Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister 2-Pak | Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne

Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister 2-Pak | Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne | Greatest Britcom (or sitcom) EVER

DVDs:

Yes, Minister/Yes,...

	Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister 2-Pak Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne BBC Warner, 2003 average customer review:based on 36 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Named to the Top Ten TV programs of all time by the British Film Institute, these brilliantly observed comedies of manners pit the well-meaning Jim Hacker, Cabinet Minister and then Prime Minister, against the machinations of a career civil servant, Sir H

The political will vs the adminstrative won't

I won't go in to lengthy details about how funny these series and how despite being just over a decade old they are refreshingly funny and ironically although sadly still as relevant today as when they were first made! What is truly amazing is as you watch the series over and over how much more funny it becomes as you watch Sir Humpy oops Humphrey a master of the most British of oratory skills-- obsufication, tangle and fight with the politically administratively naive Hacker

A few notes to my American brothers and sisters who are watching this whether they be neophytes or have seen the show before as they are some cultural differences here which make the humour oops humor puzzling

a) LSE the London School of Economics, the civil service believes that the only two true British schools are Oxford and Cambridge

b) 1st == summa cum claude, 2nd (or more accurately an upper 2nd) magna cum laude, lower 2nd == cum laude

c) unlike here in the US regrettably I might add civil servants unlike federal servants or appointees cannot in general be dismissed especially if they have vaunted 'tenure' or are appointed only in the case of blatant sexual misconduct and for convictions for crimes (and even then it's not easy)

d) remember this was originally written in 78-79 then released in the 80's when M Thatcher was reforming the civil service and so doesn't reflect her stay but her various predecessors

e) BE glad you guys don't have to put up with the 'creative inertia' of the civil service

That said the writing is smart and funny and not just from Sir Humphrey the self effacing and deferential 'humble' civil, all of the characters including Hacker, his wife and his political advisor(s) all say very hilarious and true statements about the nature of the political system within a parliamentary (NOT republican) frame work

This is truly a joy to watch and for those you who suffer from linguistic trepidation and verbal inflexibility let the writer of this review who deigns never to use the 'perpendicular pronoun' warn to have a dictionary or thesaurus handy as the word play is often sharp even when perfunctory

Happy viewing

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Greatest Britcom (or sitcom) EVER

Most comedy relies upon exageration to achieve humour (think 'absolutely Fabulous' for this principle carried to an extreme). This series relied upon a different strategem: Complete, deadly accuracy. Bureaucrats and politicians- and their interaction- are portrayed exactly as they really are. Add to this a second unusual twist- treating its audience like they actually have brains and might enjoy intelligent conversation. The result is a timeless treasure. This was the greatest comedy series to ever appear on television.

BBC comedy at its best!

If you like the books, then you must get this set. It's hilarious and a lot more intelligent than the meaningless sitcoms of today. Yes, stuffy men sitting around an office discussing government and politics CAN be funny. If you have a universal or region-free DVD player, you can buy the Region 2 set (for UK and Europe systems) for a lot less on the Amazon.co.uk Web site.

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Compulsory viewing !!!

As we are living now ( 2008 ) in a very sorry s(h)ituation worldwide - moneywise and politically - these series should be viewed at highschool level in all classes.
Not only for the way they show us how real politics are conducted worldwide but also for improving linguistic skills.
Even this 30 odd year old comedy is still very actual and factual !!!!!

Funny Show, but NO captions or subtitles!

This show Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister 2-Pak is typical of the type of British humor appreciated by American audiences, constantly poking at the incredulously inept politics of government (probably ANY government!). It would, however, be so much more enjoyable if this edition had closed-captioning, or at least subtitles, but alas!, it has neither, despite what the product description describes on [...]. The articulation of British English is actually quite understandable in this series, but the occasional lengthy meanderings of Sir Humphrey (the civil servant who works for the Minister) are paralizyingly confusing without some text to follow! But then again, that's partly what makes him so funny to watch, but also what makes him so absolutely maddening to the Minister, so wonderfully played by Paul Eddington!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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