I bought the DVD partly out of nostalgia, but mostly because I'm a fan of all things Rik and Ade, and I wanted to see if this somewhat forgotten series still held up. And it does, mostly. F, R & C is basically, a rough around the edges, dress rehearsal for 'Bottom'. Rik and Ade play essentially the same characters, even down to having similar names, and the level of slapstick violence is what you would expect. The cast is enlivened by the addition of Nigel Planer's, Ralph Filthy, a sleazy, broken-down theatrical agent, with a nice line in Polari dialect and memorable quotes.
The problem lies with the writing. Allegedly, Ben Elton reneged on an agreement to share writing the series with Mayall and Edmondson and produced the vast majority of it by himself. Some of it, by his own admission, in a hurry. Although some episodes like 'Dead Milkmen' are genuinely inspired, and the genuine guest stars are fun to watch, Elton relies way too much on his audience finding names like 'Eggy Whiffer', or 'Jumbo Stiffy' (I made these up) endlessly hilarious, so that the lack of actual humour, at times isn't noticed.
It's worth a watch, but don't expect too much from it.
The problem lies with the writing. Allegedly, Ben Elton reneged on an agreement to share writing the series with Mayall and Edmondson and produced the vast majority of it by himself. Some of it, by his own admission, in a hurry. Although some episodes like 'Dead Milkmen' are genuinely inspired, and the genuine guest stars are fun to watch, Elton relies way too much on his audience finding names like 'Eggy Whiffer', or 'Jumbo Stiffy' (I made these up) endlessly hilarious, so that the lack of actual humour, at times isn't noticed.
It's worth a watch, but don't expect too much from it.