There’s not a single other show in the history of television that has had as sporadic a run as The Comic Strip Presents.... It ran for five seasons: from 1982-1984 (two seasons), 1988, 1990, and 1993. In between those seasons, a series of TV specials and theatrical releases peppered the public consciousness keeping the show in mind, even as the stars that made it famous went on to wild success in shows of their own. At the heart of the show you’d find Adrian Emondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Peter Richardson, Jennifer Saunders, and Nigel Planer, though later on it was increasingly common for only a few of them to appear with recognizable faces such as Jim Broadbent, Miranda Richardson, Robbie Coltrane, and others as guests. The Comic Strip Presents... wasn’t your typical comedy show; it didn’t skip from one skit to the next, it didn’t have the same characters from one episode to the next, and you never knew what you were going to get. It was and is a unique program that finally gets a suitable US DVD release.
There’s no pop culture golden calf The Comic Strip Presents... doesn’t ridicule, and the film and music industry are the two largest targets in their sights. One of the show’s crowning achievements is its send up of the film industry as it subverts the true story of a mining strike, only to comically distort the story as a star vehicle for Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, and John Candy. The series is rife with such absurdist takes on celebrity and how the machine functions, and for fans of British humor with its tongue firmly planted in the cheek; it’s hard to find a more enjoyable comic gem from the 80s and 90s.
The Complete Collection box set includes all 30 episodes, all 10 television specials, and the two feature films Eat the Rich and Supergrass. All in all, it amounts to about 26 solid hours of comedy.
DVD Bonus Features
Featurettes take a look back where The Comic Strip Presents... started as well as where the actors have gone since and how they view it now. A series of documentaries on the show’s impact rounds out the set.
"The Comic Strip Presents...: The Complete Collection" is on sale January 31, 2012 and is not rated. Comedy. Directed by Bob Spiers. Written by Peter Richardson, Pete Richens. Starring Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Nigel Planer, Rik Mayall, Jennifer Saunders, Peter Richardson.
