Frank Spencer

Frank Spencer bumbles through 1970s suburban London in his beret and mac, forever between jobs and forever devoted to his patient wife Betty. He means well at every turn, throws himself wholeheartedly into whatever scheme or errand is in front of him, and somehow leaves chaos, wreckage and bewildered bystanders in his wake.

Michael Crawford commits to the physical comedy so completely that it stops being slapstick and becomes something closer to dance, every pratfall and roller-skate disaster performed with total sincerity. The catchphrases land because Frank never seems to know he's funny; his sweetness and blind confidence make the destruction he causes oddly endearing rather than grating.