Bob Odenkirk As part of Variety‘s 100 Greatest Television Shows of All Time issue, we asked 12 of our favorite creators of television to discuss the series that inspire and move them.
Check out all the essays, and read our full list of the best TV shows ever made. Almost nothing happens in “The Royle Family.” Over the course of 25 episodes, we occasionally pop into two other rooms of the central family’s house in Manchester, England — the dinner table, and a tiny kitchen loaded with dirty dishes.
But most of the action takes place in the TV room, as everybody sits around, enabling each other’s weaknesses and shortcomings.
The Royles, led by parents Jim and Barbara (Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston) are a deeply dysfunctional family. The characters on this show would not understand the idea that they’re supposed to help each other grow — they wouldn’t recognize the use of the word “grow” for anything outside of a plant, or mold.
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