Yes, (Prime) Minister

直到去年看Yes, (Prime) Minister之前,我一直认为最经典的喜剧要数NBC出的Friends。
而这部短短5季(三季Yes, Minister+两季Yes, Prime Minister)的英剧彻底改变了我对sitcom的看法:原来sitcom可以这样拍!
每集30分钟的故事里,充满着大量的对英国政府和公务员系统的讽刺,看完以后不得不佩服作者将幽默融于讽刺中的精湛功力。(前两天刚到amazon.com买了本Yes, Minister的书,也是剧作者Jonathan Lynn和Anthony Jay写的 )
Open government is a contradiction in terms
Bernard: But surely the citizens of a democracy have a right to know.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: No. They have a right to be ignorant. Knowledge only means complicity in guilt; ignorance has a certain dignity.
The President of Buranda plans a speech urging the Scots and Irish to fight against English oppression
Jim Hacker: Humphrey, do you think it is a good idea to issue a statement?
Sir Humphrey: Well, Minister, in practical terms we have the usual six options:
- One: do nothing
- Two: issue a statement deploring the speech
- Three: lodge an official protest
- Four: cut off aid
- Five: break off diplomatic relations
- And six: declare war.
Hacker: Which should be it?
Sir Humphrey: Well:
- If we do nothing we implicitly agree with the speech
- Two: if we issue a statement, we’ll just look foolish
- Three: if we lodge a protest, it’ll be ignored
- Four: we can’t cut off aid, because we don’t give them any
- Five: if we break off diplomatic relations, we can’t negotiate the oil rig contracts
- And six: if we declare war, it might just look as though we were over-reacting.
另:在wikiquote上,有这部剧集的精彩台词。
这部英剧在Mininova上有种子可以下,不过总共大小10.4 gb,我下了1个多星期才下完。
如果可以忍受比较差的画质的话,可以看youku上的视频:Yes, Minister|Yes, Prime Minister

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