Review 102: The League Of Gentlemen DVD Collection

For a limited time only: Things The Curmudgeon actually LIKES - Part Three!

If any of you are familiar with The Curmudgeon's other reviews, you may well be scratching your heads at this one. A FIVE star review?! That can't be right. And usually, YOU would be right. The Curmudgeon has dedicated 95 of his 100 reviews to bringing you the very worst things out there. To celebrate the 50 review milestone I reviewed 5 GREAT things that are available on Amazon, and so, now I've reached 100, I thought I'd do the same again. So, from reviews 100 - 105, it's going to be nothing but good, great and awesome stuff.

Comedy is a strange thing. For years it was always considered that Britain produced superior comedy (Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Dad's Army). Even in the 90's, although America was in front, Britain produced some classics (Red Dwarf, Game On, Father Ted, Fast Show and some cosy family comedies - Keeping Up Appearances, Men Behaving Badly all major hits) yet recently the words "British" and "comedy" were enough to give even the most hardy viewer nightmares. America were indeed the champs of comedy, with Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Friends, Frasier.. in a contest, the UK were rank amateurs compared to the American Heavyweight champs.

Then - things began to change. From around 1999 onwards British comedy has had a severe shot in the arm, giving new life to the once dead genre. True, the mainstream family comedy was now a thing of the past, but the likes of Little Britain, The Office, Brass Eye, Phoenix Nights and more were coming thick and fast.

And (arguably) the best of them all? The League Of Gentlemen - one of the cleverest, willingly absurd but lovingly crafted comedies of all time. Devilish in its targets (paedophilia, incest, mass murder - all weekly topics), what made League a step above its murky roots were the characters and actors involved in them, giving even the most grisly inhabitant of Royston Vasey depth and charm. Hell, you even feel sorry for some of them.

Seasons One and Two were near flawless examples of sketch show lunacy (even if the characters evolved and progressed each week, seldom seen in this format), the absurdly wonderful and disturbing Christmas Special and the genius of Season Three (a mile away from Seasons One and Two, in both style and content) make this collection something to be watched over and over. Die-hards can spot the injokes, the running gags, the hidden gags.. newbies can become involved in a grim world where the words "are you local" should have you running for your life.

Sick, twisted madness. Like the best sitcoms, we all want for more, but like the VERY best sitcoms, (Young Ones, Fawlty Towers, The Office), we're not going to get it (token movie notwithstanding). Absolutely unmissable.

And that's part three of five taken care of. Two more things that The Curmudgeon actually likes. But what on earth could they be? Only one way to find out...