Review of Men Behaving Badly (Series 1 to 6)

Introduction

Can you believe that there once was a situation comedy on ITV that was worth watching? No I can`t either, but it was true, since Men Behaving Badly started life there. ITV in their infinite wisdom axed it (and haven`t had a decent sitcom since) and the BBC snapped it up and turned it into a big hit.

The first series starred Harry Enfield, but he left and was replaced by Neil Morrissey. The other regulars were Martin Clunes, Leslie Ash and Caroline Quentin.

Series 3 was made up of the following episodes:

Lovers, Bed, Casualties, Weekend, Cleaning Lady and Marriage

If you`ve seen the series you`ll probably remember most of them, and I don`t really need to go into details.

This DVD is part of the recently released box set containing all of the series of the show.

Video

Your usual TV series transfer here. A full frame transfer, everything looks fine and there`s nothing wrong with any part of the picture. It`s just as good, if not better than, the broadcast, and will certainly beat all those worn out VHS copies that you might have.

Audio

A standard DD2.0 stereo soundtrack which is perfectly adequate for the job. You can hear everything just fine, and you`ll certainly be infected by the infectious soundtrack again. A good piece of music that fits the series so well.

Features

Four simple quizzes give you access to about 8 minutes of out-takes. It would have been nice to seen more of these as they are funny. Martin Clunes seems to have learnt from Harry Enfield about getting the audience to shout abuse at you when you mess up your lines.

Conclusion

Some have said that Men Behaving Badly defined an era - the culture of "laddism" and "new laddism". I think it`s more accurate to say that it defines the perception of an era as the 1990s was definitely perceived as the time of "laddish" behaviour. In truth that behaviour has never really gone away as the recent Tacky Holiday Destination Uncovered types of TV series have shown us.

Men Behaving Badly is a very amusing sitcom presented on a technically sound DVD. It would have been nice to see some more extras such as more out-takes, deleted scenes, documentaries or even commentaries (there are plenty of good examples of sitcom DVDs with commentary tracks).

A worthy set of episodes, and quite a strong season overall, despite being one of the earlier ones. Fans should snap the boxset up if they`ve not bought the individual DVDs. It will keep you laughing for hours......

If you already have the individual discs, there`s nothing new in the box set.

Recommended for those who like a laugh.