I bought the 6-disc DVD for RM78 (Viva la piracy!) and watched it over a few days, a couple of weeks ago. I decided to blog about it to educate uncivilised durian gobblers. LOL! Kidding! This, was in all likelihood my favorite comedy in 1984. Uproarious to say the least!
The series was known for its buffoonish take on national stereotypes, the German woman was dour and humourless; the French woman was sexy and flirtatious; the Swedish woman was liberated and straightforwardly sex-mad; the Chinese woman a uncontrolled Maoist; while the Sikh and Pakistani men were often on the brink of war, and the Spaniard, the Greek and the Italian were macho. Much of the humour also stemmed from the trouble the students had with the English language, their often outrageous speech patterns and the students’ hilarious mispronunciations of English.
Barry Evans, who played Jeremy Brown was evidently murdered in 1997 at the age of 53. George Camiller, who played Giovanni Cuppello, occasionally acts - last seen in Gospel of John. Kevork Malikyan, who played Max Papandrious, acted in the Flight of Phoenix and Indiana Jones’s Last Crusade. Albert Moses, the famous Ranjeet Singh, has his own website http://www.albertmoses.com/. Pik-Sen Lim, who played Chung Su-Lee hails from Penang, Malaysia. Francoise Pascal (Danielle Favre) and Anna Bergman (Ingrid Svensson) are both, not in a forthright manner involved in pornography.
Famous Quotes
Ali Nadim (Pakistani) : “Squeeze me please!”, “Oh Blimey!”, “Jolly Good”
Giovanni Cupello (Italian) : “Santa Maria!”, “Holy Ravioli!”
Maximillian Papandrious (Greek) : “Hokay!”
Jamila Rahjha (Indian) : “God heavening!”
Ranjeet Singh (Punjabi) : “A thousand apologies.”
Chung Su-Lee (Chinese) : “The Democlatic Lepublic Of China”, “…peace-roving Chinese!”
Taro Nagazumi (Japanese) : “Ah-so”
Juan Cervantes (Spanish) : “Por favor?”,”s’awright”
(Excerpt from Wikipedia.com)
A Year Ago
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Tags: Albert Moses, Barry Evans, Cupello, Flight Of Phoenix, Forthright Manner, Francoise Pascal, German Woman, Hokay, Holy Ravioli, Indian God, Jeremy Brown, Kevork Malikyan, Last Crusade, Mispronunciations, National Stereotypes, Outrageous Speech, Penang Malaysia, Ranjeet Singh, Swedish Woman, Thousand Apologies
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:14pm
that’s a classic, man. i remember growing up with that show…
maybe i should get one myself…
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:26pm
Oh Yes! I remember the show!
Like Ranjit, my classmates & I would say “A thousand apologies” when our teacher scolded us. hahaha
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:27pm
I’ve watched a few episodes recently (full and uncut)… the ones shown on m’sian tv were censored quite a bit. Never fails to make me laugh out loud though!
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:37pm
Man that was some series! Never failed to bring genuine laughter. Thanks for reminding us about it. BTW where did you get the 6-disc DVD?
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:46pm
How can you forget the gorgeous Ms Courtney??? “En-tuuuhhh!”
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:48pm
yes ducky like the french and swedish chick very much. but now both chicks danielle & anna are 57 years old ! which made them 29 then ? and it has been 27 years now ? wow what a classic.
August 22nd, 2006 at 4:12pm
People, go get the DVDs - it’s worth every cent! I got mine at Section 14, a new DVD shop @ Jaya Supermarket. Piracy rules.
August 22nd, 2006 at 4:15pm
Wow thanks for the reminder. Loved this series! maybe astro will have a return on this series. u know lar astro = reruns
August 22nd, 2006 at 5:35pm
ahak, i loved that show! i saw the DVD set at the store near my opis, i didn’t ask how much.
that last bit about the quotes was from wikipedia, wasn’t it?
They should rerun it on astro.
August 22nd, 2006 at 5:47pm
niki I don’t know whether Astro will show this series - apparently it’s politically incorrect. There are a lot of uptight people these days….just get the DVD.
simon Yup, the quotes from Wikipedia. RM78 for 6 discs is a bargain if you ask me!
August 22nd, 2006 at 6:30pm
Ok..little old skool here..but i still have the VIDEOS!..yes..VHS :D:D..and still in working order summore..hehehe
Totally loved the show, me n family still joke bout the show, i definitely liked the Italian and Greek dudes.
August 22nd, 2006 at 7:16pm
such classic! i had a crush on mr brown growing up. and i was like what? 6? LOL!
another one to add on my ‘to-collect’ list then.
August 22nd, 2006 at 8:20pm
I was even born I think when the show was around.. but I do remember watching my dad’s collection long time ago… hahahaha… back in school we actually did Msian version of it… good comedy
August 22nd, 2006 at 8:27pm
I havent heard of this show before, but it sure seems hilarious lol. On further thought, am I one of those uncivilised durian gobblers you’re trying to educate?
August 22nd, 2006 at 10:10pm
yeah…sure won’t forget this show!! one of my fav comedy during secondary school… ^_^
August 23rd, 2006 at 12:11am
good morning, is this a changover to wordpress? welcome to the family
September 5th, 2006 at 1:03pm
one of the few genuinely funny TV shows
September 21st, 2006 at 8:42pm
I visited JB several times over the years to buy DVD’s/VCD’s, but never found the MIND YOUR LANGUAGE series. I would appreciate it very much of you could tell me a shop on the internet in Malaysia that I can order a copy from? Terema kasi… Eddie (Australia)
September 21st, 2006 at 10:56pm
Sparks Well, the DVDs I bought were pirated, so I doubt there’s any internet based movie pirates. Can’t find them on torrent? Thanks for dropping by!
March 16th, 2007 at 1:18pm
I too am looking for the VCD or DVD series on MIND your Language .. any could adivse where to buy .. original are okay.. based in Singapore
March 17th, 2007 at 12:02am
joe Hi Joe, it’s easily available in Malaysia now.
And you can purchase it via Amazon too.
March 17th, 2007 at 1:52pm
Would someone please post me a private email with information on how I can get the INDIAN VERSION of Mind Your Language (I forget the Indian name). I bought the 4-DISK DVD set from USA site, and it sure brought back lots of nice memories and laughs! (I am 65). private e-m-a-i-l is vk4an(at)internode(dot)on(dot)net. Thanks, Eddie
March 17th, 2007 at 2:57pm
Sparks Errr, there’s an Indian version?
March 17th, 2007 at 3:37pm
Yeah.. it was in HINDI and was titled: Zaban Sambhal Ke. Boy…would I LOVE to get hold of that series!!! Anyone got a clue on where I might get it?
March 18th, 2007 at 11:29am
hi & tks .. got the 5 disc dvd at Mustafa…approx 80 plsu Singapore $$ .. not sure if I seen the Hindi Version.
March 18th, 2007 at 2:28pm
Sparks I haven’t come across that version, and I think it won’t be long before it becomes available on DVD.
joe Worth the money. It brought back wonderful memories when I watched it again.
June 10th, 2007 at 12:47am
My uncle is Juan Cervantes. I loved this show as a kid.
Nice post!
June 17th, 2007 at 10:06pm
hi, anyone knows the title in chinese? need to ask the shopowners for it..
June 17th, 2007 at 11:33pm
sam That’s cool, he’s my favorite character.
blueyme Goodness, I can’t help you my friend, have you tried to google for it?
June 18th, 2007 at 3:13pm
yup i googled.. but couldnt find.. coz i intend to buy in China.. =)
October 28th, 2007 at 5:30pm
Hi
I bought the CD’s at Mustapha’s. They were original and cost me a bit but it was money well spent. 3 episodes are missing from the first 3 series and they are ” Kill or Cure” “Don’t Forget the Driver” and “Guilty or Not Guilty” These were not in because of copyright reasons. I also got 1 episode from series 4 on VHS before they were taken off. This “Never Say Die” episode has most of the original cast replaced. Raj Patel acted as Farouk Azam and Ali Nadim is gone. ( He died in 1984 I understand) This series was produced by Albert Moses but the TV company went bust and all the episodes were canned for good.
October 28th, 2007 at 5:34pm
As a follow up the series was made into Hindi “Zaban Sambhal Ke ” which means “Mind Your Tongue” and it was also made in American as ” What a Country” with Vijay Amitraj acting in it. 6 Volumes are on sale at Mustapha then but I havent checked since I purchased them last year.
Excerpts are also on youtube.
October 28th, 2007 at 10:45pm
Ranjeet Singh Super stuff! You’re right though, a number of episodes are missing!
November 2nd, 2007 at 8:04am
guys..plzz let me know where can i get them…plzz send me an email of that, coz now i m in bahrain so i’ll get it when back to malaysia…mnah_85@yahoo.com…..email me plzz..doesn’t matter how much it cost…
November 5th, 2007 at 11:53am
matt If you’re in Bahrain, you get can the DVDs on Amazon.com.
November 5th, 2007 at 2:27pm
My name is Ali Nadim, from Lahore, I’m working at the moment, not anywhere at all! LOL! (From 1st series)
November 5th, 2007 at 2:48pm
Thanx a lot..but i m bz working here..do u know any place in malaysia i can bet..coz i will buy when i m back there for days off
November 6th, 2007 at 11:30pm
matt Yeah, check out Digital Mall @ Section 14, Petaling Jaya. There’s a DVD store on the ground floor way at the back. Good luck.
November 7th, 2007 at 12:29pm
thanx buddy….i’ll try to find when i come back….
November 7th, 2007 at 2:47pm
matt If you still can’t find it, drop me an e-mail.
November 7th, 2007 at 2:49pm
ok sure…give me ur email plz…
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:47pm
I watched the series in India and I really loved them. I bought the entire series (as single DVDs) from Amazon for about 15 pounds, but it did not indclude the 3 episodes. Now I understand that you can buy the complete version for about 35 pounds, whic hincludes everything.
February 29th, 2008 at 4:59am
hi, i m in kl now, i’ll be here for few days so i would really like to find these cd’s..plzz guide me to find it in kl…
March 1st, 2008 at 12:20am
matt Hi, for KL, check out Petaling Street…
March 2nd, 2008 at 3:44pm
thanx a lot..finally i found it in petaling street…all my favourites are there..i bought the 1 with 6disk….and also i bought Seinfeld…yeehoooooooo….thanx again…
March 6th, 2008 at 10:32pm
matt Glad I could help.
November 11th, 2008 at 5:00pm
Hey there,
I just bought my set of DVDs from a guy selling it at Low Yat Forum! It sure was nice to watch it again. Really enjoyed all the jokes and the superb acting. Mr. Brown’s one hot teacher too. I remember TV2 showing the series when I was a little kid, probably around 6 or 7. That’s how I started watching it. I’m so glad I have the DVDs now! I love getting reacquainted with shows and movies that I watched when I was younger.
November 11th, 2008 at 7:48pm
Josette - Nice one! See if there is an episode in your DVD, where they take a field trip to Buckingham Palace, and end up in the woods playing a game of “I Spy”. That’s NOT on my DVD collection. Sigh.
November 13th, 2008 at 12:52pm
Hi Gallivanter,
I finished watching all the 6 DVDs in the set that I’d bought and no, there wasn’t an episode on their field trip to the Palace. I’ve also just checked on Wikipedia and found out that a few episodes are missing from my DVD set! How disappointing. And it’s written “The Complete Series” on the box cover!
Season 4 has not been released on DVD yet too. I can’t wait for that one to come out. I wonder when it will come out. This series is just too good. I feel like I want to have all the episodes so I can watch again and again!
Josette’s last blog post..Book Giveaway - An Amazing Story by Carlo Gabbi
November 18th, 2008 at 7:13pm
Josette - Me too! I want the full collection (but pirated of course!)!
Raj Reply:
November 19th, 2008 at 7:29am
Would appreciate knowing if ANYONE has located the HINDI or AMERICAN versions? And…where I can get a copy (origin of no importance)? Any clues on WHERE to get the ‘missing’ episodes in English?
Private email appreciated due to nature of questions.
Thanks/tereema kasi/shokran/dhanyavaad/sucrea
Raj rajiv95[a t]internode(d o t) o n (d o t) n e t
November 20th, 2008 at 8:50pm
Raj - Sorry mate wish I could help you out on that one but I haven’t a clue!
November 23rd, 2008 at 9:40am
I remember this.. hehehhe…
Malaysia tried to do an awful copycat of it…
anyway, I’d prefer Mind Your Language than Mr Bean..
Just plain hilarious…
cdason’s last blog post..Talk About Kuching
November 24th, 2008 at 8:19pm
cdason - Malaysia did? I didn’t know. Mr Bean is CRAP. Nowhere as great as Mind Your Language.
December 15th, 2008 at 2:33pm
I have a collection of ‘Mind Your Language’and watching it realy reminds me of my childhood days. Me and my brother used to watch this ‘Classic’ show. This show is real entertainer for both young and old.The characters are aptly choosen and they were all good actors and looked natural.
January 1st, 2009 at 4:29pm
I LOVE THE PRINCIPAL!!!