The Good Life Comedy Sitcom

The Good Life is a situational comedy that was aired in the 1970's in Britain. This British comedy is still a very popular show today and happens to be one of my favorite British comedies. I have seen every episode and still enjoy re-watching this fantastic comedy.

The good life Tom and Barbara Good trying to achieve self sufficiency. The neighbors Jerry and Margo Leadbetter are the conservative friends who do not understand Tom and Barbara but love them none the less.

On Toms 40th birthday he is not longer able to take his job seriously. Making plastic toys for breakfast cereals no longer gives a feeling of purpose. He decides to quit the job and become self sufficient.

Barbara shows her amazing support and love by taking to the dream of becoming self sufficient in a way most house wife's of the day would not likely accept. Her good humor and energy are easy to fall in love with, lucky Tom.

This show in Britain was a bit of a star maker. Felicity Kendal who plays Barbara Good became the object of many a teenage crush.

Becoming self sufficient in the suburbs is no easy task if Tom and Barbara make good examples of the attempt. They use their back garden as a vegetable allotment to grow soft fruits and veg. They then take on chickens, pigs and a goat for additional foods both to eat and to sell. Paying tax rates and other bills make self sufficiency quite difficult.

One of my favorite episodes is when the pig is having her babies. One of the babies is a runt and Jerry and Barbara rush to the hospital to get oxygen and are stopped by a policeman for speeding. The police officer winds up helping get the oxygen and is happy when the baby pig is saved.

The good life adventures usually work out in this pleasing and friendly way, by engaging bystanders to want to see the self sufficient life work for Tom and Barbara. Margo is the perfect example, most episodes have her upset by some project of the Goods only to wind up helping in her own way.

Margo is actually a character of real note. She is the stereotypical upper middle class suburbanite. She never really gets the joke (the Christmas episode really shows how lovable she is for this inability to get the joke) . Margo worries over appearances and how things will look. While she loves Tom and Barbara she has all the patience of a nun talking to an atheist. She honestly does not seem to understand wanting more from life then to look good in the eyes of her peers. The real popularity of Margo is in how people can laugh at the upper classes without being nasty about it.

The Good Life is a great example of gentle British humor and I think it has a little something for everyone. I urge you to check it out, even tho it is an older show it maintains a classic sense of being relevant even if the clothing styles are a bit out of date.