Rodent Reviews - Black Books

And so it would seem that my education into the human has had to begin. This was suggested to me by two people, known  as Cal and Laura. They believed that it would lead me in an education of comedy, and so here are my thoughts on it.

The setting of the show is based around a book shop known as Black's books, thus the title, which is owned by a Bernard Black. He undoubtedly is joined by his friend Fran, and employee Manny. For starters, let me say that it is a good watch. Manny (what an apt name) is the forever kind and helpful soul who you just start to love in a sort of pitying way. For no one is quite so odd ball or slightly out of his depth in the world. It is just a sad fact that what seem to possibly be his only friends in the world are Fran and Bernard. Fran, while kind to Manny, can be completely insane, although rather well meaning. One of her, numerous I will admit, flaws is that she can get insanely competitive, and this of course brings out her vindictive side.

And now we must come to the titular character, Bernard Black. He should have been a mouse, he would have been perfect. All I know is that he had to be my favourite character; a cynical, lazy bastard. Forever preying on the goodwill of Manny, treating him more as a slave than a worker. He is perhaps something of the neglectful father to Manny, who often seems childlike without him. While he does sell books, he doesn't really seem to enjoy it. With an addictive personality, he is often seen drinking and smoking, and gambling does come along. However the gambling doesn't last long thankfully.

The one flaw if any is that there are only perhaps around 18 episodes in total, showing the Britishness of the series. Most of the humour is cynical and mad cap, if your a fan of slapstick comedy this is not the place for you. This is cultured and mature, like good wine or cheese in fact.

This series is well worth the watch, if only to watch Manny discover his talent. Unfortunately for me tiny DVD's are hard to come by. As a result this has already been and gone, but luckily for the universe it is available on 4oD free of charge.If you don't mind adverts...

Algernon, A mouse finding his way