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''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. The show follows the misadventures and mishaps of the staff, as well as various interludes with customers (portrayed by popular and well-known British actors in guest appearances, such as Joanna Lumley), of the retail ladies' and gentlemen's clothing floor departments of a fictional London department store called Grace Brothers. Broadcast between 1972 and 1985 on BBC1, the sitcom itself spanned ten series (seasons) totaling 69 parts (episodes) — five of which are Christmas specials. ''Are You Being Served?'' was a great success in the UK and also captivated a large audience in Canada and Australia. In the United States, it gained a loyal and enthusiastic following when PBS television stations began airing reruns of it in the late 1980s, along with other popular classic "Britcoms". Since its original release, all ten series — including the Christmas specials — are available on DVD home video. In 2004, the sitcom was ranked 20th in the countdown of ''Britain's Best Sitcom''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sitcom/top11to100.shtml )〕 It is regularly repeated worldwide - (PBS and BBC America in the United States; and BBC UKTV in Australia and New Zealand). From 7 October 2013 to 17 March 2014, 61 episodes of the series were repeated in the UK on BBC Two as part of ''Daytime Classics''.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Are You Being Served? )〕 A further season of repeats were shown on BBC2 during the spring and summer of 2015. ==History== The idea for the show came from Lloyd's brief period in the early 1950s working at Simpsons of Piccadilly, a clothing store which traded for over 60 years until 1999. The inspiration for the store has also been credited to Rossiters of Paignton department store from the time Lloyd and Croft spent there, and the former Clements of Watford. The series was penned under the ''Comedy Playhouse'' series, but the BBC disliked it and refused to air it. The episode ended up being aired as a filler when regularly scheduled Olympic coverage was interrupted due to the Munich massacre during the 1972 Summer Olympics on 8 September 1972, which led to a full series being produced. The pilot was reshown at the beginning of the first series on 14 March 1973. That first series was aired in the same timeslot as ''Coronation Street'' on ITV, and consequently received relatively little attention. However, repeats shown later in the year were much more successful. Although the pilot was produced in colour, the videotape was wiped in the 1970s leaving only a 16mm black-and-white film telerecording. In 2009, the pilot episode was restored to full colour using the colour recovery technique previously used for the ''Dad's Army'' episode "Room at the Bottom". The restored version was first shown on BBC2 on 1 January 2010 as part of a special ''Are You Being Served?'' night. The show became a ratings hit, and after a successful 13-year run, ''Are You Being Served?'' came to an end on 1 April 1985. Of the original cast, only Frank Thornton, Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Wendy Richard and Nicholas Smith appeared in all 69 parts of the programme's 13-year run; these five later featured in the sequel sitcom, ''Grace & Favour'' (also known as ''Are You Being Served? Again!''). In addition, the cast performed in character for a stage sketch on the BBC1 programme ''Variety'' on 19 June 1976. Following the death of Frank Thornton on 16 March 2013, Nicholas Smith is the only surviving member of the original regular cast. The other surviving cast members, Mike Berry and Candy Davis, joined the show in the 1980s. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Are You Being Served?」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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