Superbly demented comedy about the adventures (or non-adventures, as the case may be) of three maladjusted eccentrics trying to navigate a sea of troubles. Highly original ideas and concepts, excellent dialogue, fine performances and a tangible chemistry between the leads - so what more do you need ? (In case you're thinking : "I'd like some random dancing of the deconstructivist school", don't worry, there's that too.)
For all its weirdness, the series is grounded in reality : as a devout visitor to second-hand bookshops I can confirm that this is a prime environment for the sad, the deluded, the angry, the perverse, the eccentric and the misanthropic.
My memories include a manager, in Brussels, who liked to spell out his wishes and desiderata to prospective customers as soon as they entered the store. ("Article one. ALL customers, and I do mean ALL, will greet me in a clear and audible voice upon crossing the threshold"). I also remember a fellow customer who liked to browse his way through stacks of French cooking books - "I don't cook myself but one likes to dream" - while telling everybody about his dog, which had a double jointed tail ; and finally there was a vicious-looking shop girl, tattooed with the ugliest Mexican flower skull I've ever seen, who accused everybody of trying to buy and sell obscene materials. At one point she even accused the postman who tried to give her some mail.
But to return to the subject : I firmly recommend the episode about the most expensive bottle of wine in the world. (The episode, sad to say, does not end well for the Supreme Pontiff.) I laughed so hard I nearly fell out of my chair.
For all its weirdness, the series is grounded in reality : as a devout visitor to second-hand bookshops I can confirm that this is a prime environment for the sad, the deluded, the angry, the perverse, the eccentric and the misanthropic.
My memories include a manager, in Brussels, who liked to spell out his wishes and desiderata to prospective customers as soon as they entered the store. ("Article one. ALL customers, and I do mean ALL, will greet me in a clear and audible voice upon crossing the threshold"). I also remember a fellow customer who liked to browse his way through stacks of French cooking books - "I don't cook myself but one likes to dream" - while telling everybody about his dog, which had a double jointed tail ; and finally there was a vicious-looking shop girl, tattooed with the ugliest Mexican flower skull I've ever seen, who accused everybody of trying to buy and sell obscene materials. At one point she even accused the postman who tried to give her some mail.
But to return to the subject : I firmly recommend the episode about the most expensive bottle of wine in the world. (The episode, sad to say, does not end well for the Supreme Pontiff.) I laughed so hard I nearly fell out of my chair.