Edmund Blackadder or Mr. Bean?

[William Wonka]

Mr Bean is for simpletons & children.....Easily amused by shinny objects.

One must be in possession of a smattering of knowledge about history to appreciate the dark & sophisticated humour of Black-Adder.

Im a Blackadder fiend and you are absolutely correct about there being witty historical asides.
However there is also an absolute s**t ton of juvenile smut, slapstick and potty humor throughout the entire series.
Its all funny as.

Mr Bean is Atkinsons physical comedy and it can be very clever and subtle as well.

 

[Procrastinator35]

Im a Blackadder fiend and you are absolutely correct about there being witty historical asides.
However there is also an absolute s**t ton of juvenile smut, slapstick and potty humor throughout the entire series.
Its all funny as.

Mr Bean is Atkinsons physical comedy and it can be very clever and subtle as well.

I'm just surprised that no one has picked me up on my Victorian era gaffe, when it was quite clearly Elizabethan.

 

[William Wonka]

I'm just surprised that no one has picked me up on my Victorian era gaffe, when it was quite clearly Elizabethan.

Christmas Carol was Victorian era.

 

[Procrastinator35]

Christmas Carol was Victorian era.

So it was....Make that 4 eras.

 

[William Wonka]

So it was....Make that 4 eras.

Three... and that one.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

Several changes were made for season 2: Atkinson was replace by Ben Elton as one of the 2 main writers. Blackadder's character changes dramatically, basically from a wimp to the cunning schemer he's better known for. Stephen Fry joined the cast as Lord Melchett. And Hugh Laurie joined, but only for 2 episodes, then was a primary cast member in seasons 3 and 4.

There's an unaired pilot from before the first season where a different actor plays Baldrick, different actor plays the King, but the plot is the same one used in 'Born to be King' and Rowan Atkinson plays Blackadder as he did from series 2 onwards

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Adder_(pilot_episode)

One of the most notable things about the pilot is Rowan Atkinson's performance as Edmund Blackadder, which is more akin to the character from the second series than the weaselly plotter from the first series. Richard Curtis is said to have thought the character should be more complex for the initial series, than the swaggering lead as seen in the pilot (and future episodes)...

In 2010, The Guardian reflected on this, noting that it was "an interesting example of getting it right first time":

"The 1982 pilot to Blackadder – or The Black Adder as it was then – is almost exactly what the second series turned out to be. It's set in Elizabethan times, Rowan Atkinson is shrewd and scheming and Baldrick is an idiot. But when the first series came to air, it was set in the Middle Ages, Rowan Atkinson played an idiot and Baldrick was the brains of the operation. It's notable that the show only really started to pick up traction when it reverted to the format of the pilot."

The episode has not been broadcast on television, nor is it available on DVD, although some scenes were featured in the 25th anniversary special Blackadder Rides Again. However, various bootleg copies exist and footage is often seen online...

 

[Plugger35]

How good were Thursday nights on Ch7 back in 1989? You'd have Fast Forward kicking off at 8.30pm and then new episodes of Blackadder at 9.30pm.

It was billed as a night of comedy and they're often a let down but in this case it lived up to it's reputation. a lot of laughs were had on those Thursday nights.

Those were the days

...or nights

 

[William Wonka]

How good were Thursday nights on Ch7 back in 1989? You'd have Fast Forward kicking off at 8.30pm and then new episodes of Blackadder at 9.30pm.

It was billed as a night of comedy and they're often a let down but in this case it lived up to it's reputation. a lot of laughs were had on those Thursday nights.

Those were days.

Blackadder and then Young ones
Bliss!

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

How good were Thursday nights on Ch7 back in 1989? You'd have Fast Forward kicking off at 8.30pm and then new episodes of Blackadder at 9.30pm.

It was billed as a night of comedy and they're often a let down but in this case it lived up to it's reputation. a lot of laughs were had on those Thursday nights.

Those were days.

F*cken oath. Those nights were days Plug

 

[Procrastinator35]

Three... and that one.

No, definitely 4 series according to wiki....I've missed the Regency period altogether.

Where Hugh Laurie plays the foppish prince.

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/blackadder/episodes/

 

[Plugger35]

Blackadder and then Young ones
Bliss!

I thought that was Bottom, maybe that was early 90s, maybe it was Full Frontal by then but Thursday night was still a damn good night of laughs.

Then Ch7 started showing back to back episodes of Hale and Pace.

 

[William Wonka]

No, definitely 4 series according to wiki

Three... and that one.

 

[Procrastinator35]

The Poms do Comedy so much better than the Septic tanks.....Dramas for that matter too.

 

[Plugger35]

Hard to believe no one has mentioned Blackadder's Christmas Carol.



Much like The Office Christmas special it wasn't as good as the original series but not a complete disaster like the Star Wars Christmas special either.

 

[William Wonka]

Hard to believe no one has mentioned Blackadder's Christmas Carol.

Christmas Carol was Victorian era.

 

[Spongebob]

We could make it 5+ eras with Blackadder Back and Forth

 

[Procrastinator35]

O.K, So just for clarity's sake.

There was The Black Adder. The Original series encompassing the Medieval period, made in 1983.
Then there was Blackadder 11, made in 1986, encompassing the Elizabethan reign.
Then there was Black Adder the 3rd, made in 1987, encompassing the Regency period.
Finally, there was Blackadder goes Forth. Made in 1989, encompassing World War 1 on the Western Front.

In between Series 3 & 4, there were 2 specials made in 1988....'The Cavalier years', regarding the English Civil war between Cromwell & the Monarchy; & 'A Christmas Carol', encapsulating the Victorian Era of Charles Dickens.

Finally, there was a Prince of Wales Royal Gala performance in 1998, celebrating 500 years since Charles the First reign; & a Blackadder Back & Forth special made in 2000.

So that's 4 series: Medieval, Elizabethan, Regency & WW1.
2 era specials: Cromwell & Victorian era.
2 crappy after-thought specials.

 

[Stratton_Gun]

No idea what Blackadder is so Bean. Very good

 

[Kram]

You've really worked out your banter, haven't you? No, not really. This is a different thing, it's spontaneous and it's called wit.

 

[Gralin]

No idea what Blackadder is so Bean. Very good

No idea what Blackadder is, so haven't read the thread or watched any of the clips or had a google or anything?

 

[Procrastinator35]

A perfect encapsulation right here of how Hillary won the Democrat nomination.

 

[Procrastinator35]

Great example here of the brilliant cast ensemble that made up Captain slack-Bladder.