With today's entry, I'm digging a bit back into the television archives. 'Are You Being Served' ran on television starting into the mid-1970s and lasting into the 1980s on British television.
How did I come to see it, you ask? Illicit late night PBS viewing (okay... It feels really illicit when you're 10 years old). ‘Are You Being Served’ and ‘Mr. Bean’
ran right after Charlie Rose.
Rewatching some of the early episodes, it’s easy to remember what it was that initially drew me to the series. ‘Are You Being Served’ follows the (usually zany) daily goings on of the ladies' and gentlemen’s department of fictional department store, Grace Brothers. The show combines quick and clever writing, with some of the most interesting and colorful characters in half-hour television.
From early in the first season, the characters are fully fleshed out, un-needing of the usual period of growth and development that so many shows are forced undergo in their early episodes. All one has to do is watch “Dear Sexy Knickers,” which is the second episode of the first season. This episode follows the almost farsical misadventures of Mr. Lucas (Trevor Bannister) as he attempts to get a note across to the ladies department to be read my Miss. Brahms (Wendy Richard). In the process, the note gets into the wrong hands, and the ladies must figure out who sent the note, and to whom it was meant for.
In a cast full of stand-outs, John Inman (right) leaps off the screen as Mr. Humpries. While his stereotypical performance can be interpreted as somewhat problematic in contemporary culture, it is fascinating to see a openly (and outwardly flamboyant) homosexual character on screen forty years ago. As anyone who takes a passing interest in classic film and television, homosexuality in this period would have been heavily repressed at the very least. At the it would actually be vilified. Neither of these are true. Inman's performance is very similar to what we saw in the character of Jack in 'Will and Grace' in the late 1990s. Mr. Humphries is an astute character. He is likable, and usually we find ourselves laughing with him, not at him.
ran right after Charlie Rose.
From early in the first season, the characters are fully fleshed out, un-needing of the usual period of growth and development that so many shows are forced undergo in their early episodes. All one has to do is watch “Dear Sexy Knickers,” which is the second episode of the first season. This episode follows the almost farsical misadventures of Mr. Lucas (Trevor Bannister) as he attempts to get a note across to the ladies department to be read my Miss. Brahms (Wendy Richard). In the process, the note gets into the wrong hands, and the ladies must figure out who sent the note, and to whom it was meant for.
In a cast full of stand-outs, John Inman (right) leaps off the screen as Mr. Humpries. While his stereotypical performance can be interpreted as somewhat problematic in contemporary culture, it is fascinating to see a openly (and outwardly flamboyant) homosexual character on screen forty years ago. As anyone who takes a passing interest in classic film and television, homosexuality in this period would have been heavily repressed at the very least. At the it would actually be vilified. Neither of these are true. Inman's performance is very similar to what we saw in the character of Jack in 'Will and Grace' in the late 1990s. Mr. Humphries is an astute character. He is likable, and usually we find ourselves laughing with him, not at him.
'Are You Being Served' is unfortunately much harder to stream. This writer would start with YouTube, and eventually purchase of Amazon if you like what you see.
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