Next of Kin Question

Emma

Emma

Dedicated Member
Was this series really described as a sitcom/comedy? I recently discovered it after watching some episodes of "To The Manor Born." It was recommended because Penelope Keith starred in both series. It seems to be a dramedy = a drama with a touch of dark humor thrown in. It's difficult to watch.
 
Well that is a good question, when it was first shown (The Pilot) it was on Comedy Playhouse, so I guess from day one it was termed a comedy
 
To the Manor Born is a story about a woman who was married to an Earl(?) who died and suddenly she found herself "without means" and had to move out of the manor house into a cottage on the grounds. The "humor" is found in how she tries to make the best out of a bad situation and how she tries to get the goat of the man who bought the manor house. It's not slapstick but a "slap in the face" type of comedy.
 
I like To the Manor Born and Penelope Keith. Have not heard of Next of Kin yet. As a fan of Penelope have you seen No Job for a Lady?
She becomes a member of parliament. Is very similar to Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister with Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne.
 
I'm sure the budgets of MPT, PBS, and WETA UK (all American public television) will never stretch to the above mentioned shows.
 
Seems they made 3 series, just bought all 3 for £15 so I'll let you know what it's like.
 
RickAns said:
I like To the Manor Born and Penelope Keith. Have not heard of Next of Kin yet. As a fan of Penelope have you seen No Job for a Lady?
She becomes a member of parliament. Is very similar to Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister with Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne.
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No, I have not heard of NJFAL or the Minister programs. We're rather at the mercy of the nice folks at our local public broadcasting station when it comes to their programming BritComs. Once each year, members of the British Telly Club get to vote on a "filler" show to watch. Those are older, previously viewed series like Keeping Up Appearances, As Time Goes By, The Good Life, and Are You Being Served. Each show has been aired so many times over the past 10 years that I know the dialogue by heart. There is one 30-minute time slot that has to be filled Monday-Friday at 11:30 pm, and because of laws, and money involved, certain shows cannot be aired here in the US. I keep hoping for Gavin and Stacey, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Pulling, Open All Hours, Waiting For God,The Vicar of Dibley, and LOTSW (for the third time around). Anything new would be a welcomed relief.
 
Emma said:
No, I have not heard of NJFAL or the Minister programs..
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Yes Minister (Brilliantly written) was dangerously close to the real world of politics and corruption as I see it.. scarily close to real politics!!!!

Do yourself a favour, and find some on Youtube!
 
Adanor said:
I'm sure the budgets of MPT, PBS, and WETA UK (all American public television) will never stretch to the above mentioned shows.
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I don't know about the others, but my local PBS stations (we have 3) have aired all of the shows I mentioned with exception of Open All Hours, and Waiting For God.
 
BruceC said:
Yes Minister (Brilliantly written) was dangerously close to the real world of politics and corruption as I see it.. scarily close to real politics!!!!

Do yourself a favour, and find some on Youtube!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check them out.
 
Emma, do you have a Netflix DVD account? They have a very large selection of BritComs:

Waiting for God
Vicar of Dibley
Good Neighbors
Keeping up Appearances
Yes, Minister. Used to have Yes, Prime Minister but I am not seeing it listed currently.
Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (with Leonard Rossiter)
Reggie Perrin (with Martin Clunes)
Doc Martin
Open all Hours
As Time Goes By
Father Ted
Ballykissangel
Rising Damp
Men Behaving Badly
Monarch of the Glen
Red Dwarf
Absolutely Fabulous
French and Saunders
Only When I Laugh
One Foot in the Grave
Butterflies
Mapp and Lucia
Coupling
Mr Selfridge
Land Girls
Call the Midwife
Downton Abbey
Larkrise to Candleford
Lovejoy
Black Adder
Only Fools and Horses
Are You Being Served?
Chef!
Cold Feet
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
...

Just to name a few shows, they have many, many more, haha. A great source for us Anglophiles. I pulled those up from a quick search of British TV from Netflix and yes, I have watched all of them through their DVD program over the years. What can I say... I'm a fan of the Brits. :)

I do not think that the streaming side of Netflix has as many classic BritComs of the type we enjoy. Demand for them may not be as high as more popular or trendy shows of today :rolleyes:. At least they did not some years ago when I tried it. Due to a slower internet connection at the time a DVD seemed to make more sense. I continue to keep my DVD account with them still active.

Hope this helps you with options rather then waiting for a TV station to maybe get around to playing something you want to watch.

Rick
 
RickAns said:
What can I say... I'm a fan of the Brits. :)
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me 2.. I just cant get into US Shi+coms... the canned laughter at EVERYTHING is just nuts... bloke opens door - laughter... bloke closes door - laughter.. bloke says "Hi" - you guessed it, laughter..
The bloke on the play and pause button must be on millions for all the work he does.
 
Rick, thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I don't have a Netflix account. Between BBC America, and my PBS stations, I have seen all but 9 of the shows you listed, I'm a fan as well. Have you heard of Britbox? It's a new subscription service for TV shows and movies from the UK.
 
I had not heard of BritBox yet, Emma. Looks interesting. Seems like we can get it here in the US over the internet for around $7 a month. A dollar less than what I am paying Netflix for DVD's. I will look into that, thanks. I don't have cable TV service but if I am able to get it through my internet provider that would be nice.
 
BruceC said:
Yes Minister (Brilliantly written) was dangerously close to the real world of politics and corruption as I see it.. scarily close to real politics!!!!

Do yourself a favour, and find some on Youtube!
Click to expand...
No wonder why the hackles in my neck go up whenever I watch that show.
 
RickAns said:
I like To the Manor Born and Penelope Keith. Have not heard of Next of Kin yet. As a fan of Penelope have you seen No Job for a Lady?
She becomes a member of parliament. Is very similar to Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister with Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne.
Click to expand...
I've been binge-watching the shows you suggested, and enjoyed the NJFAL series. The Minister shows, while amusing, are a little confusing if I try to relate them to US politics. I don't know about your political parties, so I have to view the overall humor without trying to reference them to America's Democrat and Republican parties. It was the same when I watched the series Borgen. The show was excellent, but the politics went right over my head.
 
RickAns said:
I had not heard of BritBox yet, Emma. Looks interesting. Seems like we can get it here in the US over the internet for around $7 a month. A dollar less than what I am paying Netflix for DVD's. I will look into that, thanks. I don't have cable TV service but if I am able to get it through my internet provider that would be nice.
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I got rid of cable too. With an indoor aerial, I get over 60 digital stations for free.
 
Glad you liked No Job for a Lady, Emma. The Minister shows can be confusing at first if one is not familiar with the UK government. Took me till my second watch through to really start to appreciate how well the show is written. Humphrey Appleby's witty and verbose wordplay is brilliant at times in confusing Jim Hacker. The machinations of the bureaucracy to resist any changes to it that might limit it's powers are easily witnessed by Hacker's attempts to get things done. It is a really good show and is an acquired taste as well.

I'm honored you are checking out some of the shows I mentioned. Just put out some I have watched and liked in hopes that you may enjoy one or two of them :). It is great you get so many over the air channels, I have maybe a dozen. Pretty sure I need a better antenna.
 
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