thought it was revolutionary, it was like our Monty Python, i still watch it along with Bottom and the comic strip presents 😜
I can certainly see why! Thanks for watching!
@@EnchantedEssays you are very welcome ⚡ have a look at a series called Happy Families that Ade Edmondson did written by his wife Jennifer Saunders 😜
@@ackerjawaka1966 Oooo I've been meaning to watch that! Thanks for the recommendation!
@@EnchantedEssays no probs ⚡ you will love it, all the usual people are in it...rik mayal, fry and laurie, dawn french, jim broadbent and helen lederer 😜 enjoy
@@ackerjawaka1966 Awesome!
Madness sold more records in the 1980's in the UK than any other act. They deserve every sale a fantastic group and I have enjoyed these essays into Rik and ades work. The young ones is something I saw when about 10 on reruns and it was incredible at the time since it's so like a live action cartoon and while it hasn't held up as well as bottom it's influence is enormous. I doubt the boosh or the league of gentleman would have been on screen if this hadn't changed what comedy could be
Absolutely! I've just recorded a video on Madness! Yeah absolutely, and a world without the Boosh or the League would be a dull world indeed! Thanks for watching!
Anything with Rik and Ade is comedy gold i love the young ones it still makes me laugh
Yeah it's wonderful. Thanks for watching!
Sop many comments from people who were 11, 12 etc. at the time who loved it. Kind of sums it up for me. I was about 13 at the time and loved it at the time but I look back now and it's infantile slapstick dressed up as comedy. Very childish and that's why it appealed to children. Good for people who are nostalgic for their childhood
Personally, I disagree, but I can certainly see where you're coming from. Thanks for watching!
Neither revolutionary nor overrated, just funny as heck.
Definitely overrated
I much prefer bottom
I don't necessarily agree, but I certainly see where you're coming from. Thanks for watching!
In the Summer Holliday episode where they’re playing Botticelli Rik reveals the answer, “I was Paul Squires!” To which Viv and Mike say, “who?”.
For years it was a mystery to me. Who was Paul Squires? Kids at school didn’t know. My parents didn’t know. I asked a librarian and she didn’t know. It was one of life’s unsolved mysteries that I would often return to usually when unable to sleep. Then a few years ago during a bout of insomnia the eternal question came to me once more and in a eureka moment I realised I had the internet and looked him up, apparently he was a actor/comedian who had his own self titled show on the bbc in 1981 before fading into obscurity and the Butlins circuit shortly after.
Surely only a revolutionary show could set a lad off on a forty year long existential quest of self discovery
Haha brilliant! Thanks for watching!
He had a show on both channels at one point. P.S. It's Paul Squier and Paul Squier Esquier. Bit sad of me to know this, I'll admit.
You might like Alexei Sayle's Stuff, a sketch show from the late 1980's and early 90's.
The Young Ones was a huge hit here in Australia when it was shown on ABC TV. Rik (in character) and Ben even hosted an episode of Countdown, a very popular local music programme similar to Top Of The Pops.
I've been meaning to check it out.
Ah yes I've seen that! I've been meaning to listen to that bootleg of their Australian tour that was found a few months ago
Awesome video, Enchanted! Really well edited 👍
Aw thank you!
Thank you for getting me to watch The Young Ones again.😊
You're very welcome! Thanks for watching this video!
It was a constant battle in our house due to my grandfather insisting On the Buses and It Ain't Half Hot Mum were peak comedy...
Ooooff! 😂 Thanks for watching!
It Ain't Half Hot Mum is so repetitive lol
Subscribed! Glad to see some content about british comedy
Aw thank you so much!
I was 13 years old when the first series was aired and 15 for the second series. It felt revolutionary, anarchic humour for us the youth, our parents didn't understand it or like it, which was a bonus.
Yeah from what I've gathered that's the perfect age to get into the series. Thanks for watching
Yeah you have to remember what the general viewing situation was like in the UK in those days. Terry and June was the most popular show on TV at the time. Or It Ain’t Half Hot Mum or Mind your language type shows weren’t that long before.
The Young Ones comes across now as what it was - gleefully amateurish and about as funny as food poisoning. In some way you knew that was the case, even watching it at the time. But no one cared, everyone forgave it completely and enjoyed it. Why? There was a lot to rebel against, See above. It was needed. It opened the gates wide open for just about everything that came after.
Indeed. Thanks for watching!
Great video, as always. Would love to get your view on the pilot and the video game. I had no idea the game existed!
Aw thank you! Here's the ad for the video game. Apparently, it was a nightmare to play! th-cam.com/video/vv6MxgehZXE/w-d-xo.html
@@EnchantedEssays Thank you for the link! wonder if there is an emulator for it somewhere.
@@JiggleTheJamJar Ooo that would be interesting!
Yes please cover the video game. I had no idea that even existed.
Will do! Thanks for watching!
It was comical but not historically accurate. Hippies loved free love and Punks were peaceful!
Really? I mean, the violence of punks was definitely blown out of proportion by society at the time, but some of them believe in political violence, don't they?
Yeah, Mike’s definitely the most sensible and the least insane character
Yeah definitely. Thanks for watching, Nick!
I used to like The Young Ones at the time but watching episodes a few years later it's a little cringe and it's mainly just shouting...really aged poorly
I see what you mean. As I said, it took me a long time to warm to it, and I couldn't get my brother into it at all. I think the perfect age to watch it is about 12. Thanks for watching!
It was of its time. Anarchic alternative comedy spawned so much great comedy. And since 2000… Barely Nothing.
I would say there's some good stuff from the early 2000s [Green Wings, Black Books, the Mighty Boosh, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, the IT Crowd etc.] but not as much since then. Even then, it never felt like a movement, really. From the sounds of it, networks no longer trust creators and don't give them the free reign they used to. Thanks for watching!
This show really transformed the kind of street abuse I got. Thanks Nigel.
Really? My dad looked like Neil, so he used to get Neil quotes shouted at him! Anyway, thanks for watching!
I loved the Young Ones when I was, well, young, and the well-worn cliche is that the parks, football pitches and playgrounds would empty whenever the Young Ones was on.......but it's hard to think of many sitcoms that have aged as badly as the Young Ones. Of course, with the passing of time, and what is deemed acceptable and not acceptable when it comes to certain language and themes constantly changes, and therefore many sitcoms fall victim to this. Love Thy Neighbour and 'Til Death Do Us Part are the two that spring immediately to mind, but there are so many. The Young Ones is odd in that it didn't really use racist language in an offensive way (the famous 'n' word scene with the policeman was absolutely not racist, and in fact was tackling police racism - context is everything) that maybe other comedies did, and was in fact a very progressive comedy in many ways, but has aged really badly.
So why is that? Well, I think that while it was undoubtedly a revolutionary comedy which mixed surrealism and the punk ethos of the time, and rode the zeitgeist with topical references, it's those topical references that most young people these days wouldn't get ("I HOPE YOU'RE SATISFIED THATCHER!" being one), and some of the language, in particular the insults, are immature to the point of being incredibly cringeworthy - I think most 10 year olds would find some of the language embarrassing now, while the studio audience are in absolute fits of laughter. I get why - language like that on the BBC was revolutionary at the time, but it really hasn't held up well. I would also add I always found Alexei Sayle's deliberately manic, over-the-top cameos to be incredibly irritating and just not funny at all.
To sum up, I would say the Young Ones deserves it's place amonst the all-time classics of British comedy, but has it aged well? Absolutely not. A classic very much of it's time, but not one I can see myself going back and watching again.
Thanks for watching! Actually, I partially disagree. I think that it is quite of its time and would never have the same impact now, but a lot of the comedy is innately timeless in its simplicity. There are very few topical references and I understood nearly all of them. Even at the most ideal age to watch it [12/13] I would have known about Thatcher and apartheid. I agree with you on the ploppy pants stuff though. It's a good thing they allowed them to swear on Channel 4! I'm actually curious as to what the Beeb's policy was on swearing [I'm guessing it changed between Bottom and League of Gentlemen].
Sorry it took so long for me to reply to this comment. I wanted to give it the time it deserved.
Nice cameo from Huck in there
Indeed! Thanks for letting me use the little bugger!
rewatch podcast going on now: www.youtube.com/@oldyoungones/videos
Awesome! Best of luck with that!
It reminds me a bit of Fawlty towers very strange but it was intriguing you should watch filthy rich and catflap
Hmm I hadn't thought of comparing it to that. I suppose it's very different structurally, but Rick has a similar angry intensity to Basil.
I have already checked out Filthy Rich and Catflap and you can find out what I thought of it here: th-cam.com/video/JdaOAu3JQKI/w-d-xo.html
It's definitely a bit overrated. Half of the comedy seems to be trying way too hard to appeal to teenagers and young adults. As someone who absolutely adored this show when I was 18 and now is nearly over a decade older most of the humour doesn't hit as hard as it once did
Yeah absolutely. That random style of comedy definitely strikes a chord with teens. from the stuff the pythons did to the stuff I watched on TH-cam as a kid to the stuff kids watch online now! Thanks for watching!
I was about 7 when this aired and I love every episode this sitcom was the only sitcom other than the stand up Dave Allen Benny hill and fawlty towers great dialogue very wickedly funny
Yeah it is good. Thanks for watching!
@@EnchantedEssays do you enjoy a lot of bbc comedy
@@rogerhage1377 Indeed I do!
@@EnchantedEssays me too yes primeminister are you being served absolutely fabulous black adder mr bean Fawlty young ones man about the house neigbours
Think Ade said that the show is dated. Loved it when i was a child but not so much as I've gotten older. I prefer Bottom more tbh.
Yeah that's partially true, although I think he is quite self-deprecating. He called his performance in Happy Families "appalling", and he was my favourite thing in it! I think Bottom is better though. It's more timeless. Thanks for watching!
Oh...wow man...Heavy!!!! I feel sorry for you in some ways. You had to be there. It was the 80s...It was indeed as Rik said, Thatchers Britain. In other words, miserable, depressing, everyone worried sick about their jobs and nuclear war (thats still the same now I suppose) the dole....and then suddenly there was the Young Ones. It was the antidote to Terry and June, The Good Life, Open All Hours and Are You Being Served. It was made by young cool people for young people. It was utterly bonkers, and it had no narrative at all, that was the point. It was just four totally different people, stuck living in the same house, who all hated one another for various reasons or did not get on, or were just so different, they may as well be from another planet. That was the point of it. That was where the comedy came from, how they all approached the various crazy problems with different methods. It was iconic after the first episode!
The whole country was talking about it, the adults and older people hated it. If you were in your twenties or younger you would be on the floor laughing at it. I lost count of the amount of times I talked to people at school who used to dodge out of various post school activities to ensure they did not miss it. As they DID NOT HAVE A VIDEO!!! So Cubs and Scouts were skived from, swimming lessons were escaped, home work ignored and one lad I knew faked a fall from a tree and twisted ankle so he could stay home to watch it rather than be dragged off on a weekly Supermarket shop...it was that important to us all. Every episode is so totally different. Each is a self contained masterpiece. Rik and Ade perfected their slapstick violence and constant bickering and fighting in this show, that is why Bottom is so good. They never reached the hights of the Young Ones again, and spent a long time trying to top it...Bottom comes close a lot, but it was Rik and Viv and Neil and Mike, the differences between them that made it....Neil!!! Your Bed's on Fire!!!!!!! The following poor Neil responds with sums the whole thing up!!! Its a good job the guys told me otherwise I would have got in and burnt to death! How can you top comedy like that? There is not a single line or scene in any episode that is not pure gold.
Made for young people, by young people? Sounds like Nozin' Around! 😂
I always love stories from people who were there at the time! It must have been so exciting! Thank you so much for sharing your story!
@@EnchantedEssays Yes Nozin Around was pretty much the truth. It always made me laugh as it was such a send up of what they were actually doing and what was going on. They were pretty much mocking any show aimed at a younger / teen or 20 something audience. A parody of itself by itself. When Ch4 started their entire output more or less seemed exactly like Nozin Around. They had a show on Sundays called Network 7 with Magenta Devine, sadly no longer with us, and that truly was Nozin around....
Alexi sales imaginary sandwich bar on bbc sounds
Ooooo I'll check that out
@@EnchantedEssays it is his most recent stuff and it’s Radio 4.
@@ianmason2964 Cool! Thanks for the recommendation!
Good recommendation. I like it when Alexei does deliberately bad impressions of the famous customers. Shouldn't be funny but it is
Never enjoyed the Alexei Sayle segments. Loved the rest.
Yeah he's an acquired taste. It took me a long time to get used to him along with the pace in general. I liked him by the end and I think his work in Comic Strip Presents was just brilliant
Overrated. Didn't find anything about it funny. Thank God, Ben Elton redeemed himself years later with Blackadder.
Fair enough. That's what I thought at first. I must check out more of Elton's stuff. Have you seen Happy Families?
@EnchantedEssays No is it any good?
@@PC1974 I liked it. I'll review it at some point. It's a bit like Comic Strip Presents but with an ongoing narrative. Adrian Edmondson plays this idiotic posh guy who has to look for his 4 long lost sisters, all of whom are played by Jennifer Saunders
Hated The Young One's ,loved Bottom
Yeah fair enough. I can certainly see how someone can like one and not the other. Thanks for watching
Never convinced me
Fair enough. Thanks for watching!
Bloody hell alexi was very funny lol he's a riot
Yeah he's great! I met him at a Comic Strip event a couple of months ago and he was lovely!
@@EnchantedEssays right on I grew up in Australia so I watched a lot of bbc yeah he would be quite the character
@@rogerhage1377 Yes I must watch more of his stuff. I recommend the 2 Comic Strip Presents episodes he had a leading role in: Didn't you kill my brother? and The Strike
Revolutionary definitely
Indeed! Thanks for watching!
Boomshanka.
😂
REVOLUTION-ary.
Indeed! Thanks for watching!
@@EnchantedEssays Not only was it a springboard for some of the best comedians, The Young Ones also made some important political and social commentary. Admittedly, that dates this series a bit. But if you were around at the time, it still has the magic. 👍
@@robertwright7937 Indeed, although I find that some of the movement's social and political commentary still has relevance today
@@EnchantedEssays Oh, for sure. But all the Thatcher stuff, and the Scarman report jokes (for example) are definitely "of their time." Unless you know about them, a lot of the jokes can go over the head. Luckily, I'm old enough to remember.👨🦳😄
(It's nice to talk about this stuff. Thank you.)
@@robertwright7937 Thanks! I always love talking about this stuff with people who were around at the time.
I found it extremely boring.
Fair enough. It's not for everyone. Thanks for watching!
VIVA EL PRESIDENTE!
Haha! Missed both my legs!
It was a pastiche of the middle classes' idea of revolutionary, but it was bloody brilliant!
Indeed! Still, you have to keep context in mind. There was stuff that the BBC nearly cut! Thanks for watching!
Il be honest it never knew about that racist cop sketch until now. And if I'm honest I wouldn't of missed it. Looked kind of tagged on
It's integral to the episode. Vivien's entry into the win a new Ford Tippex competition has been successful and the bloke ringing the doorbell is the rep coming to tell Vivien he's won. The racist policeman is lurking in the bushes with intent, the joke is the glasses make everyone look Black, so he's justifying to himself the arrest - also poking fun at the Met at that time who were (and let's face it, still are) inherently racist.
No more tagged on than any of their cutaway gags, but, at the same time you don't notice that there's been a cut in the edited version. Thanks for watching!
Was silly load of rubbish.
Thanks for watching
It's funny to read the comments of people who think they are too grown up now to still be fans of the Young Ones. They have obviously been molded by society instead of staying in touch with their inner child or maybe they're just humourless twats.
It's a show I can absolutely understand someone personally growing out of, as I think the most ideal age to see it is around 12 or 13, but to say definitively that adults can't enjoy it is almost certainly false. I enjoyed it by the end and, because I was staying with my dad whilst writing this, I rewatched it with him and he enjoyed it, despite missing it when it came out. Besides, the live studio audience, made up of adults, were laughing. Anyone who was anyone in comedy was in it. I think a lot of people forget how subjective comedy can be.