‘Allo ‘Allo – Some Classic British Comedy

When I was in high school in southwest Dallas in 1980–1981, one of the PBS Evening comedy shows my Dad watched incessantly and enjoyed for so long was the hilarious weekly show, “‘Allo ‘Allo” with Gorden Kaye (as René Artois, cafe owner during WW2), Carmen Silvera (as Edith Artois, wife of René and jealous of all beautiful women), Vicki Michelle (as Yvette Carte-Blanche, pun intended), Kirsten Cooke (as Michelle Dubois head of the French Resistance), Kenneth Connor (as Monsieur Alfonse, Undertaker; “Swiftly and with Style”), Sam Kelly (as Captain Hans Geering), Ken Morley (as General von Flockenstuffen), Guy Siner (as the gay Lieutenant Hubert Gruber), Arthur Bostrom as Officer Crabtree the bad French-speaking policeman), and several other wonderful actors and actresses. I came to love this show because the writers, Jeremy Lloyd, David Croft and later Paul Adam, created an exceptionally entertaining 30-minute British sitcom. Dad and I always laughed non-stop.

A clip from one of the best episodes in Series 2, “The Gâteau from the Château“:

I have also come to love many other British comedy shows such as “QI – Quite Interesting,” also “Travel Man” with Richard Ayoade, “Gadget Man Stephen Frye,” and “The Graham Norton Show,” and of course “The Benny Hill Show” and even more so “Fawlty Towers” with John Cleese. All of these shows Dad and I thoroughly enjoyed weekly, well, barring Graham Norton that I later discovered and fell in love with. So my followers and readers…

What were or are some of your favorite British comedy shows? Share them below in comments. 😁

The Professor’s Convatorium © 2023 by Professor Taboo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Britain’s Top Lorry Drivers Go Head-2-Head

Top Gear’s Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson, James May

Laughter is truly one of the best medicines and I usually get my fix from this threesome:  Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May of BBC’s auto and all-things-mobile show, Top Gear.  This series is now approaching 17 award-winning seasons.  It is very difficult for me to pick only one all-time favorite, but undoubtedly this episode ranks as one of my top five.  I hope you have about 35 minutes to spare to watch these three guys attempt being even decent Lorry drivers (in American English: truck drivers) because it is typical but also atypical British wit at its best!  Enjoy….


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