The Young Ones. Have We Got a Video?
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- čas přidán 13. 06. 2024
- #TheYoungOnes #britishcomedy
Stam Fine Reviews looks at a seminal (pardon?) television comedy of the 1980's. The Young Ones, written by Rik Mayall, Lise Mayer, and Ben Elton was about four students who shared a grotty house. Rik, an anarchist poet; Neil, the hippy; Mike The Cool person; and Vyvyan, a medical student with violent tendencies. For a show that only ran 12 episodes, its influence on British Comedy has been enormous. Which sounds a bit rude.
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0:00 Intro
01:32 Pitch and Pilot
02:15 Rick
03:50 Mike
04:55 Neil
05:53 Vyvyan
07:10 The Balowski Family
08:20 The Young Ones
11:25 Episodes
17:47 The End and Beyond - Zábava
I was 10 when the Young Ones started, and with my 3 years older brother we used to get to sleep at night reciting episodes to each other, line by line. We knew every word, even if I didn’t really understand quite a few of them. Luckily, the first reruns in 1983 coincided with us getting a video recorder so we watched it over and over. Strangely, my dad also loved it and it was something we watched together. The catch phrases still in use in our conversations right up until he died. I don’t think any show meant as much to me.
Young ones was such a quotable show. I did memorize the first few eps I taped.
One of the only tv series that will still make me laugh out loud.
Vyvyan Basterd is now a very successful proctologist in London after retiring from his career as lead guitarist in his punk rock head-banging metal band - “Special Patrol Group” which was named after his late hamster that Neil accidentally cooked in a big pot of lentils one night for dinner.
I am a german and got into this via dutch TV in the early 90`s. First thing i discovered was "Filthy, Rich & Catflap". I never saw anything like it before and was glued to the screen..."Bottom" followed. "The Young Ones" i saw years later (stepping into my YT-Timemachine). Love british originals like that, wonderful stuff!
I watched this as a small child....and then again and again and again. I remember noticing the 'Cousin It' sitting in the background of various eps when I was a kid and then having massive trouble trying to convince others about the character and insisting that is wasn't Neil. It drove me nuts...which was obviously the intent. It's brilliant....and will always be brilliant....and that's rare...its also a snapshot in time (and a snapshot that I associate with certain times of my youth....and then snapshots of every time I rewatched it). One of the very few truly Immortal comedy shows
Cool!
I loved The Young Ones, this came at a perfect time for me, I was a teenager and this new generation of comedy spoke to me perfectly.
Cool!
And they used the word bastard a lot, which was fun.
I loved this. I was about 9 and had them all recorded on vhs tape. Every in our house watched it.
My hatred of coronation street started because our babysitter refused to let my brother and I watch the young ones, she wanted to watch her programme instead. Thus started my lifetime hatred of everything coronation street.
"I'm 16, right? I can join the Army, the Air Force, or the Navy - but I can't drink in pubs. When's the government, right, going to recognize that Young Adults have a valid contribution to give to society?"
Man, that was great - thanks! The Young Ones is truly a brilliant masterpiece. Almost every line is a quoteable classic. I watched it over and over and over again back in the day. Never gets old. Rik Mayall was a true genius. RIP 😢
Glad you enjoyed it!
Glenn Is A German and he have my pen! #ObscurePython
The Young Ones was shown in the US on MTV when I was in high school. I was the only one of my friend group who really got into it. It also occupies a strange place of honor in my personal TV history as the last thing I ever watched on VHS. I was taking out my trash, and spotted that someone had thrown out a Young Ones VHS box set. I retrieved the tapes from the dumpster, dug my VCR out of the storeroom, hooked it up, and watched them all in a day.
"Who is this fellow?" "Why that be me sir!" "No No No In the Pit!" "Right you are sir!" (jumps into pit) "Who is this fellow, in the pit?" "That be me sir!" -something like that anyway lol
It was years before I realised that was Hale and Pace.
This programme single handedly shaped my sense of humour as a young child, which got me in a considerable amount of trouble at school.
"That's an elephant"
"You unfeeling bastard!"
"I am an elephant you know"
Crop rotation in the 14th century was considerably more wide spread after John.
Funny the bits we remember. I remember that line but not my own phone number.
@@StamFine well-if Rick thought it necessary to remember I thought so should I
I say this all the time. Mostly to myself 🤣
Crop rotation in the 14th century was CONSIDERABLY more wide spread after John.
Bambi is still the funniest half hour of anything I've ever watched.
Also, is there a bigger name in 80's comedy than Rowan Atkinson who WASN'T in the Young Ones?
probably not from the '80's new wave.'
Billy Connolly was another notable absentee.
I think my absolute favorite bit was Vivian's rant about The Good Life. I'd never heard of the show or seen a second of it, but several glorious minutes of one episode were devoted to how much he hated it. It remains one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
(I later saw The Good Life and decided that, while was incredibly safe and nice, I liked it all the same. Felicity Kendall was, indeed, sweetly pretty.)
Series 2 of of the young ones is in my opinion the best television series ever.
It's very good.
The Young Ones was amazing. Rik Mayall was a comedy genius.
Yes, he was.
Rick is like every twitter user today lol
seems that way
Excatly lol
A-fracking-men! Well said ole boy. Top, top, cheerio.
@@StamFine that rotten bastard is the embodiment of Twitter
Exactly.
Hey, that was me who spotted the possible 5th flatmate! Many, many years ago. I remember posting about it on Usenet when I was at uni in the 90s. Seems it's still shows up in Young Ones FAQs.
Oh how I would like to watch the young ones again for the first time. To be able to enjoy the magic of each episode and then going to school the following day to quote some of the best lines.
There are certain things that i now wish I was older when I first watched them, just so I understood the jokes better. Young Ones and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are two of those.
Filthy Rich and Catflap is massively underatted, was a great precursor to Bottom. Just a shame it doesn't get more love.
Thanks, you saved me some typing there..they announced a second series at the end of the first and I was forever waiting for it
Completely agree! Far too much scorn going on seriously long enough by half on FR & C - a much superior show to Bottom. For British viewers it made some great comments about the 'vast army' of tedious cheeky chappie golfing celebs/'comics' of the time. Whilst Bottom has it's charm, it relied too heavily on the slapstick (not necessarily a bad thing) but was thin on the social commentary of the Young Ones and Filthy Rich. It was only shown once on the BBC, never repeated, weirdly. It had some great cameos from Barbara Windsor to Linda Bellingham and portrayed thick/idle program controllers and scumbag tabloid journos biting funny....I have a lot of love for that show, and with the exception of the last two series of Blackadder, was probably the last decent thing Ben Elton wrote before his massive slide downhill in the 90s...Rik is on top of his game as the talentless fool desperate for stardom at any cost, with Adrian Edmondson nicely precursoring his role of Eddie in Bottom. I've never really understood the opprobrium heaped upon this show - if you're a fan of the YO and Bottom - and the Comic Strip, for that matter, I don't get why this wouldn't appeal to you.
Some great one liners....I dig this show....'oh contrare, lesser mortal' as Richie Rich states in one 'ep'.
Bloody funny stuff.
In actual fact, you saying that, I’m going to have to look that up right now. Cheers. Just have🤪
Completely agree. It’s an acquired taste, but quite good when you get into it
You are so right. One of my favourites shows. Fing Funning!
I remember this well. Especially the second series which we used to watch the day after at school during Social Studies class when the teacher we usually had was off sick for a few months. Watching it, 'live', the night before was great, but watching it again, on video, (yes, we had a video..!), the next day at school felt _really_ special. a) because not many people have videos then, and b) we got to watch one of the most popular comedies at school instead of having to do boring classwork! Summer term 1984, if I remember correctly. Sheer bliss.
Oh no, not raw tea, again!
Haha! Nice!
THE DAMNED - VIDEO NASTY !! BEST BAND ON THE SHOW , FOLLOWED BY MOTORHEAD !
Haha!
I remember being on holiday in Scotland and watching some awards show, and seeing this thing called 'the young ones' win several awards. They showed the clip of Viv losing his head on the train tracks, and I just about shit my pants. I was about 13 and couldn't believe something like that was actually on TV. I had a long wait until the series showed up in NZ but it was worth it. I had VHS tapoes with every episode for decades, and now I've got all the various comic strips and other series on my hard drive.
The Young Ones was incredible, I put it alongside The Simpsons and Married With Children as shows that completely blew apart any kind of standards or normal expectations about what could be shown on TV.
RIP Rik Mayall.
ps. I love filthy rich and catflap. It was demented, but damned by the reliance on showbiz insider jokes and the like. It was better than Bottom. I think the New Statesman was fantastic as well, just very different.
I loved this show back then, much as I do love Monty Python; they where my fathers hero's, these guys where mine. Thanks for the memories.
Great stuff - The Young Ones was such an important part of my youth. One tiny niggle - the scene from 'Cash' (where Neil smashes the record player with his truncheon) makes no comedic sense without the full quote - "Oh no, Steve Hillage!"
I think the most dated thing about it is the cutaway gags, quite a few of them kind of drag on and don’t make too much sense anymore (with some exceptions). Other than that though the four core characters hold up brilliantly - especially Rick, whose behaviour still seems to be a rite of passage for British students despite nearly 40 years going by.
Some worked, some didn't.
I'm not a Vampire. I'm a driving instructor from South Africa
I love this show. It used come on MTV on Sunday nights. One of the first tv shows to come on MTV.
cool!
I remember this. When MTV would end and bring on BBC shows.
I saw the Young Ones on the first repeat run. I was too young (10ish), but my Dad would let me stay up after my bedtime and watch it with him (back in the 'one telly in the house days'). A lot of it went clean over my head, but I loved the slapstick and the general silliness. It since become one of my most beloved sitcoms. The writing in the second series is a real step up; the revision scene on the train is pure genius.
The Damned !!! you can't mention the music without mentioning them! they still kill it!
FANTASTIC! would love to see a video on 'girls on top' with dawn french and jennifer saunders. plus tracie ullman! always considered it a sister show to this. love the content!
Young ones and Red Dwarf were my first exposure to British comedy or at least the comedies that left an impression. I would have loved to see more made in its time. I don't think a remake or sequel would be adequate in this day and age but more subversive humor is always appreciated in my view.🖖
We had it here in the United States, I was a teenager in the 80’s. The one episode that I thought was hilarious was when Vivian was pregnant.
You had this in the States!?!?!? This series is so English, I thought it would need subtitles even for countries that spoke English!
@@Steeyuv Yes it was 1985 on MTV, I don’t know about other people but I had no problem understanding them. For some reason I’ve never had a problem understanding even the heaviest of English accents. Maybe because I grew up in a house that had a lot of show on from England.
I was so excited to see Madness the first time I watched that episode lol
There really was nothing like it. But if I had file it somewhere it I'd put it halfway between The Goodies and Shameless (UK).
I discovered the Young Ones on Mtv in the 80s. Laughed all the way through.
Sounds like a show that would so well on MTV
i dot remember what year it was exactly but i discovered it late at night on Mtv back in the 80s as well, i want to say i was somewhere between probably 12 and 14 which would have been between 84-86.
Same here.
@@newwavepopIn those years, I would have been 7 to 9.
Rik Mayall was one of the funniest guys i've ever seen. Like Jim Carrey or Robin Williams he is just a natural pure joker. Elevates everyone around him to be the best versions of themselves too, not just in the Young Ones. I defy anyone to say that the episodes of Blackadder featuring Lord Flasheart weren't the best of their series. Genius.
Thank you. I love the young ones. It really informed my humour in the 7th to 8th grades (1989/1990). They were a furthering of learning I had gotten from Monty Python and Faulty Towers. Love. Only sitcome that would throw out a passing reference to the Cure. Good stuff.
Paul Jackson....what a guy!...the young ones...what a great time that takes me back to...Paul Jackson is also the reason we got Red Dwarf...as producer , he's a hard task master but the end product is proof in the pudding. Thanks Stam..
yes, Young Ones and Red Dwarf are great things to have on your IMDB page.
@@StamFineas an aussie i really enjoy your reviews, your accent comforts me & cause we must be around the same age...remembering goodies & dr who from 6-7 in the evening on the abc for pretty much the entirety of the eighties.
Thanks!
Nice, I'll watch this as soon as I've caught up on 'Nozzin Aroun'.
It's wonderful seeing it analysed by someone who isn't from Britain. I watched it when it came out (yeah, I'm 62) and was immediately hooked, but it needs looking at from a distance to see how good it actually was.
Thanks. Brits don't always realise how popular some of their programmes are abroad.
@@StamFine and thank you. And sorry, I should have said 'analysed *so well*'.
"Neil! Your bedrooms on Fire!
Ooh, thanks guys. I could of fell asleep and burned to death."
🤣🤣🤣
Classic 80's Britcom.
Ironically, years later, Ade Edmondson played a medical doctor!!..
Great show and well summarised
Thanks!
Some of the best ever visual comedy...from the 80s...only 12 episodes were made over two series ...But up there with Fawlty towers...who also had around the same number of episodes... brilliant comedy and real life. both shows...😈
I totally agree.
Nice one ...just appreciate good humour..real..no fancy stuff or clever stuff like alot of the rubbish today..they are more like game shows... hyper thetical....well it says it all in the title..if you like your anagrams...mock if the week..whos line is it anyway .y...a...w....n....!!...just boring rubbish..egos and all trying to out do each other..with supposed wit...Keep that tripe ...It's plebs....young ones..bottom.. filthy rich and catflap..only fools..and horses...one foot in the grave...men behaving badly ..rising damp.. faulty towers....steptoe and son...etc..real life comedy...😈😈😈😈😈
I loved the Young One's when it's first series aried in 1982. I've always preferred the first series than the second series. I think it had more imagination, and more going on. People usually prefer the second series, but by then they were famous and although it has some great episodes in the second series, i think every episode in first series was brilliant. I knew Rik Mayall from A kick up the Eighties, playing Kevin Turvey, and when The Young One's came along it was a revelation. My generations Monty python. It's one of those programmes that just comes along once in a generation. Still my favourite sitcom of all time. I loved the crazy bits like 2 men on holiday in the cellar, Buddy Holly upside down in Mike's bedroom, a carrot and a chip dancing on a plate, their neighbours sitting around a candle, a cornflakes box with characters talking. 2 policeman talking, a little genie throwing a skewer into Neil's head, flies on the wall making a fly on the wall documentary, a small Dickens lad cleaning the chimney with santa claus. Brilliant.
I don’t think it has aged well but at the the time it was the funniest thing on TV.
I remember having convulsions watching it. It was like TV from another dimension.
I think it varies from person to person and what connection they had with similar types of characters in real life.
Who care if it ages well. It is still funny to me.
This show my jam. I was about 13 at the time, after each episode was broadcast we'd all be quoting it in the school playground the next morning, I used to feel sorry for the kids whose parents wouldn't let them watch it!
"why is my child suddenly calling everyone a bastard?"
@@StamFine 😂
I was at secondary school and our cool Sociology teacher would start the class with a discussion of the previous night's "Young Ones." He DID have a video and so could tell us what the subliminal messages were!
A great retrospective on a fantastic show!
Thanks!
I was around 12 or 13 and the show was broadcast on late-night mtv. I'd stay up late and watch. Love it so much!
Another good summation and definately the precursor to the comedy for the next 20 years when you think about the people involved and how much they produced. Rather like Monty python, that was the week etc in the 60's/70's
The young ones credits do look a bit like a casting template for the 80s/90s
Great Review !
You were spot on when you called it 'punk' and yes I lived in a shared student household when The Young Ones literally exploded onto the Australian comedy scene.
I was at the University of Wollongong (Australia) when the Young Ones exploded on the Australian public via the ABC.
You either instantly liked the show OR absolutely hated it.
Conventional comedy acts and comedians loathed The Young Ones.
WHY - The Young Ones by the very late Eightiea made them redundant.
Nice!
Superbly detailed and lovingly treated ~ thank you 🙏
Cheers!
I remember eagerly looking forward to 9pm on Monday nights. Many a school footie match would be punctuated with a shout of "Hah, missed both my legs!"
Haha!
So funny! Todays so called comedians need to take note of shows like this. One of the best moments in my life was going to see Rik Mayall and Ben Elton do a live show in Hull. I burst out laughing at a quiet moment and Rik just homed in on me and ripped me to shreds in front of everyone. I was literally in pain with laughter at him, and so was everyone else. RIP Rik, you are missed.
Your videos are criminally underrated! Love this review and though I don't agree with every single thing said, it's really well done and provides great background info for people maybe missing some of the context surrounding the show. I adore the show (could you tell from my profile picture?) and it's always super interesting to see other fans views on it! I'm also catching up on your The Office videos right now and loving them. Definitely got a sub from me for this ! :]
Thanks!
Rik Mayall was a legend RIP
He certainly was.
Still my favorite scene is the bed coming through the ceiling with Viv and Rick still fighting. I laugh like an idiot at that every time.
Great job🎬✌ my family loves The Young Ones🖤😂 we quote this more then any other tv/film👍
haha! Classic!
Like so many other early teens I loved The Young Ones so much.And but was hugely disappointed with Filthy,Rich and Catflap.But after we lost the great Rik Mayall a few years ago I started looking for everything he had done and bought the dvd.And I must admit I enjoyed it so much more than all those years ago.Maybe it was driven by my sadness of loosing Mayall,but I would still recommend anyone who missed it,or didn't like it back in the day to give Filthy,Rich and Catflap another chance.
It's probably a decent way to manage post-young ones withdrawal.
I was raised on The Young Ones and Bottom, me and mum used to watch it all the time when I was younger, and it shaped my sense of humour into what it is today
my 88 year old Dad absolutely loves this and so do it. A brilliant show in the tradition of Monty Python
Nice!
Great memories. Loved this show back in the day.
I used to work with Ades mother back in the 1980s - She was a lovely woman !
Great show back then ! - Never missed an episode ! - Ades Mom would keep a low profile - Day after it was aired ! - So did his Headmaster Dad - Those were the days ?
Cool!
Good memories watching this show in the mid eighties..better times.
When it first aired on BBC2 and Vivian told Rick to "Shut up or piss off". We all cheered because all we ever got was Cricket Third Test, Golf and Open university.
Hands up who likes The Young Ones?
You can't see, but my hand is raised.
🙌🏻
Congrats on 2000 subs, your channel has grown quickly and rightfully so.
Thank you very much!
My names Helen, I hate that name, lucky my last name isn't Back, Helen Back.....my last name is Mucus.
Ewwww. Helen.
loved this show as as kid!
Rick Mayall (RIP) also voiced the greatest video game in history, Hogs of War.
Public Service Announcement (for those of a left-leaning disposition): The character of (P)Rik should only ever be regarded as a _grotesque caricature_ rather than as a _blueprint_ on how to behave (especially online of course). ;)
The fact that the ‘People’s Poet’ isn’t a remotely dated character almost _forty_ bloody years later can only be regarded as a tragic indictment of modern society!
Sadly, I have a cousin who is a carbon-copy of him.
@@theradgegadgie6352 You should show him a few episodes of _The Young Ones_ and ask him what he thinks of Rik!
Its really tragic how spot-on they were back in the day with their parody of self-important leftist twats calling everyone "Nazi" and "Racist".
@@xn0gaming That comment makes me wish CZcams had a "share" button.
filthy rich and catflap had some brilliant moments in it and the slapstick was amazing as usual.
Sure.
It was ok. The same slapstick style comedy with running jokes throughout. A pastiche of the, 'light entertainment', showbiz types that were becoming mediocre toward the end of the 80's, lampooned effectively.
Really appreciate your videos so far, just watched the M*A*S*H one too.
It would be really appreciated if you did a video regarding one of Rik's other great roles, that of Alan B'stard in "The New Statesman".
Although there one mistake was to move the final series to the EU, following the resignation of Thatcher, thinking they wouldn't get much satirical mileage out of John Major, the writer's blinked 1st I think, but was one of Rik's most awesome characters.
I love the point that when Rik was asked what would you like to do next, I believe he responded by saying he like to play the most vile, unlikeable character, so the writer's thought, ok a Tory MP then?! 😉
It's a shame Rik isn't still with us, because Alan B'stard could make a comeback, but the character may seem a bit like a pussycat compared to the even more corrupt, right-wing shits we have in charge as of May 2023!!
have you ever thought of doing a Benny Hill retrospective?
My favourite show of ALL times, can recite shows. I still laugh out loud. Also watched all the follow ups.
Young Ones was a show that was very quotable.
@@StamFine yes, still use my favs, eg boor jousy, sorry for spelling but say it fast.
Great vid man. One of my fav channels.
The USA, for the most part didn't get this show. But, it did find a small group of punks that were drawn to it. I was one of those who could see the genius.
It was a good thing, as Benny Hill was repeating himself.
Cool!
The 80s ..loved it, and missed
Ha!
God I loved this mad show and still do, they definitely could have made one more series I'm sure.
Yes!
@@StamFine Black adder and Only fools did it, bloody Fawlty towers fault I heard because they only did 2 series. Shame!🙁
Nice video. It caught on here in the states because in the mid 80s MTV did a Sunday night block of Python followed by Young Ones and finished with Comic Strip. They just ran through the 12 over and over.
You gonna do Red Dwarf?
Python, Comic Strip and Young Ones sounds a fun evening. Red Dwarf? Maybe.
Neil, Neil, orange peel. If only I could see you again.
Love this show. Miss Rik Mayall
I've read that Rik Mayall wasn't all that nice as a person, too.
Ah man, the fact you did this is excellent!!
I remember when MTV put it on and it was the weirdest show ever, but Neil was absolutely hypnotizing, and Vivian was, well Vivian. I never could get into Rick Mayall's comedy style, though I did like his guest spots on Red Dwarf. Rewatching the show a few years ago, yeah, all those guest stars who because giant stars, that was a real treat, all of them.
You forgot "Raw Tea"
"Raw tea again!"
Whenever I go to the bank, I simply hope not to be in line behind the penny arcade man.... :)
i absolutely love this, thank you
You're welcome!
What about the episodes with the subliminal message in it? This was a bit of a thing where they thought flashing up a message for a few seconds would influence people and there was one in one of the episodes, don't remember which one but the image that popped up was a hot air balloon and others were a bird flying etc. Sometimes take you ages to find them.
The Young Ones walked so South Park could run.
Now you have to do a video on Monty Python's Flying Circus (because there are like no videos talking about it on CZcams)...
That's entirely within the reams of possibility :)
@@StamFine I really hope you do :)
I don't think Python has aged well but was massively influential. Don't forget to do The Goodies as well - aged far better IMHO
@@Mute_Nostril_Agony From someone who was born 30 years after it ended: It has aged beautifully....
God, watching clips of Rik Mayall in this show makes me think Jack Whitehall took a lot of inspiration from him
That CZcams video is COMPLETELY BRRRRRILLIANT! (I'm aged 50)
Thanks!
This was of its day ,, but it was mind blowing that day
Yep!
Yes, we've got a video!!!!
I gotta show rik mayall more appropriation and fucking A this series is pure bloody classic
You should see the videos of Jeffrey Kitsch, a big Rik Mayall fan, and he should see yours.
Memories of living on a company shared house [GEC Avionics] in Basildon Essex 1985 with three other blokes who also had just started with the company... in my case... from Australia... yes, we watched religiously "The Young Ones"....
Nice!
I remember it well.
i was introduced to this through Mtv.
MTV carried the show in the U.S. I enjoyed it, even if I didn't catch all of the UK references.