'Allo 'Allo - The Complete Series One
The central character of'Allo 'Allo, a cafe owner in occupied France during World War II, is cowardly, venal, adulterous, and yet ineffably charming, thanks to the whimsical performance of Gorden Kaye. Rene (Kaye) helps the local Nazi commandant hide a valuable painting of a bare-breasted Madonna, helps the local Resistance hide British airmen until they can be smuggled back to England, and helps himself to the lovely charms of his two waitresses, Yvette (Vicki Michelle) and Maria (Francesca Gonshaw). The farce flies fast and thick; the Nazis are greedy clods, the Resistance fighters are neurotic obsessives, and the British airmen are jaunty dimwits--'Allo 'Allocheerfully offends everyone, including old people, homosexuals, and onion sellers. The humor isn't subtle, but the cast enjoys themselves and Kaye keeps the show moving with a world-weary shrug.--Bret Fetzer