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Very Best of 'The Comedians': Series Four (The) (TV)
R2 - United Kingdom - Network Review written by and copyright: Paul Lewis (15th June 2009). |
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The Show
 Please see our review of The Very Best of ‘The Comedians’, Series 3. 
This compilation of clips from the fourth series of the long-running show The Comedians (Granada, 1971-92) does not deviate from the show’s basic formula: stand-up comics associated with the working men’s club circuit deliver their routines in front of a rainbow-coloured backdrop. The series represented the first attempt by television culture to try to capture the spirit of the then-popular world of pub and club stand-up comedy. Despite recurring criticisms of The Comedians’ frequently non-PC humour, the series was pivotal in bringing the format of stand-up comedy to television: in its attempt to capture the experience of live stand-up, The Comedians is a forerunner of modern stand-up comedy series such as Live at the Apollo (BBC, 2004- ) and, most recently, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow (BBC, 2009- ). In this respect, The Comedians was somewhat groundbreaking; and despite the alternative comedians’ reaction against this type of club comedy in the 1980s, the culture of working men’s club comedy has also informed the stand-up routines of such modern comedians as Peter Kay, whose situation comedy Phoenix Nights (Channel 4, 2001-2) deconstructed the tropes of club comedy that were popularised through shows such as The Comedians and, later, The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club (Granada, 1974-7). (Earlier, in 1975, Trevor Griffith’s stage play Comedians had used the life of a northern club comic as a source for dramatic material; Griffith’s play was televised in 1979, as part of the BBC’s Play for Today strand.) Alongside the expected jokes about ‘the wife’ and mothers-in-law, there are some surprisingly topical jokes here, on issues such as the National Dockworkers strikes – which began in July of 1972. In one routine, a Liverpudlian comic delivers a gag about packed lunches that digresses into a comment on the dockworkers’ strikes: ‘We were gonna have a film show tonight on post office efficiency, you know… But the film got lost in the post, so that’s out. You know when people go to work, and they take their sandwiches with them, where I live they call it “carrying out” […] I don’t know what they call it where you [live]. [To an audience member.] What do they call your husband’s stuff when he takes it, love? He doesn’t go to work! He’s a docker, is he? No, he’s not a docker: he’s moored’. 
The inimitable Mike Reid delivers another routine that revolves around attitudes towards striking workers: ‘You know, life’s a very funny thing, because everybody – believe it or not, regardless of who you are or what station in life you come from – everybody’s greedy in many respects, because you’re never satisfied. And the workers are never satisfied: they’ve always got something to moan about, haven’t they. Now, can you imagine this: Ford works, 6000 men on strike. Now there’s a novelty for a start. Out comes a shop steward, a right eighteen carat, one hundred per cent Jack the Lad: “Brothers, on your behalf I have negotiated with the management the following conditions: basic wage, £138 a week; two tea breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, both of them an hour and half in duration; four hours for lunch, thirty-two weeks holiday a year on full pay. And we only work on Wednesdays”. Typically, someone from the back [shouts out]: “What, every bloody Wednesday?”’. 
What’s perhaps most interesting about this series is the way in which it offers a glimpse into the different styles of observational humour throughout the UK, from the Cockney humour of Mike Reid to the broad Yorkshire dialect offered by Charlie Williams. The series also offers a variety of different perspectives on the issues that form the focus of the comedians’ jokes, reminding the viewer that although the series is often derided for its presumed focus on jokes revolving around gender or race-based stereotypes, the subjects of humour are much more diverse than the popular perception of the series might lead us to believe. 
None of the comedians are introduced to the viewer, so the ability to identify the comedians depends on the viewer’s memory. Some of the comics, including Charlie Williams, Russ Abbott, Jim Bowen and Mike Reid, are still immediately recognisable. However, recalling the names of some of the comedians will require much head-scratching on the part of the viewer – but this is arguably part of the fun of a compilation such as this. Running time: 94:05 mins (PAL)
Video
Shot on video in a studio environment, in front of a live audience, this series will never look brilliant – but it gets a good presentation on this DVD from Network. The Comedians is presented in its original broadcast screen ratio of 4:3. 
Audio
Audio is presented via a 2-channel mono track. This is clear, although there are no subtitles.
Extras
Sadly, there is no contextual material.
Overall
This DVD contains a broad range of different types of stand-up comedy, from comics from all over the UK. There are the expected jokes about wives and other family members, and the occasional cringe-worthy joke about topics that are now taboo in most modern stand-up comedy. However, it has to be said that the content of the comedy in this series is more diverse than the series’ reputation might have you believe. For more information, please visit the homepage of Network DVD.
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