Reading some of the previous reviews, I'd just like to say something about the series' popularity and some of the perceived stereotypes.
The goings-on at Grace Bros aren't a favourite with everyone. Coming 20th in a 2004 'Britain's best sitcom' poll (beating many contenders with the advantage of having been made more recently) nevertheless is a reminder of how popular this comedy remains.
I find nothing sinister or offensive about 'Are You Being Served?' Some things done and said would be frowned upon today. This also goes for other excellent comedies of the past like 'Fawlty Towers'. However a modern audience understands there is no underlying prejudice directed singularly towards any particular section of society. Everyone is made to look a laughing stock; all manners and personalities are ridiculed.
Perhaps the show is watched today because we haven't changed much since the 70s: workplaces still abound with gossip; colleagues still jostle for power and put on airs; bumbling managers and difficult customers are common.
As for John Inman, I don't think his portrayal of an openly camp figure - hilarious, at ease and unafraid to be himself - was a negative put-down for homosexual people. If anything his benevolent persona did some good. England and Wales legalised consensual homosexual activity in 1967 - 5 years before AYBS was first broadcast. Arguably, making someone's effeminate traits a subject of good-natured laughter was a good way of removing hostility towards gay people. Just as 'The Vicar Of Dibley' convinced people that female vicars could be a good thing, the charisma and likeableness of Mr Humphries at least showed audiences that, gay or not, such a person was a welcome personality to have around.
This kind of humour does not belong to the past alone. Both amateur and professional contemporary comedies owe much to (or could learn from) the comic timing, expressions and double entendre-laden scripts typical of 'Are You Being Served?'
So this show is lots of fun and plenty of us Brits like it too.
The goings-on at Grace Bros aren't a favourite with everyone. Coming 20th in a 2004 'Britain's best sitcom' poll (beating many contenders with the advantage of having been made more recently) nevertheless is a reminder of how popular this comedy remains.
I find nothing sinister or offensive about 'Are You Being Served?' Some things done and said would be frowned upon today. This also goes for other excellent comedies of the past like 'Fawlty Towers'. However a modern audience understands there is no underlying prejudice directed singularly towards any particular section of society. Everyone is made to look a laughing stock; all manners and personalities are ridiculed.
Perhaps the show is watched today because we haven't changed much since the 70s: workplaces still abound with gossip; colleagues still jostle for power and put on airs; bumbling managers and difficult customers are common.
As for John Inman, I don't think his portrayal of an openly camp figure - hilarious, at ease and unafraid to be himself - was a negative put-down for homosexual people. If anything his benevolent persona did some good. England and Wales legalised consensual homosexual activity in 1967 - 5 years before AYBS was first broadcast. Arguably, making someone's effeminate traits a subject of good-natured laughter was a good way of removing hostility towards gay people. Just as 'The Vicar Of Dibley' convinced people that female vicars could be a good thing, the charisma and likeableness of Mr Humphries at least showed audiences that, gay or not, such a person was a welcome personality to have around.
This kind of humour does not belong to the past alone. Both amateur and professional contemporary comedies owe much to (or could learn from) the comic timing, expressions and double entendre-laden scripts typical of 'Are You Being Served?'
So this show is lots of fun and plenty of us Brits like it too.