Underplayed Gems

Are You Being Served? (1972)

Are You Being Served? poster
Directed by
David Croft, Bob Spiers, Ray Butt, Harold Snoad
Genre
sitcom
Country
United Kingdom
Length
10 seasons, 69 episodes
Rated
TV-PG
Rating
7.3 of 10 from 95 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

The show is about the staff of a department store in London. They work in the clothing departments and have many comedic mix-ups with each other and their customers.

lightheartedsillycomedicfast-pacedcampynostalgicplayfulbanter-filled

What happens

Are You Being Served? is a British television sitcom that was broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was created and written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft. Croft also served as executive producer and director. Michael Knowles and John Chapman also co-wrote certain episodes with Lloyd and Croft. Produced by the BBC, the series starred Mollie Sugden, Trevor Bannister, Frank Thornton, John Inman, Wendy Richard, Arthur Brough, Nicholas Smith, Larry Martyn, Harold Bennett, Kenneth Waller, Arthur English, Alfie Bass, James Hayter and Mike Berry. Set in London, the show followed the misadventures and mishaps of the staff and their regular rotating series of customers at the retail ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments in the flagship department store of a fictional chain called Grace Brothers. The series was broadcast on the BBC for 10 series, totalling 69 episodes between 8 September 1972 and 1 April 1985, including five Christmas specials. The sitcom proved a ratings hit with UK audiences, and gained international recognition when broadcast across several English-speaking countries, including Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the Republic of Ireland, and the United States; the latter gaining it a loyal following when PBS television stations began airing reruns in the mid-1980s, along with other British sitcoms. Are You Being Served? was one of several television series predominant at the time that were adapted for the cinema screen, and a feature film of the same title was released in 1977. A spin-off television series, Grace & Favour, ran from 1992 to 1993 with the same main cast. In 2004, Are You Being Served? was ranked 20th in a television countdown of Britain's Best Sitcom. A one-off revival episode with a new cast was created in 2016. The sitcom – including its pilot and Christmas specials – the spin-off and the film have since been released on DVD. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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