bigverybadtom This series is about four old (and presumably retired) men in a small town having a variety of escapades, evidently recapturing their lost youths.Yes, it is thin material, depending on how well it is written and performed. It doesn't depend on contrived silliness like "Fawlty Towers" or "Are You Being Served?" or excessive blue humor like "Benny Hill" or weirdness like "Monty Python's Flying Circus". Most of the humor is funny to non-Britons as well. So how does this program work? The characters are reasonably credible-bored old men deciding to have fun before they die, though things often go wrong. Every cast member manages to perform their role correctly as well.This is mild entertainment, though-not for those who want to see overacting and screaming.

john_aalsmeer Sitting watching an early episode (with Michael Bates - if you ever watch it, you'll know this really means 'early') sitting in Reno, Nevada made me look at the reviews of this wonderful show. OK, it's not cutting edge (whatever that means), it has no dramatic twists, it has little or no bad language (some of the early episodes did have some), it is devoid of some of the tawdry innuendo of series like Two and a Half Men and definitely does not have the stag-night humour of Sex in the City (but it does have humorous scenes about innocent, nothing-ever-happens relationships featuring Nora and Compo plus Marina and Howard). I started to watch this when I was 21 and thought it brilliant. As I got older I thought it evocative of what was and what would be. Now, as I near 60, I enjoy re-runs the same way as I watch re-runs of M*A*S*H - I watch a comedy which is out of the ordinary. LOTSW relies on human interaction of a type which really exists in Northern England, where political correctness is irrelevant, sarcasm and irony is the norm and no-one expects it any other way. Simply put, LOTSW, is real, 'nice', Northern humour.

Brian Baxter Several of listeners or watchers felt the series would not be as good without Compo. But this is not the case. We in Australia are seeing on UK TV, a pay channel, The new episodes from 2002 to 2004. BBC listeners are now seeing the new 2005 series.Unfortunately UK TV does not have the rights to episodes from 1973 to 2001. It is the greatest show ever and Roy Clark is a genius, he also wrote "Keeping up Appearances" I have both DDVs from Amazon.A hope some of the old episodes will soon appear. There is a ready market out there.The great strength of British sitcoms over American is the small number of episodes made each year. Let us hope Roy does not tire of the series.

debra (debra-13) My father got me hooked on this series, after he mentioned how much he enjoyed it. A local PBS station was running it, and I just fell in love with the three old men and their antics. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Peter Sallis is also the voice of Wallace, as in "Wallace & Grommit" -- another personal favorite. My biggest frustration is that our PBS station stopped running it, the BBC has only released one set of tapes, and that is criminal for a show that's been on the air for 30 years! For gentle, character driven comedies, this show cannot be beat. Also, the scenery is beautiful. All those rural, rustic shots of the English countryside are gorgeous.