bambybyte "The Young Ones" was a British cult comedy that broke out from 82 to 84, and was a sort of cathodic counterpart of the raging and inventive intensity of punk in music. Their creators (Lise Mayer, Rik Mayall and Ben Elton) came from the extraordinary experience (an alternative comedy den wherein punks, students, stand-up Marxist comediennes and comedians and absolutely unclassified entities of London cabaret used to gather and socialize). They intended to cross the slapstick (that form of physical comedy that experiments with the possibilities of a poetics of violence, cruelty and catastrophe in scene; a form that tends to be minorized in comparison to other kinds of comedy due its association with unproductive, asocial excess) with punk. The result was this surreal, abrasive-convulsive, incredible series, regarded by many as an update of "La Bóheme" in Thatcher's years, starred by revulsive and caustic characters, especially designed by their authors to deliberately displease: four students living together in a house that's constantly falling apart (in every episode, scenarios are literally dismantled with utmost pleasure by their own characters, that smugly come and go through the fourth wall as it was a silk curtain). We got Rick, a camp and hypocritical anarchist poet, fascinated with the Baader-Meinhof and Cliff Richard in equal parts, whose embodiment of anxiety -some says that he reflected someway the fear of inauthenticity that haunted part of the '80 British left- appeals and amplify John Lydon's axiomatic mantra: "anger is an energy". We got Vyvyan, a sadistic, gory punk devoted to unravel all the applied varieties of the verb "destroy", that's pure unpredictable physicality in action. We got Neil, a melancholic, bittersweet acid-rocker hippie, spiritual reject from the generation of love waking from the dream of flowers to enter in '70/'80 Britain nightmare. We got Mike, a dandyesque '80 Casanova obsessed with -love-challenges (and subsequently, blessed with - love- failures) and enigmatic non-sequiturs. And of course, we got the Balowski landlord family, all of them, starred by the amazing, always strange Alexei Sayle (demarcating the disruptive moment of the series when the sitcom narrative and aesthetic register would leave place to the emergence of a sudden and brief stand-up universe).Neither of their twelve episodes has some deal of structure of any kind, every known trope was subverted and then, re-subverted again, the narrative could change at every moment, swerving from slapstick to claymation, to unusual stand-up and music live numbers of amazing bands playing in the set such as The Damned, Motörhead, Madness, Rip Rig & Panic or Dexys Midnight Runners. Summarizing, this series is ardently recommended by someone who, at the first time of watching the first episode, felt the very same feverish struck of agitation and anxious fascination that he felt while listening Buzzcocks' "Love Bites" or Damned's "Damned Damned Damned". Beauty would be convulsive or won't be. Long live punk, long live slapstick!

ShadeGrenade 'The Young Ones' polarised audiences when it first appeared in 1982, if you were over thirty you regarded it, as Malcolm Allison did, 'utter rubbish', but if you were under thirty you loved it! I have to admit I was not an immediate fan, but took to it after several viewings. 'The Young Ones' was all about four students - hippie Neil, punk Vyvian, wide boy Mike, and hyperactive Rik, who never seemed to do any studying. They lived in a house where incredibly surreal things happened, such as the furniture talking to itself, or atom bombs dropping through the roof. The characters weren't likable, but then they weren't meant to be. Alexei Sayle cropped up from time to time as their landlord, Mr.Balowski. The humour was aggressive, violent, and very rude, more so than any show had been before. My favourite gag was when Vyvian leaned out of a moving train, only to be instantly decapitated. We then saw his headless body pull the communication cord, get out, and run up the track! Some aspects have undeniably dated; for instance, a 'Dallas' spoof contained the credit: VITRIOL CONSULTANT - MISS NINA COW. This was a dig at the television critic Nina Myskow, who was one of 'Dallas' most vocal supporters. The 'tampon' gag in an early episode caused a sensation. Full credit for this show must not only go to the performers, but also to writers Rik Mayall, Lise Mayer ( whatever happened to her? ) and Ben Elton ( who appeared occasionally ). It is difficult to think of another comedy show that captured the spirit of the '80's so successfully.

frank zito Why cant there be more shows like the Young ones filled with senseless violence and verbal beatings. Ill tell you why its because everyone is so worried about being politically correct. If we could all give it up and say YOU BASTARD on a regular basis television might just be funny again. I mean why is everyone so afraid of being offended? who cares. My favorite episode is Sick. How can you go wrong with any show that has British punk band Madness playing in the middle of the street while a riot is going on. By the way the riot was started because a man throws a brick at a womens head. Halariouse! by the way if you like the young ones you should check out another one of my personal favorites The Dangerous Brothers. and stop being so p.c. YOU BASTARD!

michellemurmurs6244 Back in the days when MTV really meant MTV they would show this imported britcom on Sunday evenings. I always looked forward to watching it. This show was so different than any other kind of show I had seen before that it absolutely fascinated me. The characters of Rick, Vyvyan, Neil and Mike had me hooked with their loud, obnoxious and rowdy behavior. On one level it's lowbrow, juvenile and shrill. On another it's clever, original and refreshingly unlike anything else. It's partly a situation comedy, partly a musical variety show. I love the arguments between Rick and Vyvyan and Rick and Neil and well.....Rick and anybody! I love Vyvyan's random destruction of the house and random abuse of well.....everybody. If you want a reason to really laugh out loud this is the show that will help you do it.