Watch Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em

Name: Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1973-02-15
Cast: Michael CrawfordMichele Dotrice

1973
2 Seasons
7.6 (4,124)

Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was a British sitcom that aired on BBC from 1973 to 1978. The show starred Michael Crawford as Frank Spencer, a clumsy and accident-prone man who always seemed to find himself in bizarre and hilarious situations. The show was created and written by Raymond Allen.

The show centered around the character of Frank Spencer, who was always well-meaning but seemed to have an extraordinary talent for creating chaos and mayhem wherever he went. Frank was married to Betty, played by Michele Dotrice, and the two of them had a baby named Jessica.

The show was famous for its physical comedy and stunts, which were performed by Crawford himself. Many of the stunts involved Frank attempting to carry out various tasks, such as cooking or DIY, with disastrous consequences. The show was also famous for its catchphrase, "Ooh, Betty!" which Frank would exclaim whenever he was particularly shocked or surprised.

Despite the fact that Frank was a constant source of irritation for those around him, he remained an endearing character who always managed to win the audience over with his enthusiasm and good-natured attitude. The show was also notable for the chemistry between Crawford and Dotrice, who played off each other brilliantly and provided a strong emotional core for the series.

Throughout the show's five-year run, Frank found himself in a wide variety of situations, each of which seemed to be more ridiculous than the last. One memorable episode saw Frank attempting to make a birthday cake for Jessica, which involved him accidentally getting locked in a freezer and nearly freezing to death. Another episode saw the family taking a disastrous holiday to Spain, which ended with Frank getting stranded on a desert island.

Despite its popularity, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was not without its critics. Some critics accused the show of perpetuating negative stereotypes of working-class people as being stupid and incompetent. Others argued that the show's focus on physical comedy was unsophisticated and lacking depth.

However, the show's popularity with audiences was undeniable, and it remains a beloved classic of British comedy. It spawned two Christmas specials and a spin-off series called Michael Crawford's Back in Town, which aired in 1999.

In conclusion, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was a classic British sitcom that starred Michael Crawford as the lovable but accident-prone Frank Spencer. The show was famous for its physical comedy and stunts, as well as its catchphrase "Ooh, Betty!" The chemistry between Crawford and Michele Dotrice was a key element of the show's success, and it remains a beloved classic of British television.

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Seasons

2 1

6. The Baby Arrives

December 27, 1973

Frank rushes into his local hospital crying, "She's having it". After being examined, it turns out Betty has nothing but cramps. It is the fifth such false alarm in a week and the doctors' patience is wearing thin. The hospital's top obstetrician, Sir John Gifford, arrives to find Frank's car in his private space. Frank attempts to remedy the situation and this results in Gifford crashing his car. Later at home, Dr. Smedley pops into the Spencer household to see how things are going but is not impressed to find out that Frank wishes to attend the birth. After reluctantly agreeing to this, Dr. Smedley gives Frank a lift to his local church. The irritable Father O'Hara is none too pleased to see Frank, who has already been to confession many times that week. Frank confesses to envying his comparatively well-off neighbors and is told to do penance. Later that night, Betty starts getting her contractions and Frank rushes her to hospital, losing the house-keys and breaking a window in the process. With an excited Frank (still in his beret) looking on, the Spencer child is born - it is a girl. Overcome with emotion, Frank passes out on the delivery room floor. Later, the Spencers leave the hospital with their baby, who now has her own mini-beret. They find their cat has also given birth on the back seat of their car. Everything is obviously going too well to last; Frank reverses his car out of the hospital and crashes it.

5. Fathers' Clinic

December 20, 1973

Frank is sacked from yet another job - this time working in a photographic lab, where he manages to spill acid down the legs of his supervisor. Back at home, Frank is showing signs of stress so Betty suggests he gets himself involved with her work: looking after two children whose mother is in hospital. Franks goes to meet the children but wrongly assumes them to be babies, hence his presents for them - a plastic duck and a rattle - are somewhat inappropriate. That lunchtime, after shaking off the advances of a homosexual businessman, Frank attends his prenatal class. After accidentally making a suggestive comment to one of the women attendees, the class breaks up in chaos. Frank's next port of call is a bank where he attempts to get a loan. This is refused when the only reference he can offer the bank manager is from his psychiatrist and when he attempts to put up his rented house as security. That afternoon, Frank goes to the zoo with the two children in Betty's care. Much to the kids' amusement, a chimp steals Frank's beret and Frank enters the monkey enclosure to retrieve it. Later, they all go roller skating but Frank builds up too much speed and smashes through a fire exit. After a hair-raising ride through the streets, Frank crashes through a baby clothing shop, wrecking most of the shop's contents in the process.

4. Frank and Marvin

December 13, 1973

Frank is working as a captain on board a riverboat. He beaches the boat on a mud flat and is sacked. Meanwhile at home, Betty makes a secret appointment with Doctor Smedley who confirms that she is pregnant. Betty returns home and tries to break the news to Frank, who thinks the "little addition" to the family is a reference to getting a pet. Eventually the news sinks in and Frank vows to try to win the pools to get enough money to support the child. Frank visits Dr. Smedley's maternity clinic in order to get some advice on the pregnancy and to show Dr. Smedley the somewhat undersized crib he has built. That afternoon, Frank attends a job interview at a camp. His first act is a ventriloquist's dummy called Marvin in the form of a gorilla with a human head - Frank having reversed his car over the proper head. After destroying a microphone, he also demonstrates his other "talents": singing an appalling rendition of ?Early One Morning? whilst doing a dance. Reaching into his pocket for the lyrics, he accidentally sets off his "Vesuvius" - a human firework display. He is extinguished by gallons of foam pumped over him from a foam-generating machine.

3. The Public Relations Course

December 6, 1973

After being sacked from his job with the water board for getting stuck down a sewer, Frank attends a residential course in public relations. On his first evening, Frank joins the other students in an automated canteen that dispenses food from a machine. Frank gets a plate of baked beans by mistake and attempts to stuff them back inside the machine, causing the machine to malfunction and cover everybody in food. Later, in the dormitory, Frank bursts his hot-water bottle and accidentally manages to squirt the contents over an aggressively militant co-attendee on the course. The angry student retaliates by emptying the rest of the water over Frank's bed. However, he has got the wrong bed and a fight ensues. The following morning, the students are nursing their wounds as the first session begins. Frank is selected to take a part in a role-play exercise but starts an argument when he uses insulting phrases - picked up from the militant student - against the course instructor. Convinced the instructor is a quack, the other students walk out of the course. The angry instructor chases Frank out of the grounds.

2. RAF Reunion

November 29, 1973

Frank is getting overexcited because of his forthcoming R.A.F. reunion evening. He is dreaming that he is a World War II pilot, heroically rescuing Betty from the rough antics of some American soldiers. As he wrestles with them, he wakes to find himself fighting with the sofa. As in previous years, when he arrives at the reunion he fails to introduce himself to the Air Commodore, which leads the Commodore to become suspicious as to what exactly Frank got up to in his days in the R.A.F. As it happens, even Frank's first night in his billet started badly, with him caught changing his trousers during an inspection. Trying to hide, he got stuck in a locker, which ended up plummeting down a flight of stairs. After explaining that he joined the air force mainly because he liked the uniform ("a nice blue"), Frank was sent for an aircrew medical. During this he managed to think the hearing test was a game and passed out when he was administered some eye-drops. Frank also succeeded in breaking the gymnasium equipment when he was being tested on his team-leadership skills. When asked to perform a simple fit-the-shapes-in-the-correct-holes test, Frank used all the pieces of wood but jammed them in all the wrong holes! Bells sound and Frank wakes to find himself in bed and wearing one of Betty's night-dresses, having returned home from the reunion in a drunken state.

1. Cliffhanger

November 22, 1973

Frank is looking after his neighbor's chickens and visits the public library to find a book on the subject. He has lost his ticket but thinks he spots it in a tray of 200 other tickets on the counter. The result is the 200 tickets depositing themselves on the library floor. Hastily, Frank returns home to feed the chickens. Trying to force the fowl into the daylight, Frank knocks down the chicken house surrounding him. Though he hastily rebuilds it in a ramshackle fashion, one of the chickens later decides to shift position and it collapses again. Using his newly acquired knowledge of poultry, Frank attempts to bluff his way through a job interview with a local farm-supply firm. Amazingly, he gets the job and is given the use of a car. That weekend, Frank takes Betty on a picnic atop some cliffs on the coast. As they start to drive back home, the car jolts and they discover the car is hanging precariously over the edge of the cliff. They both manage to climb out of the car but Frank decides to climb over the top of the car in order to ditch some heavy fertilizer that he has in the boot. This results in him slipping off the car and he is left hanging onto the bumper with the sea many feet below him. Betty runs off to phone for assistance but because it's a weekend, nobody will help. Luckily, a coach of rugby players stops and hauls the car away from the cliff and Frank to safety. The Spencers return home in the car, strapped to the roof of the coach.

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