The unexpected joy that is Black Books
It's really not intentional, but for some reason I only seem to get into old shows - either (long) over or facing imminent cancellation.
This time, it's the British comedy Black Books (2000-2004), about a misanthrope of a bookshop owner, Bernard Black, who seems to tolerate customers only when they don't want anything (including help) from him. I'm only a couple of episodes in, but already I can tell it's going to be fantastic. It's on Hulu and Acorn.tv.
Some funny bits that totally resonated with me:
1. Bernard attempting to do his books without the help of an accountant, and getting stuck on the question: "Did your non-returnable outgoings for the first half of the year exceed your deductions for quarterly VAT returns?" Maybe the absurdity of some of the tax questions is just universal (unless the American tax code can trace its root to the British tax code?), but it's exactly the kind of ridiculous question I'd expect to see on a tax form. I've done taxes since I was 18, and all by hand, with a stack of scratch paper and a little calculator, until I got married and Hubby made me an easy convert to TurboTax.
2. Bernard procrastinating, including welcoming in a pair of soliciting evangelicals who knocked on his door to talk to him about Jesus. This may be one of the funniest segments I've ever seen. I think I was wiping off tears I was laughing so hard. And absurd as it was, it's not entirely unimaginable. In college, holding philosophical debates at 3am in the morning the day of a midterm was absolutely a favorite past-time of mine and my roommate's. Just...anything at all to procrastinate. :D
3. A running gag involving Fran, Bernard's next door neighbor/chic giftshop owner, trying to figure out the exact purpose of a shipment of ball-shaped merchandise. Have you ever puzzled over a giftshop display? It was just like that. :) It looks like something lifted from the set of Doctor Who, oddly-shaped and vaguely futuristic-looking. I'm not going to spoil it for anyone, but until the final reveal, I had no idea what it was.
4. Bernard concocting a Very Bad Idea to obtain a physical injury in order to qualify for a tax deadline extension. My mind immediately jumped to: a) JK Rowling wanting to break her arm to get out of writing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and b) an episode of boneheadedness in my youth with a similar goal of postponement. Amazingly, it really didn't seem like such an obviously bad idea at the time.
5. A customer wanting to buy a P.G. Wodehouse book, then changing his mind when he realizes he's read this particular book before. As it happens I've had to look for a P.G. Wodehouse book for a friend (which I suspect must be a common thing?), and it's complete madness! It's the combination of a prolific author with older, out-of-print books, and the fact that his stories are often repackaged into new anthologies each with a fresh title but a table of content containing only stories already read. Not to mention his books are sometimes published in the U.S. under a different title than its original U.K. version.
6. Bill Bailey. Funny as always. But using a different accent? It always catches me by surprise to hear actors from the U.K. in interviews sounding completely different from their characters. There are of course plenty of American actors (especially comedians) who can do accents, but generally speaking, most American actors - or maybe it's most roles on American TV? - do not ask actors to use a different accent than their own.
Anyway, hope everyone's doing well!
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This time, it's the British comedy Black Books (2000-2004), about a misanthrope of a bookshop owner, Bernard Black, who seems to tolerate customers only when they don't want anything (including help) from him. I'm only a couple of episodes in, but already I can tell it's going to be fantastic. It's on Hulu and Acorn.tv.
Some funny bits that totally resonated with me:
1. Bernard attempting to do his books without the help of an accountant, and getting stuck on the question: "Did your non-returnable outgoings for the first half of the year exceed your deductions for quarterly VAT returns?" Maybe the absurdity of some of the tax questions is just universal (unless the American tax code can trace its root to the British tax code?), but it's exactly the kind of ridiculous question I'd expect to see on a tax form. I've done taxes since I was 18, and all by hand, with a stack of scratch paper and a little calculator, until I got married and Hubby made me an easy convert to TurboTax.
2. Bernard procrastinating, including welcoming in a pair of soliciting evangelicals who knocked on his door to talk to him about Jesus. This may be one of the funniest segments I've ever seen. I think I was wiping off tears I was laughing so hard. And absurd as it was, it's not entirely unimaginable. In college, holding philosophical debates at 3am in the morning the day of a midterm was absolutely a favorite past-time of mine and my roommate's. Just...anything at all to procrastinate. :D
3. A running gag involving Fran, Bernard's next door neighbor/chic giftshop owner, trying to figure out the exact purpose of a shipment of ball-shaped merchandise. Have you ever puzzled over a giftshop display? It was just like that. :) It looks like something lifted from the set of Doctor Who, oddly-shaped and vaguely futuristic-looking. I'm not going to spoil it for anyone, but until the final reveal, I had no idea what it was.
4. Bernard concocting a Very Bad Idea to obtain a physical injury in order to qualify for a tax deadline extension. My mind immediately jumped to: a) JK Rowling wanting to break her arm to get out of writing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and b) an episode of boneheadedness in my youth with a similar goal of postponement. Amazingly, it really didn't seem like such an obviously bad idea at the time.
5. A customer wanting to buy a P.G. Wodehouse book, then changing his mind when he realizes he's read this particular book before. As it happens I've had to look for a P.G. Wodehouse book for a friend (which I suspect must be a common thing?), and it's complete madness! It's the combination of a prolific author with older, out-of-print books, and the fact that his stories are often repackaged into new anthologies each with a fresh title but a table of content containing only stories already read. Not to mention his books are sometimes published in the U.S. under a different title than its original U.K. version.
6. Bill Bailey. Funny as always. But using a different accent? It always catches me by surprise to hear actors from the U.K. in interviews sounding completely different from their characters. There are of course plenty of American actors (especially comedians) who can do accents, but generally speaking, most American actors - or maybe it's most roles on American TV? - do not ask actors to use a different accent than their own.
Anyway, hope everyone's doing well!
Dreamwidth crosspost. Comments on this post are disabled on LJ. Reply or view the
comments on Dreamwidth.