# A Brit-Com From the 70s **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114 "2009-06-08T17:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/1 "2009-06-08T17:40:59Z")
This is a long shot, 'cause I have virtually nothing to go on. But in the 70s on WTTW our local PBS station we used to have a night where they’d run British Comedies. They would run _Fawlty Towers_, _Are You Being Served_, \*The Two Ronnies \*and one other one. I can’t remember the name of this. All I recall is that it was starring a man and a women. I think they were husband and wife. It was light humour. Any one have any possible clue? It was run during the late 70s (possibly early 80s) I know this is not much to go on but if you have any idea, please throw it out so I can look it up and see. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/2 "2009-06-08T17:48:15Z")
[The Good Life](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Life_(1975_TV_series)), made in 1975, and broadcast in the US as “Good Neighbors”? ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/3 "2009-06-08T17:48:42Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > This is a long shot, 'cause I have virtually nothing to go on. > > But in the 70s on WTTW our local PBS station we used to have a night where they’d run British Comedies. They would run _Fawlty Towers_, _Are You Being Served_, \*The Two Ronnies \*and one other one. > > I can’t remember the name of this. All I recall is that it was starring a man and a women. I think they were husband and wife. It was light humour. Any one have any possible clue? It was run during the late 70s (possibly early 80s) > > I know this is not much to go on but if you have any idea, please throw it out so I can look it up and see. There were several, but I’m wondering if it was _To The Manor Born_? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/4 "2009-06-08T17:49:31Z")
Scooped! ETA: by that I mean I second The Good Life. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/5 "2009-06-08T17:51:45Z")
Is that the one where the couple was named Nigel and Beryl? (Two names that are completely British and would never show up in the US!) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/6 "2009-06-08T17:52:51Z")
If it was **The Good Life** he likely would also have remembered Margo and Jerry. And the goat. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/7 "2009-06-08T17:54:19Z")
Of the top of my head, here are three for consideration. [Terry and June](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_and_June) (1979-1987). [My Wife Next Door](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Wife_Next_Door) (1972, repeated 1979). [George and Mildred](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_and_Mildred) (1976-1979). ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/8 "2009-06-08T17:55:38Z")
Did the man and wife like each other? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/9 "2009-06-08T18:43:49Z")
How about a show called “No, Honestly”? The theme song went something like “No, honestly, I know you were meant for me, and nothing’s going to change the way I feel about you. ba-da ba-da” ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/10 "2009-06-08T19:07:57Z")
I don’t think _Terry and June_ or _George and Mildred_ were that popular here in the US, if they showed up at all on PBS. Every market’s different, of course, so maybe the OP’s mileage may vary. And I think _The Good Life_ would’ve stuck in his mind for reasons other than just the married couple – like, the gardening, the goat, the pigs, the neighbors… Sticking with shows that were popular on PBS: how about [Butterflies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterflies_(TV_series)), which was shown a _lot_ on PBS, about a married woman (Wendy Craig) in a fairly gloomy marriage who has an ongoing flirtation about a sexy dentist (Peter Bowles, also in _To the Manor Born_). The husband was played by Geoffrey Palmer, in his standard sourpuss role. Or could it be _Executive Stress_? Another Penelope Keith / Peter Bowles sitcom (like _To the Manor Born_) but this one’s about a pair of marrieds who end up working for the same company, IIRC. (Actually, I just remembered that the husband role was originally played by Geoffrey Palmer, who also starred in _Butterflies_. Showed up in the US in the late-eighties, I believe. (BTW, Peter Bowles was originally offered the Jerry role in _The Good Life_, so seems he was destined to be paired up with Keith.) Or what about _As Time Goes By_ or even – this may be a longshot – _Robin’s Nest_, the sequel to _Man About the House_ (the origin of _Three’s Company_ here in the States)? Couple live over a restaurant run by the husband? Then there was a show … er, can’t remember the full name, but it was something like _All in No. 10_, about a married couple whose adult kids move back in with them? ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/11 "2009-06-08T19:14:21Z")
I thought about _Terry and June_ and _The Good Life_ (Felicity Kendall, yay!) For some reason _Keeping Up Appearances_ has a cult following among the American PBS set, but it’s too late - I think it was in the late 1980s. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/12 "2009-06-08T19:21:07Z")
[Rings on their Fingers](http://www.comedy.org.uk/guide/tv/rings_on_their_fingers/)? (Diane Keen/Martin Jarvis) They weren’t actually married at first, which was the source of much of the “sit” in the sitcom, as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/13 "2009-06-08T21:42:34Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > How about a show called “No, Honestly”? > > The theme song went something like > > “No, honestly, > I know you were meant for me, > and nothing’s going to change the way I feel about you. > ba-da ba-da” That was it… You guys are great. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/14 "2009-06-09T02:43:36Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > How about a show called “No, Honestly”? > > The theme song went something like > > “No, honestly, > I know you were meant for me, > and nothing’s going to change the way I feel about you. > ba-da ba-da” I remember that show; I remember loving the two young leads. CD and Clara, wasn’t it? The guy had (has had?) a long acting career and played James Herriot in one of the “All Things Bright and Beautiful” movies. (American here who loved '70’s Brit TV) ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/15 "2009-06-09T11:52:44Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > How about a show called “No, Honestly”? > > The theme song went something like > > “No, honestly, > I know you were meant for me, > and nothing’s going to change the way I feel about you. > ba-da ba-da” By my ears and whiskers… Now I’ll have that stuck in my head all week. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/16 "2009-06-09T13:15:22Z")
When I saw the thread title I thought - No, Honestly! - without even hearing the question. Boo ho, ! am 12 hours too late. Great show. I was able to pick up episodes on DVD from my local library. However, Blockbuster and Netflix do not have them in their databases. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/17 "2009-06-09T19:27:51Z")
One that fits the bill is [Butterflies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterflies_(TV_series)). One that doesn’t really fit the bill, but had a married couple and is from that era is [The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_and_Rise_of_Reginald_Perrin). ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brit-com-from-the-70s/499114/18 "2009-06-09T21:28:51Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Now I’ll have that stuck in my head all week. Stick this 1970s photo of singer/songwriter [Lynsey de Paul](http://www.last.fm/music/Lynsey+de+Paul/+images/10690293) inside your head as well. A very foxy lady. If I recall correctly, she had a beauty spot somewhere on her face. That could be it, on the right hand side of her upper lip. If not, my computer screen could use a wipe over.