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List Price: $24.98Amazon.com's Price: $18.99 You Save: $5.99 (24%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 9781419817380
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 1419817388
Label: BBC Warner
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: BBC Warner
Region Code: 1
Release Date: January 10, 2006
Running Time: 142 minutes
Sales Rank: 28517
Studio: BBC Warner
Theatrical Release Date: December 09, 2001
Editorial Review:
Description:
Black Books is a second-hand bookshop in London run by an Irishman named Bernard Black. He is probably the planet's worst-suited person to run such an establishment: he makes no effort to sell, closes at strange hours on a whim, is in a perpetual alcoholic stupor, abhors his customers (sometimes physically abusing them) and is often comatose at his desk. Help comes in the lumpy shape of Manny Bianco, a hairy, bumbling individual who (almost by osmosis) becomes Bernard's assistant. Manny is not exactly great at the job either but he is a million times better than Bernard. Next door is Fran, an anxious, frustrated woman who runs a sort of new-age shop selling the most unlikely bits of arty junk. Fran is friends with Bernard and, through him, with Manny; together the trio become embroiled in escapades that are sometimes extreme or violent or fantastically ludicrous, and always bizarre.
Amazon.com:
How can the concept of a drunk owning a bookshop be surreally funny? Well, Black Books may be owned by Bernard Black on screen, but off screen it belongs to writer-director Graham Linehan of Father Ted fame, that’s how. His writing partnership with Dylan Moran (Black) produced the strangest situation comedy of 2001, fully deserving its British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award. The almost blissfully vague plotline begins when stressed-out office worker Manny Bianco (Bill Bailey) accidentally swallows The Little Book of Calm. Somehow his beard and Bernard's booze get on well enough for them to work together in the shop. They're ably assisted/distracted/confused by the hormonal interruptions of neighboring storeowner Fran (Tamsin Greig). And that’s about it. But across six episodes, this first year crammed in an enormous amount of insanity and sight gags. Definite highlights include Fran's over-the-radio seduction by Shipping News broadcaster Howell Granger, a good cop/bad cop Sweeney spoof and a cameo by Nick Frost (Mike in Spaced) as a more than slightly over-the-top security system installer. The standout episode is 'The Grapes of Wrath,' in which Bernard and Manny agree to babysit a valuable wine cellar. No prizes for guessing what happens! Kevin Eldon guest stars as The Cleaner, declaring the shop to be 'dirty.' Manny already knew that. When he made the appointment he had to confess, 'Right now I'm eating scrambled egg with a comb out of a shoe.' --Paul Tonks
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - BLACKBOOKS FIRST SERIES
ORDERED ON 15TH SEPTEMBER, 2007, I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED THIS DVD. PLEASE SEND A REPLACEMENT.
Rating: - Must Have English Comedy !!!
I love Black Books ! I love most english comedy (some people say British comedy, but english and british are two completely different things !) and while I don't know if I'd put BB up there with Monty Python or Fawlty Towers (my favourite english comedy show) it's definately a very, VERY, close second. This dvd has some of the best commentaries that I've ever heard on a tv show. I would have liked to have some behind the scenes documentaries and longer bloopers (it has a blooper segment, but it's ... Read More
Rating: - as good as seinfeld, but a tad more insane
This is another example of how it's almost never the format that's at fault -- in this case, that old, dead horse: the sitcom -- but simply the imagination of those making it. And it would be hard to find fault with the imagination of the people who made Black Books.
The plots are in a similar vein to Seinfeld: A somewhat inexplicable group of friends (if they could be called that) run into well-chosen guest stars in unlikely roles, or set bizarre challenges for themselves (like turning ... Read More
Rating: - Top Notch
This is a great series (as are all 3 Black Books series).
Highlight for me of series 1, is Manny chasing the mugger down the road and then bottling it when the guy turns round to face him. This is the result of Manny overdosing on The Sweeney and Expresso Coffee and then not sleeping. Bill Bailey is very funny in this show and if you've only caught his stand-up show you should watch Black Books without delay.
Bernard is clearly an Irish relative of Basil Fawlty. He hates all customers and ... Read More
Rating:  - Pacman. It's pronounced Pacman.
Going into the bookselling world, I didn't know what to expect. I haphazardly searched for a guide that would best instruct me on the ways of customer service, marketing, and security. Whilst several video's failed, I knew that I could rely on the help of the BBC to fill the void. Thankfully, those islanders came through with a short series (only three seasons) entitled Black Books in which we are taken out of the office environment (aka the original Office) and into the small-box world of bookselling. ... Read More
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