State: Ended
Genre: Comedy
Origin:
United Kingdom
Developed by: John Lloyd and John Lloyd
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith and Pamela Stephenson
IMDb score:
7,9 (3.022)
Releasedate: Tuesday 16 October 1979
This TV Show is not available on US streaming services.
Not the Nine o'Clock News plot
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a mix of political satire, pop parodies and conventional sketches on current topics. Existing film footage was often used, which the four protagonists combined with their own material to poke fun at the news, talk shows, British and American politics and pop culture of the time.
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The reviews and comments below are selected at random from our extensive user contributions. If you want to write a review or post a comment yourself, you can do so on a specific season page.
Dievegge
- 224 comments
- 935 votes
This sketch show pushed the boundaries of the kind of humor that could be done on television. Religion, racism, sexism, homophobia, affirmative action, animal rights, euthanasia and suicide were laughed at. Current figures were mocked: “Maggie” Thatcher, Jimmy Carter, Leonid Brezhnev and the eternally sympathetic Ayatollah Khomeini. The British royal family was ridiculed. The political satire went further than before. There were parodies of news reports, and funny montages in which news images and fiction were stitched together. Wordless “quickies” provided a pleasant change of rhythm. An episode often ended with a musical parody, for example on Kate Bush. A Christmas song was also provided with a bawdy text.
It was the breakthrough of Rowan Atkinson, who often played rude types, and excelled in both verbal and visual humor. Smith and Jones later continued as a comedy duo, while Pamela Stephenson built a career as a psychologist. Richard Curtis made a significant contribution as a writer. Unfortunately, the complete series was never released on DVD, perhaps because many jokes were tied to current events. One of the best skits, John McEnroe's Breakfast, can only be found in the '90s compilation.
At the end of the third episode, ten pianists each play the same instrument with one finger. That was not quatre-mains, but an dix-doigts. Episode 6 features a TV debate in which the Bible is accused of plagiarizing Monty Python. This first season has its highlights, but is still hit and miss, especially due to the presence of the superfluous Chris Langham. From the second season they reached a more constant level with the permanent team of four actors.
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