Keeping Up Appearances (1990-1995)

The boat scene is hilarious. Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift did their own stunts.

They started turning her into a Lucy like moron. Meh.

Getting stuck on the back of a lorry

The scene where she makes Elizabeth park three block away from Onslow's house!

The one where she is stuck on the back of the lorry. And the one where Richard finally loses his shit and yells at her by the public pay phone.

Every scene with a phone call from Sheridan.

Sheridan was gay, right? lol

I love this show. It didn't come on my radar until 2004 or so when I met a great friend from the UK and he turned me on to it. I feel like I know that village and all it's charm and silliness. Just watching Hyacinth at the telephone is a whole sketch on its own. Call me twee or an anglophile but I love the British comedy shows. The Catherine Tate Show is another absolute gem.

Hyacinth's great escape from The Major

Bucket residence, Lady of the House speaking

R9, looking back, it was remarkable that one of the common plot points in the first couple of seasons was Hyacinth being sexually assaulted by various men.

A bunch or short scenes of Hyacinth being a bitch.

Folks mispronouncing Boo-kay.

Hyacinth's best one liners.

A good one. Tea time with Elizabeth.

Richard forgets their wedding anniversary.

It was noted that Hyacinth has very poor handwriting, especially for a woman aspiring to the upper class.

My favorite episodes are "Driving Mrs. Fortescue" and "How to Go on Holiday Without Really Trying."

They got the clothing spot on for middle-class women in the provinces. This is very much how homemaking wives of professional men, very much involved with church, school committees and the Rotary association, dressed in the 1980s and early 1990s.

[quote]This has to be one of the funniest shows of all time!

It is OP. It always puts a smile on my face.

R3 that's one of my favourite episodes too, but they are all brilliant. Onslow is my favourite character, I find him extremely relatable.

And that vicar was so fucking hot which was a nice bonus

If Sheridan were here, he’d be appalled.

Is it streaming anywhere?

R23 on Britbox.

"Richard, Sheridan, and his best friend Steve are no longer speaking. Probably over the rent. He moved out"

or some such hilarity

There’s a Hyacinth Bouquet account on Facebook where Hyacinth, Richard, Daisy, Onslow, Elizabeth, Emmet, and Sheridan interact with each other. It’s hilarious!

When a stranger calls!

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. “Bouquet” you say?

R25 Sheridan’s best friend is Tarquin.

Was the Bucket woman a Brexiteer?

Does one’s Royal Doulton tea set feature hand painted periwinkles, r30?

What nationality is Tarquin?

Patricia Routledge is one of the greatest comedy actresses of all time!

Richard and Hyacinth getting stuck in the kitchen

Everyone looked liked a real person in this show

R2 You are right that this show was, at its core, I Love Lucy. A woman with plans and schemes who ends up "slipping on the banana peel" as Routledge herself put it. It took that basic premise and added the very British tradition of social climbing and produced a hit. Routledge was not only a very good actress but a good "clown" with physical comedy and wordsmithing. If you go on Youtube you can watch her dramatic work, which is very good.

I’ve always loved this hilarious parody. It’s so on the nose.

If the part had been decent she would have made a great Queen Mother in 5/6 of The Crown.

She deserves to be recognized with Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright, etc.

I always wondered if Elizabeth really liked Hyacinth

r40 She didn't really have any nerves, her dropping the cups was just her psychologically torturing Hyacinth.

R41 She was sweet and understanding, too. I think she felt bad for Hyacinth, but she also liked her.

Tell that to the husband buried in the garden

He was in Saudi Arabia

You're just sucking the humour out of this thread, aren't you?

A visit to the Bucket residence:

Patricia Routledge on Desert Island Discs. 1999.

Her choices included Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Holst, Elgar, Beethoven, and Schubert.

“Mendelssohn, I think.”

“It’s Chopin!”

“Of course, some ignoramus walking by said it was Mendelsshon! Coffee at eleven, bring Emmett.”

Are DL folk aware that Hyacinth is one of the family? Her LT partner was The Right Honorable Betty Boothroyd, Speaker of the House of Commons.

r48 It was Brahms

Any scene with that dishy Vicar!

She does r39. This poignant 1982 piece shows what a brilliant actress she is. It’s worth a watch if you haven’t seen it.

The vicar WAS dishy. Were we supposed to buy that Emmett was really a STRAIGHT divorcee?

The dishy vicar in bed with another man!

It is a frightening extrapolation of I love Lucy translated to England. Right down to a gay Little Ricky. Richard and Lucille the retirement years. Boom chickie boom, Hyacinth.

One of my all-time favourites!

One of my all-time favourites!

Fuck me, I apologize for the double post. But I love that sequence at the links.

It's worth posting twice R58!

He really was a dishy vicar:

They should do a reboot with 50-something Sheridan trying to maintain his mummy's legacy and standards much to his husband Tarquin's eternal dismay.

R56 / R57 - that's a good one. And, having her kiss Richard at the end is such a lovely touch. A sober Hyacinth would never show such a public display of affection.

Apparently Keeping Up Appearances is the most widely globally syndicated BBC show in history. Hopefully our elderlez made a... bucket of money off of its incredible afterlife.

Rose and the Dishy Vicar -comedy gold

We never saw Sheridan did we?

No, just the back of his head getting into a taxi R65. But that’s what makes it magic — Sheridan is exactly like you picture in your head! Just like Maris on Frasier.

One of my favourite Hyacinth quotes is:

"If there's one thing I can't stand it's snobbery and one-upishness. People who try to pretend they're superior. Makes it so much harder for those of us who really are."

R61, Sheridan could open the equivalent of an English Bates Hotel with Hyacinth forever holding a teacup.

It was a great achievement by Routledge and a funny cast.

I feel like my PBS station only ever got the rights to about 10 episodes because I always end up seeing the same ones!

Also, I need the dishy vicar inside me quite deeply.

R61 Don't like it. Wouldn't watch.

I think Keeping Up Appearances is better than I Love Lucy

I think it's one of those programmes where - no matter how many times you've seen an episode - you can still get enjoyment out of watching it again.

Plus it brings back memories for me. Both from when it was originally on telly here in the 90s (I remember it being on Sunday evenings and being allowed to watch it before being sent off to bed), but also because my Grandparents were a similar age to Hyacinth and Richard and their house was very similar, so it brings back memories of visiting them in the early to mid 90s. (Luckily my Grandma wasn't anything like Hyacinth!)

Comedy and nostalgia is a good combination.

[quote] I think Keeping Up Appearances is better than I Love Lucy

The sound you just heard is 400 eldergays SHRIEKING in anger and confusion

There's an episode where a workman is leaning against his truck. It is the largest bulge I'd ever seen. Sent my gayling heart aflutter.

[quote]Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift did their own stunts

No they didn't. Just watch the scene, it's clearly not them in the water, and the credits include two stunt performers

R75 Maybe not the boat scene, but almost everything else they did!

Riparian actors?

"You know me, Richard, I haven't got a snobbish bone in my body."

R74 I shall seek out the bulging man with zeal!

I remember the word 'riparian' being used on a University course I did and it immediately brought to mind that KUA episode. Heh.

such a funny episode!

R74, R79 It’s the episode where Liz and Hyacinth go to volunteer at the charity show with Mrs. Councilor Neugent. Along the way Hyacinth has to stop by and stop daddy from getting married. The son of daddy’s fiancée is unloading a truck with the guy with the HUGE bulge.

I love that on DL we discuss the same beloved things over and over again, just like an episode of Keeping Up Appearances repeats the same formula every episode.

R83 not true! What is the formula?

I like the one when the old lady shakes while holding a tea cup.

I'd dash the Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles off the table then rip the Dishy Vicar's pants off and give him and rough and horny blowjob, right in the middle of the Hyacinth's Candlelight Supper!

Apparently it was suggested towards the end of the run that the Dishy Vicar be revealed as Hyacinth's secret love child, borne to an aristocrat when Hy worked as his maid when she was a teenager. The idea didn't fly as the BBC said "We already have EastEnders for that!".

As if Hyacinth would ever be a maid even as a teenager. She's far too snobby and desperate to be viewed as upper middle class to ever be seen doing that.

R88 you obviously haven't seen the prequel where Hyacinth was... a maid!

How do you think her social pretentions developed?

R29- There’s a road in NYC called the Sheridan Expressway and every time I drive by it I think of Keeping Up Appearances.

It really is the best sitcom with regards to acting and writing. There are other shows with better writing, but they don’t quite match with acting ability. Re: One Foot in the Grave.

I was in Catholic primary school when KUA was released and a lot of stay at mothers, of English and Irish background, dressed like Hyacinth. (Or they strolled around the neighbourhood in pastel nylon jogging suits with little white sneakers.)

They had similar houses and furnishings, in similarly drab lower middle-class commuter suburbs and their husbands had council or night school or phone company jobs.

My mother, who worked full time as a doctor, was too busy to go to morning teas and committees, and wore more stylish clothing, was hated by most of them, haha.

Hyacinth is exhausting. Why did Richard marry her?

Show sucked. The bucket lady acts uppity, the bucket lady's family embarrasses her. The bucket lady's neighbor tries to avoid her. Can't. Has a nervous cup of tea. There. Every episode.

R94 Maybe, but it is the lengths she goes to avoid her family that make HER embarrass HERSELF way more than they would have.

Onslow and Hyacinth dancing on the Queen Elizabeth II is hysterical

On a tour of PBS stations, Josephine Tewson (Elizabeth) said series ended because "Pat felt they had exhausted plots" and some had been done more than once.

r7 So was his Mummy, in real life.

R29, A half-block from The Stonewall is Sheridan Square.

R75, and we know she didn't ride the horse that galloped all over.

[quote] Hyacinth is exhausting. Why did Richard marry her?

Perfect homemaker, spotless house, food on the table, corporate entertainer, supported his career, energetic.

Of course you knew she became the monster she was after Sheridan was born.

If she were 30% less loud Richard probably wouldn’t have been too unhappy.

It’s such a cultural criticism. Shows from that era had a lot of teachable moments through comedy. It’s a taboo in that culture to appear to be striving for anything. I’m not saying it’s wrong to be grateful for what one has but “know your place” is too extreme of a policy because it’s not sustainable. The empty talentless strivers and the cynical gatekeepers are both holding things back

R94 the nervous cup of tea is about a neighbor that is so psychologically stressed because she has chosen to keep her dislike of her neighbors a secret. The lying makes the neighbors not trust each other. It’s completely self inflicted misery because she has to keep up appearances. The neighbors that are judging hyacinth are just as bad for being hilariously fake! What a joke!

R93 Hyacinth wasn't like that when she was young. She was ambitious but unsure of herself. It was only after she hit her 40s that she became a snob

I noticed when I was in Canada 20 years ago a lot of the suburban women dressed like Hyacinth.

...And/or Elizabeth.

I was watching some old UK show called Boomers out of pure boredom. They characters did seem rather begrudging of one old friend's new life in Spain. They couldn't be happy for him but bemoaned how uppity he'd be and boasting of how wonderful Spain was, R102. Most Americans are happy for other people. Well, not magat types but normal people.

Did suburban women really dress that frumpy?

Yes.

[quote] I was watching some old UK show called Boomers out of pure boredom. They characters did seem rather begrudging of one old friend's new life in Spain. They couldn't be happy for him but bemoaned how uppity he'd be and boasting of how wonderful Spain was, [R102]. Most Americans are happy for other people. Well, not magat types but normal people.

Watch early episodes of Come Dine With Me UK. People are constantly triggered, nay, actually offended, by people of their own class who serve more expensive or unfamiliar foods.

I always imagined a crossover where Hyacinth's cousin comes to visit from Australia. Said cousin turns out to be Dame Edna Everage accompanied by Madge Allsop and Sir Les Patterson. Hilarity ensues.

I always thought Patricia Routledge would be a great Miss Marple

I liked As Time Goes By so much better. Much more adult show.

Maybe it's common in British acting, but I could never imagine an American actress (or actor for that matter) performing the physical comedy that Routledge did.

To do it in her 60s? More impressive still.

There were funny moments but i cant say i find this a very good tv show. The same jokes were repeated ad nauseum In every episode, i dont recall a show doing that ever. It was somewhat strange as the premise was good and the actors also, so I don’t understand why they couldn’t like, have other jokes, aplot, whatever. Bit the same thing every fucking time was bad.

R114 Ever hear of Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance?

I enjoyed the show. Not as much as 'Are You Being Served", but it was funny. I must admit I found myself hating Richard for being such a wuss and not resorting to slapping Hyacinth's face a few times. Hyacinth was one of those people who should have had regular ass whippings when she was growing up. Beat some of that arrogance out of her.

Can’t decide…. The time the vicar dove behind something to hide from Hyacinth, exclaiming, “It’s that Bucket woman!” -or- The time Sheridan called home asking for money because he simply had to buy some silk pajamas.

The opening credits always reminds of John Waters’ Desperate Living.

I loved the show. It wasn't perfect (the vicar's wife was unfunny, for ex.) and I think they repeated joke lines too much ("room for a pony"), but Routledge was great and the premise was just funny.

Well, thanks to you whores, I just rewatched the first four episodes. I like Onslow, Daisy and Rose the best.

How did the dishy vicar get paired with such a frumpy, plain wife?

R121 where di you watch them?

*did

It’s on Britbox, along with all of the other shows mentioned in this thread.

Used to be on local PBS stations for free. Now you have to pay for it. I guess that's progress.

Britbox R122.

Clive Swift had a dramatic role in A Passage to India

Clive Swift sure was a bitter old man.

I believe that the larger scandal of the show was that Hyacinth's Double Glazed Avignon, was not what the set decorators placed on the table. It is obvious that KUA was not expected to be anything but a single season filler and nobody spent the cash to lay out a correct Hyacinth pretentious table. No mention of Fish Knives or the vermeil used in the opening.

Talk about suspending disbelief!

^Proof Hyacinths exist in real life.

If you look at production, the show aired 5-10 episodes once a year or once every other year.

In streaming, you notice the same jokes, but if you were watching in Summer1993 and the next show wasn’t until Fall 1995, the repeated jokes make sense.

R130 I love you

R132, begone varlet.

. R129

KUA worked because it played on the "Lucy" trope (she tries a scheme and fails spectacularly) but had good writing and an excellent lead performer.

Which is exactly why the Nanny also worked. R134

Tarquin is the name of Laurence Olivier’s oldest son.

Bump!

So, was Sheridan homosexual?

He was flaming. There was nothing subtle and the gag was overplayed yet I still laugh every time.

British and American gay men always love this show because it gleefully mocks our worst common failing: snobbishness.

^^I would bet it's Nicholas Fairford's favorite TV show. "How can she BE like that?"

Keeping Up Appearances is up there with Are You Being Served?, Fawlty Towers, Upstairs Downstairs, and Blackadder.

The biggest trouble with "Keeping Up Appearances" is there's so much repetition from episode to episode of the same few comics bits. There are too many recurring scenes of Hodge going through her familiar routines: getting angry at wrong numbers, glaring at servicemen, correcting people who pronounce "Bucket" inelegantly, and especially making Elizabeth so nervous with the fancy china that Elizabeth spills everything. They get tedious after a while.

The only one that's funny every time (I agree with whoever said this above) are the phone calls with Sheridan. In this they are like the Mrs. Slocombe pussy jokes on "Are You being Served?"--even though objectively speaking they go to that same particular well too often, it's still always hilarious. But the other repeated gags are not.