My Top 10 comedies # 6 - Rising Damp

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Britain's best sitcoms were in the 1970s because they could be quite risky and a little bit offensive. Some took their views on things like sexuality, race and women a bit too dark but others got it bang on, Rising Damp one of them. It's based in a big house full of bedsits where the grumpy and miserly landlord RIgsby (Leonard Rossiter) runs the show. He has strict conservative rules for his tenants - he rarely obeys himself - and has a crush on Miss Jones(Frances de la Tour), his unrequited love often rejected. We all want them to get together but they never quite do. The house is full of students and they interact with Rigsby's old fashioned views on things like race and women. The most intelligent guy in the house is Phillip (Don Warrington), an educated well spoken black guy that often has to deflect Rigsby's offensive views on black and brown people with smart replies and playing up to his stereotypes. Its that relationship that makes this show acceptable and not offensive. Phillips room mate Alan (Richard Beckinsale) is more green with life and the ladies and also looks up to Phillip. The writing in this is superb and often things and situations you wouldn't think are funny are delivered with such precision by the ensemble cast that you cant help but laugh. It's that refreshing too-and-throw on race, class and those type of contentious topics that makes this work. Rigsby is one of British sitcoms great characters by doing that. Sadly he died relatively young , as did Beckinsale at just age 31, both from heart attacks. I guess Americans and foreign lands will not have seen this and very much a British pleasure, and even if you did, you probably wouldn't get it as lot of the comedy is unique to us but its just hilarious.