Mini reviews of Television seasons old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. Occasional bunnies.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

FILTHY, RICH & CATFLAP [1986]

There's something horrible on your trousers area.”

Coming off the massive success of The Young Ones, the BBC wasted no time recruiting the same team for another series of alternative comedy, resulting in Filthy, Rich & Catflap.

Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmonson and Nigel Planer return, with The Young Ones headwriter Ben Elton and director Paul Jackson.  Mayall plays a disgusting out of work “actor” who believes he's bigger than he really is, so he hires an alcoholic bodyguard (Edmonson) who could care less about protecting anybody much less himself, while Planer executes an impressive sleazy performance as a Polari speaking showbiz agent.

FRC might have the same actors, comedic elements and writers as The Young Ones but it sadly falls short in comparison.  The performances seemed strained and sloppy, the writing is aimless and at times feels like nothing more than a paycheque for all parties involved.  There are a few good chuckles throughout the series but they're spread so thin I can hardly recommend it to anybody other than a Mayall & Edmonson enthusiast like myself…

…and even then prepare for disappointment.

6 Episodes.  35 minutes each.

Must See Episodes:
1x01:  The pilot episode offers a healhy dose of comedic violence & mayhem and hilarious performances all around but things just completely fall apart afterwards.

Episodes To Avoid:
Everything else, unless you have the patience to wait for a few good chuckles here and there.

Buyer’s Guide: 
The complete series is widely available on DVD…save your money and youtube ‘em instead.

2 Blankety Blanks? out of 5

2 comments:

Dr Faustus said...

I forgot this even existed. 0_0
I haven't seen it since my teens so can hardly remember a damn thing about it.

cuckoo said...

I didn't even know it existed until I did some research on The Young Ones.

It never made it over here, until the BBC released it on DVD.