Black Books
The probably-final-ever series of Black Books has just ended, and I am in mourning. Along with Spaced, itâs one of the best and most imaginative UK sitcoms in many long, dreary and âKeeping up Appearancesâ-filled years.
For those of you who havenât had the pleasure, Bernard Black owns a bookshop, but barely tolerates the customers. Heâs more of a misomni-ist than a misanthropist; apart from red wine and cigarettes, he loathes and detests everyone and everything. Manny is a sweet, cheerful, good-natured beardy hippie, who Bernard uses as a general dogsbody. Fran is an alcoholic who has nothing better to do, and so spends her time in the shop.
Last night, Manny and Fran tried to persuade Bernard to go to a party, only succeeding when they deceived him into thinking that the booze had run out:
[Manny, excited to be going to the party]: Letâs paaaarâ¦.
[Bernard, furiously pointing at Manny]: Donât you dare use âpartyâ as a verb in this shop!
Later, after the party, Bernard muses on the eveningâs entertainment:
The drinks were few. The people were many. It was all I expected and less.
Iâm really going to miss it, but Iâm going to fill the void by reading these hilarious book reviewsââMastering Regular Expressions in Perlâ is priceless.
1
I laughed hard at all of those but, by far, my favourite was Lemon Flavour #6!----- If your withdrawal symptoms get really bad, I highly recommend the first two series DVDsâobviously the episodes themselves are worth watching again, but the audio commentaries by Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig are almost as funny! And thereâs a great collection of outtakes too.
by David @ 17/04/2004 9:04 am • Permalink •
2
Nathan: Hehe
David: I gave my brother the second series on DVD for his birthday (or was it Christmasâit took an age to arrive, I know that), so I might have to borrow them from him. He had âflu recently and watched the whole series back-to-back, and probably did himself an injury laughing too much.
by bsag @ 17/04/2004 10:04 am • Permalink •
3
My own comment just got moderated. Thereâs definitely something a bit weird about moderationâ¦
by bsag @ 17/04/2004 10:05 am • Permalink •
4
Its sadening to think that black books it gone, almost indefinatly the last series has ended and we are left remembering the last words of manny, fran and the great bernard blackâ¦â¦â¦
nitey nite; ay???
just a small shout to the producers: MAKE A SERIES 4 WE NEED A SERIES 4!!!!!!!!!!!
by Tim Watson @ 18/04/2004 6:05 pm • Permalink •
5
Tim Watson: Part of me agrees with you, though some of the best comedies have had short runs, and consequently havenât got stale (Fawlty Towers is the famous example).
by bsag @ 19/04/2004 6:04 pm • Permalink •
6
is that definatly it for BB, or are you just speculating? I hadn't heard anything about it being cancelled or them not making a 4th series also, does anyone know when series 3 will be out to buy on DVD
by mary @ 13/05/2004 9:06 am • Permalink •
7
i got hooked on this 3rd series, i had never seen it before but while it was still on i went and got series 1 and 2 and i absoloutly loved it!
deffo 10/10 for me :D
Chez x x x
by Cheryl @ 14/05/2004 4:05 pm • Permalink •
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