The Thin Blue Line

This show has Rowan Atkinson (Inspector Raymond "Feely" Fowler) at his very best, funnier than either Mr. Bean or Black Adder. He shares the screen with a delightful array of competent actors who all know how to deliver a funny line without squashing it, although sometimes I find David Haig's delivery of Detective Inspector Grimm's rants to be just a little too much.

I don't find much of what Ben Elton has written to be that funny, but this show has me laughing out loud time and again. Almost every episode in the two seasons available is well paced and loaded with double entendres. If only American sitcoms could match or come close to this!

I saw this on TV in 1995/96 and just loved it! The storylines and gags cackle with invention and are simply sheer genius. Ben Elton did a very good job here. The stars in this show are perfectly cast and hilirious to watch, particularly James Dreyfuss, Rowan Atkinson and also David Haig who plays D.I Grim is hilirious! There's a good range of personalities embedded into each character and it's great the way they interact so well. Some great double meanings and even some toilet humour gags will keep you more than satisfied while watching this. :-) 9/10

I had all the episodes of TTBL on tape at one stage. The whole family watched them over and over. Ben Elton must be one of the best writers going. To spoof a police station and have such a variety of characters is fantastic. Each episode a comic delight. This show suits just about any age group too.

This series was a bit of a step back for Elton and Atkinson after the audaciously original Blackadder and Mr. Bean series. The Thin Blue Line is an old-fashioned farce set in a city police station. That's not to say it's bad--it's actually very funny, just not anything groundbreaking. A lot of the humor derives from playing stereotypes against themselves: our heroes are bumbling cops who manage to make fools of themselves while eventually solving the crimes and making fools of the bad guys (not to mention the detective division) in the end. Goody, who could be described as a flaming heterosexual, manages to combine a full repertoire of "nelly" mannerisms with a hopeless crush on Habib. Habib herself is both a stereotype (attractive young female character constantly pursued by almost every male character) and a skewerer of stereotypes. This show has its cake and eats it too, but the viewer is too busy laughing to question any of it. And in the tradition of the best British farces, it goes to unbelievable lengths to track down and hammer home every conceivable double entendre and smutty one-liner. When one finishes groaning and/or laughing, one can't help but admire such perseverance in the pursuit of craft.

As an American I have no problem with saying that British sit-coms are light years ahead of the crap that plays well here in the U.S. After being a huge fan of "BlackAdder", I was reluctant to buy "Thin Blue Line" for fear of being let down because "Blackadder" was so incredibly good, especially "Blackadder Goes Fourth", but I was immediately taken with these characters and the crisp, witty writing. With America's lame sex-coms, uh... I mean sit-coms being so sophomoric and so completely predictable, it's always a breath of fresh air to watch a Brit-com. I'd rather watch "Red Dwarf" or "Thin Blue Line" repeatedly than most of the tripe offered on the major U.S. networks these days. Brit-coms are funnier, smarter and always more colorful. If you love brit-coms don't miss this little jewel!!