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Anyone watch 'The Good Life' (AKA Good Neighbors)?

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Anyone watch 'The Good Life' (AKA Good Neighbors)?

Unread postby Loki » Sat 22 Dec 2007, 21:52:04

I've been watching this show on Netflix called "Good Neighbors," originally known as The Good Life. British comedy from the '70s about the trials and tribulations of a couple trying to go self sufficient. Good writing and actors. Highly recommended for the PO.com crowd.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'O')riginally airing on the BBC, this 1970s British comedy about an eccentric middle-class couple quickly became a viewer favorite. Tom and Barbara Good (Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal) decide to leave the rat race and live off the land -- but don't leave their suburban enclave. To the horror of conservative neighbors Jerry and Margot Leadbetter (Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington), the Goods turn their home into a self-sufficient utopian garden.
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Re: Anyone watch 'The Good Life' (AKA Good Neighbors)?

Unread postby Andrew_S » Sat 22 Dec 2007, 22:07:24

There's a whole generation of men in Britain (middle-aged now) who still have the hots for Felicity Kendall.

Fun comedy. Too tame for many Americans I guess. But I understand the patheticness of it all. Still gotta laugh.

(Okay, I admit I found her tasty.)
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Re: Anyone watch 'The Good Life' (AKA Good Neighbors)?

Unread postby Twilight » Sat 22 Dec 2007, 22:13:20

I have seen it, yes. It's pretty funny. Definitely a product of its age though, you can't get away with that sort of thing in a suburb these days. Well, it will be a different story in a few years. :lol:
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Re: Anyone watch 'The Good Life' (AKA Good Neighbors)?

Unread postby Loki » Sat 22 Dec 2007, 22:26:16

Well I'm only 34, but I have the hots for Felicity. Yum.
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Re: Anyone watch 'The Good Life' (AKA Good Neighbors)?

Unread postby cynthia » Sun 23 Dec 2007, 23:35:34

Loved them and their snarky neighbors-whose names I do not remember.
Will look to see if our library has it next to Map and Lucia. We miss the British comedies. Damn it all to hell. PBS.
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Re: Anyone watch 'The Good Life' (AKA Good Neighbors)?

Unread postby I_Like_Plants » Sun 23 Dec 2007, 23:40:06

Haven't heard of it. It sounds good. Our media are REALLY filtered and REALLY bland in the US. Probably far, far too edgy to ever be shown here.

Hell I'm probably on some kind of shit list for reading the VIZ Comic, there are only about 6 americans who can read it and not have their head blow up.
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Re: Anyone watch 'The Good Life' (AKA Good Neighbors)?

Unread postby pup55 » Mon 24 Dec 2007, 00:32:31

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')oo tame for many Americans I guess.


This show ran on US public TV in various parts of the country for quite some time back in the 80's, and is funny in that subtle British type way.

It did a pretty good job of understanding the problems and benefits of this issue of "self sufficiency", i.e. how easy for the females to adapt, how easy to convert the suburban home to go off-grid, having to work like a dog to get a crop, how to adapt to the local tax system, etc. Also, some comic moments with livestock and the snooty neighbors.

I think an American version could be developed with pretty good success.

My favorite episode was where the Goods befriended some hippies, who revered Tom as a visionary because of his rejection of modern conveniences.
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Re: Anyone watch 'The Good Life' (AKA Good Neighbors)?

Unread postby Andrew_S » Mon 24 Dec 2007, 01:36:54

YouTube has just a few clips. This one with Margo cleaning the kitchen is good:
YouTube

But here Barbara verges on the pornographic:
YouTube
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Re: Anyone watch 'The Good Life' (AKA Good Neighbors)?

Unread postby Loki » Mon 24 Dec 2007, 14:31:23

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Andrew_S', 'B')ut here Barbara verges on the pornographic:
YouTube

Mmmm, I'll never look at gravy the same way again.

pup55, I agree that the show does have some thought-provoking stuff about the problems with suburban self-sufficiency. One episode was about them trying to sell their meager crop. They had grown all this food but didn't think about how they were going to sell it. Restaurants only wanted to deal with large operations who could provide veggies all year round. They then tried selling them door to door, but an existing operation pushed them out. I had never heard of door-to-door sales of cabbage and potatoes, but it sounded like it was not uncommon at the time. The wave of the future?

In another episode their neighbor's big oil tank leaked and ruined a lot of their soil. Not sure how that turned out---I haven't seen all the episodes yet.
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Re: Anyone watch 'The Good Life' (AKA Good Neighbors)?

Unread postby strider3700 » Mon 24 Dec 2007, 15:47:13

My wife and I loved the series. When he put a methane generator in the basement to power the house It hit way too close to home and we didn't stop laughing about it for days. Our library had the entire series including the christmas special.
shame on us, doomed from the start
god have mercy on our dirty little hearts
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Re: Anyone watch 'The Good Life' (AKA Good Neighbors)?

Unread postby Ferretlover » Mon 24 Dec 2007, 16:04:48

lol... and the one about the fence... and the one about the alarm system...
"Open the gates of hell!" ~Morgan Freeman's character in the movie, Olympus Has Fallen.
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