First broadcast in 1992, "Men Behaving Badly" soon became one of the more successful of the BBC comedy shows of the season. And sometimes I wonder why; oh, don't misunderstand, I liked the show.
I just cannot honestly believe that most men are like this. God, I hope not. Because either they are not or I am reasonably normal, or they are and I am really weird. Nevertheless, I do worry.
I do have a few friends who are like Gary and Tony, the two friends who share an apartment in London as well as an interest in beer, television and breasts.
When the first season was broadcast, Gary was living with Dermot (Harry Enfield), who left to travel around Europe and the replacement with Tony I think served to solidify the show in the hearts of its viewers.
Conceived as a look at the lives of two 'ordinary' blokes, the show centers around lager (been to us Americans) and girls. The lager is easy to find in their lives either at the local bar run by Les, one of the most unhygienic people you can imagine. Think of the Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons only dirty and unkempt.
The bar is called The Crown and as bad as Les is, when it is taken over by the entirely socially moronic Ken it goes from one sort of funny to another.
Gary has a long-term girlfriend, Dorothy (Caroline Quentin most well known to U.S. audiences as a member of the "Who's Line Is It?" crew), and Tony has the hots for Deborah (Leslie Ash), the girl upstairs.
And although he swears devotion to her and claims to love her, he has a number of other girlfriends to pass the time and then wonders why Deborah keeps rejecting him. Gary on the other hand, is not afraid to look at other women, even though it causes him to feel guilty if he goes further then look and the one time he does cheat, he feels horrible about it.
Both Gary and Tony share a mutual love of Kylie Minogue and have invited her out for drinks. However, the letters from her agent keep saying she is 'too busy'.
Gary is a branch manager of a small security systems company while Tony drifts from job to job, including male model, barman, record stall owner, home birthing assistant, and postman.
Dorothy, Gary's girlfriend, is a nurse who while she spends a lot of time with Gary, prefers not to move in with Gary, or consider marrying him. She does love him though worries about his selfish and often inconsiderate and makes half-hearted efforts to change him.
Deborah is a restaurant manager who is put off by Tony in spite of finding herself somewhat attracted by him. Even though they do finally get together in series six, their relationship soon moves into an on again/off again status when Deborah gets sick of his clingy attitude, and later, his job as a postman causes him to become more, well, boring. Which demonstrates that you can't please wome….. Uhm, never mind.
Now, while I would not want to be involved with any of these people on a romantic basis, watching them is still fun. And there is a lot of truth in the show, because most men (God help us) are fixated by boobs and beer. It seems to be prevalent around the world.
Martin Clunes and Neil Morrissey are wonderfully cast as Gary and Tony, as are, Caroline Quentin and Leslie Ash as their patient but often selfish in their own way, girlfriends.
And yes, you remember correctly; there was a short lived (thank God) U.S. version of the show that came out in 1996, but it didn't last long. If you ever see it, avoid it like the Asian Bird Flu.
Frankly, what I think is the worst part of the show, is that watched that whether you are male or female you have done or experienced first hand everything that happens somewhere in each series.
The DVD set has outtakes and later a Pub Quiz, which is fun, and the correct answers lead you to more outtakes. An always-positive move on a DVD set to me. In addition, the outtakes are sometimes funnier then the show itself.
Track down the show, either at your local dealer or from BBCAmerica, sit back on your couch with a cold lager and prepare to laugh.

Episode list
Series 1 18 Feb-24 Mar 1992, ITV Tue 8.30pm

Intruders
The Bet
Alarms and Setbacks
Animals
Sex and Violence
My Brilliant Career
Series 2 8 Sep-13 Oct 1992, ITV Tue 8.30pm

Gary and Tony
Rent Boy
How To Dump Your Girlfriend
Troublesome Twelve Inch
Going Nowhere
People Behaving Irritatingly
Series 3 1 July-5 Aug 1994, BBC1 Fri 9.30pm

Lovers
Bed
Casualties
Weekend
Cleaning Lady
Marriage
Series 4 25 May-13 July 1995, BBC1 Thu 9.30pm

Babies
Infidelity
Pornography
3 Girlfriends
Drunk
In Bed With Dorothy
Playing Away
Series 5 20 June-1 Aug 1996, BBC1 Thu mostly 9.30pm

Hair
The Good Pub Guide
Cowardice
Your Mate v Your Bird
Cardigans
Rich and Fat
Home-Made Sauna
Series 6 6 Nov-11 Dec 1997, BBC1 Thu 9.30pm

Stag Night
Wedding
Jealousy
Watching TV
Ten
Sofa
Christmas Special 25 Dec 1997, BBC1 Thu 10.20pm

Jingle B***s!
Last Orders 25 Dec-28 Dec 1998, BBC1 various times around 9.30pm

Performance
Gary In Love
Delivery