h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think that the best episode of

series 1 is The Black Seal - such a shame that he didn't succeed (for long that is)
series 2 is Bells - I love Flash
series 3 is Amy and Amiability - Amy is the coolest name
series 4 is eithe Private Plane or General hospital - lets just say I still love Flash and Nurse Mary is so cool.

But all the episodes are good just some are better than others the spin-offs are good as well. The world would not be the same without Blackadder.

I studied GCSE History, and in Medicene Through Time we studied the social status and differences by watching Dish and Dishonesty. Also we watched nearly all of the fourth series since we could see the living conditions of the soliders.

Asprin

i think its be great to have one set in the 60's

They were going to do one set in Oxbridge with baldrick sitting his entrance exams and balckadder being the professor of cunning

Asprin

cool. wouldnt work, but cool.

YOU WERE BALDRICK!!!!!!!!! WHO WAS BLACKADDER????????????
WHO WAS GEORGE???????????????????????????????
I LUV LUDWIG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! BA CAN NOT END!!!!!!!! HE WILL NEVER END!!!! I SENT HIM A LETTER TO TELL HIM THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*i'm scared...

how could you saw dat woz movin, i culdn't get how it is soooo movin for people
come on!! it aint that sad, they die the end, good stuf bu not really movin

Comedy and tragedy are so intrinsically linked that to say that the end of Goodbyee is not moving at all is a little simplistic. Comedy is often about making the viewer feeling uncomfortable, laughing because you don't quite know what else to do. That episode was brilliantly written, and the ending is like punching soemone with an iron fist wrapped up in cotton wool, powerful but not abrasive. Well that's what it seems like. However Goodbyee also has to be put in the context of the other 5 episodes, as it is through these that we come to love the characters and feel sad at their untimely demise. Powerful stuff, sensitively written, genius timing.

Well that's my opinion anyway.

The best episode is bells.
"I am not interested in the contents of your tights"
"You might be if you knew what i kept in them"

I'm struggling to pick a favourite, it would definitely be something from series 2, perhaps 'Money' ("You mean you out of the window?") or 'Beer' ("See the little Goblin, see his little feet"). The second series is still my favourite.
I'm glad to discover some fellow Blackadder fans. Has anyone else voted for Blackadder in the 'Best Sitcom' poll?

Liz
~

"Stuff and nonsense, Darling. Captain Blackadder's as sane as I am, BAAAAAAH!"

I voted so much for Blackadder that it has maxed out my comp!

I do love the 2nd series, but there is something about the fourth series that is brilliant.

Flasheart "Always treat your kite (Whack), like you treat your women (Whoosh)"
George "What you mean take her home at the weekends to meet your mother?"
Flasheart "No! I mean get inside her five times a day and take her to heaven and back!"

Hush here comes a wizz bang!!

I can't deny that the fourth series was very good, but it is my least favourite of the run (I'm one of those rare people who actually liked the first series). I find the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth unbearably sad. Having said that, it was great to see the Elizabethan characters of Melchett, Flasheart and Bob re-used in a different setting. And I love that speech Blackadder did about "This is a nine story crisis, with a large entrance hall, carpeting throughout and a sign on the roof proclaiming 'This is a large crisis'"

Liz

"Wubble"

I found that i liked the first series more and more as i watched it more and more. My favorite episode is the Witchsmeller Persuivant. Absolutely brilliant!

Deciding favourites amongst all the episodes is probably the hardest thing to do!!!


Bob "I want to see how a war's fought so badly"
Blackadder "Well you've come to the right place then. A war hasn't been fought this badly since King Olaf the Hairy, High Chief of all the Vikings ordered 80,000 battle helmets with the horns on the inside."

I know exactly what you mean about the first series. It comes across as more of a nervous poke at an idea and hasn't really found itself a niche. But the more i watched it i found i enjoyed it more. It's just a touch dissappointing not to see Blackadder as the sly dog he is in the other three series and Baldrick as a complete idiot! But for me it is just impossible to choose a favourite series or a favourite episode. They are all brilliantly written and performed. I will never understand though why Rowan Atkinson, Ben Elton and Richard Curtis gave up on something that was so successful an loved by so many people. By far it was the best piece of work Rowan Atkinson and i dont think he will ever match it and I don't think any other sitcom will ever come close to it. A work of pure genius!!

'My Lord, I have done it!! I've made gold!! Look.'
'Percy its green.'
'Yes'
'Percy the colour of gold, is gold. That's why it's called gold. What you have discovered is green.'
[gasp]'Could it be that i hold in my hand a nugget of purest green!!'

"Yes, it's less of a nugget, more of a splat"

The main diff with the first series is that it is filmed in a cinematic style. This is what caused many of its problems and almost got it cancelled. The first series cost £1 million to make, a HUGE amount at the time.

The problem was that Blackadder falling off a horse from far off was only as funny as anyone else falling off a horse far away. In the second series it was decided that the comedy should be done much more close up, with also tweeks to the characters. It also reduced the cost by a huge amount.

Well when you compare it to other such sitcoms today such as My Family £1million is still a lot of money. But i agree it really did need to be shot closer up and i do think the fact that the last three series were shot in front of a live audience, which the first wasn't, help boost it immensely.

But those tweeks to the characters were much needed I feel but they were done absolutely perfectly and the balance they created with all the characters couldn't have been any better!

Legendary Stuff

Blackadder: 'You see the ancient Greeks, your Highness, wrote in legend of a terrible container in which all the evils of the world were trapped. How prophetic they were. All they got wrong was the name. They called it 'Pandora's Box', when of course they meant 'Baldrick's Trousers'.'

I'd like to backtrack a couple of posts to the comment "I will never understand though why Rowan Atkinson, Ben Elton and Richard Curtis gave up on something that was so successful and loved by so many people."

Personally, I would much rather see a series quit while it's ahead (I actually thought it ran out of steam a bit in series 4). How awful would it have been to see Blackadder continue until it got old, tired and no longer funny in the way that 'Only Fools and Horses' has?

Liz
~

Yes I can totally see where you're coming from with that but possibly one more series could've been squeezed out of it. After that it would've had to have ended because then you are up to present day and blackadder was set in various periods in history so the idea would no longer have worked, apart from the fact that 'Back and Forth' had been produced.

I suppose in a way it would've been extremely difficult to get another series as succesful as those which have been produced so in hindsight it was ended at the right time. I mean, can you imagine a series where Blackadder and Baldrick are hippy stoners?!! I think not!!