Need To Watch This - Blog Posts

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From the ask game: 📺 - Favourite show?

It's gotta be Yes Minister, a British political comedy from the 1980s. It follows the newly-elected, party-unspecified minister Jim Hacker in his attempts to fix problems and survive government bureaucracy. Usually, he fails. Sometimes, this is for the best. He is a short-sighted, rather panicky politician, after all.

The writing, acting, directing, and humor are incredibly, consistently great, and it's held up remarkably well for its age. I think much of that is because the conflicts are based on real events and conflicts of interest, rather than putting down "the other side" or minorities. (When Jim says something ignorant, he is the butt of the joke.) This also makes the show pretty bipartisan. Even the main antagonist, Humphrey of the civil service, is likable, clever, and occasionally in the right.

If you watch it, get the original, not the remakes. Nigel Hawthorne and Paul Eddington are national treasures.