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The Young Ones (TV series)
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==History== In the early 1980s, much of the programme's cast performed on [[London]]'s comedy club circuit, gaining significant popularity at [[Comedy Store, London|The Comedy Store]]<ref name="bbcyoungones"/>—[[Alexei Sayle]] was the prominent act, drawing attention as the manic, aggressive [[Master of ceremonies|compere]]; [[Adrian Edmondson]] and [[Rik Mayall]] worked together in the troupe [[20th Century Coyote]] and later became the double act [[The Dangerous Brothers]]; and [[Nigel Planer]] worked in the double act "The Outer Limits" alongside [[Peter Richardson (actor)|Peter Richardson]].<ref name="Duguid-20">{{cite web|last=Duguid|first=Mark|title=Boom Boom... Out Go the Lights (1980)|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1119413/|work=BFI Screenonline.org|publisher=BFI Screenonline|access-date=20 October 2011}}</ref> All principal members later opted to make their own club as The Comedy Store became popular, and they formed [[The Comic Strip]] in the [[Raymond Revuebar]] club in Soho with [[French and Saunders]] and [[Arnold Brown (comedian)|Arnold Brown]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/thecomicstrip/ |title=The Comic Strip Presents... |publisher=BBC |access-date=21 October 2011}}</ref> The new club proved immensely popular amongst London's comedy venues and brought the group to the attention of [[Jeremy Isaacs]], head of the new [[Channel 4]]. Richardson opted to bring the group to television in a project entitled ''[[The Comic Strip Presents...]]'' and began negotiations with the new channel to secure a deal for a series of six self-contained half-hour films, in which the group would perform as comedy actors rather than stand-up performers. Channel 4 agreed to the deal and aired the programme on the channel's opening night on 2 November 1982. In response to this, the BBC opted to recruit the group for their own comedy projects, and they began negotiations with Edmondson, Mayall, Richardson, Planer and Sayle to star in a sitcom that would operate on a similar broadcast arrangement, under the title of ''The Young Ones'', which alludes to and subverts the [[The Young Ones (song)|song of the same name]], written by [[Sid Tepper]] and [[Roy C. Bennett]] and performed by [[Cliff Richard]] and [[The Shadows]], which had become a [[Lists of UK Singles Chart number ones|No. 1 UK hit single]] in 1962. The group agreed to join the project and work proceeded on the sitcom, with Mayall co-writing the scripts with his then girlfriend [[Lise Mayer]],<ref>{{cite news|last1=Monahan|first1=Mark|title=Rik Mayall: his 10 best performances|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/comedy/comedy-news/10887340/Rik-Mayall-his-10-best-performances.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/comedy/comedy-news/10887340/Rik-Mayall-his-10-best-performances.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=23 September 2017|work=Telegraph|date=9 June 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and [[Ben Elton]] (who had attended the [[Victoria University of Manchester|University of Manchester]] with Mayall and Edmondson). [[Paul Jackson (producer)|Paul Jackson]] was installed as a producer,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/476396/index.html |title=BFI Screenonline: Young Ones, The (1982-84)|website=screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> but his presence led to him clashing with Richardson, forcing the latter to abandon the project.<ref name="Duguid-20" /> As a result, his replacement was Christopher Ryan, the only member of the group who was not a stand-up comedian. According to Jackson, the finished project was met with complete disbelief by the BBC, but the recent arrival of Channel 4 led the broadcaster to air what had been created a week after its opening night, on 9 November.<ref name="thisisexeter rik doctor">{{cite news | url=http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/Rik-jokes-uni-s-terrible-mistake-s-doctor/story-11841390-detail/story.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505070218/http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/Rik-jokes-uni-s-terrible-mistake-s-doctor/story-11841390-detail/story.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=5 May 2013 | title=Rik jokes about uni's 'terrible mistake' as he's made a doctor | work=thisisexeter.co.uk | date=10 July 2008 | access-date=23 February 2012 | quote=Paul [Jackson] paid tribute [...] "The series was met with complete disbelief when the BBC first saw it, but thanks to the beginning of Channel 4 they decided to air it. [...]" }}</ref> To help make it stand out, the group opted to combine traditional sitcom style with violent [[slapstick]], [[Non sequitur (absurdism)|non-sequitur]] plot turns, and [[surrealism]]. These older styles were mixed with the [[working class|working]] and lower-middle class attitudes of the growing 1980s alternative comedy boom, in which all the principal performers except Ryan had been involved. In addition, it was also decided that every episode, with the exception of one, would feature a live performance by a band, including [[Madness (band)|Madness]], [[Motörhead]], and [[The Damned (band)|The Damned]]. This was a device used to qualify the series for a larger budget, as variety shows attracted higher fees than comedy at the time.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ham|first1=Robert|title=Ranking The Young Ones' Musical Performances|date=9 February 2016|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/02/ranking-the-young-ones-musical-performances.html|publisher=Paste|access-date=23 September 2017}}</ref> Episodes were generally produced to be over 35 minutes long, though were edited to half-hour when later repeated on the [[BBC]] or [[Satellite television|satellite channels]].
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