Black Books - The Complete Second Series
How do the British make surly misanthropy so entertaining, even downright delightful? BritcomBlack Bookssprings from a dingy London bookstore owned by Bernard Black (series creator Dylan Moran,Shaun of the Dead), a bilious, petty xenophobe whose only pleasures in life are drinking, smoking, and berating his one long-suffering employee, Manny Bianco (Bill Bailey,Saving Grace), whose bursts of competence only drive Bernard to greater heights of apoplexy. Bernard's only friend in the world is Fran Katzenjammer (Tamsin Greig, also on the equally blackheartedGreen Wing), who's similarly enslaved by her appetites and dabbles in personal fads that she drops as soon as they become inconvenient.The second six-episode series ofBlack Bookstakes a series of relatively modest set-ups--Bernard wants to ask a customer out on a date; Manny tries to emulate upscale chain bookshops; Fran needs to find a job--and spins them out into deranged, surreal, and sometimes near-apocalyptic conclusions involving infestations of rat-like creatures and illiterate mob enforcers, often accompanied by spasms of slapstick comedy and arias of verbal abuse. None of these characters is "likable" in the usual sitcom sense--which is exactly why they've earned radically devoted fans, who savor every nasty, jittery moment.Black Bookswould give an American TV executive a heart attack; fans of similarly loopy Britcoms likeFawlty TowersandSpacedshould dive right in.--Bret Fetzer