Review of The Good Life

I think what makes "The Good Life" work and makes it enduring is not so much the premise (it's a little hard to believe that the Good's could do what they do to their yard and (A) sustain themselves with it and (B) not get the ENTIRE neighborhood on their case). But rather it is the portrayal and interaction of the characters. Tom is a forty year old class clown who says and does outrageous things with such a twinkle that you (almost) forgive him. Felicity Kendall is simply charming, good-natured and fun to watch navigate the mayhem that becomes their home. Jerry (the next door neighbor) is hen-pecked by his wife, somewhat covetous of Tom's wife and simply disbelieving of the decision of the Goods to devote their lives to self-sufficiency. Yet, he's terribly tolerant of Tom's intrusions into his comfortable home and constantly willing to assist them even at his own inconvenience. But my favorite character has to be Margo (as played by Penelope Keith). A lesser actress and writers would have made her the villain of the piece, an irredeemable snob that is constantly a thorn in everyone's side. Wisely, they go a different direction. She is snobbish but loyal to her friends, haughtily generous even while complaining (watch the episode when she comes and helps the Goods harvest their crop) and as the one character of the four with no sense of humor is often the funniest. It's sad to realize that both Paul Eddington and Richard Briers have passed on but we're lucky to still have access to this good-natured series that may not have aged as well as some but can still provide entertainment more than forty years later.