Are You Being Served? Volume 4

Rating:
Summary: The Laugh's On Grace Brothers! (Volume 4)
Review: The editorial description above is actually listing the episodes in volume 11 which can also be found in the AYBS? Seasons 6-10 boxed set. Volume 4 is also available in the Seasons 1-5 boxed set--both sets I highly recommend.

AYBS? is one of my favorite sitcoms, but this particular volume does not showcase the best this long-running series had to offer. Of the six episodes in volume 4, the best, by far, is Forward Mr. Grainger where Mr. Grainger takes over for Mr. Rumbold and all the power goes to his head to the point where he fires his long-time nemesis Mrs. Slocombe. Rarely has the Grace Brothers staff seemed so happy to see Mr. Rumbold than when he returned to relieve them of Grainger's reign of terror. The rest of the episodes are mediocre at best.

We never see the "Great Gatsby" promotion in New Look. It ends with just a silly dance routine. There are more dance routines in Christmas Crackers and Top Hat and Tails, the latter of which seems a pointless show where the staff learns to ballroom dance for a company competition. The scene where the staff suffers through the customary company Christmas lunch and the funny costumes they wear makes Christmas Crackers worth the time. No Sale is one of the better episodes in this set. Here, Mr. Rumbold has the staff opening earlier (8:30 am, which doesn't seem THAT early) to improve sales. Seeing that the strategy is working, the staff sabotage their sales techniques so the early opening will not continue. The worst of this set, though, is Fire Practice. The first part of this episode has the staff trying to accommodate a group of Arabs. I find this scene to be in very poor taste for its racist undertones. AYBS? was an excellent series, but this batch of episodes makes for a poor sampling. If, by rare chance, you have not seen this British comedy before and want to give it a try, opt for volume 1 or 2.

Rating:
Summary: "Weak as water, the whole lot of you"
Review: The editorial description above is actually listing the episodes in volume 11 which can also be found in the AYBS? Seasons 6-10 boxed set. Volume 4 is also available in the Seasons 1-5 boxed set--both sets I highly recommend.

AYBS? is one of my favorite sitcoms, but this particular volume does not showcase the best this long-running series had to offer. Of the six episodes in volume 4, the best, by far, is Forward Mr. Grainger where Mr. Grainger takes over for Mr. Rumbold and all the power goes to his head to the point where he fires his long-time nemesis Mrs. Slocombe. Rarely has the Grace Brothers staff seemed so happy to see Mr. Rumbold than when he returned to relieve them of Grainger's reign of terror. The rest of the episodes are mediocre at best.

We never see the "Great Gatsby" promotion in New Look. It ends with just a silly dance routine. There are more dance routines in Christmas Crackers and Top Hat and Tails, the latter of which seems a pointless show where the staff learns to ballroom dance for a company competition. The scene where the staff suffers through the customary company Christmas lunch and the funny costumes they wear makes Christmas Crackers worth the time. No Sale is one of the better episodes in this set. Here, Mr. Rumbold has the staff opening earlier (8:30 am, which doesn't seem THAT early) to improve sales. Seeing that the strategy is working, the staff sabotage their sales techniques so the early opening will not continue. The worst of this set, though, is Fire Practice. The first part of this episode has the staff trying to accommodate a group of Arabs. I find this scene to be in very poor taste for its racist undertones. AYBS? was an excellent series, but this batch of episodes makes for a poor sampling. If, by rare chance, you have not seen this British comedy before and want to give it a try, opt for volume 1 or 2.

Rating:
Summary: An okay entry in the series
Review: This volume is certainly not the strongest in the series. If you want to collect the whole series, then certainly you'll have to get it. If you're like me and slowly building your collection disc by disc, this one can wait.

As some of the other reviewers have pointed out, this well-loved series sometimes has bits that are outright racist and sexist, and therefore very uncomfortable to watch. I try to view these parts as a historial reminder of what life used to be like and what used to be considered acceptable. Therefore, they are actually educational (and unpleasant) cultural artifacts that testify to changing societal mores. So while we still have a long way to go, some progress has been made.