Father Ted: The Holy Trilogy (DVD, 2004, 5-Disc Set)

Absolutely hysterical, a classic collection! The humor is so raunchy and in-your-face, yet pure and simple which makes the characters ever so loveable. We haven't had anything like this in America! This DVD set features all of the episodes, including "A Christmassy Ted", interviews with Ardal O'Hanlon and more.
Basically it's about a group of "outcast" priests (and perhaps the whole community!) living together on an island off the coast of Ireland. Father Dougal McGuire (Ardal O'Hanlon) - I think Bishop "Len" Brennan describes him best when he calls him a "Cabbage" and "Forrest Gump". Dougal just has no clue - how DID he ever become a priest?! Father Jack Hackett (Frank Kelly), what words can describe him but "Drink, Arse and Feck"!!?? Has there every been a more lovely housekeeper than Mrs. Doyle (Pauline Flynn?), who was so attentive to the needs of "tea drinkers"? And of course Father Ted (Dermot Morgan, RIP), the most sensible of the group yet he's not without his own quirks. Being the main character, he really ties everything together. What a shame he left our earth the day after making the very last episode. But he left us with this classic, to be cherished, because in my opinion it is one of the best and funniest comedy collections ever!

Absolutely one of the best BBC comedies ever. Father Ted seems to have a penchant for doing the wrong thing. He is a man prone to vanity, a desire for fame and fortune, and most of all a continual struggle against lust. There is even a regular passing reference to Father Ted being caught embezzling, which is what apparently got him exiled to Craggy Island (To which Father Ted always replies, "no no, the money was just resting in my account, and I was about to move it on...").

Father Ted’s constant companion is Father Dougal McGuire; a priest who is so completely clueless it's a wonder he can stand up. He’s got the innocent personality of a child, married with the intelligence of a bag full of rocks.
Dougal: Can I stay up tonight to watch the scary film?
Ted: Uhh, no no no. The last time you stayed up to watch a scary film you ended up having to sleep in my bed. I wouldn't mind, but it wasn't even a scary film.
Dougal: Oh come on, Ted; a Volkswagen with a mind of its own. If that isn't scary, I don't know what is.

It really is a wonder how Dougal ever became a priest.
Dougal: I've heard about those cults, Ted. People dressing up in black and saying our Lord's going to come back and save us all.
Ted: Uhh, no Dougal, that's us... That's Catholicism.
Dougal: ... Oh right.

Father Jack, is the old retired priest who simply hates everything and everyone. His entire vocabulary consists of four words: "DRINK!" "GIRLS!" "FECK!" and "ARSE!" (Kudos to the writers for creatively getting around the censorship of swearing by using words like "Feck" or "Fup Off"). Father Ted is constantly attempting to manage Father Jack’s behavior, usually with little success.

And finally there’s the parochial house’s caretaker: Mrs. Doyle. She is a woman who is so devoted to the comfort of others she borders on being a stalker. She is constantly pestering everyone if they’d like a tea. If they refuse, she simply repeats, “Oh, go on.” Until they relent. One of the best exchanges was between Father Ted and Mrs. Doyle:
Mrs. Doyle: Would you like a cookie Father?
Ted: No, thank you.
Mrs. Doyle: Oh, go on.
Ted: No, really, thank you.
Mrs. Doyle: Oh, go on. They’re quite good. They’ve got cocaine in them.
Ted: No… wha… what? They’ve got cocaine in them???
Mrs. Doyle: Oh, no, not cocaine. God, what am I on about. What do I mean now? - the little things... Raisins!

The situations Father Ted manages to get himself into are made even more hilarious by the ridiculous surroundings they occur in. Like a beauty contest on this desolate island, out in the middle of a rocky field with nothing else around and an audience of 4 people. Or deciding to go on a vacation in a ridiculously tiny trailer in the middle of a rocky field... that look exactly like the rocky field where they came from!

The supporting cast is excellent, especially Graham Norton as the permanently and annoyingly happy Father Noel Furlong, and the brillian Jim Norton as Bishop Brennan, who absolutely HATES Father Ted. They simply take the ridiculousness of Father Ted's problems and amplify them to hillarious result.

Highly recommend this series.

Father Ted is probably one of the funniest sitcoms ever made. Father Ted Crilly(Dermot Morgan) a priest who was banished from mainland Ireland for keeping charity money in his own bank account and then living it up in Las Vegas.....although he has said that part was a misunderstanding. He lives with a dumb,innocent young priest, Dougal Maguire(Ardal O'Hanlon) and a drunken, vulgar retired priest, Father Jack(Frank Kelly). Ted is probably one of the very few on the island with any brain cells working full time. Craggy Island is purgatory but the island dwellers try to make it heaven with little success. Mrs. Doyle(Pauline McLynn), the housekeeper, is constantly trying to pour tea down everyone's gullet and will not take NO for an answer. This show is hysterically funny and absurd at the same time. I loved it!

I bought this for my sister for Christmas.She has wanted it for several years, so she got it this year.After she watched it,I watched it to see what all the fuss was about.I don't normally like british comedy, the humour is usually lost on me. I found Father Ted to be quite the opposite, I loved the characters, the storylines, it was very funny. The extras were fantastic also. I recommend this DVD very much.

Father Ted is an Irish comedy made by and starring Irish people.
It's not British!!!
I'd like to make that distinction.
Nothing against the British.