SS103 - A Grand Tour of Edmund: A Butler's Tale & Boswell's Life of Johnson

The Absolutely Fabulous classic episode 'Poor' (s02e05) gets put under the microscope by Jeffers & Steve, who are impressed by AbFab's amazing cast, but will it win them around to the series as a whole? The show has a top-shelf group of regulars including Joanna Lumley, Jennifer Saunders, Julia Sawahla and the great June Whitfield, so what's not to like?

This episode is a visit the Hall of Shame as we check out the infamous British sitcom 'Heil Honey I'm Home' (1990) which was cancelled after only one episode! A big shout out to the Talking Bottom podcast, from whom we borrowed a clip of their amazing interview(s) with Paul Jackson.  

Community gets the Christmas nod from Steve in 2023 as we look at the musical episode 'Regional Holiday Music' and all it's gleeful satire! Community starred Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Chevy Chase, Ken Jeong and Jim Rash. Merry Christmas y'all!

We hang with Mr Cooper in this episode of the Showdown, looking at the 1990s sitcom starring Mark Curry, Holly Robinson, Sandra Quarterman, Raven Symone, Nell Carter and Marquise Wilson. Thanks to listener Nick O for the suggestion! 

ALF is selected by Jeffers for an almost Halloweenish peek into an alien-on-Earth sitcom. 'Working My Way Back To You' is the opener to ALF season 2, broadcast in late 1987, where Alf tries to avoid exile to the garage by becoming the Tanner family's butler for a week! Steve & Jeffers also chat about Earth-based alien sitcoms in general, and this sitcom's challenges of filming around a puppet, which reportedly drove the cast to distraction.

Steve brings 'Barbara' to the showdown (a listener suggestion) so that he and Jeff can check out the turn-of-the-century UK sitcom starring Gwen Taylor and Sam Kelly. The ep in question is Series 3 episode 2, titled FLOOD, and it turns out to be packed with plenty of quality jokes.  Thanks to Jono for the suggestion!

Steve uses Blackadder's 'Ink & Incapability' as a springboard to go on a Grand Tour of Edmund: A Butler's Tale & Boswell's Life of Johnson. What were the links between Dr Johnson & Boswell, and the Prince Regent and Gertude Perkins and the great romantic poets (if any)? Or did Ben Elton and Richard Curtis simply fabricate them with hilarious results? We find out in this ep of Sitcom Showdown.

We Are Men was a swiftly-cancelled 2013 sitcom on CBS (only 2 episodes!) starring some great actors such as Tony Shalhoub, Jerry O'Connell and Kal Penn. The show looked great, plenty of well-shot location work, with experienced hands at the helm. So what went wrong? Jeffers and Steve review both eps of We Are Men and give you the low-down.

The USA's 1979 version of Are You Being Served? titled Beane's of Boston is under the microscope in this edition of Sitcom Showdown. The pilot starred sitcom veterans Charlotte Rae (Diff'rent Strokes) as Mrs Slocombe and John Hillerman (Magnum PI) as Mr Peacock. Steve and Jeffers compare the two series and - as always - enjoy looking at transplanted sitcom attempts!

In our 100th episode of Sitcom Showdown, Steve nominates a classic episode of Are You Being Served from 1976. Captain Peacock is in a spot of bother after some suspicious overnight behavior with a store colleague makes him late to work. Mrs Peacock is on the rampage and Messrs Humphries and Lucas are enjoying the show. Meanwhile, Mrs Slocombe is interviewing for a buyers job in Mr Rumbold's office! Come and join us for a good old chat about AYBS and help us celebrate 100 eps! Sitcom Showdown on Twitter:  @SitcomShowdown