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What is the best facebook friend adder?

Which season(s) of Black Adder should I get my friend?

  • Which season(s) of Black Adder should I get my friend? My best friend just found out that her father has cancer and is going into surgery shortly. I'm a thousand miles away and can't do anything in person, so I thought I'd order her some DVDs so that she'll have something to distract her in the upcoming weeks (and perhaps to watch with her father, who is going to be on bed rest for at least a month). She's a bit of an anglophile (her father is part British) and I've seen Black Adder recommended here a bunch of times, so that seems like a good bet. I can afford 1-2 seasons, but having never actually seen Black Adder, I have no idea which two to get her. Is there continuity between the seasons (i.e., should I get her the first and second seasons so that she won't be confused)? Or is each season self-contained? If the latter, which are the two funniest/best seasons? Also, if this is a terrible idea because Black Adder is about fathers dying or people with cancer (I'm pretty sure it isn't about either of those things), please let me know.

  • Answer:

    Second and Fourth are my favorites and seem to be the ones most people I know who love the show recommend. No people dying of cancer as a plotline. If she's a big Hugh Laurie fan, though, he's a major character in Three and Four. Stephen Fry is a major character in Two and Four.

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Thanks for all the suggestions so far! Looks like seasons 2 and 3 are the clear front-runners if I do go with Black Adder. Quick follow-up question about Jeeves and Wooster -- light and funny (and lots of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry) sounds like a good call, but I think she and her father may have seen at least some of it already (whereas I know they haven't seen Black Adder). Does J&W stand up to multiple viewings?

pluckemin

4! definitely 4. I saw it before I saw any of the other seasons. 4... and then 3 if you have money leftover. I don't think the ending of 4 is depressing... more like thought-provoking or sobering.

Ziggy500

I'd reccomend watching season 2 first, then 3, then 4 and only watching 1 if you're particularly keen. They are all self-contained, but there are a few, very slight, in jokes which re-occur. Certainly in the UK you can get all 4 series quite cheaply as a box set...

prentiz

I enjoyed season 4 the most, but it might be because I saw it first. (I then saw them in order, but the person introducing me to Blackadder felt that Season 4 was the best as a stand-alone series.) Wobble.

grapefruitmoon

2 and 3, for sure. Series 1 I liked a lot, but I don't really think of it as "proper" Blackadder, as it's so different from the other 3. Series 4 suffered from too many amusing similies and not enough jokes, IMHO.

salmacis

Another vote for Seasons 2 and 3. As mentioned, season 1 was nearly a different show, and Season 4 got more than a bit preachy. For pure funny, it's hard to beat Season 2. Another possibility for anglophile comedy might be Black Books; you can sample a bit on Youtube, if you've not run into it...

nonliteral

Jeeves & Wooster - helps tremendously and is more enjoyable if the person viewing it has read some Wodehouse and is familiar with some of the storylines, characters and humor involved. Entirely different sort of humor from BA. (There's a new complete set of J&W listed on half.com for $31.65 right now.) You might want to check you tube to see if you can tell which of the Fry and Laurie vehicles your friend would prefer.

fluffy battle kitten

PS: As for Jeeves and Wooster, you really need to have read the (quite excellent) books to get into it. That was my experience, anyway. PPS: Blackadder is really, really not for everybody. You should maybe watch an episode or two on YouTube (they're all there) and consider whether your friend would like it.

Sys Rq

There is absolutely NO continuity between series, especially between Series 1 and the others, so you needn't worry about that. One other thing: Blackadder, being British, consists of just six episodes per series, compared to the typical 13 to 24 episodes in an American TV season. Blackadder's great and all, but don't pay too much for it. (And, yeah, series 2 and 3 are best for neophytes, but my favourite is 4.)

Sys Rq

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