STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
Gary (Martin Clunes) runs his own security firm and owns his own house, but is an incredibly boring and self centred individual who complains too much and possesses a remarkable lack of tact. To get a bit of extra income, he lodges his home out to tenants, such as Dermot (Harry Enfield) who eventually goes away and Tony (Neil Morrissey), waster types who annoy him but with whom he forms a 'laddish' sort of friendship with, much to the annoyance of his long suffering girlfriend Dorothy (Catherine Quentin) and Deborah (Leslie Ash) the object of Dermot and then Tony's affections who keeps having to put up with their pathetic attempts to woo her...
While the British have always maintained a 'reserved' decorum, there was a time not so long ago when we also managed to be fairly 'restrained' as well, in the days before constant news reports of 'binge drinking' and 'lad culture' hit the headlines. So something must have happened to make us 'lose' this restraint somehow. Something that made drunken foolishness 'cool', something that started the 'lad' culture. Men Behaving Badly might have a bit to answer for in this respect. It became a hit show, meaning the public somehow loved watching these two pathetic, grown men behave in a buffoonish manner, usually after consuming large quantities of lager, to themselves, towards others and to various women who either take advantage of them or avoid them like the plague. The great writing and comic timing of Clunes and his respective co-stars must have somehow ensured this, but at what cost you may wonder?
Clunes made Gary a character of his own, a grumpy, cynical man with a moaning girlfriend and who suffered constant jibes at his rather large ears, and as soon as series one ended and the show switched over from ITV to BBC 1, Morrissey took it from one extreme to the other, as sensitive, optimistic Tony who could never hold down a job and could only do his best to get Deborah to like him. I wasn't so fond of Enfield, maybe it was because I grew up with Morrissey but I still found his character a little too whiny and annoying. But although they lasted through-out the series, both the female stars weren't so well written, I thought. Quentin and Ash did a good job playing them, but they complained and insulted so much it's a wonder that a.) Gary stayed with Dorothy and b.) Tony would want to go near Debs. Maybe it was because they were so inadequate they would only ever be their best shot, but...
A hit show that sticks in the mind years after the last series ended, but the next time you go out for a nice Saturday night out, just think, what legacy has it left? ****
Gary (Martin Clunes) runs his own security firm and owns his own house, but is an incredibly boring and self centred individual who complains too much and possesses a remarkable lack of tact. To get a bit of extra income, he lodges his home out to tenants, such as Dermot (Harry Enfield) who eventually goes away and Tony (Neil Morrissey), waster types who annoy him but with whom he forms a 'laddish' sort of friendship with, much to the annoyance of his long suffering girlfriend Dorothy (Catherine Quentin) and Deborah (Leslie Ash) the object of Dermot and then Tony's affections who keeps having to put up with their pathetic attempts to woo her...
While the British have always maintained a 'reserved' decorum, there was a time not so long ago when we also managed to be fairly 'restrained' as well, in the days before constant news reports of 'binge drinking' and 'lad culture' hit the headlines. So something must have happened to make us 'lose' this restraint somehow. Something that made drunken foolishness 'cool', something that started the 'lad' culture. Men Behaving Badly might have a bit to answer for in this respect. It became a hit show, meaning the public somehow loved watching these two pathetic, grown men behave in a buffoonish manner, usually after consuming large quantities of lager, to themselves, towards others and to various women who either take advantage of them or avoid them like the plague. The great writing and comic timing of Clunes and his respective co-stars must have somehow ensured this, but at what cost you may wonder?
Clunes made Gary a character of his own, a grumpy, cynical man with a moaning girlfriend and who suffered constant jibes at his rather large ears, and as soon as series one ended and the show switched over from ITV to BBC 1, Morrissey took it from one extreme to the other, as sensitive, optimistic Tony who could never hold down a job and could only do his best to get Deborah to like him. I wasn't so fond of Enfield, maybe it was because I grew up with Morrissey but I still found his character a little too whiny and annoying. But although they lasted through-out the series, both the female stars weren't so well written, I thought. Quentin and Ash did a good job playing them, but they complained and insulted so much it's a wonder that a.) Gary stayed with Dorothy and b.) Tony would want to go near Debs. Maybe it was because they were so inadequate they would only ever be their best shot, but...
A hit show that sticks in the mind years after the last series ended, but the next time you go out for a nice Saturday night out, just think, what legacy has it left? ****