I have just finished watching the whole show, from S1 to S9. Not quite a binge, but I put most other viewing aside. Like other reviewers, I felt that the the plot lost its way a bit somewhere around midway. But I don't see it as a serious lapse. It held my attention to the end, and I think it was the humour, as much as anything, that kept me going. As far as the comedy element goes, Rick Hoffman was outstanding. Delicious laugh out loud scenes that continued sporadically right through. The main flaws were some of the repetitive dialogue. At one point I was getting really annoyed that each episode contained at least one character asking another to look in the mirror. And there were many others. But I could easily forgive that, because the pace hardly ever dropped. The acting of all main characters was excellent. The flashbacks were well-handled and successfully explained how the key players behaved. I wondered whether to give an overall 7, but I think 8 is justified by the sheer scale of the show, and that the drama was maintained for so many episodes.

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