Mrs. Brown's Boys

by Pa Rock

TV Junkie

No matter how much time I spend "working" at the computer each day, running into town for cardiac rehab, groceries, or to purchase my daily one-dollar "Show-Me Cash" lottery ticket, or feeding the birds, or checking the mail - I always manage to set aside some "me" time in the late afternoon to watch telelvision and de-stress.  I did away with cable a decade ago, and now I am a streamer currently using three services:  (Amazon Prime - boo, hiss, BritBox, and PBS Masterpiece).

My favorite television programs are British mysteries and police dramas, which I find primarily on BritBox.  I like British comedies (Britcoms), as well.  I am also becoming a big fan of the offerings on PBS Masterpiece, many of which bear strong similarities to BritBox fare.

Because I have been streaming for more than a decade, I am beginning to run out of new material to view, so I am always on the lookout for new offerings or old programming that I initially neglected.  Sometimes the shows that I overlooked turn out to be gems.

One of those recently unearthed gems is an Irish comedy series called Mrs. Brown's Boys, which began as a radio program and then morphed into a televission series on the BBC in 2011.  The show is so popular that it has even spawned a couple of movie specials.  It is currently still in production, and I have just started viewing Season 3.

Mrs. Brown's Boys revolves around the chaotic family life of a widowed Irish mother, her five adult children - four of whom are male, and, as of the beginning of Season 3, four grandsons.  They reside in a small house in Dublin, Ireland, which is where most of the series is filmed and the activity occurs.  Agnes Brown, the mother and lead character in the comedy series, is foul-mouthed and has no filters.  Her language is not for the faint of heart, but it is her everyday speech, and after a few episodes she begins to sound somewhat normal.

Despite the raw language, Mrs. Brown's Boys is hysterically funny - for several reasons.  It is a brilliantly written 30-minute sitcom.  The primary writer is Irish comedian Brendan O'Carroll, a male who also happens to play the lead character of Agnes Brown.  The show is filmed before a live audience with whom the cast occasionally interacts.  And, the stage concept of a fourth wall - the idea that when the audience views the action in a room on stage, such as in Mrs. Brown's kitchen, there are three walls visibly present with appropriate doors windows, furnishings, etc, and the audience is watching through an imaginary fourth wall - that concept of a fourth wall is completely destroyed in this series.

The cast almost routinely steps out of character and interacts with the technicians and cameramen who are filming the show.  At one point in an early episode Mrs. Brown's cell phone rings, she answers it, and walks over and hands her phone to a cameraman saying, "It's for you."  At another point in a different episode the group is sitting in the local pub and Mrs. Brown needs her purse - which she has forgotten to bring.  She stands, without comment, and walks around the end of that set and into the one that is her kitchen at home, picks up her purse, and then walks back into the pub scene.  These lapses often appear to be totally unplanned and leave the audience and the cast rollicking with laughter.

The cast, and particularly Mrs. Brown, shows no mercy when a cast member flubs a line and will usually make fun of them while the cameras are rolling.  The show is a very immersive experience for the audience in the studio -  and it feels that way to the audience at home also.

Another hallmark of Mrs. Brown's Boys is the closeness and camaraderie of the large cast.  Everyone is having a good time during the filming, and it shows.  That is likely due, at least to some degree, to the fact that several of them are related to each other.  The lady who plays Mrs. Brown's only daughter is, in real life, Brendan O'Carroll's wife,  two of the main characters are his adult children by a former wife, and another is his sister.  Mrs. Brown's grandson, Bono, in the show, is O'Carrroll's actual grandson.  It is, to a large extent, a family affair.

Mrs. Brown's Boys is always fresh, lively, and very very funny.  Check it out if you get the chance.