Carry On Appealing.

"I like smutty jokes."
Kenneth Williams.

The appeal of 'Carry Ons' to me is many-fold. The simple (without being blatant) rudeness (except in later outings which were more 'in your face).' The familiarity of the actors who returned to the 'Carry On' fold time and time again. The sense of morality. If a character did actually manage to commit adultery they were always made 'to pay' and were eventually reconciled with their spouse. Adultery was however uncommon and although there was much teasing, flirting and temptations it was rarely brought to fruition. 'Carry Ons' were cosy and homely, teeming with caricatures, the lech, the harridan and the busty temptress for example. They evoked a time in England which only really half-existed. You know what you are going to get when you watch a 'Carry On', there aren't any surprises. They enable you to lie on the sofa, forget your troubles for 90 minutes and laugh at the ridiculous and contrived circumstances of the characters. there is an innate warmness to the 'Carry Ons' and as the series continued so did the audience's identification with the actors and the genre. This identification I feel is similar to the way people react to characters in soap operas, where a constant 'drip drip' of them into your living room results in caring about what happens to them.