One thing I admire about British television is that, unlike American television, which has the innate ability to ruin a great show by either canceling it far too soon or running it into the ground, it knows when to call it quits. Canceled at the height of its popularity, Black Books never had to resort to the classic oh-my-god!-we're-going-to-have-a-baby! plotline often used to buy an extra season or two, and the characters never had the chance to become caricatures of themselves. Here's the final season of Black Books, as good as the two that came before it!
From A.T. Hurley:
The lovably misanthropic Britcom Black Books wrings its laughs out of characters as cynical and crabby as they come. The third series continues to follow the adventures, such as they are, of Bernard Black (Dylan Moran), a bilious bookstore owner who dislikes books and dislikes customers more. The deep-black comedy of the series is built on satire and sarcasm (Moran created the series and is also its chief writer), and no depth is too low to go.
In "Manny Comes Home," Black Books' sole employee, the clueless aging hippie Manny, finally has had enough of Bernard's unappreciation, and takes a job at the swanky Goliath Books next door. The episode gets as many chuckles for Manny's fish-out-of-water experience (honestly, Black Books is the only place he can work, probably in all of the British Isles) as for Bernard's flailing and resentment without him. "Up he goes with that little wiggle of his," Bernard sneers as he spies on Manny shelving Gotham books on a ladder, "the wiggle of Judas!" Meanwhile, the sight gags of the deplorable conditions of both Bernard and the shop (mushrooms growing in Bernard's hair; mollusks on a drink glass) are good for that singularly pleasurable combination of cringing and belly-laughing.
The extras include deleted scenes (the cat who plays Mr. Benson is a true rising star); a moody black-and-white short called "Bernard's Letter," in which Bernard composes a snarky response to a manuscript rejection; and loads of great deleted scenes, showing that the cast has as much fun on the set as the viewer does watching them.
Technical Information:
Title: Black Books
Season: 3
Year: 2004
Source: DVD5 Retail
DVD Format: PAL
Container: .iso + mds
Size: 4.35 GB
Programs used: ImgBurn
Resolution: 720x576
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Video: MPEG2 @ ~ 3800 kb/s
Frame Rate: 25 fps
Audio 1: English- Dolby AC3 Stereo @ 192 kb/s
Audio 2: Commentary- Dolby AC3 Stereo @ 192 kb/s
Subtitles: cc- English
Menu: untouched
Video: untouched
DVD Extras: trailer, outtakes, photo gallery, deleted scenes, Bernard's Letter, commentary
Episode List:
Manny Come Home
Elephants and Hens
Moo-Ma and Moo-Pa
A Little Flutter
Travel Writer
Party
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Black Books Series 3 Megaupload Links
Series 1 is located HERE.
Series 2 is located HERE.