RaspberryLucozade This witty series of short films helped put 'alternative comedy' on the comedy map in the early '80's. 'The Comic Strip Presents' started life in the Comedy Store club in Soho in 1980 when a young group of comedians banded together to form 'The Comic Strip Club' which consisted of three double acts - Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson ( under the name '20th Century Coyote' ), Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders ( who simply became known as 'French & Saunders' ) and Peter Richardson and Nigel Planer ( who became known as 'The Outer Limits' ). Alexei Sayle acted as compere. Along with Pete Richens, Peter Richardson decided that there was potential to bring the team to television and so 'The Comic Strip Presents' was born. It debuted on Channel 4 in 1982 ( one of the first things to be shown on the newly launched channel, the first being the dreadful Liverpudlian soap 'Brookside' ) a week before 'The Young Ones' debuted on BBC2. The first edition, 'Five Go Mad In Dorset' was a spoof of Enid Blyton's 'The Famous Five' and drew complaints from viewers for the way it satirised the show.The first series of films was patchy at best but when it returned at the end of 1983 with a second season, it had taken a huge leap in quality, bringing us some wonderful editions such as 'Dirty Movie' and 'Susie'. The films, which were a cross between 'Carry On' and 'Monty Python', were often beautifully written and proved highly influential. Keith Allen, Peter Richardson and Robbie Coltrane featured in a one off television spin-off 'The Bullshitters' which was a blatant spoof of 'The Professionals'. Several cinematic releases also came about as a result of the show's success. The first film, 'The Supergrass' ( which had Ade Edmondson as a reluctant police informer ) came in 1985, the second film, made in 1987 was 'Eat The Rich' ( which sees a disgruntled restaurant owner fall on hard times ), 'The Pope Must Die', made in 1991 saw Robbie Coltrane unwittingly becoming the new pontiff and lastly, in 2004 we were given 'Churchill: The Hollywood Years' which saw Hitler trying to marry into the monarchy.Of all the show's stars, Rik Mayall was probably the one to profit the most from the success of the show. Mayall had previously gained television exposure in as eccentric investigator Kevin Turvey in the BBC Scotland sketch show 'A Kick Up The Eighties' but it was with 'The Young Ones' and 'The Comic Strip Presents' that he really found his niche.Unfortunately, 'The Comic Strip Presents' overstayed it welcome but when it was funny it was hilarious and for many helped brighten up many's a dark night throughout the 80's and 90's.Favourite edition? 'Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door' in which Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson play two bumbling assassins who are hired to 'take out' Nicholas Parsons.

castipiani "The Comic Strip presents . . ." introduced a new crowd of "'varsity comics" (Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Ade Edondson, Rick Mayall, Robbie Coltrane) to British commercial television, and a fresh approach to the half-hour comedy format. Led (as performer, writer, and director) by Peter Richardson, the Channel 4 series broke away from the crazy-sketch format which had dominated the years since the debut of Monty Python, instead focusing each episode on a playful exploration of a particular film or TV genre, some quintessentially British ("Five Go Mad in Dorset," with its deadpan tweaking of Enid Blyton's wartime children's adventure books) to presciently contemporary ("Bad News Tour," which beat "Spinal Tap" to the screen by almost two years). Richardson's penchant for genre critique above all sometimes led to stylishly inert outings like "Beat Generation," but also to wildly idiosyncratic and memorable excursions like "Summer School," "Bullsh*tters," and "A Fistful of Traveler's Cheques." Unfortunately only available on DVD as a nine-count'em nine disc set in PAL format, The Comic Strip deserves a two or three disc compilation of its most marvelous episodes: After 25 years, many play better than most contemporary comedy today.

Balibari I only caught the odd episode of this show on it's initial run (and I was a little disappointed by what I saw), but years later a friend showed me the episode, "Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door" featuring Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson as a couple of seedy alcoholic losers. About 8 years on from that first viewing I still rate it as one of the funniest things I've ever seen... TV show or movie. Although it's a fairly close comedic relative of this particular episode, I've never been a fan of Bottom. The characters are sleazy but too far removed from reality to be anything more than cartoonish, but in 'Mr. Jolly' their frightening alcohol consumption and heroically antisocial behaviour make for brilliant entertainment. Granted, they may not appeal to everyone. You could say it's a one-joke show but it works for me.The story revolves around these two losers mistakenly accepting a job intended for the eponymous Jolly (Peter Cooke), a hit-man charged with 'taking out' Nicholas Parsons. Misunderstanding, they take Parsons (playing himself) out for the night. I don't want to bang on about it endlessly, I'm only writing this in the hope of bringing it to the attention of someone, hopefully spreading the word on it's originality and brilliance, even just a little!Any fans of Rik Mayall, The Young Ones, Bottom etc. simply must track this priceless gem down (I eventually found an official VHS so it has been released at some point). Like I say I'm not even a particular fan of their previous work so anyone who is must go nuts for this.Trust me, you have to love it!

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre Many episodes of 'The Comic Strip Presents' were parodies of specific films or TV shows, or parodies of film/TV genres. The episode transmitted 3 November 1984 was titled 'The Bullsh**ters', and it's an hilarious parody of the ITV action series 'The Professionals' in particular and thick-ear matey action shows in general.The crime-fighting partners in 'The Professionals' were named Bodie and Doyle, so here in 'The Bullsh**ters' we have Keith Allen and Peter Richardson (both of whom also wrote the script) as Bonehead and Foyle, taking orders from their commanding officer, hilariously played by Robbie Coltrane. Bodie and Doyle, of course, had an expensive car with all sorts of gizmos ... but Bonehead and Foyle have to make do with bus passes as they rush from headquarters to their deadly missions.Coltrane has one very funny set-piece routine, in which he shows Bonehead and Foyle the proper way for a TV action hero to get into a car. Elvis Costello is also funny in a brief turn as a deaf man. Alana Pellay and Jimmy Fagg (don't ask) play themselves.