Blackadder

When Blackadder first appeared on TV screens in the early 90s, I considered it to be a truly exceptional endeavor, highly original, outrageous, and extremely funny. The TV stations decided to bring back Blackadder after more than 20 years, so I could confront my memories with reality. The first episode brought me great disappointment - it was outrageous, but from my current point of view, it was also not nearly as funny as I had expected. However, the following episodes of the series redeemed my hesitant impression, as in the first episode, the writer and Atkinson were obviously still searching for the right balance of humor and exaggeration. It is still an exceptional production from the perspective of the genre, as you do not often see a medieval sitcom on the screen every day. Atkinson rightfully belongs among the comedy elite, and this only confirms it, although I still find the current adventures of Mr. Bean (in series form) to be better. Overall impression: 75%. (11/03/2012)

In the second series of Blackadder, Rowan Atkinson had to change his style and thoroughly arm himself in the battle for audience favor, because although Blackadder can now be seen as a cult phenomenon, its reception in the British market was lukewarm. The main character underwent the biggest transformation. From a hapless loser with a sour face, he became a clever and smooth Renaissance cavalier who sarcastically comments on events around him and wields a nimble tongue. Because this transformation was successful, in the subsequent series, only the position of Atkinson's character changed, while the basic character traits and expressions remained the same. I consider the second series as a step toward improvement and one of the highlights of British television comedy scene in the 80s. Overall impression: 95%. (02/11/2013)

From the royal chambers and noble palaces, we move into the despair and filth of the trenches of World War I, where the Black Adder, as a cynical experienced professional of the British colonial army, tries to maneuver among the limited British officers who attempt to apply combat experiences from long-fought colonial wars of the past on the modern battlefield, facing the deadly German machinery on the other side of no man's land. The humor becomes even darker - such joking before the firing squad or just before an attack against the wall of enemy machine guns truly becomes gallows humor. Yet it is precisely thanks to the proximity of death that traditional light banter takes on a more serious tragicomic dimension. The final scene, where all the characters rise for a senseless attack and then through editing, the war-torn field, riddled with grenades, transforms into a meadow densely covered with red poppy flowers, is one of the strongest scenes I've ever seen in a sitcom. Overall impression: 95%. (11/20/2013)