2pc Box: Final Series - Good N

Here are the final seven episodes of the 1970s British comedy series, Good Neighbors (entitled The Good Life in England), a show that brilliantly captures the Zeitgeist of the 70s. The Goods, who quit the rat race for a life of subsistence farming, are next-door neighbors to the Ledbetters, some of the fastest rat-race runners around. At first, Margot and Jerry Ledbetter are horrified to see Tom and Barbara Good turn their tiny yard into a series of animal pens and vegetable gardens. But by the final episodes, the two couples have learned how to tolerate their differences and are the best of friends. There s an endless source of humor in this classic dichotomy of rich versus poor, snooty versus earthy. Troglodytes! the Ledbetters slam the Goods. Gracious livers! the Goods retaliate. There is also an abundant supply of silly scenes involving the Goods suburban menagerie. The episode in which their chicken boards a passing bus goes delightfully over the edge. The British have always had a wonderful knack for poking fun at themselves, and this knack reaches a pinnacle in statuesque comedienne Penelope Keith s indelible creation of the character Margot Ledbetter. She s the quintessential status-obsessed snob, so preposterously genteel that she can wring three syllables out of the word no. Keith s performance, especially, keeps Good Neighbors as fresh and funny as the day it was made. --Laura Mirsky

Good Neighbors....good fun! - Highly enjoyable British comedy made in the late 70 s. The humor is engaging, and if you are a fan of such shows as ",Are You Being Served?", no doubt you will enjoy this set. My main gripe is that why in the world did the BBC start DVD distribution with the final installments of the series? Paul Eddington is superb as is the rest of the cast. Enjoy!

A poor transcription of an excellent comedy - Acorn Media has done the fans of Good Neighbors (known in the UK as The Good Life) a disservice with their transcription of the final series onto two DVDs. Please bear in mind when reading this review that this is my favorite British comedy, ahead even of Monty Python s Flying Circus.The quality of the pictures is no better than fair. I could tolerate that, because my set of off-the-air VHS tapes has been played so much that the images are almost Impressionist pastels. I was irritated that the bonus material is of such paucity as to be not worth your time, you can find out more about the show and its players from the Internet Moive Database than you can from the DVD. But even this is bearable.What roused my anger was the fact that these brand new disks arrived in their original shrinkwrap but will not play properly. Of the eight episodes provided, only three would play without trouble. Of the remaining five, none would play normally, you get a portion of an episode, and then for unknown reasons the disk starts skipping as if you were fast-forwarding at 16 time normal speed. One episode would not play at all. And in the case of the bonus material, one part plays only in skip mode while the other won t play at all.I have waited a long time for a DVD set of Good Neighbors that could replace my worn-out VHS tapes. It now appears that I will have to wait until BBC America deigns to produce a complete set of DVDs of one of their most popular comedies ever, before I will be able to view Good Neighbors as it originally aired.

Where s the rest - I caught this show back in the mid 80 s on PBS and have been wearing my videotape copies down to where they are barely watchable anymore. Thank the powers that be that someone finally got around to releasing this series (or part of it, anyway) on DVD. My question is, where s the rest of it? I just emailed the distributor, and they said there are no current plans to release the rest of the series on this format. ???

Acorn is poor at being a Good Neighbor - I just purchased the DVD version of the Final Episode and the Royal Command Performance. After watching just the first disk, I am disappointed. This product has not been video remastered and some scenes are very hard to watch indeed. They seem to shimmer a slightly out of focus haze that is distracting and not the quality that we expect of a DVD. In this regard AcornMedia has cheated us and I probably will not buy the rest of the series on DVD. Otherwise I agree with all of the other comments. Good Neighbors is an excellent show and a wonderful laugh.

Don t miss these! - Good Neighbors (or The Good Life as it was known in the UK) is the story of Tom and Barbara Good, a middle-aged couple in the 1970s who decide to escape the rat race by living a life of complete self-sufficiency. They exchange their car for a cultivator, and turn their garden into a full-fledged (if rather small) farm. Their good friends and neighbors, the social climbing Gerry and Margot Leadbetter (played by Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith!) sometimes provide support, and other times disapproval. Through it all, the antics of the two mismatched set of neighbors produces laughs and good times for all!For some reason known only to the BBC, the first fives tapes put out had the episodes in some seemingly random order. Well, this two-tape series represents what they should have done to begin with. These tapes contain seven, half-hour episodes, covering the entire final season of the show.Away From It All - Series 4, episode 22 (April 10, 1977) - The trials and tribulations of the self-sufficient life is getting the Goods down, and the Leadbetters want to help. What better way than by giving them a weekend off?The Green Door - Series 4, episode 23 (April 17, 1977) - When the Goods discover that Margot is sneaking around behind Jerry s back, they want to know what she s up to.Our Speaker Today - Series 4, episode 24 (April 24, 1977) - When Barbara is discovered to be a fascinating speaker, she is whisked off to extra speaking engagements, leaving Tom to deal with the chickens, just when their rooster (Lenin) decides to start a revolution.The Weaver s Tale - Series 4, episode 25 (May 1, 1977) - When Margot sets her eye on a spinning wheel, Tom sets his eye on a loom. But, when Barbara convinces Jerry to clamp down on Margot s spending the whole situation goes up for grabs.Suit Yourself - Series 4, episode 26 (May 8, 1977) - The balloon has gone up, Sir (Jerry s boss) has announced that he is retiring, and the Leadbetters become locked in a succession battle. The Goods are now weaving, and are determined to help.Sweet and Sour Charity - Series 4, episode 27 (May 15, 1977) - When the Goods neighbor moves, she leaves her heating oil tank full. Tom wants to take the oil, but Barbara is quite sure that that is stealing.Anniversary - Series 4, episode 28 (May 22, 1977 & the last regular episode) - It s the Goods two year anniversary of self-sufficiency, and they are ready to celebrate. Margot has installed a burglar alarm, but the people she keeps catching aren t the ones that should be caught...

2pc Box: Final Series - Good N