As has been stated on this site, the lead character of "Mog" was intended to be played by Marty Feldman. Following his death, the part was given to Enn Reitel.
Feldman would have been better in the part, since he would have given the series an unworldly, surreal feeling. Reitel, whilst being a better actor, is essentially a straight man playing foil to a large number of eccentric characters, so this series is disturbing rather than surreal.
As has been mentioned by another reviewer, none of the characters in the show are actually insane, rather they are fantasists who are unable to deal with everyday life & so they have retreated into their own imaginary worlds. Think of the "barfly"who kids himself that he is a popular character & everybody's friend in his local pub, when actually his " friends" consider him to be a pathetic loser whose main social value is for them to make jokes at his expense. Worse still, think of the lonely kid who talks to imaginary friends and pretends his school routine is just a bad dream. Quite frankly I don't think such people deserve derision.
This series does have its amusing moments. In particular I remember the character of "Earl", a West Indian who kids himself that he is a member of the aristocracy. He has some great one liners, and the jokes are at the expense of the English aristocracy, rather than at the expense of West Indians. But overall this series is in poor taste, and I don't recommend it.
Feldman would have been better in the part, since he would have given the series an unworldly, surreal feeling. Reitel, whilst being a better actor, is essentially a straight man playing foil to a large number of eccentric characters, so this series is disturbing rather than surreal.
As has been mentioned by another reviewer, none of the characters in the show are actually insane, rather they are fantasists who are unable to deal with everyday life & so they have retreated into their own imaginary worlds. Think of the "barfly"who kids himself that he is a popular character & everybody's friend in his local pub, when actually his " friends" consider him to be a pathetic loser whose main social value is for them to make jokes at his expense. Worse still, think of the lonely kid who talks to imaginary friends and pretends his school routine is just a bad dream. Quite frankly I don't think such people deserve derision.
This series does have its amusing moments. In particular I remember the character of "Earl", a West Indian who kids himself that he is a member of the aristocracy. He has some great one liners, and the jokes are at the expense of the English aristocracy, rather than at the expense of West Indians. But overall this series is in poor taste, and I don't recommend it.