Originally published at:http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/bottom/31133/in-praise-of-rik-mayall-and-ade-edmondsons-bottom The recent passing of Rik Mayall led to legions of fans hitting up Netflix and Youtube to relive the late comedian’s greatest moments. And while the ground-breaking 80s alternative comedy opus The Young Ones and his turn as Lord Flashheart in Blackadder seemed to be the most quoted on social media, it felt like Bottom, the grisly, profane flatshare comedy Mayall and long time collaborator Ade Edmondson made in the early 90s, was left out of the conversation. Which is a shame, because it might just be their masterpiece. It’s kind of easy to see how Bottom got forgotten. The Young Ones was capital-I Important, not only in terms of breaking alternative comedy into the mainstream, but also as being as much a time capsule of the Anti-Thatcher zeitgeist as The Smiths or Adrian Mole. Bottom, on the other hand, was just two guys being debauched in a flat. Also, The Young Ones was aired on MTV in the USA during the 80s, giving it a small but loyal international following long before American anglophiles swapped torrents of Spaced and Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace online. Bottom, however, was rarely shown outside of the UK. (As an aside...

Originally published at:http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/bottom/31133/in-praise-of-rik-mayall-and-ade-edmondsons-bottom The recent passing of Rik Mayall led to legions of fans hitting up Netflix and Youtube to relive the late comedian’s greatest moments. And while the ground-breaking 80s alternative comedy opus The Young Ones and his turn as Lord Flashheart in Blackadder seemed to be the most quoted on social media, it felt like Bottom, the grisly, profane flatshare comedy Mayall and long time collaborator Ade Edmondson made in the early 90s, was left out of the conversation. Which is a shame, because it might just be their masterpiece. It’s kind of easy to see how Bottom got forgotten. The Young Ones was capital-I Important, not only in terms of breaking alternative comedy into the mainstream, but also as being as much a time capsule of the Anti-Thatcher zeitgeist as The Smiths or Adrian Mole. Bottom, on the other hand, was just two guys being debauched in a flat. Also, The Young Ones was aired on MTV in the USA during the 80s, giving it a small but loyal international following long before American anglophiles swapped torrents of Spaced and Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace online. Bottom, however, was rarely shown outside of the UK. (As an aside...