How correct you are, Egg. What about our PAGE THREE GIRLS?? The Yanks would be all out of sorts if they were a daily item in their newspapers.

An uproar over a nipple. Only in America.

Back to redhat who seems to have got lost in all the hilarious reminiscences. I hope you have a great holiday but do try to organise your visit with Hyacinth when Sheridan is home for the hols!

I don't think Sheridan gets home very often, but he does call Mummy when he needs money for absolute necessities, such as silk pajamas to match his friend Tarquin's.

Waiting for God, Last of the Summer wine. Last weekend, my local PBS station aired one episode of all the British Comedies they've aired to celebrate the 21st anniversary of airing such shows. 21 hours of Brit Coms, I loved it. The episode of Compo's funeral, shed a tear between laughs.

Does the US ever air any of the non BBC sit coms such as Father Ted, Black Books or Phoenix Nights? I don't suppose Bo Selecta would travel but you did get Ali G? I read that "The Office" did well in the states. Dennis Pennis certainly wouldn't go down well in the US as he used to ask bizarre questions to A list celebs just to make them look stupid.

We just got the US version of Graham Norton. I think the British version must be funnier.

Does anyone remember the last Miss Marple? Her name is/was Jane something. I used to love curling up on the bed and watching Thursday night PBS Mystery on a cold winter night. Those English villages full of evil intentions ~
La, I wish I could live in one ((F))

How about having Hyacinth and Richard check into Fawlty Towers?

I too wish there had been more than 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers made. There was an American version of F.T. made a few years ago with John LaRoquette as the hotel manager. While not as funny as F.T. I liked it. I think only around 6 episodes were made.

Another comic that I enjoy is Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean). The first time I watched his skits, I had to stop the tape - laughing too hard! Also, he was in a very good show -Thin Blue Line which unfortunately they only made 14 episodes.

ATGB is one of my all time favorites. I think Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer are perfect together -I love all the characters in that show. Another classic. Dame Judi is awesome!

Margaret Rutherford was the best Miss Marple. Her real-life husband played her side kick. In the 50's-60s We had a theatre where they showed French and English films. I saw all the Rutherford Marple series, All of Alistair Sim's films and the Original French film with Alain Delon, playing "The Talented Mr. Ripley, titled "Purple Noon."

Oh, Mimi, I loved Margaret Rutherford!
This Miss Marple, I remember was Joan Hickson. She died in 1999 (I think)..
You know, Purple Noon was on the other night ( I thought of you :)

Thank you, my Southern BVelle but Hickson I did watch but not with the affection of dear Rutherford, J,'s great aunt dressed just like her.
Speaking about English films. It broke my filmatic heart to see Tom Hanks in a remake of the Lavender Hill Mob. There's a scene when , yet, another lady arrives at Kate Johnson's house(R.I.P.) and one of the loonies says, What do we do now, hire a bus?(they're planning to bump them off!!

Yes, Mimi, I know what you mean. Movies like The Ladykillers can never be the same without Alec Guinness..They should not even try to re-make some of them~
Another favorite was Kind Hearts and Coronets :)

The English certainly have TV comedy sewn up and yes, "Fawlty Towers" is the most hysterically funny show ever made. And underneath the madness, sharp observation - I was reminded of it during a meal at a restaurant here in Canberra when the lost-at-sea manager (American, as it happens) came to apologise for a succession of loopy disasters that left us not knowing whether to laugh or cry: he had Basil's bobbing stoop and wringing hands down to a "T". Another time I found Sybil's American cousin in Cape Ann, Mass., blithely buffing her nails and chatting about her last Caribbean vacation as her whimpering husband rushed around dementedly, trying with little success to deal with some catastrophe or other.

Further back in time, but I wonder if anyone remembers "Steptoe and Son", and "Till Death us do Part" with the great Warren Mitchell, the latest in a long line of brilliant Jewish funny men? Or the late Marty Feldman, Igor ("eye-gor") in "Young Frankenstein"?

I agree that "stuffy" is a word better applied to US network TV than the British. Double entendres are a time-honoured tradition going back at least as far as Shakespeare. How is it that people who get into a lather about a flash of nipple can watch scenes of mass carnage and gore without batting an eye? Beats me.

Americans shouldn't judge themselves too harshly, though. The British genius for TV comedy hasn't really translated into the world of movies, where despite the sludge Hollywood has always reigned supreme, ever since the days of Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers. The British have never made anything to rival "Tootsie", "Doctor Strangelove" or the original of Mel Brooks' original 1969 "The Producers" (remember Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel?), "Ruthless People" or that great indie effort, "Ed Wood".

hmmm, now where did you say you live?
regards
Mrs Slocum

Ah, but the Brits - whilst not producing the movies - feature an awful lot in them. From Stan Laurel through Peter Sellers to Marty Feldman and Hugh Grant. Even Steve Coogan's trying to make it now.Talking of comedy, surely no American could have bettered Roger Moore's comedic attempts at acting? That eyebrow and safari suit! Oh, wasn't it meant to be funny then?

And how could I have forgotten Chaplin.........and Cary Grant. Hell, even Bob Hope was born in the UK.

I do remember Feldman and til death do us part. I think earlier Tv was much better than today. Reality shows do not cut it with me, I always watch the film instead. I have four fawlty towers videos given to me on a birthday one year and never tire of them.

"How is it that people who get into a lather about a flash of nipple can watch scenes of mass carnage and gore without batting an eye? Beats me."

Neil, that's because some mislead fools believe that if they have a big enough sword, they needn't worry about how anything else works.

Nipples, on the other hand, may arouse stuffed down suspicions of inadequacy.

Little understanding, mind you, the true scope of their inadequacy.

Give me a man instead who can appreciate the frequent glimpses of Polly's nipples against her shirtfronts while also laughing without the slightest discomfort when Kurt, the drunken Greek chef, insists on kissing Manuel.

Croque, ROFL!!!

No, cigalechanta, if you really want to ROFL, read Scarlett's account of how she met her "travel loving spouse" while on the ground, "but not prone"!

Sorry, you're all ignoring my "Butterflies" fixation.
One of the sons was played by Nicholas Lyndhurst, I've seen him in lots of Britcoms in the US since.
The cuter son with the-ahem- curly hair, he's the one I was wondering about, can't recall the actor's name, would like to know if he's found work since.

And speaking of nipples, I always wonder why Charlie the Ground Force gardener is always showing hers. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just seemed to be a trademark of sorts.

Then there's Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen (sp?), my hero.