Black Books

I see I'm the first American to write a review of this show, so I'll try to do a good job at representing my country. Quite simply, Black Books is the funniest show I've seen in years, if not the funniest I've ever seen. When I heard Bernard spout the line above to a group of skinheads outside his bookshop, I laughed so hard that I missed the rest of the scene. Thanks to Comedy Central for airing the first series of this show (and the second coming up in August), for I would probably have never seen it if they had not. Most British sitcoms (Britcoms?) I've seen have been funny, but I usually forget about them rather quick (probably due to the cultural differences) but Black Books stuck with me so much that I was forced to buy a bootleg VHS of the first series. Luckily, the tapes included the outtakes and running commentary for each episode on a separate tape so I wouldn't have to buy a region-free DVD player to see them (which I probably would have done!). I fear that I'm rambling now, so I'll just conclude by saying that if you have not seen this great series, then see it!

I totally disagree with the other review. Black Books couldn't be funnier. It's one of a kind that takes on board other people's sense of humour, instead of sticking to the same dull and predictable jokes of programmes like Friends and Will & Grace. To say that it tries too hard to be funny, is unfeasible! Some of its most clever jokes almost go unnoticed, and without the aid of canned laughter! Whilst I am a fan of both, when I saw Black Books, I loved it! It's easy to empathise with the pessimistic Bernard, particularly if you're a similar type of person and to sympathies with the gradually stupider Manny. Everyone knows a Bernard or a Manny in their lives, which makes Black Books hilarious! Watch it!

Bernard Black runs his own bookshop even though he doesn't much like people who buy books and hates having customers. Next door to Bernard's shop is the Nifty Gifty gift shop run by Fran, probably Bernard's only friend in the world. When Bernard's accountant goes on the run Bernard employs stress victim, Manny to help in his shop. This leads to a series of surreal adventures around the shop.

This series (soon to return for a second series!) was poorly promoted by channel 4 (usually so good at getting great little comedies recognised - Spaced, Father Ted etc), and didn't get seen by anywhere near the audience it deserved. The storylines are always pretty wild - Manny absorbing the Little Book of Calm into his system in the first show - and never set in reality, ever. However they are never stupid because they are so wildly funny! The surreal adventures of Bernard and Manny are excellent - full of movie references, full of great dialogue and surreal action. As a sitcom it just sparkles with ideas, energy and imagination - for the first showing Ch 4 had it following Friends and it totally showed Friends up to be mass-produced, thoughtless entertainment. Sure, BB doesn't have the gloss of Friends and can feel a bit rough round the edges but you can't beat the fact that it feels fresh and new compared to all that gloss.

The chemistry between Bernard and Manny is great - even if their dialogue is mad at times. Bill Bailey is very funny doing stand-up and here he is really suited to Manny. Moran as Bernard is also great as the abusive drunk Irishman and is just so manically funny - not manic like Phoebe in Friends but manic like Jack in Father Ted. Tamsin Greig is also good as Fran, despite being a smaller character.

Overall this is a flagship for all that is good about channel 4 comedies - British, clever, imaginative, daring and very funny. Well done channel 4!

How could the owner of a book shop who says "Enjoy. It's dreadful but it's quite short" not be anything short of hilarious. This is so funny, every line is funny. No boring minutes, no fake action, just plain comedy in a style i find very appealing. Crazily funny lines like "Is space hot?" "Of course it is, where else do you think we get pineapples from?" are acted so perfectly making it spectacularly entertaining. A must see. My favorite show for sure.

I always have been a big fan of Fawlty Towers, Father Ted and Blackadder. So when I knew about this series, I just had to see it. Now that I have seen it, there is only one thing I can say about it: Black books is absolutely great and hilarious. It proves that the UK is still the best breeding ground for humoristic series.

Bernard Black - an anti-social, boozing and smoking sarcastic pessimist - runs his own book store. He doesn't like people who buy books and hates his customers. He has one employee: Manny. Manny looks more like a bum, never stands up for himself when he is the target of Bernard's sarcasm and is always full of stress. Next door to Bernard's shop is the Nifty Gifty gift shop run by Fran, probably the only friend Bernard has.

The humor is perhaps not to everybody's taste. I guess not everybody will understand and appreciate the sarcasm and surrealism in this series, but I loved it. I would give this series a 10/10 if we could vote on it.