"Good Neighbors" BBC show from the 70's
 

Anyone else remember watching this charming show about a couple trying to homestead in suburban London? It was called "The Good Life" in England and aired as "Good Neighbors" in the US. We just rented the discs for the entire thing and had a wonderful time watching them. I would have been in my mid-teens when the show came on originally, and it obviously had more of a subliminal impact on me than I realized! If you've never seen it, it's a comedy, not a documentary, but I'm sure we can all relate to it.

farmer kate

Those were the days! I was also in my teens when it was on (in England) Don't think we missed one episode!

It was on PBS for a while a couple of years ago. We don't have TV now so I don't know if they still air it. Would be nice to rent the discs.

Pauline

My husband introduced me to this show when we were first together, I think. (We both love BBC comedies). This one was a favorite of his and I think it may be why we are both walking down the path towards self-sufficiency now ;)

Oh, yes, that's one of my favorites. Used to live in England and we'd watch many British shows. They had it here on PBS for awhile. The wife has most recently played in "Rosemary & Thyme". Liked it too, but it hasn't been on for about 6 months. The neighbor lady also played in "To the Manor Born".

Never lived in England but have always watched PBS where they play the English comedies. They haven't aired that one in a while but I'm sure it will be back around

Was that the show about the homesteader types that lived next door to the snooty upper class couple? If so, It was never missed around our house!

That show was absolutely the best. PBS was broadcasting it long before cable came to my area, so on all the videotapes I made of the show, you can see all the distortion, odd colors, and horizontal flickerings change as I adjusted my rabbit ears to get a better picture.

Can you imagine suburban neighbors today taking as kindly to Tom and Barbara as Margo and Jerry did? The front yard dug up for vegetable gardens, pigs and chickens out back. In this town, there would be an uproar about the "destroyed" property values.

Wonderful show! Felicity Kendall and Penelope Keith are terrific actresses.

I'm sure it had a big impact on me over the years too. :) I kept meat rabbits in our apartment in the '80's, much to my landlord's dismay.

What's funny about it to me was that was how we lived when I was a kid and later when I got married and lived in the same house. I remember neighbors calling that our goat had gotten loose, this was in a suburban neighborhood 4 mi. from NYC. My parents did more on a lot in suburbia then most do on 20 acres!

We loved that show and several of the other British comedies. Wish they would bring them back. We laughed out loud watching the Good Neighbors. Rita

I check this out from the public library; after all this time it's still hysterical!!!! ldc

Yes, I've seen that show, years ago, probably on pbs. Liked it.
Sherry

What was great about British TV back then was, that there was nothing you had to worry about the little kids seeing. It was all fit to be viewed by everyone up until about 10:30-11pm. After that it was more adult oriented but still not that bad. I think it's changed a lot since I was growing up there.

We don't have TV here -no reception anyway- but we found out that the show "Jericho" can be viewed online. It's nice to have that one program we enjoy and look forward too. Thursday is "Jericho and pizza" night. It wasn't aired this week so Dh clicked on some of the other shows they offer. Good Grief! Every last one we had to turn off within minutes because of the sex and language! Pure trash. And to think that just about everyone you meet - including kids- they're soaking up a steady diet of this drivel day after day after day.

I find that really scarey.

Pauline

I just recently saw a couple of episodes on BBC...I get one of the BBC channels and they were running it about 2 months ago...But I only saw 2 episodes and now they aren't showing it anymore.....Some of those British comedies will have you rolling...I Love Mr. Bean....the BBC original not the movie...Black Adder is also great...........Mike

I've never seen that one but I love British comedies. Keeping Up Appearances is probably my favorite,and I love Fawlty Towers,too. I'll see if I can add this one to my Netflix list. Thanks for bringing it up! :)

Its still being shown on one of the channels here - must be the 20th (or more) repeat ! Still good for a laugh though

I got a giggle out of the show too. I love the British shows. Nobody knows how to do comedy better, I reckon.

Here in Australia, DVDs of many British shows (including The Good Life) are always available for sale in the ABC Shops.

http://search.abc.net.au/search/sear...=12&submit.y=9

I remember it from the 70s - it really fitted in with the mood of the time. We've got the boxed set so we can watch it when there's nothing on TV. Can't watch more than 3 episodes on the trot though - it leads to a sort of indigestion!

We borrow this and all the other old BBC and the A&E movies from Netflix. Love them!

Hi Kate;
I am a long time Good Neighbors fan. Felicity Kendall did her role so well. Tom's ideas and success in generating power from methane from manure was really neat. Those neighbors of theirs were something else. My favorite episode is the one which ends with Tom and Barabara chasing one another into the front of their house throwing eggs and one ducks and an egg hits someone who is with the Margo, in the face. Instead of apologizing they stand still for a moment and look at the people and then run away, like two naughty children. I laughed so hard.
I also love the episode where Tom barters with a junk man for an old huge wood cookstove. And who can forget the scarecrow which Tommade but doesn't scare off the crows until he puts one of Margo's posh frocks, that she tried to give to Barabara because she felt sorry for her? Ends up that the posh frcok is so hideous that it does in fact scare off the crows and wow is Margo ticked.
I love that series.
Glad to hear people still watch and enjoy it. :)
tamilee

Tamilee, we use the term 'posh frock' around here as a sort of homage to the show - it's funny, because my kids are in their twenties and they never saw an episode, but they know what a 'posh frock' is because I'll use the phrase. Funny how the show crept into the family lexicon like that! I've really, really enjoyed watching the shows again. And I can see, now, how much I was influenced by the basic premise!

farmer kate

Hi Kate;
I was influenced by that show too. One day I'm going to buy the dvd collection.
Unfortunately, PBS in my state won't run it any more. I talked with someone at PBS NC about the show and they do not like the lifestyle presented in that Tom is the head of the household and Barabara defers to him. I believe the term the person used was that "Good Neighbors" does not represent a "feminist perspective". Too bad isn't it? Anyway, I'm happy that the show is available on dvd, (through amazon.com ) and I'm glad that others remember and enjoy the series.
Have a good day Kate! :)
tamilee

I always saw Barbara and Tom as being equals, myself. I remember a lot of give and take in their relationship.

I want to say that PBS in NC was showing "Good Neighbors" about ten years or so ago because I remember my hubby and I watching it together when we were first together in Boone, NC. But, now we have the DVDs.

Maybe we should start a letter-writing campaign to PBS NC to get them to show some better britcoms ;)

Barbara defers to him? That comment surprises me, having just re-watched the whole series. I'm sensitive to that sort of thing - just ask my family, who sometimes hate watching TV with me, as I often see it as an interactive event. When they were younger, my kids used to cringe every time that awful 'ring around the collar' commercial came on, because I'd launch into a tirade about it; why was HER worth dependent on something HE could have solved by washing his stupid neck? You get the idea, I'm sure. I realize that different people look at the same thing and see two different things entirely depending on what background has shaped their viewing lens, but I'd have to vote for an equal, if tumultous, relationship between Tom and Barbara.

katie

I was addicted to it when it first came to PBS years ago. Remember when Barbara wove him a suit and dyed it with nettles...it was a sickly pea-soup green :)

Oh i love that show, I really used it as a "fix" back when we were just contemplating this lifestyle....Made me run out and read all John Seymour's books....UK's answer to Carla Emery....Tom and Barbara even make reference to J. Seymour occasionaly... Great show, wish it had run longer.....

I really enjoyed that show too.