The wonderful Beth Fedyn sent this set of DVDs to me and I’ve had about eight hours of laughs as a result. Black Books is a bookstore in London. Bernard Black, the dour owner of the shop, regards customers with hostility. He’d rather be left alone to drink and smoke and read. Bernard, though a series of comic events, finds himself a bizarre assistant. Manny, with wild hair and bulging eyes, does all the heavy lifting, cleaning, and selling in the shop. Fran, once Bernard’s girl friend, is the straw that stirs this sit-com’s drink. You think Fran is the “sane” one until she isn’t. The episode where Fran goes away with her school chums for a “hens” weekend will leave you in stitches. If you’re a fan of British humor and zany comedy, give The Complete Black Books a try.
I think I caught one of these on BBC America. Sometimes I get British humor and sometimes not. We lived there for a year and I was almost won over but it’s been a while.
I know exactly what you mean about British humor. Like you, sometimes I get it and sometimes it leaves me cold. The Complete Black Books includes a few uneven episodes, but all in all there’s a lot of fun here.