Blast From the Past 2 - The Young Ones

I have made many references to The Young Ones on this blog. The Young Ones was a ground-breaking British comedy series with only 12 episodes that was filmed in the early 1980's. The episodes were then broadcast in the United States on MTV in the mid 1980's, back when MTV wasn't all beach-reality shows. The show revolved around four main characters that lived together in a college flat and absolutely hated each other. The were:

Rick - the people's poet and political activist. (My personal favorite)

Neil - the vegetarian hippie.

Vyvyan - the punk rocker.

Mike - the "suave ladies man" who really wasn't.

The Young Ones became a staple for me and my buddies at The University of Leinenkugels. For the show's Sunday night broadcasts we consistently had 20-30 people show up for viewing at 136 Chippewa, the house that should have been condemned.

Not only did the show become part of our weekly routine, it's dialouge became part of ours. "Piss off posty!" "Up yours matey!" "Fascist!" It was fantastic. Some of the lines are still quoted to this day in conversation and on this blog.

The show, part Monty Pyton, part Laurel and Hardy, really pushed the envelope for the 1980's. While each shows even had a "plot," there were always scenes added that made no sense. Minor characters came and went. There were bands on every show, including Motorhead, Madness, and The Damned.

The show was basically complete chaos and was a fantasitc way to end a weekend. Take a look at the clip that I added in which Rick asks the lads "why everyone hates him," and then tries to kill himself with laxitives.

Good stuff. Go buy the DVD's if you can find them!

Jeff