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Father Ted - The Complete 1st Series [DVD] [1995] starring: Ardal O'Hanlon, Dermot Morgan, Frank Kelly, Pauline McLynn

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Rating: - Fr Teddy Long Legs

A brilliant series with a projected longevity of that of Fawlty Towers.

Certainly a comedy classic and a worthy collector's item.

Oscar from OZ

Rating: - Always a good laugh.

I'd never seen this when it was on tv, but it was given as a present to me. Didn't look like my kind of thing but then I finally got round to watching it and it really tickled me. It's not just the scripts or ridiculous situations, it's the small mannerisms and quick looks which give the characters such depth. I've watched it a few times over this year and have all the other series as well. If you haven't seen it, or find the prospect of a group of priests in the back of beyond to seem dull, please give it a chance. It's worth it!!!

Rating: - Laughed till my a@$* fell off!

How many sitcoms make you laugh out loud constantly? Not many I'd wager but this one does and every episode does.

If you don't laugh at this consult an undertaker as there's a good chance you're dead!

Rating: - FANTASTIC

This entire series is absolutely fantastic, pure classic comedy. I first watched it when I was at University which was about 10 years ago, but I still love every single episode. It's just funny. Funny. You should also check out other work by the same writers "Black Books" which is also very good although perhaps not as excellent as Father Ted.

Rating: - Wretched

I must admit first off that I only watched the beginning episode on this DVD before cutting my losses and packing it in. My wife viewed perhaps the first ten minutes before deciding that washing the dishes was a better time investment.

The Irish isle of Craggy Island is home to three priests in this BBC comedy mini-series. I use the term "comedy" loosely. There's Father Ted (Dermot Morgan) and his young assistant, Father Dougal Maguire (Ardal O'Hanlon), whose chief duty appears to be caring for the previous parish pastor, the aged Father Jack Hackett (Frank Kelly). In the first episode, at least, Fr. Jack's role is limited to sitting drunk, insensate, or simply in the throes of senile dementia in his favorite chair, aroused only long enough to throw empty booze bottles at the television, drool uncontrollably at the memory of young, Catholic-school girls long past, or shout incoherent deprecations at Father Dougal. Dougal, on the other hand, has the mind and mannerisms of a silly adolescent. Compared to these two, Father Ted is so normal as to be boring. The plot of this first episode also involves the host of a national television broadcast coming to the island to interview Father Ted on the topic of priests in isolated places. (In the only marginally good line whatsoever, Ted tells the visitor over the phone that he'll know he's reached the island when he sees the boats painted with radiation symbols dumping nuclear waste into the sea.)

True, I probably didn't give the series a fair shake. But what I saw was so boring, so tasteless, and so stupid that it doesn't even rise to the abysmal level of current American sitcoms. There are several off-beat British telly comedies available on video to U.S. audiences that are infinitely better, including THE VICAR OF DIBLEY, THE DARLING BUDS OF MAY, and BALLYKISSANGEL.

The jacket containing the FATHER TED DVD claims that it's the "best comedy about three priests on an island". Good heavens, how many can there be? And imagining the plots and quality of the others simply boggles the mind.

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