You Rang, M'Lord [TV Series] (1990)

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The British sitcom You Rang, M'Lord was a wicked lampoon of the popular drama series Upstairs, Downstairs. The pilot episode, telecast December 29, 1988, endeavored to explain the curious relationship between the upper-crust Meldrum family and their rather disreputable servants. It seemed that during WWI, a pair of larcenous "Tommies," Alf (Paul Shane) and James (Jeffrey Holland), attempted to steal the valuables from a "dead" officer. As it turned out, the corpse was very much alive -- and better still, he was the Hon. Teddy Meldrum (Michael Knowles), brother of fabulously wealthy Lord George Meldrum (Donald Hewlett). Laboring under the misapprehension that James was trying to save his life, Teddy rewarded the man with a job for life as a servant in the Meldrum household. Several years later, who should resurface but James' old chum Alf. Promising to keep secret the truth about the "rescue" in exchange for certain favors, Alf was installed as the Meldrum's butler at the behest of the disgruntled James. Later on, Alf's daughter Ivy (Su Pollard) was hired as a maid, though she kept mum about her family ties with Alf. Lasting 50 episodes, You Rang, M'Lord was seen from January 14, 1990 to April 24, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi