Beane's of Boston - (Pilot) German Week

To keep from being fired by his uncle, Franklin Beane had a bright idea for a theme week for the Men's and Ladies' Wear department of Beane's of Boston department store.
This is the pilot of the American adaptation of Are You Being Served.
Chapters:
00:00 - Theme Tune
00:36 - Clothing Is Down
03:58 - Opening Time
12:25 - Beane's Check-In
14:23 - Only One Pair of Strumpfs
16:41 - All Tied Up
18:30 - German Atmosphere
20:04 - Huns In The Elevator
20:58 - The Dance
22:15 - Too Hasty With That Resignation
23:19 - Ending Credits

[@addie_is_me]

Thank you for the upload. I loved getting to see another version of AYBS.

[@Morrissey_04]

Thank you

[@jonathannelson103]

I'm sorry. This was actually painful to watch. They used the same gags but never attempted to string them together.

[@NeilHollis]

The uk gracebrothers id better

[@l.salisbury1253]

Well, speaking for myself- and I am UNANIMOUS in this- "Beans" doesn't hold a candle to the UK original! (Not even close!)

[@sprint955st]

The audience must have been plied with drink and handsomely rewarded.

[@83Roboto]

An Americanized version of "Are You Being Served". Doesn't work. Nothing worked like the original. They tried the same thing on Australian TV with John Inman. That one was even worse.

[@Morrissey_04]

❤❤❤❤😂😂😂😂😂 Love this show in British and Australia and American 😅😅😅😅

[@takohamoolsen2486]

Not as funny as the British, but this is still good. John Hillerman was a brilliant actor. I remember him as Dr Watson in the movie 'Hands of a Murderer', one of the fave movies of my late dad. Thanks for the uploads.

[@GothGuy885]

John Hillerman was the perfect Persona for Mr Peacock, as was Frank Thornton as Capt Peacock, in the original Brit-com " are you being served?"

[@lucywillis4174]

This is everything Americans get wrong about comedy...

[@kitiowa]

I disagree (sort of). I would have adapted a few things differently but it was better balanced at keeping Are You Being Served components in tact while putting American context somewhat decently. Example- having a context for German Week in contrast to other department stores doing ethnic themes. I think it was actually clever to use German Week for a pilot. They were able to take one of the top episodes of AYBS and make it a setup surprisingly well. Falling sales and the German Week gimmick was married really well to lay out the characters and the situational setup. Charlotte's line about war service was actually better than the original. Mrs. Slocum being laid out by a land mine from an air force is illogical (AYBS).

[@JoeyLamontagne]

I can’t see Mrs. Garrett being Mrs. Slocombe

[@EricBrunoBorgman]

I assume it never got past the pilot show. This was pretty bad and I think the Australian version was pretty bad too.

[@FrederickFeatherstone]

Yes, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, the show never got a second episode.

[@zorenxam4693]

1 episode that's it.

[@fjccommish]

Terrible. They decided not to show any interaction with customers.

[@FrederickFeatherstone]

I hadn't even noticed that until now, and I've watched the episode several times. I was wondering what else the episode was missing from Are You Being Served.

[@fjccommish]

@@FrederickFeatherstone They changed it all to highlight the young manager instead of an ensemble.

[@lucywillis4174]

Customers cost money...

[@derekhart3308]

Never realised there was a German version of Are you being Served.

[@kitiowa]

That was actually much better than I expected! They did as decent a job as anyone could expect. Charlotte and John and Tom were as apt as I can imagine for an American version. I appreciated the adaptation. It made the American context less contrived than I feared. It actually made the jokes not seem as warmed over potatoes. Where the British works it was there and where an American joke was better they put it in. Some jokes were more artfully "translated" than I would have expected. There is just no way it could live up to Are You Being Served BUT I could see myself watching and enjoying. I actually kind of wish there were other episodes I could watch to see if they could have made it work or if the broader tendency of remakes being dreadful were to hold.

[@ShamrockParticle]

Tom Poston and Charlotte Rae steal the show, but this translation to US audiences just feels half-baked and falls flat. Most actors are reciting lines without comedic timing. Alan Sues is third-best in the cast, but doesn't quite make the US version of Humphries as consistent as needed.

[@kitiowa]

John Hillerman should be included. He does an excellent job doing a "Captain Peacock" that fits an American context. I agree they didn't seem to know what they were going to do with the Humpries character. I don't blame the actor, the lines given seem to be a compilation of three characters. Kind of odd because the writing wasn't bad with the others.

[@Dontcareifyoudont]

Its was ok. Of course not even close to being the UK or the Australian version. Charlotte Rae being Miss Slocumbe was probably the best acting character on their.

[@paulday6875]

Mr Johnson Bubba from Sanford and son !

[@770WT]

Trying to do the American version of Are you being served ?

[@moodydeb6814]

There are certain things which do not translate well from the UK to the US, & "Are You Being Served?" is one of them. John Inman is the quintessential Mr. Humphries & is irreplaceable, as is Mollie Sudgen & the rest of the British cast. The Australian version of "Are You Being Served?" is better & tends to make me laugh (of course, they also have John Inman). The American version doesn't work. Good thing it was never pursued as a series.

[@ellenthorne8222]

A waste of John Hillerman, Charlotte Rae and Tom Postan

[@lucywillis4174]

What if Mr Humphreys was played by Will Farell???

[@Sunshine-zm1fx]

Omg a feature film with il Ferrel would be amazing!

[@deidraboswell8451]

Horrible

[@lame.humor-guy5253]

terrible.

[@saturdaisy8576]

Wow, the acting in this was terrible. I love the original series, this was just painful to watch

[@bekindtoanimals2189]

Agreed, but to be fair, the acting of early 80's sitcoms were just as bad.

[@stephenguppy7882]

What a crock of crap compared to the original. That laughter MUST be canned.

[@gtownlad77]

Only slightly better than the Australian version I guess they have more money than them, but it’s still crap. Only one worth watching is Mr. Humphries.

[@redjack1876]

Not even close to as good as the original British Are You Being Served?. To much change in the rolls played and the actors just did not click like the original. Glad it was never picked up.

[@joe-jw2cd]

Terrible

[@bleukollar]

wow, and i thought the Australian version was bad, this is a hundred times worse; its like they're not even trying, the English idiom jokes just don't translate well to American.

[@lindaharris9133]

Hell No!

[@luisreyes1963]

A poor attempt to Americanize a classic Britcom. They even had the gall to make the Mr. Rumbold character as a clueless young man.

[@dannyburdick1640]

I have never seen this American version of the British "Are You Being Served?"! I didn't realize the show was American until I saw Charlotte Rae from "Facts of Life". I don't know why they used the same script for the American version as well as the Australian version. The only thing that changed are the actors and characters.

[@SassyPetal]

So…there’s no Mr. Rumbold? This is painful! Mr. Humphries is portrayed ridiculously…like he’s a joke instead of a lovable, precocious, classy gentleman. Such a lousy attempt at one of the best comedies of all time…🫣😭🤢