5/5 Better in small doses
  by ChibiNeko (Whereever I go, here I am.)
Surprisingly, I didn't like `The Young Ones'. I just didn't get into it as much as everyone else seemed to. So you can understand why I was a little skittish about `Bottom'. It had been recommended to me by Netflix & it wasn't until I'd seen a preview for the show that I decided to give it a whirl. I'm glad I gave it the chance.

Bottom follows the antics of Richie & Eddie, both of them complete losers. They spend their days mostly staying inside their dilapidated home, with Eddie remaining blitzed & Richie trying to scheme up ways to get rich & get birds. No matter how hard Richie scheme, nothing ever comes to fruition. (Mostly because despite his attempts to improve himself, he's just too lazy to put any real effort into it!)

This show really is one of the best of its era. The humor is low brow & that may cause many to automatically dismiss it, but they'd be losing out on a real gem here. Mayall & Edmondson are really at their best when they're playing bottom of the barrel characters.

I'll admit, this isn't a DVD set that you should watch one episode after another. At least not at first- if you are new to the show (as I was), the humor is best appreciated if you watch only one or two episodes in a sitting. (Plus it makes the set last longer, which is definitely a bonus.) Since the entire series is in this set, there's no need to rush out & purchase any other DVDs- you have it all here.

Anyone who loves low brow humor of any nationality should really love this set. I mean come on... who couldn't laugh at the sight of a man taped to the ceiling?


4/5 Full_Arsed
  by W. Hajjar (New Orleans)
I recently purchased the DVD Full Bottom: Not Another Half-Arsed DVD Set and I have to agree with the subtitle. Totally Full-Arsed. This writing and acting duo is best known in the US from the 1980s series the Young Ones. Full Bottom originally aired between 1991 and 1995 in the UK, when Adrian Edmonson and long-time partner-in-crime Rik Mayall delivered 3 seasons of mayhem for the BBC. Opening with a stripper music theme that sets up their pathetic non-existent love lives. They illustrate a perfectly dysfunctional union, the Odd Couple meets the Three Stooges. It shouldn't work but it does. Over the top physical stunts and an earnest commitment to character pull the audience in. It is easy to overlook how good the work on this series is while we are soaking in the clueless optimism wrapped up in an array of impossible Sad Sack scenarios. All in all, a fun wild ride.

5/5 Brilliant
  by N. Porter
This is slapstick at its best, with more 'slap' than 'stick'.
Completely over the top, radical, often very physical comedy with a very twisted slant.
A little less weird than The Young Ones (not a bad thing) but just as frenetic. In my opinion it retains the best elements of the former, while adding a hefty dose of new envelope-pushing crazy antics.

Fantastic viewing, just beware the R-rated language if young ones (no pun intended) are around.

In short, Eddie and Richie are desperately pathetic housemates, and all they have is each other. But that doesn't stop them from trying to upstage, lie, cheat or steal from each other until the cows come home.

Cue brilliant craziness and the kind of mental comedy that is impossible to find these days with broadcasters neutering their material for fear of offending anyone...

4/5 Good old wreckless fun!
  by Icarus (London, England)
the whole dvd set is pretty much enjoyable. you get rik mayall and adrian edmondson's old comic antics. all the episodes are all quite amusing, very entertaining humor. i know this is a whole other comedy show, but i find the young ones more enjoyable to watch. still bottom is a great show to watch if you love wreckless, fun comedy!

3/5 Not as funny as 'The Young One's'
  by Wyatt W. Gordon (Virginia, USA)
If you liked the English alternative comedy 'The Young One's' or 'The New Statesmen,' you'll probably enjoy this series, just not as much. Rik Mayall, who in real life is no doubt a wonderful person, has made a career playing REALLY annoying characters (Drop Dead Fred); in this series he takes that role to new lows.
In short, don't watch this series with someone who does not appreciate the more sophisticated crass-and-vulgar style of humor.