Reviews

Monty Python, Bennie Hill, all the typical "great" British comedies were all male, until French and Saunders blew everyone out of the water. Their groundbreaking comedy grew as a cult so much the BBC moved them from channel BBC 2 to BBC1, and their show increasingly satirized popular culture on both sides of the Atlantic. Full confession that I never liked Monty Python or British craziness until French and Saunders came along and showed that women had their own perspective, own strengths, and could spoof women's lives accurately and without resorting to the usual sexism in men's comedy. French and Saunders was never deliberately feminist, but as two women at "the beeb," Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders didn't back away from addressing sexism or spoofing themselves. If you like their later work in the Vicar of Dibley (French), or Absolutely Fabulous (Saunders), then you need to see French and Saunders for their groundbreaking work that would lead to both series. Their ongoing collaborations continue to multiple return specials, the amazing series Jam and Jerusalem (with both Saunders and French in minor roles), and on the recent Kenneth Branaugh version of Death on the Nile. Their impact on British television and film reaches back to this iconic show.