3. The Young Ones - Musical Guest Stars
The Young Ones is a cult sitcom classic from the 1980s that you may remember as being rather anarchic, off the wall and, although its political leanings have rendered it somewhat dated now, extremely unprecedented for a sitcom of its day. Paving the way for the likes of abstract successors The Mighty Boosh, the show regularly deviated from the sitcom format to feature such things as monologues from talking rats, axe-wielding landlords foaming at the mouth for overdue rent and, most memorably, musical performances from popular bands of the day. These sequences were the icing on the very youth-focused cake that was The Young Ones, the comedy that put budding sitcom writer and future sell-out Ben Elton firmly on the map ahead of his involvement with the Blackadder series (more on that soon). Using his zany student characters to send-up youth culture and shout down Thatcherism, Elton fully captivated the young target audience by featuring the likes of Madness and Motorhead in the mid-point musical sequences. What an idea. But get this: TV sitcom didn't have a great deal of money thrown at it in the thrifty 1980s, especially politically-charged sitcoms by little-known upstarts. Learning that variety shows got far more funding than sitcoms, Elton merely included the musical guest performances so he could legitimately pass off The Young Ones as a variety show and receive the extra budget such a show would receive, thus rendering him able to spend it on the likes of rat monologues and axe-wielding landlords. Well done Ben.