Once in every lifetime

One of our local PBS affiliates has started showing "The Young Ones" on Sunday nights at 11pm (same time-slot they used to have on MTV back in the mid-1980s). The show seemed daring and different back then, and hasn't lost it's edge over the last 25 years. It's still completely unlike anything else that's ever been on television!

They only made 12 episodes (the same number as "Fawlty Towers"), and the two seasons were two years apart, so they're almost like two different shows. The 1984 season had a bigger budget, but I think the 1982 season is a lot weirder. Each episode is like a 35-minute odyssey!

The Young Ones episodes were highlighted by a series of unrelated scenes that expanded on the so-called "plot" and a musical interlude (so the show would be classified as "light entertainment" and have a larger budget than a standard sitcom) where bands of the day like Madness or Dexy's Midnight Runners would play their latest hits. This dates the show in places (the cast didn't succumb to 1980s fashion, but those musical guests sure did) , but the songs were always my favorite part of the show: seeing a teenage Neneh Cherry singing with Rip, Rig & Panic or middle-aged (even back then!) Lemmy playing "Ace of Spades" with Motorhead. BBC America always cuts the songs out when they play the episodes (either for length or licensing), which I find kind of annoying.

Another favorite part of watching the show now is spotting all the "before they were famous" guest actors: Chris Barrie, Robbie Coltrane, Lenny Henry, French & Saunders, Fry & Laurie. Without "The Young Ones", there probably wouldn't have been "Blackadder" or "Absolutely Fabulous" or "Red Dwarf" or many others. It was probably one of the most influential comedy series ever (British or otherwise).

Rick(to Madness): Do any of you lot know "Summer Holiday" by Cliff Richard?
Suggsy (lead singer): You hum it, and I'll smash your face in!