For anyone unfamiliar with "Men Behaving Badly," this series features the humorous misadventures of roommates Gary and Tony as they alternatively woo and offend the women in their lives, Dorothy and Deborah. This box set collects all six seasons and the "Last Call" specials of the original British program. (BBC America viewers may have seen this series under the name "British Men Behaving Badly.)

Actors Martin Clunes (Gary,) Neil Morrissey (Tony,) Leslie Ash (Deborah,) and Caroline Quentin (Dorothy) are well cast and give performances appropriate to the farcical sit-com style of the show. The first season featured the rather bland Harry Enfield as Dermot and his departure allowed the series to become even funnier.

If there's a particular weak point to the series it would be the same problem which any sit-com faces -- eventually episodes become "more of the same." The characters do progress somewhat through the series, but it's still probably best to space out viewing of the episodes.

Each disc includes outtakes from the episodes on that particular disc, which is nice plus. It's annoying that you have to complete a trivia quiz to unlock the outtakes. If you watch the whole disc in one sitting, the quizzes aren't too difficult. If the episodes aren't fresh in your mind, the quizzes become an exercise in repetition.

The one real negative point to this collection is the packaging. Rather than using a compact multi-disc box, or even a set of slimline boxes, this collection merely uses an open-sided cardboard box to hold full size DVD cases. This is probably a cost-saving choice, as the individual discs are also sold separately, but the collection takes up quite a bit of shelf space that as compared to some multi-disc sets.

BBC videos tend to be a bit on the expensive side, so I would hesitate to recommend this collection to anyone completely unfamiliar with the series. If you have seen the series and liked it (as I did,) this one purchase will give you all there is to see of this amusing series.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older