"French and Saunders" (1987) TV series 1987-????

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | unknown

Release Date:

9 March 1987 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

This BBC comedy skit show is the brainchild of longtime comedy duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders...

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Awards:

3 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Dawn French	...	Various Characters / ... (48 episodes, 1987-2005)
Jennifer Saunders	...	Various Characters / ... (48 episodes, 1987-2005)
Derek Lyons	...	Ouick Nose Courier (37 episodes, 1987-2004)
Rowland Rivron	...	Duane Bishop / ... (28 episodes, 1987-1995)
Simon Brint	...	Ken Bishop / ... (24 episodes, 1987-1995)

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Mono | Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M (some episodes) | New Zealand:M (seasons 1-6 box set) | Australia:PG (some episodes)

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Quotes:

Jennifer: A lot of our viewers seem to be having a lot of trouble discerning the difference between a pension scheme and a unit trust.
Dawn: Oh yes, I get that one a lot. Now listen, people, I don't know how many times I can explain this to you. The first one is a PENSION SCHEME, and the second is a UNIT TRUST.
Jennifer: Well, that clears that up, then.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ricky Gervais Live 3: Fame (2007) (V)

Consistent laugher

This show has provided years of belly laughs, satirizing television, films, the arts, pretentious society types....if something's ripe for parody, they pounce on it. In the earlier series, the motif was a VERY low-rent variety show, complete with weekly guest stars, WAY past-their-prime dancers, and the cheesy 2-man band Raw Sex. The pathetic show-within-a-show was interspersed with comedy sketches, the funniest of which depicted a pair of extras in various show business locales (a war hospital film, a production of Carmen, the background of a Sports News show); regardless of their importance (or lack thereof) to the show, the two managed to get in the way and disrupt the production (always with the "props bahsket" in tow). Later series were more straightforward random collections of sketches. Film and TV parodies combined with skewering of pretension are their specialty; it's these later seasons you can see on the videos available for purchase, including the skit that spawned "Absolutely Fabulous." In any case, fans of anarchic British comedy should love this show.