A mad, helter-skelter, rude, awesomely violent, unpredictable, swaggering, staggering, joyously infantile, exhilarating steamroller of a sitcom, The Young Ones provided the breakthrough for the new generation of aggressive and forthright 'alternative' comedians. With surreal comedic scenarios and a myriad of guest stars including Emma Thompson, and Hugh Laurie, and musical non sequiturs featuring Dexy's Midnight Runners and Motorhead, the style of The Young Ones gave the show its individuality, whi remains cutting edge to this day.
]]>Amazon.com"Anything could happen!" declares Rik Mayall, co-writer and co-star of British TV show The Young Ones--and he's right. Though this manic comedy series centered around the petty bickering of four layabouts living in a communal house in London--paranoid, hyperactive new waver Rick (Mayall), dense punk rocker Vyvyan (Adrian "Ade" Edmondson), lugubrious hippied Neil (Nigel Planer), and would-be sharp guy Mike (Christopher Ryan)--at any moment the show could switch to kibbitzing rats or romantic vegetables, or Buddy Holly could be discovered hanging from a parachute in the attic. Bands (as varied as Madness and Motorhead) suddenly appear in their living room and pound out a pop hit. It all seems a bit spastic at first, but the frenzy grows infectious, becoming funnier the more you watch it (in sharp contrast to most sitcoms). The Young Ones aspires to have the elastic energy and surreality of a living cartoon and comes pretty close to the mark. Guest stars include Emma Thompson, Terry Jones of Monty Python, and Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous. --Bret Fetzer