Two's Company

Rating:
Summary: Great, one of my favorites!
Review: American thriller author, Dorothy McNab (ably played by Elaine Stritch) has come to England to enjoy a slower place of life. Overall, it doesn't live up to her expectations, but at least (unlike Europe) people speak "American." But, she does need a butler to run her house for her. Who should walk through her door, but Robert (Donald Sinden), an extremely capable butler with a profound sense of superiority towards upstart colonials? The fur flies, and hilarity ensues as this unlike pair set up house together.

This is a great British comedy - one of my favorites, and my wife's all-time favorite! As a matter of fact, not long after we were first married, PBS began airing this great show, and I used it to introduce my bride to the joys of British humor (that is to say, "humour"). Overall, we found this to be a lot of fun, and enjoy watching it over and over again. So, if you want to see a fun and entertaining Britcom, then I highly recommend that you get this DVD. It's great!

By the way, this DVD includes all six of the episodes from the first (1975) series. The six episodes are:

The Bait - Dorothy needs a butler, and Robert appears to be the perfect butler. A match made in heaven, right? With their conflicting and strongly-held views they could not be more different. Can Dorothy win Robert over? It'll take some work.

The Housekeeping - Robert wants more money to run the house, but Dorothy expects him to live within her budget. But when an important American senator arrives, expecting a gourmet meal, Robert sees his chance to teach Ms. McNab a lesson.

Dorothy's Electrician - Dorothy wants some new wall lights installed in the hall - Robert knows a good electrician, but Dorothy hires a cheap one instead. Robert bets Dorothy that the man will be a disaster, and he is. Now how can Dorothy get out of this gracefully - most likely she can't!

The Patient - When Robert falls and injures his ankle, Dorothy begins her infuriating sojourn into the National Health Service. Along the way, Dorothy succeeds in alienating everyone she meets, with hilarious results. (By the way, check out the hospital receptionist - Penelope Keith!)

The Romance - Dorothy has an overly-amorous man coming over, and needs Robert to stay handy and keep the man off her neck (and the rest of her body). But, it's Robert's day off, and there is a very important cricket match on television...

Robert's Mother - Robert's mother is coming over, but Robert is surprisingly against the idea of having her anywhere nearby. What is going on? When Dorothy meets her, she quickly finds out why.


Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST CLASSIC BRITISH COMEDIES
Review: Fawlty Towers remains the best British comedy series of all time, but TWO'S COMPANY comes right in at second for me.

My local PBS station ran this for a very short time many years ago and then they stopped. I had never taped any of them and thought I would never get to see this great classic again for the rest of my life. Over the years I begged the PBS stations to carry it again, but with no luck. THEN I RECENTLY SAW IT ON DVD!! I COULD NOT BELEIVE IT!

It has been so long since I have seen this, that it was like watching the show all over again as I hardly remembered what happened in the episodes, only that they were great and made me laugh. Oh the joy and pleasure as the first edpisode ran on my television set from this DVD!

The first episode is where these two characters meet for the first time and the brilliant and hillarious chemistry of these two characters start imediately, as if the TV series had been running for a year already, not a boring set up like with most American comedies, it was brilliant from the very first episode, and from the very first minute!

I had to watch all the episodes in one sitting, and the most dissapointing thing about watching this DVD, was that there is no second season set available for me to buy yet.

Even for those that don't particulary like or find British comedies hard to get, you will like this one, because the Woman character is American, with an American accent, and they go at each other making fun of Britians and Americans from the very start. Since most Butlers, even in American films have an English accent, you can't tell this was a British comedy instead of an American one, other than it is much funnier and without a ridiculous laugh track to interrupt the flow of the comedy!

And unlike some British Comedies where you have to put up the subtitles to understand what they are saying, this comedy is easy to understand and brilliantly funny.

Only when you get two actors that can work together this well, can any program like it be as succesfull.

This program was truely a masterpeice, and I am very pleased that it was finally released on DVD in the USA.

I can't wait for the other seasons to be released.

Rating:
Summary: Superb Comedy at it's best!
Review: I agree with the previous reviewer saying that this is one of the all time great British Sitcoms. Classic British actor Donald Sinden is superb as the sardonic butler Robert and is a perfect foil for Elain Stritch. A & E aired this series in the late 80s and I taped a handful of episodes. After the run finished it was not broadcast since. I was thrilled when I saw it listed as being out on DVD. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

Rating:
Summary: Superb Comedy at it's best!
Review: I agree with the previous reviewer saying that this is one of the all time great British Sitcoms. Classic British actor Donald Sinden is superb as the sardonic butler Robert and is a perfect foil for Elain Stritch. A & E aired this series in the late 80s and I taped a handful of episodes. After the run finished it was not broadcast since. I was thrilled when I saw it listed as being out on DVD. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!