A precocious friend in school recommended this television show which was syndicated where I was living in the late 1950s (or possibly earlier). Upon watching, I was immediately hooked, which caused some dispute with my younger brother who wanted some brainless thing contemporaneously on another channel.
As a teen-ager, even before, I was entralled by the "British gentleman," a prejudice from knowing no other languages but Anglais. Verbal cleverness was an added attraction, and this was the legerdemain of Col. Flack. His foil's, "Which means?" entered into my vocabulary in short order. This show was sophisticated humour for its day in television -- to-day as well? -- and was one of the cobblestones on my very long and equally uncertain life's march to erudition for its own sake. As a (slowly) maturing boy I had role models built upon admittedly fictional representations by Niven, Sanders, and of course, Mowbray. Style is by imitation; it is not, as Prof. Henry Higgins points out, innate. This low budget and admittedly outrageous television show which I have not seen in forty years had its little impact, something I have never discussed anywhere before. Thank you for your attention.
