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| The Good Life indeed |
It's no secret that I'm an Anglophile; all things British make me drool, so when a friend suggested I borrow his copies of an old BBC sitcom I gladly accepted. When I found out it starred Richard Briers of my beloved Monarch of the Glen I was even more excited, and to top it off the entire concept of the show is that a couple living in a posh London suburb decides to go completely off the grid and become totally self suficient...life without money! And this was produced in 1975!
I have to say that while it is a tad dated and the comedic style is a bit broad, I'm completely enchanted by this series. It ran for 30 episodes, which somehow came out to 8 seasons over there, including a LIVE performance for THE QUEEN and PRINCE PHILIP! That's on the last season DVD, and it's a hoot to watch a much younger Queen ma'am (mum to our ears) shuffling into an old TV studio in her long pink chiffon, with the same damn hairdo and makeup she's worn her entire life.
The things this show inspires in me...obviously, the idea of being as practical and efficient as possible in how I live. In every episode they deal quite honestly with the exhaustion of growing your own food and the traumas and dramas that come up in the transition to a completely independent lifestyle, but what shines through is the characters' dedication to the decision and the joy they have in sharing it all together.
The two actors who play their best friends and next door neighbors are fantastic, and I think Penelope steals the show as Margo Leadbetter. She's such a brilliant straight man to all of the Marx Brothers-esque silliness of Briers and his adorable onscreen wife, Felicity Kendall. Rounding out the cast is the late Paul Eddington, who is the tall, sauve, sophisticate variety of Brit and makes the perfect Yin to Margo's overbearing Yang.
But surprisingly, what this show also inspires in me is the desire to share a life with someone, which I've not felt for a while. Tom and Barbara Good have a wonderful time being together all day, growing crops, milking their goat, playing midwife to a pig, driving their ridiculous looking but practical homemade car to their allottment for more crops...they're always laughing and playing, which reminds me of some couples I am fortunate enough to observe in "real life" as well. What a joy it would be, to have someone like that to create an independent life alongside!
"The Good Life" (aka "Good Neighbors" when released in the US) is one of those gems you get addicted to and don't mind seeing again. Makes me wish Tom and Barbara and Jerry and Margo were my neighbors too.
I believe it's available through Netflix and I definitely saw it for sale on Amazon...I personally intend to have this series as a keeper.
It's interesting to think that over 30 years ago people were thinking the same thing and wrestling with the same questions and yearnings that we think are so modern or unique to us now. Some things are timeless - this show is one of them.
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Posted by marathongal on 2008-10-06 19:56:09 | Rating: | Views: 27
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