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Blackadder: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"I am a fully rounded human being, with a degree from the university of life, a diploma from the [[School of Hard Knocks]], and three gold stars from the [[Precision F-Strike|kindergarten of getting the shit kicked out of me]]"''.|'''Captain Edmund Blackadder''', ''Blackadder Goes Forth''}}
A deliciously vicious collection of [[Britcom|British comedies]], all centering around various generations of the Blackadder family as embodied in its sole visible member, Edmund -- a cynical, snide and outright caustic British nobleman (he'd be a [[Deadpan Snarker]] if he could just stop sneering) who never seems to succeed at most of his schemes, but never quite loses either (except usually at the end, where he dies horribly or wins spectacularly). Each Edmund in each generation is aided by a [[Bumbling Sidekick]] in the shape of his corresponding Baldrick, an ignorant and filthy manservant and dogsbody of unhealthy habits and preoccupations. His typical [[Foil]] is a classic [[
Season one, written by [[Rowan Atkinson]] and Richard Curtis, featured Blackadder as a hapless loser, Baldrick as his more cunning servant, and a series of Shakespearean in-jokes. Much of the humour was reliant on the sort of rubber-faced comic buffoonery Atkinson would later use in ''[[Mr. Bean]]''. The show had lots of expensive location footage but was not a ratings success. Nonetheless it was recommissioned for a second series, (albeit with a drastically reduced budget), which, after a change of direction, and writers, [[Grew the Beard]] and became extremely well-loved. The show was a smash hit from its second season onwards. Seasons two to four saw [[Ben Elton]] replace Atkinson on the writing team, the Blackadder character [[Retool|repurposed]] as the [[Deadpan Snarker]], and a greater emphasis on clever dialogue, running gags, and historical subversion. The retooled show became a comedy institution, although it has resisted several attempts at revival.
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{{quote|Blackadder, Blackadder – his life was almost done!
Blackadder, Blackadder – who gives a toss? No one! }}
* [[
* [[Villain Protagonist]]: Played with in Edmund, although only the third really qualifies.
* [[With Friends Like These...]]: Blackadder to Percy in the first two series.
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* [[Title Drop]]: Parodied in the first episode when Edmund decides to take the name of The Black...Vegetable! Fortunately Baldrick suggests a better title for the series/his Lord.
* [[Translator Buddy]]: The Spanish Infanta's translator, who provides a few cheap gags.
* [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight]]: [[
* [["The Villain Sucks" Song]]: You horrid little man!
* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?]]: In "The Archbishop", Baldrick shows off a range of priced curses signed by ecclesiastical figures, the cheapest of which reads "Dear Enemy, I curse you, and I hope something moderately unpleasant happens to you, like an onion falling on your head".
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* [[Unaccustomed as I Am to Public Speaking]]: Parodied by George.
* [[Uncanny Family Resemblance]]: Edmund's Scottish cousin MacAdder, in "Duel and Duality".
* [[
* [[Villain Protagonist]]: Mr. E. Blackadder likely qualifies as one, being an implied serial killer (during the election episode), as well as having two famous actors arrested and executed for treason in "Sense and Senility", sending Amy Hardwood to the noose in "Amy and Amiability" and killing Topper and Smedley in "Nob and Nobility". So he's ''directly'' responsible for killing or having killed at least seven people during the course of six episodes (although Amy had tried to kill him first, and Smedley's death was accidental).
** Correction: Smedley's death was intended--Blackadder just didn't know that he ''was'' Smedley. {{spoiler|Or the Scarlet Pimpernel.}}
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