As someone who grew up watching the original show this was a bit hard to watch. There's certainly no replacing the original cast the only bight spot was Mr Grainger even though it made no sense why he would be back but never the less was a spot on impression of the late Arthur Brough. Mrs Slocombe looked well over the top in the make up and Mr Humphries... well there's just one John Inman. And I'm sure this is just me nerding out a bit by Captain Peacock would never be bagging merchandise for the costumer. It's a silly detail but it bothered me silly enough. Some memories are just better left not revisited.

This show tried too hard to be funny and failed, for the devil is in the details! The very first thing that seemed all wrong was to find Captain Peacock bagging a customer's purchase- a glaring error also noted by another reviewer. The original CP would *never ever* condescend to assist behind the counter. Rumbold is not usually involved in risque encounters with his secretary, but this series will have you believe otherwise. This series failed to recapitulate Rumbold's generally slow-witted demeanor and managerial pretensions. It was painful to watch the new Mister Humphreys totally fail at emulating the graceful mincing walk and charming idiosyncrasies of the original WCH. Mister Conway and Miss Brahms made no lasting impression. Sherri Hewson's shocking pink hair and feline jokes couldn't quite completely recapture the magic of Molly Sugden's Mrs. Slocombe. Only Roy Barraclough succeeded in his comedic attempts at portraying Ernest Grainger. All in all, this colorless series hovers painfully between being a poorly contrived pastiche and an awful parody of a beloved classic!

A lesson I'm afraid this era of producers, and directors still have yet to learn. It is difficult enough to catch lightning in a bottle. A second go usually just gets you singed and humiliated for your trouble. One only need look at why the first was so successful to see why this refurbished one fell so flat. The writers of the first were writing about their own life experiences. It was personal. It was a comical story they wanted to share. I would be hard-pressed to believe that the writers of this shared any of those experiences. The characters in this "Special" were grotesque exaggerations of nuanced comedy. The character of Mr. Humphries is a prime example of this. In the original, one never knew the sexual inclinations of Mr. Humphries. In this, the actor beats you over the head with it in the first few seconds; as if he were some comedy serial killer bent on pummeling the interest out of the audience. I will save readers the breakdowns of all the characters I was able to hold my dinner down for. Mercifully Mr. Grace and Mr. Rumbold's characters are still intact. Might I suggest a posthumous edit to save others from this? When the Title credits roll I would say Loosely based on the series "Are You Being Served". I say Loosely based because a steaming pile smeared over the gold that was...just doesn't seem to be as nice.

I have always loved the original series from the 1970's. The characters in the original series were kind, professional and friendly to each other. The jokes from the 1970s were mostly subtle innuendoes. This 2016 version, like most remakes, is in your face just plain mean and degrading. John Inman played a campy character in the 70's series, but the Mr. Humphries in this remake is rude with insulting gay stereotypes. I found nothing funny to laugh at in this remake. Like a terrible train wreck I watched it through the end, but what a waste of time that was.

I only got 3 minutes in and had to stop. This was simply AWFUL! No one understood the characters they were trying to play and they all came off as bad parodies of something they'd only seen one episode of and were coached by someone who'd only seen 1/2 an episode and read a couple descriptions off the internet. This abomination should never have been made. Please don't waste your time watching it. You'll only live to regret it.

I will always love the original cast's take on each character, this cast did a fantastic job offering their own spin. When you think about who Mrs. Slocombe was, a divorced alcoholic with no children, Molly Sudden had her own interpretation, and it was brilliant, but the new cast offer just the same depth to these characters as the original cast. I am disappointed to see so many bad reviews on this 2016 special, people do not like change but you can at least appreciate the modern spin this cast has placed on some very antiquated and uniquely troubled characters. The new junior, played by Kayode Ewumi, was a wonderful modern addition that reflected a younger audience's introduction to the Are You Being Served world we have all come to love. This should have spurred an new series and not just a special. I want more!

As an American, I first saw the repeats of "Are You Being Served" as a teen in the late 1990's and have been a huge buff of britcoms ever since. While this remake was by no means the original to the letter, it certainly was a very decent effort on the part of the producers to give us the original. This piece did a very good job finding look-alike actors based on the real show. Additionally, the character personas were all but dead on, especially that of Mr. Grainger and Captain Peacock. The young lady playing Ms. Brahms was decent, but could have been a little more ditzy to match the original. Similarly, the actor playing Mr. Humphries (who played Prime Minister Harold Wilson in "The Crown, Season 3") was pretty much on with everything but his priceless prance-walk lol. Concurrently, the constant flow of puns, sexual innuendos, and silly jokes was spot on just like the original show. Last, but certainly not least, as an African-American male, it was very gratifying to me that the producers decided to add a black person to the cast, a handsome guy at that! GOOD MOVE! All in all, effort was put into this remake and thus I give it a solid B+ Thank you!

Just discovered this, and the remake of the series with the original cast. I'm only on season 5 of the original, and while I have a bit of a time with British humor, I do find the show funny. Sometimes I find myself laughing out loud, to LOLing, pre emoji's. LOL. Don't listen to the naysayers. Watch it and decide for yourself.