Friday, April 23, 2021

TV Quote of the Day (‘Yes, Prime Minister,’ on Speaking to ‘Posturing, Self-Righteous, Theatrical Drunks’)

James Hacker [played by Paul Eddington]: “Humphrey, I need help.”

Sir Humphrey Appleby [played by Nigel Hawthorne]: “You do. You do?”

Hacker: “I've got to make a speech. It could be very embarrassing.”

Sir Humphrey: “Oh, Prime Minister. Your speeches are nothing like as embarrassing as they used to be.”

Hacker: “I didn't say the speech would be embarrassing, I said the occasion could.”

Sir Humphrey: “Ah, yes, yes, indeed. Why?”

Hacker: “It's to be to a hostile audience of posturing, self-righteous, theatrical drunks.”

Sir Humphrey: “The House of Commons, you mean?” — Yes, Prime Minister, Season 2, Episode 6, “The Patron of the Arts,” original air date Jan. 14, 1988, teleplay by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, directed by Sydney Lotterby

In the U.S., the equivalent would be Congress—both houses.

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