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The Young Ones - Bambi/Nasty/Time [VHS]

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'The Young Ones' was the first Britcom I ever had the pleasure of viewing. It is part surreal, part insane, and all the way fun! This particular video follows the adventures of housemates Rick, Vyv, Mike and Neil as they challenge and then blow some college competitors ("Bambi," look for a young Emma Thompson in this one!); as they try to bury a hopefully-dead vampire ("Nasty," one of the funniest episodes!); and finally as they try to figure out exactly how their house ends up in the middle ages ("Time," thank goodness for the telly!). All in all, this entire video collection is a riot, definitely worth owning if you like insane British comedy (who doesn't?)

The Young Ones epitomised the confusion of the generation that came of age in the Thatcher Years. Caught between a right wing government, the residue of punk and left-wing ideas from the 60s and 70s, and the continued disolution of the class system, British youth went through an identity crisis, struggling to find a suitable sub-group to belong to, whether it be punk (Vyv), spiv (Mike), hippy (Neil), or 'right-on' left-wing radical (Rick). Throwing these 4 student-types together in an anarchic, surreal house-share was a stroke of genius.

The main focus is the explosive relationship of the pretentious Rick (Rik Mayall) and the brutally straightforward Vyvian (Adrian Edmonson). These 2 actors later reprised a stripped down version of this relationship in "Bottom". Neal the Hippie and Mike the Spiv provided useful ballast and a wider range of plot options preventing this central comedic relationship from imploding.

The support cast reads like a virtual who's-who of British comedy in the 80s and 90s, including Robbie Coltrane, Hale and Pace, French and Saunders, Tony Robinson, Griff Rhys Jones, Mel Smith, Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.

This video includes 3 episodes from 1984:

(1) Bambi

This is the best one here. Unfortunately for non-British viewers, it also includes lots of Brits-only joke references like Felicity Kendal's underwear and "University Challenge". Felicity Kendal was a rather kittenish, husky-voiced actress who appeared in the great British sit-com "The Good Life" (called "Good Neighbors" on the other side of the pond). This reference is used hilariously as part of this episode's laundry theme. University Challenge was a quiz show with teams of 4 from different universities answering questions from the unforgettable Bamber ('Bambi') Gascoigne. There were sometimes culture clashes as students from upper class universities (the toffs) competed against poorer grant-assisted students (the oiks) from newer, less prestigious universities. This episode makes fun of these differences with the oiks ably represented by the Young Ones. One of the bonuses is Oscar winner Emma Thompson playing one of the toffs. "I've got a porsche," she says in answer to a quiz question.

Rik Mayall is in particularly good form as the self-obsessed, self-righteous, wannabe trendy Rick. The highlight, however, has to be Vyvian sticking his head out the train window. The musical break fits into the story this time with Motorhead's rendition of "Ace of Spades" capturing the sense of urgency as the Young Ones rush through London to catch a train.

(2) Nasty

After some more jokes about student hygiene (which for most students of the period - like me - are too real to be funny) this episode focuses on the students' attempts to watch video nasties using a borrowed video player. A surrealist horror motif runs throughout, with Alexei Sayle playing a South African vampire. For student radicals of the time there was no greater personification of evil than White South Africa. Details like this may be somewhat dated now. The musical break features the Damned playing in the house.

(3) Time

This starts strongly with a parody of Dallas with Neil dreaming about a multinational oil company spending all their money on ecological measures and new age hippy ideas. After this the comedy stems from Rick's attempts to 'indirectly' inform everybody that he slept with a woman the previous night. "I wonder who the extra cup of tea is for?" he asks rhetorically. This episode then proceeds to tap into the fears of adolescent males desperate to establish some sort of sexual track record, as Vyvian forces Rick to admit that he is still a virgin. These themes naturally lead into concerns about time and time-travelling as the student's house goes back in time to the Middle Ages with the usual anarchic results. Amazulu, a band from the 80s, underline the theme of time with a performance of their now forgotten music.

I saw THE YOUNG ONES for the first time when I was rather young, and I never forgot it. Time may have passed, and as I see it again now on tape it is probably one of the funniest shows made, and it beats the pants off of any trendy NBC swill anyday of the week. The premise is rather simple: Four VERY mismatched college students share the rather shabby accomidations of Scumbag University in England. Those students are Vyvyian, the punk who likes to break things and make things explode. Rick, the most obnoxious and cowardly character I have ever seen on TV who thinks everybody is either a communist, nazi or a facist. Neil the downer hippie who loves lentils and will sometimes try to kill himself. And finally Mike, the hustler who has in my opinion some of the best lines on a tv show-"Is that the time?" "No time is an abstract concept, thats a watch." Plots can at times be thin but the characters are terrific. All in all a great show-watch one tape and you will probably buy them all. Start with this one, it's easily the best nest to CASH, INTERESTING, and SUMMER HOLIDAY.

BAMBI

Rick tries to kill himself with laxatives because nobody listens to him. The boys have a wacky adventure to the laundrette that ends in disappointment. Neil remembers that they've been chosen to represent Scumbag college at University Challenge. The rest of the episode is the absolute best of the entire series. Bambi's secret past comes out: "Bambi Goes Crazy Ape Bonkers with His Drill and Set". The posh kids challenging Scumbag are played exquisitely by Ben Elton, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson. Hard-core fiends agree that this one is best. It is right hard to disagree.

NASTY

Neil takes a bath in muck, wears one of Rick's frilly little girly dresses, and is nearly electrocuted. Vyv and Mike try to set up the video for their "all night orgy of sex and violence". A mysterious package arrives--which turns out to be a vampire from South Africa played by Alexei Sayle. The boys put their faith in pop music and the Damned materialize and play "Nasty" in the living room. Sayle is typically hilarious and Vyv reverts to Catholic terror. Rick is a total ponce as usual.

TIME

This one's got both Dawn French (as the tardy Easter bunny) and Jennifer Saunders (as a homocidal maniac who crashes in Rick's bed). Rick acts like he scored with the chickie but she proves otherwise. Rick and Vyv fight it out over which one is a virgin. Their war eventually involves heavy artillery. The boys find themselves transported back to the middle ages. On the telly is Jester Balowski's Medieval Torture Hour. Alexei Sayle plays Jester and Joan Collins.

My wife introduced me to these British maniacs of the '80s, and I was instantly hooked.

The Young Ones--ah, why did they make so few episodes? At least, you can enjoy these three. Well, two-and-a-half.

BAMBI--As representatives of their alma mater, Scumbag, the boys take a trainride to the big city to appear on a college game show. (The trainride makes the Beatles' HARD DAYS NIGHT trainride appear tame!) Vyv loses his head. Great cameo by a very young Emma Thompson, and Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" completes the frantic mood.

NASTY--Framed by scenes of an aborted burial in a graveyard (look for MPFC's Terry Jones as a belligerent, drunken vicar), the episode is as close as the lads come to a Halloween episode: vampires from S. Africa, women PMS-ing in hell, and a very scary-looking musical appearance by the Damned. My favorite moment is when Alexei steps out of character to complain about how he's treated by his fellow cast members, only to be proven right when the four actors bad-mouth him. (Neil doing so in a very Californian accent!)

TIME--This is the one-half episode I was referring to. This episode begins with an uproarious parody of "Dallas" (and the pseudo-credits are a riot). Followed by a frantic screaming at church bells by a hungover Vyvyan, Rik is awakened to find a female in his bed. The female in question turns out to be a murderer (played by Adrian Edmondson's future wife, Ab Fab's Jennifer Saunders). When she is accidentally killed, so is the episode, as it degenerates into very uncharacteristically, unoriginal stuff.

Still, this is well worth watching!

I have several acquaintances who are Young Ones afficionados and have viewed each episode myself at least ten times. We all agree -- the absolute standout episode is Bambi. The debilitating depression of Neil, the chicanery of Mike, Rik's tidal wave of impatience, and Vyvyan's will to do anything for a laugh come to the forefront. When Vyvyan utters the immortal phrase, "And that's where you are wrong, Bacon Sandwich here is not a pig, he is a ferret" -- your relationship with The Young Ones will become inexorably cemented.

So, you can't explain it, but you love the less tactful Monty Python jokes and want to see more? Check out The Young Ones! Featured for a short time on MTV, this segment of the early eighties British sitcom matches the real and historical with the absurd and discusting. The BBC's University Challenge with a twist, Rick finally get's a girl (or does she get him?), and a vampire from South Africa wants to teach you driver's education. A must see!

This has got to be the funniest T.V. show of all time. The 4 main actors are superb, and the sheer inventiveness of the show is astonishing(There are more nice touches in 'Bambi' alone than in every episode of Friends combined). Also, Neil has to be the most quotable character of all time("We sow the seed, nature grows the seed, we eat the seed"). I hope this programme is never remade, as nothing can match it's brilliance. Also check out 'Filthy rich and catflap' and 'Bottom', both starring Rik Mayall/Ade Edmonson

I do not own this video but have seen all the episodes on it and loved every single one of them.

The young ones has to be my favourite comedy programme ever. Slightly better than 'Bottom'(Which stars the actors who play Rik and Vyvian as a pair of losers), this is the greatest comedy series ever created.

Vyvian is my favourite character becuase he is so violent and obnoxious. The other characters are also classic comedy creations.

I would reccomed this video to anyone!

OK, it is an amazing show, but it is not for everyone. It can get a bit loud and some of the bits don't really work. It took me a couple of times to "get it", but once you do, TYO can make you laugh your balls off.

Of the three here, "Time" is OK, "Nasty" is really funny and "Bambi" may flat out be the funniest half hour of 80's Britcom (Sorry, Yes Prime Minister and The New Statesman). You get to see a VERY young Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, along with Smith and Jones and the lads. You will never look at laxatives, crop rotation or The Elephant Man in quite the same way again. BTW, why doesn't Amazon sell "The Daily Mirror Book of Facts"?