Are You Being Served?

[auld argonian]

AYBS and the AYBS Again (which had a different title in the UK, I believe...) Have added so many quotes to my family's daily life that I will be always in their debt:

"I'm freeeeeee..."

"...and I am unanimous in that..."

...glass of water for Mr. Grainger!"

and of course

"Carry on everybody, you're all doing very well."

...and I can't even begin to get into all of the references to Mrs. Slocum's....um...CAT...and all of the awful jokes that came out of that.

I often say that for any situation in life there's a line from the motion picture "The Godfather" that sums it up perfectly...I have to amend that to somehow include Are You Being Served as a source of great lines that puts it all in perspective when you're at a loss for words.

Best

AA

[Dixiecat]

Thanks for the link! I'd not seen that episode. While I find AYBS always good for a laugh, I actually guffawed TWICE during the Scottish section. Once to see the bellows operated pipes and the other when Mr. Humphreys powdered his nose.

I must link this for my dance friends.

[andyfg]

Very funny!

[Bill]

My Wife and I watched it together and found it hilarious. We've been fans of "Are You Being Served for many years yet niether one of us could remember this scene.

We loved the bellows and powdered nose gags too.

My sharp eyed better half wants to know if that was the Dress Stewart Tartan Mr. Humphries was wearing?

Thanks for posting the link!

Slainte'
Bill

[Seumas52]

I believe it is.

[ronstew]

I spent a bit of time in England in 1976. There was a tv show called The Black and White Minstrel Show which was nearing the end of its 20-year run. I was in grade 8, and could not believe that they had a tv show with white people in blackface singing schmaltzy songs. My classmates, who had been brought up with it on tv, did not understand my objection.

In the 1970s, when AYBS was on, the English culture had not picked up on the inappropriateness of the blackface. A product of its times. Certainly offensive to some, but not intended as offensive. Similarly, I can imagine gay people being uncomfortable with the portrayal of Mr. Humphries, but the intent was not to offend.

Thanks for posting this! Great laughs.

[Galician]

Ron, I met "Mr. Humphries" live. It was not an act! The character itself, though, does reflect how gay characters were normally portrayed in the media then (and now?).

The acceptance of blackface wasn't just England. I was in Rome around that time, and saw a production of "Aida" which had a scene with which I was totally unfamiliar. In it, a bunch of children danced around in black "body"(?), as they were portraying Ethiopian children.

[Rex_Tremende]

Similarly, I can imagine gay people being uncomfortable with the portrayal of Mr. Humphries, but the intent was not to offend.

If Mr. Humphries were the only portrayal of gay people (and I can imagine that at the time, he very well may have been, though consider that the character was still gainfully employed, in spite of his behavior), I might be uncomfortable with that, but John Inman was a master of camp humor, which often treads a very fine line between inane and inappropriate. None of the characters on AYBS portray real people; they are all caricatures. Which may be why the ending is as repulsive as it is funny: the point wasn't that they trying to portray blacks (any more than they were the Irish or Scottish); rather, once again, they must debase themselves by dressing up and being silly to keep their mundane, low-paying jobs for the benefit of someone who isn't capable of appreciating it. Its very inappropriateness compounds the humor - we know it's wrong, so we have to laugh at the department store staff, not the people the staff were pretending to be.

Regards,
Rex.

[dfmacliam]

I agree... the show was full of innuendos.. which is what made it funny... which made it politically incorrect.. again.. funny..

and the end of the show.. probably refers to the fact.. genetically.. we are all from Africa..