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GEORGE & MILDRED: THE BAD PENNY (Season 1: Episode 2)

SUMMARY:                 RUNNING TIME: 23:00 Min.

Produced by Thames Television, this episode first aired on England’s ITV on September 13, 1976. The series itself is a spin-off from Man About the House

Moving into the upscale Hampton Wick neighborhood, middle-aged (and childless) couple Mildred & George Roper (Joyce & Murphy) suffer multiple embarrassing predicaments upon meeting their new neighbors: the Fourmile family.  Though his down-to-earth wife and introverted young son (Fearn & Bond-Owen) hardly mind them, ultra-snooty realtor Jeffrey Fourmile (Eshley) is mortified that the earthly Ropers will be a major detriment to his property values. 

Inviting Mildred to tea, the Fourmiles anticipate their dinner guests: a member of Parliament and her husband (King & Harvey), arriving soon afterward.  Yet, no one is prepared for a bathrobe only-clad George getting locked out of the Ropers’ new home during bath time.  Worse yet, George’s boozing, pre-dinner conversation with the Fourmiles’ high society guests has Mildred and their hosts looking on in horror.

Mildred Roper: Yootha Joyce

George Roper: Brian Murphy

Jeffrey Fourmile: Norman Eshley

Ann Fourmile: Sheila Fearn

Tristram Fourmile: Nicholas Bond-Owen

Margaret: Diana King

Charles: John Harvey

Mover # 1: Johnny Wade

Mover # 2: Stan Van

Locksmith: Harry Littlewood

REVIEW:

Multiple déjà vu observations spring to mind.  For starters, this comedy-of-manners’ black-and-white, nostalgic photograph-style opening credits might well have inspired a similar look for As Time Goes By years later.  Interestingly, as much as George & Mildred exudes a similar style of humor (and virtually the same premise) as Keeping Up Appearances, it predates that iconic British sitcom by nearly fifteen years. 

If George & Mildred sounds oddly familiar to anyone who remembers Norman Fell & Audra Lindley’s short-lived The Ropers, it makes sense.  George & Mildred is The Ropers’ direct British inspiration, exactly like the U.K.’s Man About the House corresponds with its American incarnation: Three’s Company.

However, one will recognize a significant quality gap between George & Mildred and The Ropers.  The scripting, acting, etc. for George & Mildred concocts sharp British sitcom farce – maybe it was not remarkable for that era, but “The Bad Penny” is well-played.  This episode also makes it evident that Yootha Joyce and Brian Murphy could reliably anchor their own sitcom after the stint they shared on Man About the House

Audra Lindley & Norman Fell’s short-lived Ropers, by comparison, was not their fault – their good-natured ‘Helen’ and crass ‘Stanley’  excelled as supporting players in smaller doses during the early years of Three’s Company. Given The Ropers’ lackluster production values, a game Lindley and Fell were invariably set up for failure — whereas Joyce and Murphy are positioned to give Keeping Up Appearances a hilarious run for its money.  Even if The Ropers makes George & Mildred  look like a flimsy premise, the original’s snarky martial humor is remarkably watchable.   

For anyone who enjoys vintage British sitcoms, then “The Bad Penny” is a treat to catch.

Note: Acknowledging the original British screenwriters, The Ropers remade and American-ized “The Bad Penny,” among several others from George & Mildred.  Also serving as its second episode, The Ropers’ title for “The Bad Penny” is “Friends and Neighbors.”

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING:                     7½ Stars

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BDC
October 2020

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