NBC broadcast more than 200 episodes of Friends, not one of which I've seen in its entirety. BBC broadcast 12 episodes of The Young Ones, all of which I've seen 200 times. I exagerate, but I have seen The Young Ones enough, both in repeats on MTV in the '80s and on DVD (buy it here) today, to know that Rick stands as one of the greatest characters in the mostly unfunny history of situation comedies. See this clip of Rick, as his alter ego the People's Poet, to begin to comprehend his greatness.

Huge fan of the Young Ones eh? Can you tell me the name of Vivian's pet hedgehog? Friends of mine named their band after him in high school.

And what about the terrific musical interludes in the show like Motorhead playing "Ace of Spades"? What a great show.

Were there really just 12 episodes? Classic, every one. And the poster above is right, the Motorhead "Ace of Spades" music segment was awe-inspiring. I can't remember the other music pieces at all, but that one is blazoned on my brain.

love friends, never heard of the young ones.

a young emma tompson was on the game show episode, and i remember madness doing "our house" on another episode.

Special Patrol Group was the name of Vivian's hamster, Bruce (I didn't have to google it!). Dexy's Midnight Runners also appeared as a musical guest. They did music because the BBC allocated more money to variety shows than to sit-coms.