History Series / Bottom

* SpringtimeForHitler: A meta-example apparently occurred; after the TV show wasn't renewed, finding himself increasingly bored and unsatisfied with the stage shows, and Rik Mayall becoming increasingly harder to work with as a result of memory problems and personality changes following his 1998 quad bike accident, Adrian Edmondson decided to walk away from the project. This apparently caused some confusion, hurt feelings and tension on Mayall's part, who was eager to continue, and whenever the two would get together socially after that Mayall would apparently interpret it as an intention to restart the double act and bring back the show. After finding this increasingly awkward, Edmondson eventually agreed to put together a pitch for a show based on ''Hooligan's Island'' to the BBC, believing that after almost two decades no one would be interested in reviving it and that the two could move on without rancor as it would be "someone else's fault" that it was all over. Unfortunately for him, the BBC leapt on the project and commissioned a series.

** In "Gas," Richie and Eddie are caught up in a game of high-stakes poker. Eddie pushes the tension towards the breaking point when he bets 3p in ''real money''. Richie wipes the sweat from his cheeks as he eyes the pot.

* DarkerAndEdgier: "Contest" is definitely this, compared to the rest of the series. [[spoiler:This episode, long suspected to be the pilot (though never confirmed as such), has a distinctly bleaker tone than all other episodes of ''Bottom''.]]

* DoYouWantToHaggle: In "Parade," Eddie ends up neck-deep in another GetRichQuickScheme and needs instant cash in order to place a bet. He finds himself in a pawn shop, trying to hock a hand-carved wooden leg worth £2,500.

'''Eddie''': Let's haggle ''upward''.\\

* HorribleHousing: Subverted. Though at first glance their two-bedroom home at 11 Mafeking Parade in Hammersmith is rather unsightly and run-down, it's actually quite spacious (occupying two stories above a newsagent) and in reasonable shape, complete with a greenhouse-style kitchen enclosed in glass. (Only in one episode, "Apocalypse," does the flat show any ''real'' sign of dilapidation.) Most of the apartment's ugliness and filth is a byproduct of Richie and Eddie themselves.

-->'''Richie:''' Oh, you're not wrong there. You name it. Swearing. Doodling on the walls. Flicked the V's out of that window more times than I care to remember.

* TimeSkip: Lampshaded in "Carnival." Eddie proudly tells Richie that he knows how to hook up the VCR he stole that morning. Cut to a week later, and Eddie has nearly finished unwrapping the components. Cut to the following Christmas, and Eddie is ready to open the instruction manual. Cut to Richie returning from his holiday the following summer, and Eddie is ''finally'' ready to fire up the VCR, except it doesn't so much fire up as blow up. At long last, after 364 days of effort, it's time for Richie and Eddie to watch a video.

Richard "Richie" Richard ''[sic]'' (Creator/RikMayall) - a sex-starved, sadistic, physically repugnant loser with delusions of sophistication - takes out his frustrations at life upon Edward "Eddie" Elizabeth Hitler (Creator/AdrianEdmondson), his boozy, slightly more intelligent, but equally perverted and sadistic flatmate. Frequently, this involves [[ComedicSociopathy over-the-top violence]] that would make ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Itchy and Scratchy]]'' wince. Eddie, for his part, is quite willing to respond in kind.

[[caption-width-right:350:The Hammersmith Hardmen.]]

Came forty-fifth in ''Series/BritainsBestSitcom''. No relation to the donkey-headed character in Shakespeare's ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream''.

!!Provides examples of:

* AffectionateNickname: Parodied in "Finger."

** A nervous Eddie calls Richie "dreamboat" when the gas man shows up in "Gas".

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: In keeping with comedic tradition, the plot lines and characters on ''Bottom'' usually deal with absurdly small amounts of money, especially for TheNineties, [[AnachronismStew when the series is set]].

** In "Gas," Richie and Eddie are caught up in a game of high-stakes poker. Eddie pushes the tension towards the breaking point, when he bets 3p in ''real money''. Richie wipes the sweat from his cheeks as he eyes the pot.

* AnythingThatMoves: Richie is this by the last couple ''Bottom Live'' shows, having reached the end of his rope and desperate to shag ''anything,'' female or not. The seed of this character turn was planted back in the second series; specifically in "Parade."
-->'''Richie''': I'm not a homosexual, if that's what you think.\\
'''Eddie''': Yeah, but you're not strictly ''heterosexual'', are you?\\
'''Richie:''' ''Judas!'' I've never done it with a bloke!\\
'''Eddie:''' Yeah, but you've never done it with a ''bird'' either.\\
'''Richie''': Well, I'm heterosexual in ''intent''.\\
'''Eddie''': The nearest you've come to being heterosexual is barricading yourself in a bedroom with a copy of ''Amateur Photographer'' and a jar of hand cream.\\
'''Richie:''' Well, I've done it mentally. ''Boy'', have I done it mentally.
** Eddie insinuates it more than once. In "Smells," he suggests Richie's personals ad read "Ugly virgin desperately seeks sex of any description," and in "Contest," he says that even putting a wig on a Speak Your Weight machine would do.
** [[spoiler:Also briefly happens to Eddie at the end of "Smells." He tries to put the moves on Richie while in a state of complete delirium, after inhaling pheromone spray on top of his typically generous alcohol consumption. Richie rejects his advances, but ''does'' accept Eddie's invitation to "plant a big one right on me kisser."]]
** Also shown in "Accident", when Richie explains the rules of Sardines:
-->'''Richie:''' But if they find him, they hide with him! And they snog him! [sees the uncomfortable looks of Eddie, Hedgehog and Spudgun] ...if they're a bird. Which we're not, so we probably won't. Well, why not give it a try! Ahem, no! We won't give it a try!

* FridgeLogic: In-universe – Halfway through ''Contest'' Richie [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zi3j1OoukM#t=539 realises]] that… ₤11·80[[note]]Eddie’s savings, which the pair have live from for the following two months.[[/note]] - ₤1·50[[note]]Cost of a [[ItsNotPornItsArt porn mag/art pamphlet]] Eddie bought as investment.[[/note]] ≠ 30p[[note]]What Eddie claims is leftover, the missing ten pounds sterling apparently went on a 1000-1 bet on Miss China in the Miss World Contest. [[spoiler:See ILied for where the money really went]].[[/note]]

* FryingPanOfDoom: Taken UpToEleven in "gas", when Eddie repeatedly hits the gasman over the head with a frying pan, to stop him discovering them stealing gas from next door.

--> '''Eddie:''' ([[DramaticDrop drops the frying pan)) I never touched him.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: There are constant jokes at Richie's expense to show how pathetic he is (he is, in fact, a wanker). He even titled his autobiography ''Richard Richard: I Did It My Way. On My Own. Quite a Lot. Now I've Got a Sore Hand''.

* CityShoutOuts: Subverted. In one of the ''Live'' stage shows, taped in Southampton, Eddie claims to have been born in Southampton. "Why did you ever leave?" cries Richie. "I found the railway station," replies Eddie. Later on during an ad-lib storm, Richie drops out of character to say something along the lines of, "Let's hurry up and get back to the script or we'll never get out of South-fucking-ampton!"

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: All of the recurring cast to some degree, though Dave Hedgehog seems to be a nose in front of the rest.