More Humor from the BBC: The Britcoms II

From 1990 to 1995, the BBC aired "Keeping Up Appearances" one of the funnier and most popular of the "Britcoms." The program centered on Hyacinth Bucket (which she insisted was pronounced "Boo Kay") a social climbing Englishwoman, her henpecked husband Richard, and her sisters Violet, Rose and Daisy. Hyacinth lives an upper middle class life, but her sister Daisy and Daisy's husband Onslo live with another sister, Rose and their patriarch, Daddy, in a cluttered, rundown public housing flat. Daisy spends her days reading trashy romance novels, while Onslo spends his drinking beer and eating crisps in front of the "telly". Rose is always in the midst of affairs, usually with married men, who invariably leave her to go back to their wives.

Another sister, Violet, is married to a "turf accountant" (bookmaker). Hyacinth loves to boast of Violet's Mercedes and large estate (room for a pony!), but Violet doesn't always get along with her husband, Bruce. Bruce has a penchant for dressing in Violet's clothing, and climbing a tree to sulk when he doesn't get his way. Hyacinth's Daddy, who almost never speaks, often thinks he is back fighting in the war. He has a habit of chasing the ladies, and often climbs out of his bedroom window and disappears for a while, usually turning up in the company of some elderly woman who claims that he offered to marry her.

Hyacinth and Richard have a son, Sheridan, who is never seen because he is away at university, but phones regularly to ask his beleaguered father for money. Hyacinth and Richard live next door to Elizabeth and her brother Emmett. Elizabeth's husband works abroad, and Emmett lost his house in a "messy divorce" and was forced to move in with Elizabeth. Rose has designs on Emmett, who is terrified of her. Hyacinth has Elizabeth over for coffee regularly, and Elizabeth, fearful of spilling her coffee in Hyacinth's immaculate kitchen, spills her coffee every time.

Most of the humor in the series revolves around Hyacinth trying to socialize with people who she considers above her, especially the aristocracy. Invariable, her lower class family members show up to embarrass her just as she is trying to make a good impression.

The series "Last of the Summer Wine" began airing in 1973 and was still on the air in 2008. This rather low key show revolves around three elderly men who live in an English village and pass the time by snooping into the lives of other villagers and coming up with hare brained inventions. One of the trio, Compo, has a crush on his dowdy middle aged neighbor, Nora Batty, who wears cotton stockings and rollers in her hair. Another man, Howard, unsuccessfully pursues the love of his life, Marina, while trying to hide from his wife. This series, which is said to be a favorite of the British royal family, is set to begin another season in the fall of 2009.