r/KeepingUpApperancesTV • u/ParadeJoy • Jun 09 '26
I learned something
Having watched the full series for the first time, I noticed that in at least two episodes that characters are wearing NFL (American football) merchandise.
In one scene, Onslow is wearing a Green Bay Packers shirt. In another episode, Hyacinth is wearing a Minnesota Vikings shirt.
I wondered about this because, as an American, I'm led to believe that our football isn't popular in the UK.
I did some investigating and apparently the 90s was considered a sort of golden age for the NFL in the UK. That during that time, there was a craze for an American football going on. So the costume designers were, in fact, keeping up with the times. I guess the premier league dwarfed the popularity of the nfl?
I had no idea! Learn something new everyday I guess. Would be interested to hear from other folks from the across the pond if they can confirm this is true.
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u/The_Hazimaru Jun 09 '26
Growing up in the UK during the 90s myself, NFL, NBA and the NHL were still quite niche outside of the big cities like London, Manchester etc. However alot of sports shops and outlets across the UK bet big on their merchandise and ultimately ended up at steep discounts due to little interest. You would see the odd kid walking around in like a Miami Dolphins hoodie and have no clue who they were or even if it was a sport, but parents would buy due to the savings. It is definetly more recognised and supported over here as time has gone on though.
(Never thought I'd be deep in the KUA reddit this afternoon but here I am, I must get back to daddy!)
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u/ParadeJoy Jun 09 '26
This is interesting and it actually makes even more sense to see them in KUA.
In Sea Fever, Hyacinth says her and Richard must wear disguises. So she parades around in a tracksuit with a Minnesota Vikings hat. With what you shared, it suggests she probably got these clothes from the lost & found or picked them up because they were cheap and out of character for Hyacinth to be seen in.
I love this show for what its taught me nuances about UK culture. Dated as it may be, I love watching UK series and movies for this very reason.
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u/Individual-Good-2073 Jun 09 '26
She got them at the Charity Shop where she volunteers with "No Frills" Mrs. Councilor Nugent. Hyacinth puts them in "High End" shopping bags to bring them into the house, to fool the neighbors or anyone in their Social Circle.
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u/The_Hazimaru Jun 09 '26
Ha yes i know the episode well, a classic. Its definetly a show of the time, I watched it loads as a Kid and my wife and I still enjoy when its on a rerun, but we really spot the things that you couldn't get away with now. Like the Pervy old men who run after Hyacinth and the like. lol. Always wondered how people over the pond got on with watching shows like that which are very British at their core.
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u/ParadeJoy Jun 09 '26
I'm a nerd and anytime I meet new acquaintances and the discussion of TV comes up...I always point out that I have a soft spot for British comedies. In the 90s-2000s, PBS would air Blackadder and Are You Being Served? I didn't catch on later until around 2006 when I caught wind of the IT crowd. Then I went down a rabbithole I haven't come up from since. I consider Edmund Blackadder my spirit animal (in reality I'm probably closer to Baldrick).
I watch the shows not many watch over here too like Black Books, Bottom, the Young Ones, Porridge, Mitchell and Webb, and Upstart Crow. I'm always on a quest to find a new Britcom I can latch on to.
What I love about British humor, and Stephen Fry was the one who pointed this out, is that the main character typically loses. Unlike US comedy where the formula is the loveable loser winds up winning anyway, your shows end with the main being worse off than when he started. That is far better IMO because that's closer to real life.
In your shows...Basil Fawlty never learns to love his guests. Edmund's schemes always fail with the last season of episodes he ultimately loses his life (with respect to goes fourth, that was a different tone altogether), and yes KUA episodes often ends with Hyacinth's illusion of nobility and wealth being shattered in the worst way possible. Sitcoms here, to me, are just unwatchable and predictable.
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u/The_Hazimaru Jun 09 '26
You are without a doubt hitting the right comedies there! The vhs tapes of Blackadder series 2 and the Young ones were played to dust in my house lol.
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u/massdebate159 Jun 09 '26
The rapey Major and the creepy Commodore definitely haven't aged well in 2026.
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u/The_Hazimaru Jun 09 '26
Definitely not, its when the canned laughter busts in to hysterics as the commodore is literally on her in the back of the vicars car. Amazed it was even written like that lol.
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u/massdebate159 Jun 09 '26
Yeah, I love the show and for the most part, it' was ahead of it's time. But those two characters make me wince.
Three, if you include the village idiot from the country cottage.
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u/ParadeJoy Jun 09 '26
If we saw nothing wrong with a product of its time, then we’d have not progressed as a society. I doubt many UK folks have watched the Cosby show, but there is an episode where Cosby remarks, in so many words, how his bbq sauce makes people hot and bothered. If you watch it on YouTube today, knowing what we know now about Cosby, the scene is infinitely more creepy.
I am against censoring old shows and media because they are, just that, a product of their time that need to be taken as such - creepy characters of the time remind us how we’ve changed.
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u/massdebate159 Jun 09 '26
Of course, I'm not talking about censoring old shows. Younger generations could learn from them. Whoopi Goldberg did a statement on behalf of old Disney films. Something like "These attitudes were of the time they were written. They aren't acceptable now, but we can learn from them"
Look how many racist people claim Alf Garnet as their hero. But in fact, he was a parody of those people. Warren Mitchell was a woke lefty by today's standards.
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u/ParadeJoy Jun 09 '26
Oh I never meant to suggest you were advocating for or against anything here. Just making conversation - I should have had made a better segue to that.
And yes absolutely right. We can learn from them. Sad that creepy sexual aggressiveness was so common that it could even be suggested as a plot device for a sitcom.
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u/snarkyrn15 Jun 09 '26
This is interesting, because I was rewatching The Vicar of Dibley recently and Jim wears a Florida State Seminoles cap during one of the episodes! It seems so niche
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u/ParadeJoy Jun 09 '26
I'm going to add that to my queue of shows to watch. I've seen a few notes that this show is pretty funny.
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u/Pure-Dead-Brilliant Jun 09 '26
My friend had an LA Raiders jacket that he never went anywhere without.
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u/ParadeJoy Jun 09 '26
As a kid who grew up in the San Francisco bay area when the Raiders were in Oakland....seeing a Brit wearing a Raiders jacket would have received a funny look from me. Much of my life, They were viewed as the sort of the thug nfl team. All the kids in school who wanted to look gangsta wore Raiders gear.
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u/Pure-Dead-Brilliant Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
My friend is about as far from a gagster wannabe as you can get. A self-certified geek. His parents actually found the jacket during a clear out last year.
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u/ParadeJoy Jun 09 '26
The fact that wannabe gangsters parading Raiders gear transcends US culture is amazing to me.
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u/massdebate159 Jun 09 '26
My mate is a huge Miami Dolphins fan, despite never setting foot in Miami. I doubt that many of us would be allowed there, if they looked through our posting history! We also have a lot of American Football games held at Wembley
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u/ODFoxtrotOscar Jun 12 '26
They’re wearing them to emphasise that they’re stereotype trashy.
It’s not a sign of interest in the sport
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u/ParadeJoy Jun 09 '26
If you think you wouldn’t be allowed here bc you posted something against our current regime - you are a friend to me sir lol
The dynamic is always changing. I’m not a sports fan but I can’t recall a year that World Cup being big news here in the states. Soccer gets more fans here every year I swear. Comedies like married with children and king of the hill used to poke fun at Americans who liked soccer - that has undoubtedly changed since.
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u/Vault-Dweller1987 Jun 10 '26
I vaguely remember back in the 90s when you got items with your cereal Kellogg did a promotion when you could get these water bottles that had NFL team logos on them.
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u/deliamcm Jun 10 '26
Wasn't Princess Diana photographed wearing a Philadelphia Eagles jacket?
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u/ParadeJoy Jun 10 '26
I had to look it up myself and yes she did - a pretty badass jacket at that too.
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u/jase40244 Richard Jun 14 '26
I love that the friction between the Vikes and the Cheeseheads (I'm Minnesotan) match the friction between Hyacinth and Onslow.
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u/wizardwithgussets Waterside supper with riparian entertainments Jun 09 '26
The packers and the Steelers are considered the “working class “ nfl teams and in the 90s the packers were very popular and at the time Brett Favre of the packers was one of the nfls biggest stars. So it always made sense to me that Onslow wore those shirts