Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Life Imitates Art
One year ago I took a look at the classic Britcom Yes, Minister. And just today I was reminded of how great that show really was.
It turns out that the state of Virginia has built a brand-new prison...but has no prisoners to put in it. Administering an empty prison can be quite complicated, as well as quite expensive: it cost $715,000 this year alone just to maintain the facility in its current condition.
Just in case you never could have imagined a bureaucracy so bumbling as to do something like construct a prison without being able to fill it, the writers of Yes, Minister did. One of the best episodes tells the story of a hospital that is brand-new, and fully staffed, but without patients.
The minister decides he needs to investigate the hospital, and is taken there to meet with the directress and the labor union's representative:
For those of you who haven't watched the show before, a linguistic note: very often the crazier characters are given regional accents, such as the maniacal Scots trade unionist in this episode.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I find most of life here in the district mimics Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. I frequently come home from work, after reading the paper, and pop in an episode to deal with all the insanity. So brilliant.
Try coming to "Crook" County, Illinois, some time, if you want insanity. At least in DC the people in the bureaucracy seem competent on first glance, kind of like how a permanent secretary who read classics at Oxford seems trustworthy.
Post a Comment