I found out Mollie Sugden died yesterday and two thoughts came to me: first, I didn't know she was still alive, and second, that is probably more important to me personally than Michael Jackson. Now, that might come off as a whiff of pretentiousness, but it's honest and I don't belittle the impact of MJ on people's personal lives. Everyone has their own narrative, and Mrs. Slocombe had a place in mine.
The reason I thought she was already deceased is because Wendy Richards died rather young in comparison (age 66) and I just assumed the graying Mrs. Slocombe had passed before. I think of them in terms of their character on "Are You Being Served" because as an American kid, I didn't know much more about their celebrity or personal lives (not that that matters) unless it came through their work as actors. I can remember being as young as 11, waking up on Saturday morning, grabbing Rice crispies and watching the britcoms on PBS. For some reason, the image of me straddling the floor furnace and letting it blow up my gown until it began to burn and then racing to the recliner to feel the warmth on a chilly winter morning comes to mind when i think of AYBS in the background. I pretended to be Miss Brahms (who had an ironic name, since Brahms was known for lullabies and her voice was a cockney cackle) and thought it would be fun to work in retail with such colorful people. At the time it didn't seem odd to me that most kids were watching cartoons while I was laughing at sexual double-entendres, and it doesn't strike me odd now, really. I was always a weird kid.
...and not in a "cool" way. I don't want to dwell too much on the past because I like where I am now, but I was a bit depressive, and certain elements of my life made me seek out "otherness" and be different. I'd reject the norms and be unique and then huff and feel isolated because i didn't fit in- a theme in my life. When i began to develop my personality, one of my deliberate severances was kidsplay. I liked being around adults more, and adult things like the dry humor of Britcoms rather than, say, He-man. Sure, this means that I might have missed out or had an incomplete development (i dispute that) but I don't regret tuning into To the Manor Born (my favorite) or Yes, Minister, or AYBS. Zaniness, silliness, class- questioning, crass manners, and melodramatic endings- those appealed to me and my sense of humor, wonder, and escape. The British Ilse programming (brought to you by Parkersburg Distributing Company, distributing Bass Ales and fine Ales to northern and central West Virginia!) was exotic to me, as amusing as that might sound. I was from a small, boring, college town in the third world of Appalachia, so my lifelines were Seventeen Magazine, MTV and Britcoms which were filmed at least a decade before.
I carried with me the appreciation for the comedy genre and eventually all things British and continue to tune into Fresh Fields, As Time Goes By, The Vicar of Dibly, and yes, AYBS is still on. It opened up the world of Monty Python for me, and I notoriously like the British Office more than the American. Though now i know it's not "exotic" and everyplace is a Huntington in its own way, I appreciate Britcoms and their players for being friends to me when i needed them- for entertaining me when i was depressed, for being buffoons when I took life too seriously, and for being a bright spot in my week. I never owned Thriller but I do swear that my hair will never be gray in homage to Mrs. Slocombe.
It's closing time, my dear. I know your pussy misses you.
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