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Black Books
2000 · TV series · 25 min episodes · 3 seasons
Created by Dylan Moran, Graham Linehan
Black Books centres around the foul tempered and wildly eccentric bookshop owner Bernard Black. Bernard’s devotion to the twin pleasures of drunkenness and wilful antagonism deepens and enriches both his life and that of Manny, his assistant. Bearded, sweet and good, Manny is everything that Bernard isn’t and is punished by Bernard relentlessly just for the crime of existing. They depend on each other for meaning as Fran, their oldest friend, depends on them for distraction. Black Books is a haven of books, wine and conversation, the only threat to the group’s peace and prosperity is their own limitless stupidity.
5 positive8 neutralfrom 13 commenters
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13 comments on Hacker News
This reminds me of the Little Book of Calm, discussed extensively in the Black Books TV series.
Reminds me of the film Office Space, where Peter is hypnotised to (temporarily) have no cares in the world, but the hypnostist dies before snapping his fingers [0]. There's also a very similar trope in the first episode of the show Black Books, where Manny swallows the "Little Book of Calm", absorbs it into his body, and becomes a Jesus-like calm presence for a while.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfZpEe7KIJ8
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_dMEX_Lke0
Big Train: directed by Graham Linehan - Father Ted, Black Books, The IT Crowd...
(And the guard of the hospital in Darth Marenghi's Darkplace.)
Some American comedy (Parks and Rec, Brooklyn 99, Cheers, Community, etc) is amazing. Most of it is crap (2 1/2 Men, Big Bang, 90% of SNL, 100% of "middle aged dude with a family and a wife that's way too good looking" sitcoms).
Some British comedy (Fawlty Towers, Black Books, Fleabag) is amazing. Most of it is crap (Mr Bean, Keeping Up Appearances, One Foot in the grave).
There are some terrible British bands, and some great French cars.
Generalising about culture is pointless.
In one episode of Black Books, main character Manny finds out he can play piano. Other character Bernard wants to use it to impress a woman, so he forces Manny to hide inside the piano and play using spoons. Manny does it but later refuses to do it again. To convince him to do it one more time, Bernard offers him one whole week of vacation. Manny looks at Bernard, then extend his arms forwards, palms open up, and says: "spoon me".
In my native language we use declension everywhere. I could awkwardly say the same in my language, something like "olyžicujte ma" (o=equip/cover, lyžica=spoon, ujte=keep doing something, me=ma) - it is technically correct, but english didn't need to change any of those words, it just worked. English can convey the same meaning without unnecessary complexity.
I like this simplicity in language, it feels somehow superior. Simpler is better.
I take issue with those sections too; you completely ignored that often customers won't know exactly what they want, importance of browsing, and the expert service provided that is the salesperson giving book suggestions and advice to customers.
Your points about alternative revenue streams by providing alternative services are directly covered in 20 year old tv show (black books) where a 'dysfunctional' bookstore either has them already implemented or trials them. For example, coffee is about keeping the customers in the store and browsing, people leave if they get hungry or thirsty. If you're actually deriving substantial profit from your hot drinks, then you're running a niche cafe, and you're in competition against legitimate baristas with fancier machines. It also takes up a large amount of space, and can cause volume issues otherwise.
Most secondhand bookstores are small, and items have a large volume-time footprint i.e. the turnover of any individual item is low. Get rid of all the low margin books for dining, and you ruin the browsing experience in multiple ways. You're just suggesting the secondhand bookstore should ditch it's secondhand books, and instead sell only high turnover popular stuff i.e. compete with modern normal bookstores, which are already doing beyond what you've suggested.
It’s common in English. There’s even a sitcom called Black Books that riffs on that
It looks like Amazon's video service has Black Books. Do they only have some of the episodes? Did you just not find them or not want to pay for them?
Nice quote: Graham Linehan, the writer of sitcoms The IT Crowd, Black Books and Father Ted, also signed the petition. He said: "It just seems to me that people like Richard are being punished for being able to navigate the modern world. The internet has changed everything. They're doing what comes naturally in these new uncharted waters and suddenly they're getting their collars felt by people who still have Hotmail addresses."
there's a great TV show called 'Black Books', if you want to truly understand loathing towards users you need to watch it.
I was looking at Father Ted for the first time some months back on More4, and it seems very dated. I like Black Books a lot because of the wry humour. IT Crowd episodes are pretty random (especially series 4), but when they get an episode right, it's stunning.
does anyone else not find the it crowd funny at all?
i have had it recommended to me over and over, but i simply do not find it funny at all. yes, it has geeky jokes, but as a comedy and an overall tv show is utterly appalling imo.
compared to something like black books, which is just brilliant
I am not sure whether this is exactly fear of success. I think it may be fear of failure, or more specifically fear of discovering that one does not have talent.
For example, take somebody that is smart, is a great conservationist in parties, makes great jokes and has read the entire literary cannons of several countries. All his friends say he should be a writer. He has always dreamed of being a writer. Yet he never starts writing. Is that fear of success? Or fear of trying and discovering that despite everything he did not have talent?
Anyway, while we are on the subject linked below is a hilarious episode of Black Books that is about this. BTW I think the main character of that show is someone like the person in my example.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/114471/black-books-elephants-and-hens#x-0,vepisode,1,0