Why Keeping Up Appearances is the Funniest TV Show of All Time

Have you ever veered off from the mainstream finding perfect little treasures in rarely thought of nooks and crannies? It was like that when I stumbled upon "Keeping Up Appearances". I remember it like it was yesterday. Channel surfing one evening, I came across PBS and heard this abominably off-key, shrill sound come from the tv set stopping me in my tracks. As it turns out, the lead character was trying to get the lead in a community play. Did she get it? No. But the the 30 minutes of watching from start to finish was a hilarious ride! I was hooked!

"Keeping Up Appearances", a British comedy, began its five series run in 1990. The main characters include Hyacinth Bucket (Patricia Routledge), a walking paradox who behaves as if she is at the height of the social echelons of society but who truly is socially awkward, especially to those closest to her. She also insists upon pronouncing her last name as BOUQUET instead of BUCKET. Then there is her long suffering husband, Richard (Clive Swift). Her neighbor, Elizabeth (Josephine Tewson), who is forced to coffee with Hyacinth everyday develops a nervous condition whenever she's around and lives in constant terror that she will destroy one of Hyacinth's precious teacups with the "hand painted periwinkles".

Poor Elizabeth is also Hyacinth's lackey. Elizabeth's brother Emmet (David Griffin) lives in a state of perpetual agony as Hyacinth sings at him all the time trying to land a part in one of his musicals. As he lives with his sister, he only leaves the dwelling if he knows Hyacinth is tucked away inside her own home. And then there is Hyacinth's family who brings her to heart palpitations with their lowly state of living. There are her two sisters Daisy (Judy Cornwell) and Rose (Mary Millar) and Daisy's husband, Onslow (Geoffrey Hughes). There is a third sister, Violet (Anna Dawson), who until the last season is only portrayed via telephone calls to Hyacinth. Hyacinth is always envious of Violet's more lavish lifestyle referring to her as "the one with the Mercedes, sauna and room for a pony". Daisy is quite enamored of Onslow who remains glued to the television and who appalls Hyacinth by always being sleeveless. And Rose is on a never ending search to find Mr. Right Now, much to Hyacinth's dismay.

What makes this the best tv show of all time? Well, it's not your average run of the mill comedy. More than the guffaws of laughter you give at Hyacinth's antics or her dread at being seen publicly with her family, there is a physical comedy present. I can't tell you how uproarious it is to see a middle aged woman climb over a wall so that she will be seen by who she considers "the elite" passing by on the other side. Or the lengths that Emmet goes to, ducking behind corners and diving to the ground to avoid Hyacinth.

And poor, poor Richard is poked, run all over the place and made as uncomfortable as possible to achieve whatever standard Hyacinth believes should be met. Not to mention the gorgeous English scenery as a backdrop to boot. And to its credit, the show ended in 1995 and yet is being shown currently all over the world in syndication and is quite popular in the United States. Very rarely does something that was once old become new again. If I were you, I wouldn't miss out on the opportunity to share in the laughter and life of "Keeping Up Appearances".