The much under-rated Filthy, Rich and Catflap on DVD

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8951 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-07-26
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 204 minutes

Synopsis
Largely written by doyen of alternative 80s comedy Ben Elton (abetted by Mayall), this seedy series had to follow in the huge cult footsteps of The Young Ones.What happened when The Young Ones grew up

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Customer Reviews

A neglected satirical classic, sadly hacked about
Amongst the "endless stream of nob and bot gags" (still funny) is a vicious satire on TV light entertainment. The series was never repeated after its original run, the rumour is that the content rubbed a lot of significant people up the wrong way. After F,R and C, TV light entertainment was never the same again.

The humour was a staging post between "The Young Ones" and "Bottom". By the standards of today - e.g. "Two Pints of Lager", "Coupling" etc. then it has lost its shock value, but that doesn't stop it being laugh out loud. Very much a product of its time, I was grateful for the Eighties haircuts on the female characters ("Stu-stu-stu Studio Line") and the line "Next time you're being beaten up, try calling an alternative comedian".

For those who saw it first time around, the DVD is missing the "Oliver!" songs and the "Roxanne / Vienna" rendition with Midge Ure, plus a couple of other unimportant scenes. The small print does say that "Edits have been made for contractual reasons". No extras, obviously (it is a British TV series). Despite this, the lusty rendition of "Shaddupa Your Face" remains: Joe Dolce's lawyer not so hot, apparently.

pure pure genius
This is the second best thing Rik and the boys have ever done , the first being "Mr Jolly lives next door" Why this never got a second series I will never know , and I would love them to do one now and pick on some of todays celebs. Rik is at his best here as a c list celeb Richie Rich moving from one disaster to another trying to get to the hights of Bruce Forsyth and Tarby "the Gov'ner" . Sometimes things are a disapointment when you view them again , but this wasn't , infact I laughed more ,

Mixed emotions
This series really is as good as I remembered it, and was unjustly underrated at the time. It definitely should have gone to a second series.

So why only 3 stars?

Firstly, because you `had to be there': many of the topical references and the lampoons of specific `celebs' just won't mean anything to a newer generation of viewers. Equally sadly for comedy writers, we no longer live in a time where political targets (on both the Left and the Right) so clearly define themselves and their dogged, cartoon beliefs that they practically write their own gags every time they open their mouths. That Golden Age of Self-parody has passed, and doesn't look like returning any time soon - Doublespeak and fractured English notwithstanding. (On the other hand, some of Richie's game/reality show ideas are spookily prescient of modern times, and perhaps should have remained in the realms of fantasy. Imagine, a world free of BB. Bliss!)

Secondly, despite what some other reviewers have said, I think the cuts on this DVD really do spoil the experience. Punch lines are left in where the set up has been edited out (huh!), and butchering the Richie-in-the-Nolan's-shower scene is nothing short of criminal.

Nevertheless, if you can live with these shortcomings, buy the DVD. The live feel and the pace of the gags (both verbal and very, very physical) is excellent most of the time, and the show-within-a-show talking and mugging to camera only adds to the fun. One thing I never noticed from the original broadcast is that Richie Rich tends to morph into Kenneth Williams really quite often. Was this planned?

OK, on second thoughts: 4.5 stars for fans, 3 for newcomers. Is that a fair deal, daughters?