TV You Should Watch: Yes Minister!

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TV You Should Watch: Yes Minister!

Written by Steve on October 6, 2011

TV You Should Watch: Yes Minister!

I’ve been meaning to start a series of occasional posts highlighting what I believe are the Best TV Shows ever and why you should give them a look see. This post is prompted by seeing a You Tube clip from the BBC highlighting the possibility that Yes Minister is the Best British comedy ever.

Co-Writer Jonathan Lynn describes it best when he says, “There is no reason why, when you think about it, Yes Minister should be a hit. There’s no sex, no action… on paper it’s a complete dud!”

Despite this, I have watched all of the episodes MANY times over and in my humble opinion it is one of the funniest, most intelligently written shows ever produced. Yes Minister follows the exploits of the Minister of Administrative Affairs James Hacker and his Machiavellian Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby. In later episodes, Hacker is elected to be the Prime Minister and then things get even more crazy.

I know this clip is a little long but if you want a good laugh and a little understanding of what I find to be extremely funny, watch it until the end.

Although the action takes place in a Reagan / Thatcher era Great Britain, the parody of the absurdity of modern politics are laid bare in all of their glorious grandeur.

So take Uncle Stevie’s advice and give Yes Minister & Yes Prime Minister a look…

2 comments

Paul Ellis
October 9, 2011

There are only two British shows funnier than Yes Minister; Fawlty Towers and Yes, Prime Minister.

I prefer Yes, Prime Minister because in Yes, Minister, Hacker’s a naive stooge to Appleby’s shenanigans. But in the follow-up series he’s learned to the play the game. There’s a politicking tension between the two that gives the show much of it’s creative impetus. The episode called “The Key” is one of the best ever, as is “The Tangled Web.”
Steve H.
October 9, 2011

I agree that Yes Prime Minister has even stronger episodes but I included it all under the banner of “Yes Minister”

Fawlty Towers is great but I personally wouldn’t put it as funnier.

I love “The Key” but my favorite episode is “A Victory for Democracy” when at the end Hacker appoints the anti-Semite Foreign Office hack as ambassador to Israel to get him back. Brilliant!!

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