Why We Loved - Are You Being Served
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- čas přidán 8. 09. 2024
- Why We Loved - Are You Being Served
Reopening Grace Brothers for a Night of Laughter: A Tribute to "Are You Being Served?"
Over thirty years have passed since Grace Brothers closed its doors, but for one special night, we are reopening that legendary department store. Join us as we step into the lift and ascend to celebrate the brashest, bawdiest British sitcom, "Are You Being Served?".
Further Details
We’ll chat with celebrity fans about their enduring love for the show, including Fern Britton, Reverend Richard Coles, Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen, Patsy Palmer, Sherrie Hewson, Christopher Biggins, and Amanda Barrie, among many others. Family and friends of the original cast will also share personal memories and never-before-seen private photographs of Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Trevor Bannister, Frank Thornton, and Wendy Richard.
Prepare for a night of laughter with side-splitting clips and behind-the-scenes footage. Join us as we pay tribute to the sitcom phenomenon that is "Are You Being Served?".
#AreYouBeingServed #GraceBrothersReunion #BritishSitcoms #ComedyClassics #TVLegends #SitcomTribute #BritishHumor #classictv
First Show on C5 2020
More Info About Are You Being Served:
en.wikipedia.o...
Are You Being Served? - A Classic British Sitcom
"Are You Being Served?" is a beloved British sitcom that aired from 1972 to 1985 on BBC1. Created by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, the show is set in the fictional Grace Brothers department store in London. It follows the comedic escapades of the store's staff, including characters like the campy Mr. Humphries, played by John Inman, the flirtatious Mrs. Slocombe, portrayed by Mollie Sugden, and the pompous Captain Peacock, brought to life by Frank Thornton.
The humor of "Are You Being Served?" largely stems from its clever use of double entendres, slapstick comedy, and satirical takes on British class systems and workplace dynamics. The series also gained popularity for its memorable catchphrases, particularly Mr. Humphries' "I'm free!"
The show was not only a hit in the UK but also found international success, being broadcast in numerous countries and gaining a substantial following in the United States through PBS reruns. Its popularity led to a 1977 film adaptation and a sequel series, "Grace & Favour," also known as "Are You Being Served? Again!" which aired from 1991 to 1992.
In 2016, a revival episode featuring a new cast was produced, highlighting the enduring appeal of this classic sitcom. The original series, its spin-off, and the film have been released on DVD, allowing new generations to enjoy the timeless humor of "Are You Being Served?"
en.wikipedia.o...
Update: Had to edit this video a few times so have an un-cut version here:
czcams.com/video/I1dc_2jaY0E/video.html
We love 'Are You Being Served?', and I am unanimous in that!
@@lennypearl Bravo 👏
"Oh... don't be so opstropulous!:
My husband and I watch and re-watch this over and over. I first discovered it 30+ years ago and it is now a comfort show that we put on at night as we snuggle into bed. 52 years on, and it's still so good.
I have comfort shows to.this is one of them
@@victoriasmith2512 absolutely agree with you there it's one of my all time favourite situation comedy 🤣👍
We started seriously 30 yrs ago with our boys who were in their teens. It still amazes me how I got 2 American teenage boys to watch this & Keeping Up Appearances, to the point of referring to Rose as "Their Rose just.....". 😮😅
It doesn’t matter how many times you watch the episodes, they are wonderful. I’m from the United States and I’ve always loved English comedy and humor. And to be truthful, I believe English actors are far superior to the actors in the United States. It certainly has one of the best shows that ever put on. ♥️👍🇬🇧
I found this show on PBS in Phoenix when I was 23 in the late 80s. It came on around 10 pm. on Saturday nights, and I always made sure I watched it. Now, 2024, I own the lot... I watch it on Britbox as well to this day. I own Grace and Favor, aka. Are You Being Served, Again...I have lots of shows Molly Sugden did, such as That's My Boy, My Husband and I, Liver Birds. I watched many shows out there with most of the cast in them. They are all gone now, but I hope Heaven allows me to meet all of them. One could only hope and pray. Thanks for the laughs BBC
Shawn,
You really have all those shows on dvd ? 😮
Can we be friends every Saturday night ? 😊
Mike Berry (Mr. Spooner) is 81 and still with us!
@robertgold3868 Sorry, Spooner wasn't in the original cast, so I forgot about him. His character reminded me of Gilligan, from Gilligan's Island.
@@shawnfuzy3191
There's only one, Gilligan
@billgreen1861 yes, along with Keeping up Appearances, You Rang M'Lord, Liver Birds, OH Doctor Beeching, too many to mention. Anything British oh and my favorite Fawlty Towers, such fun 😁
Hardly a mention of Mr Grainger, one of my favourite characters. ‘Glass of water for Mr Grainger!’
Agreed, I must comment on that. I thought it was of poor taste, to have omitted an important ensemble cast member as Mr. Brough. And to have kept Trevor Bannister to the very end. AYBS' master of "One Liners".
I noted same. A special mention of guest menswear heads would also have been nice. Then there's the two maintenance men.
100% agree. A pretty major character. I also thought his death was not handled well even back in the day of the series. Rather than address it , in what could have been both a pivotal funny and sad episode (think the final of Blackadder), he just disappeared with no mention which I thought was poor form. Plus Mr Mash (who I found had some of the funniest lines) and Mr Harmon were also not mentioned.
@@xr6lad Yes, indeed !! So many other "recurring" characters such as Mr. Mash never even got a single mention. Given they were given "billing" at the end of the episodes. Very sad.
You've all done very well
Thank you Mr Stempleton....
I still use that.
In the 1980s I worked at the real Grace Bros, a family-owned department store in Sydney, Australia. Whenever John Inman or Frank Thornton came out for a stage show, they would be trotted out into the company's marquee stores for promotional photo's.
nice story.
I just adore these Brittish comedies. Brittish people have the funniest sense of humor and story lines. They are the best.
This show and Keeping up Appearances were two of my favorites. Absolutely banging funny shows.
Perfect actor for every role is an understatement 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Discovered Are You Being Served around 2010. Fell in love with the show and the characters. Have always liked British comedy shows since I was a kid in the 70s. So sad knowing every one of the main actors have passed away. Wendy Richard was so beautiful.
As a student in the late 70s, I got a summer job in Army and Navy Stores Department Store in Victoria Street, London. It was an incredibly old-fashioned place full of eccentric people, some of whom who had worked there since WW2. The man on the haberdashery counter was a drag queen and he was one of the more 'normal' employees. It was just like Grace Brothers'.
Watched this with my kids while it was on PBS in 2010s. We ALL laughed and enjoyed.
Im from Australia and we grew up watching British comedy 🎭 and are you being served was always a favourite 😂as well as man about the house and the goodies 😂 the good old days before reality tv
My husband had never seen Are You Being Served until I had him watch it. He now loves it as much as I do. :D
In the 1970's my husband worked in a privately owned Department Store in America. Years later we started watching "Are you being served" and we laughed and laughed because the show was so similar to the department store he worked in. He worked with bosses and workers like those in this show. There was a snobby hierarchy, the aged bosses, gay employees, crazy ideas for sales . . . When we can we still watch the reruns. Thanks for the memories. P.S. I loved Mr. Grace, Mr. Grainger, Mr. Humphries and Mrs. Slocumb.
Brings back so many fond memories of watching this show with my wonderful grandparents in the 1970s.
For me a lot of the humour came from remembering the similar, old, slightly pretentious department stores we had when I was kid.
Watched it with my grandparents every Saturday night on PBS in NYC.
Are you being served was wonderful. Our family loved it.
I saw the Australian version on CZcams a few years ago. They rewrote several of the classic scripts and reworked some of the characters. John Inman still played Mr Humphries as his character relocated down under to work at a surprisingly similar department store, and I believe they even used his “Are You Being Served, Sir?” song as the theme music! Instead of stories about the war in North Africa, we heard about fighting the Japanese in the jungle. The gents’ department senior wasn’t replaced without explanation (as was the late Arthur Brough). They adapted the script where Mr Grainger temporarily took over as ladies’ and gents’ department manager and used that premise for the remainder of the series.
Aussie version was very poor but had wonderful actors in it. I must admit, some parts were well done.
I miss the 70s, yes as kids we didn't understand it all but our parents watched it, nowadays it all about showing everything you're got, one hit wonders in those days they had crisma 😢
We started watching it on PBS (WOSU) and both our kids and us watched and lost it all the time. I bought the complete series and it ended up at my daughter’s house because she loves it so much.
Was that WOSU in Columbus? I was there, too.
i was 4 years old when it aired , i think i was about 6 when i started to watch are you being severed .. what an amazing cast .. i'll always remember it with very fond memories , one of the best ever
American here . I grew up with are you being served on our public broadcasting service otherwise known as PBS . Of all the channels to see it on and they also ran Monty Python . I grew up liking your comedy more than mine 🤣
Fun fact: the Australian version had to change the name of the store to Bone Brothers because we actually at the time had a large department store chain called Grace Brothers.
Never heard of ANY department store called Grace Brothers, let alone a chain of them.
In Australia there are basically only 3 dep. store chains: COLES - W.WORTH - DAVID JONES. I remember a moving company named Grace Brothers though. Ciao.
@@lorenzomagazzeni5425 Gracebrothers was bought out by the original “ColesMyer” company, and “Grace Brothers” and “Myer” shared a lot of the same marketing material and advertising, until all the Gracebrother stores were finally rebadged as Myer.
I had a short stint working in the “Myer MegaMart” store in Perth, and remember learning the point of sale system in the stores dying days, the system was the original Point of Sale system that Grace Brothers were using.
As for Grace removals, I think there is a slightly more complicated history there.
This business was also spun off from the Grace Brothers stores and bought out by Brambles.
Now this belongs to “Crown Workdwide”.
@@lorenzomagazzeni5425AUSTRALIA DID HAVE GRACE BROS STORES!
@@lorenzomagazzeni5425
Oh dear.
Just shown your rather large lack of knowledge in a pretty public forum.
Quote “ Grace Bros was an Australian department store chain, founded in 1885. It was bought by Myer in 1983. There were 25 stores across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory plus a few in Victoria, until they were re-branded under the Myer name in 2004.” Guess what, there were even more department store chains in Australia at one time. Waltons, Ball & Welch, Foys, Boans, Cox Brothers, Aherns, GP Fitzgerald.
@@lorenzomagazzeni5425
Plus you didn’t even include Myer in your yell. Which still remains larger than David Jones.
I loved this show and those people who played on it..
Thank you PBS for introducing this excellent show to me in the 1990’s
I first saw this show at age 8 in Trinidad, and I did not realize at the time the depth of the humor. Still watch it at age 60. Just pure comedy. Love it still.
This one and Allo Allo are my two absolute favourite British comedies. They never get old and I still laugh out loud so many times no matter how often I have seen the episode. As for British variety shows, Stanley Baxter is the king of them all.
My parents got me hooked on this show when i was a teen. Im 40 and still watch the shows over and over still!!❤
Are You Being Served was a staple on Saturday nights when I was growing up in England. What with Mrs Slocombe, her multi coloured hair and her p*ssy (cat), Mr Humphrey always being free and even Mr Lucas trying to constantly date Miss Brahms, always had me in stitches. Still love it now.
nice profile picture
This show was adored by all ages. People looked forward to it and that tune at the intro was just great. I fear it wouldn't be allowed to be shown these days. Hopefully the world will find a sense of humour and people have fun again. Youngsters these days are missing out now all these outraged and offended bores decide what is acceptable in the world.
GREAT VIDEO !!!! Watched this show on public television when it came to America and have downloaded it and put it on disc for my future enjoyment. There are so many laughs, I don't really know how to pick a favorite. MUCH THANKS...
awww you are a star, thank you for this, this was one of my absolute favourite programmes when I was a kid and I still watch it to this day, brilliant. 😀
Yes! I love this show!
I think the first time I saw this show I was 12yo. Me being the youngest, I had a bedtime of 9;30PM Sunday thru Thursday . AYBS would come on WTTW Chicago at 10 or 11PM (Can't remember). One night in early December I could hear my 18yo brother laughing hysterically. I snuck over to see what was so funny, and there he was watching this show. I watched it with him and had to laugh into a towel so my parents couldn't hear me. I ended up sneaking over to his room every Sunday just to watch this, Monty Python, and Dave Allen at large for years. Still one of the funniest shows ever. "Mr. Humphries" will always be my favorite. Such a classic comedy charachter.
lovely story.
Watched this years ago on PBS glad to find it again thanks
Glad you enjoyed it
LOVE the show, and all of the brilliant cast, watch it over and over and laugh out loud every time, they don’t make sitcoms like this anymore. An absolute classic ❤Judith from South Africa
This show was so funny, loved how all the characters worked so well with one another.
♥♥♥♥♥ Can't top this show!
I adore them!💔
What made it even funnier for us in Australia was there really was a department store chain called Grace Brothers.
Why We Loved - Are You Being Served
Reopening Grace Brothers for a Night of Laughter: A Tribute to "Are You Being Served?"
Over thirty years have passed since Grace Brothers closed its doors, but for one special night, we are reopening that legendary department store. Join us as we step into the lift and ascend to celebrate the brashest, bawdiest British sitcom, "Are You Being Served?".
Further Details
We’ll chat with celebrity fans about their enduring love for the show, including Fern Britton, Reverend Richard Coles, Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen, Patsy Palmer, Sherrie Hewson, Christopher Biggins, and Amanda Barrie, among many others. Family and friends of the original cast will also share personal memories and never-before-seen private photographs of Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Trevor Bannister, Frank Thornton, and Wendy Richard.
Prepare for a night of laughter with side-splitting clips and behind-the-scenes footage. Join us as we pay tribute to the sitcom phenomenon that is "Are You Being Served?".
#AreYouBeingServed #GraceBrothersReunion #BritishSitcoms #ComedyClassics #TVLegends #SitcomTribute #BritishHumor #classictv
More Info About Are You Being Served:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Are_You_Being_Served%3F
So very funny, I love Ms Slocam and Mr Humphrey
No one could match Mr. Grainger or Mr. Lucas. Loved this show.
Thank you for this video! I watch AYBS before bed every night lol...have for years. Love seeing behind the scenes and hearing all the stories 😊
Excellent well done thank you we watch this show over and over and over again because it was funny and funny. It simply funny you can’t explain it.
Glad you enjoyed it
My local PBS station played "Are You Being Served?" and its subsequent series "Grace & Favour" for many years. I loved every bit of it.
I wish the BBC would grow a pair and remake this at least once. And show how comedy can funny, offensive isn't always bad!
They did and it was horrible, and the BBC has done much more risqué fare since
No. Leave it. Few remakes capture the essence of the original. It was the people playing the roles as much as the scripts that make the show. It would be a poor relative. Open all Hours (Again) was the same.
I still watch reruns of Are you being served. The whole cast is hilarious 🤣 🇺🇸
They were all great… I still love it
This was probably the first British comedy show I ever saw on American PBS! And I love so many more Britcoms as well.
I loved this show. Black adder and red dwarf
This is my favorite TV show awesome cast never get tired of this 😅
A wonderful decade of laughs and fun. All gone now.
I love are you being served watch it on gold time after time
I was hooked just after deciding to watch an episode ( I had no idea what is was about prior) it was being shown on my PBS station. I still have A Mollie Sugden signed photo I got during A pledge drive. They will always be Family to me
The reason Mrs Slocomb made it past the sensors was because it wasn't dirty... until it entered your head. There is absolutely no doubt what she was talking about. Had she really been talking about her privates in a coy way, it would have been banned. But she wasn't and that's why it was ok. What she was saying was not dirty... until it entered your head and then you did with it what you will. But that was on you, not her.
I don't recall when PBS stations started carrying AYBS in California, but my mom and I made it a habit to watch every week. My teen years were peppered with references from AYBS, Monty Python and Benny Hill, which were shown in the same PBS timeslot. Good memories.
great story
I am enjoying their show and I can watch it as many times as I can. It is always funny
Biggins loved Inman's character, what a surprise lol
"You wouldn't get away with that nowadays" - how often was that said in the video and yet look at tv today- Naked Attraction, Love Island etc. Before I could stand it no more and gave up tv, it became a game to guess how long before we get the obligatory and usually pretty graphic sex scene. Fern Britten expressed best how it was when she said she found it funny but there were things her mother and step-father laughed at and she didn't know what they were laughing at. That wouldn't happen now with children in junior school and younger being taught about sexuality and books such as 'Grandpa's friend' (I think that's what it's called) with explicit images. I'm just so glad I grew up when you COULD get away with what was in 'Are You Being Served ?' but WOULDN'T get away with what's on tv now.
Watch this show keeping up appearances as time goes by and last of the summer wine discovered them on PBS
I've seen 18 minutes of this documentary and I'm not pleased. It all centers around camp, sex and innuendo as if it were some cheap X rated flick. Are You Being Served ? was so much more than that: it had class distinction, gender wars, social commentary, not to mention it was a mirror to what it was like to work in a department store in the 70s , a document of the day.
The comedy was so cleverly written that you could interpret almost every single word two ways: naughty or perfectly decent. It wasn't full of double entendre, the entire script was a long double entendre. It just let the viewers pick the meaning they wanted, small kids would be able to see and enjoy it without understanding half of it. That was brilliant writing.
But what i love most about it is the adorable character assembly. The relationship between them is truly heartwarming: they bicker, they fight, but can't live without each other, like a big happy family. Each character is so well developed, even the customers have individuality (many of them are members of the Dad's Army cast, which makes it even funnier).
In a word, AYBS? is so much more than slapstick and innuendo, it's a heartwarming experience!
Started with Benny Hill when I was 7 and then found AYBS? when I was 15 on a PBS station and have been hooked on British comedy ever since. I even have a region 2 DVD player so I can watch my favorites that aren’t available in region 1.
Loved? Past tense? I still love "Are You Being Served"
One sitcom that I have every episode on dvd and never get tired of viewing from the pilot episode to the very last episode and including the tv movie version of are you being served? Just so funny with the Double Entendre's and sight gags and the quientesntial seaside end of pier humour 😂is in my humble opinion what makes Are you Being served such an enjoyable situation comedy and so funny to view though I have seen every episode numerous times i still laugh at it as the cast of Are you Being served were all brilliant at the characters that they portrayed and with some of the actors who have sadly passed away it is still in my mind poignant enjoyable very funny sitcom 😅😅😅😂😊😊
Stephen,
Sadly, they have all passed away. May they all R.I.P.
You’ve all done very well.
The BBC never really wanted 'AYBS' in the first place......but they were happy to keep Jimmy Savile. The mind boggles!!
Risque tv in Australia in the 1970's, I remember, was 'Number 96'
Unbeatable!!!
I can answer that in very few words: Funny endearing characters + witty script
Thank you!!!!! I would like to say that My two books, Devon Holmes and detective Liam Niles is in the Waterstone's bookstore in London, England. The same building Are you Being Served is in.
My favorite bit of this video was the battery in the right corner with 2 red bars!
that mr humphries song was used in the australian version of the show
Still have the DVD boxset.........it's a part of my youth.
Wish there was more on Trevor Bannister, Nicholas Smith, and Arthur Brough. .
Thanks for posting this. I've been watching the reruns for most of my life. I find one of the most amazing things about the show was how much you really enjoyed the characters and the actors playing them, even though the characters were really horrible people. They were always cutthroating each other.
best programing back in the day on pbs.
I really miss the 60s & 70s! 😢
At work, I still look up and say, "Board Room Level," then have to explain myself.
"Its appealed across the bored". Yessssss.......
There were many interviews with Nicholas Smith available. How could you omit him? But overall a very good presentation.
Kind of a shame that they didn't even mention Arthur Brough (Mr. Grainger) at all. Nor the series when they brought back a bunch of the characters in their retirement: Are You Being Served Again.
Also, wasn't there an Australian version of the show?
@artomatt Yes, there was. It didn't run for very long, though. John Inman came to Australia to make it when the English original was in hiatus pending cancellation (but ran for another two seasons). The Australian version had opera singer June Bronhill as a Mrs Slocum type, and a young Shane Bourne in the Mr Lucas role.
I would hate to think that this were true and it probably wasn't BUT maybe they couldn't think of anything good to say about Arthur Brough. Hope that was not the case.
@@andrewthornhill7042 I once read that the show was put into an hiatus specifically to allow Inman to go to Australia; it was not, at that stage, in any danger of being cancelled.
Artomatt,
This Documentary was about " why we loved - Are You Being Served ? " the English original show and cast.
It had nothing to do with the Australian version nor the revival named ' Are You Being Served Again ?'
@@billgreen1861 Since they go out of their way to mention the remake from several years ago, they're certainly not only sticking to the original.
Thanks to our local PBS station we were given a whole slate of great BBC comedies. WARNING... They can be addictive.😜
I'm a Yank, but I grew to love "Are You Being Served?" by watching on PBS over here. All those Mrs. Slocomb's pussy jokes are classic. I couldn't imagine them doing that on American TV in the 1970's. We are too prudish over here.
seems to have become very over sensitive all over the world these days, glad you enjoyed @krisstarring
Ooooo...I found a good nugget here! 🥰❤
Hope you enjoy
I will watch the other half after work! I am enjoying it, thank you!
When I was a kid, I use to watch this on the local PBS station,WFSU. Being so young and innocent, the jokes often went over my head, but I still found the show funny in other areas with the underwear humor and Capt. Peacock having a "boil on his bum" (possibly the funniest episode of the whole show). The show became even funnier when I saw it again as an adult, I understood the innuendos and double entendres, such as Mrs. Slocome's cat references (in an episode where she had to report earlier for work, she said, "You're lucky to have me here at all Captain Peacock. Having a bath at 6 O'clock in the morning played havoc with my pussy. He sleeps in the airing cupboard. The gurgling of the tank woke him up."), and it made the show even funnier. When I saw this as a kid, I was still impressionable, so I used to imitate Mr. Humphries walk. But my mom had me stop that, not wanting people to think of me in the wrong way, and now that I'm aware of what she meant, I, as a straight person, am glad she did. But both she and my sister enjoyed it whenever I did the phrase "I'm freeee." My voice is not spot on with it, but my sister insists that I sound just like him on it. And sometimes, when my sister calls, I answer with a deep voice, "Men's wear." He's my favorite character on the show. I was surprised as I grew older to realize that he was portrayed as gay. I thought he was an overtly Mama's boy. Plus there was an episode where he made arrangements with a woman to be be behind a bandstand to "pitch a little woo." And another where he literally threw Miss Brahms on the floor in a passionate embrace.
I still watch are you being served in 2024 it's impossible to ever get tired of watching I was extremely sad Mr Granger left with illness and Mr Lucas leaving the only cast member I really disliked was Mr Spooner 👎 Cheers Stephen ✌️✌️
Same here. One of my favorite shows.
The one who played Mr. Lucas they found him dead in his garden he had a fatal heart attack.
I worked for a store in men's wear. They would turn the heat off in the winter and turn it on in the summer.
The days when comedy was funny.
Wonderful
Too young to understand when it was on originally. Discovered on PBS in the early 90’s and bought the box set. Second favorite tv show, next to Home Improvement with Tim Allen and company.
Mr Lucas is my favorite.
6:08 Mr Croft's voice sounds a lot like Mr. Swindley 😂😂😂
56:48 Ding! Manuel!!!
Awesome