Nighty Night - The Complete Series 1

Amazon.com

Some turn to scary movies for squirms, others to comedy. For the latter, the BBC's Nighty Night packs more squirms into a single episode than an entire season of The Office or Curb Your Enthusiasm. Combined. In other words, this blacker-than-black Britcom is so dark it could almost qualify as horror. Simply put, Jill Tyrell (writer/creator Julia Davis, Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself) is the hairdresser from hell. She may lack the horns and the forked tail, but her approach to life couldn't be more demonic. The vicious fun begins when preternaturally passive hubbie Terry (Kevin Eldon) is diagnosed with cancer--a malignant brain tumor, no less. After he's hustled off to the hospital for treatment, Jill tells everyone in town, including compassionate vicar Gordon Forks (Michael Fenton Stevens), that Terry has died and drops by the local dating agency to find a suitable replacement. Meanwhile, the ever-optimistic Cath Cole (Rebecca Front), who has MS, moves in next door. Upon meeting Cath's selfish spouse, Don (Angus Deayton, One Foot in the Grave), Jill decides he's the one. Her seduction plan begins by using Cath to get to him. When Don, who favors more pneumatic types--like the vicar's wife, Sue (Felicity Montagu)--proves resistant to her charms, Jill sets her sights on their teenaged son. Produced by Steve Coogan (24 Hour Party People), Nighty Night premiered in the US on the Oxygen Channel. Although there are only six episodes in the first series, the terrifying Mrs. Tyrell wreaks an admirable amount of havoc in each, culminating in one of the most hilariously squirm-inducing season finales in the Beeb's storied history. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews:

Shameless and hilarious.......2007-08-31

If you like shows about really bad people (like Seinfeld) being shamelessly awful...and hysterically funny at the same time, you'll like this. The main character has no scruples, no shame, no limits. You'll be horrified and exhilarated by her wicked ways! Very, very funny.

Absolutely Brilliant!.......2007-08-02

Series One was an eye-opener because, as many other reviewers have noted, the lead character is beyond description. You'd never want to meet her like in person because she never fails to find the best in herself--at the expense of others. I just watched Series Two in London, and I couldn't believe the lengths she goes to capture her man. (After you've seen the artificial insemination scene in the hospital you'll understand completely.) Here's a call to the BBC to release Series Two in America. The actress/writer said she can't imagine there'll be Series Three because she's not sure where the story might head. Let's hope she changes her mind and that Cath, Glenn, Don, and "Linder" will find the light of day again.

As to the reviewer who complained about the endless filler at the start, I have no idea what he's talking about. My DVD player zipped through the ads, etc., straight to the show. Ignore that review.

Worst DVD I ever bought........2007-07-06

This DVD forced me to watch the advertisements for the FBI, studio, and about a hundred other DVDs. All the remote control buttons were disabled. It seemed like hours. My other DVDs all allow either the menu button, next button, or fast forward button to work. Not this horrible product. By the time I was allowed to see what I paid for, I was so irritated, that I could not enjoy the program.

Next night, I tried to watch episode two. But, it tried to force me to watch all the advertisements again. At least the "Open" button worked. The only way to watch this ****, is to insert it before fixing supper. After eating it might be ready to show some entertainment.

Fabulous.......2007-06-27

Well I have to say I have never heard of Nighty Night but was actually on here to buy the 3rd session of The L Word (great program) and found the reviews that other people had writen and trust me they are all true it is very funny I have been choking with laughter Jill is a mental and I can't wait to get hold of session 2 it's a classic especially if you like good english comedy this is the best I have seen in along time forget Little Britain forget Black Books forget Coupling just remember Nighty Night!! I highly recommend to buy this you will love it or you are not wired up right.

For Advanced Viewers Only.......2006-11-11

There are some TV shows that break new ground, and for the most part, it is the British who blaze the trail. Like Absolutely Fabulous and the League of Gentlemen before it, Night Night doesn't push the envelope of outrageous comedy and good taste, it leapfrogs it, setting new standards of limits. It does so not in the vapid, nicked, and uninspired frolicking in familiar materieal of Little Britain (even bad shows can manage awards), but in a surprisingly subtle and even insidious way. Please search writer and performer Julia Davis' comedy pedegree (including work with the vaunted Steve Coogan, and you shall see why her hitting the comedy bullseye with Night Night is no accident. While some will be uncomfortable with MS, physical disability, and assistive, adaptive technology along with alleged abuses by family members being ripe for satire, one can't help but laugh anyway. Now, you understand this is not for Friends and Seinfeld junior classmen. The hideous comparison of Nighty Night with the non-laughter effect, poorly executed, awkward and stammering performances of inferior actors coping with inferior material (not bothering to write a script, even a thoughtless one, makes for a really cheap show that HBO can't help but air by merits of economy, not comedy) to Curb Your Entusiam declared on the DVD package is the height of cynicism by equally cheap-skate Warner Home Video (they won't pay fees to use Ab Fab's real, signature opening music of the old 70's song "This Wheel's on Fire" that sets the mood so perfectly, nor will they pay fees for other music used prominently in many other BBC TV series--therefore, it is edited out in U.S. DVD releases)affirms the notion that the the market clods at Warner have never watched Nighty Night or, worse, are attempting to lure those raised on mediocrity in television into something for which they surely aren't ready. Nighty Night and Curb Your Enthusiam have not a thing in common. Nighty Night is beyond the cutting edge; be prepared to be shocked; then be shoced that you laugh.
While series 1 delights in its subtle methods--one of the most hilarious scenes involves sexuality, but rather than resort to the quick and crass knock-down exercises seen on Little Britain, Julia Davis allows for silence to play-out as each character is allowed the classic comedic reaction to the scene--series 2 seems to go for the more obvious, and slightly less thougtful gags. However, the first episode of series 2 is among the enitire series' best, but the final episode of series 2 is the weakest, and Julia's attempt to tie up the loose ends makes for a strangley unsatisfying ending to such superior episodes preceeding it.
We must forgive Ms. Davis, for she is only human, and overall, so much of Nighty Night is so strong and clever, refreshingly shocking, as is most of the best comedy created in our culture. This is not the flaccid Arrested Develpment. Nighty Night is the real thing. Truely fresh, grond-breaking comedy that will hvae you howling, provided you are old enough to graduate from Scrubs to watch what grown-ups who have seen it all, view.

Nighty Nights (Nighty Night/Nighty Night 2)

Average customer rating:

help my son to sleep

Nighty Nights (Nighty Night/Nighty Night 2)
Starring: Nighty Night
Manufacturer: Peter Pan
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( N ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Children's Music | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000083C45
Release Date: 2003-01-28

Amazon.com

Nighty Night
Could it be magic? Call this reviewer gullible, but this unique little video (which clocks in at a more-than-adequate 20 minutes) not only put a toddler and cocker spaniel to sleep in the prescribed time, but it got an adult to nod off (way before big people's bedtime, too). Nighty Night offers up a combination of footage and music--without any narration--that culminates in the eponymous Nighty Night. The video comprises four distinctive little films that, upon initial viewing, seem a queer combination. But it works. The first is reminiscent of a family home video of a visit to the zoo or farm--there's lots of footage of animals (cute ones, of course). There's a slight shift in music and suddenly the animals begin to yawn and stretch. Pretty soon the viewers begin to emulate the onscreen action. Lilting music accompanies the screen's change into a starry sky. The stars slowly begin to fade until the sky is black and the music somber. Sure, it sounds odd, if simplistic, but it's pretty darn miraculous. The video's packaging boasts that it'll provide children with a soothing bedtime routine, and indeed, here's a rarity: some truth in advertising. (Ages 2 to 6) --N.F. Mendoza

Nighty Night II
Much like children before bedtime, the animals in this wordless 16.5-minute video eat and play. To the upbeat musical score, ducklings splash, piglets nurse, and llamas and rabbits chow down on what must be assumed is dinner. Within five minutes the animals slow down: monkey mamas recline with their youngsters, kangaroos paw a fresh sleeping place in the dirt, and piglets yawn--all to the strains of recognizable classic melodies. By 10 minutes, these images of sleepy ferrets and ponies are intercut with views of the night sky. At the 14th minute, it's all sky, and at 16 minutes the music cuts out for the last 30 seconds of peaceful, silent sky. Although billed as a nighttime tape, it could perhaps be even more useful for lulling unwilling youngsters down for a nap--a less-guilt-inducing use for those preoccupied with what experts think about TV before bedtime. (Ages 2 to 6) --Kimberly Heinrichs

Customer Reviews:

help my son to sleep.......2003-03-21

since my baby is 10 month old, it's hard for me to put him to bed. i tried the rocking and the swinging, it just did not work anymore. as i was watching tv, dr phill mcgraw introduce this tape and he said that it help children to sleep. so i bought it. i bought the nighty night 1 and 2 in one... i also bought it on dvd. (it is so much easier, there is no need to remember to rewind the tape and the time it takes to rewind... i do not have the patient). the first time i played the time my son sit and watch... as the music slow down his eyes do...really do get tired.... and he did sleep at the end....eventhough sometimes it does not work the first time... i tried on the second episode on him...it did work.. have patient....(hey...i'm learning tooo_)they will go to sleep and by feeding him a warm milk.... it work faster. i do not mind how they edit the video...as long as he can sit and sleep on my arm works for me.

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