My favorite TV show turned 25 this week.

It was Yes Minister, a BBC comedy about the intricacies of bureaucracy.

I was surprised to learn this week that the Conservatives of Margaret Thatcher loved the show, because in fact its theme was that the permanent bureaucrats, led by Nigel Hawthorne, knew best. Every week he worked to undermine the policies of hapless minister James Hacker (Paul Eddington).

The beauty of the show, and one reason it would never be tried in the U.S., is that the status quo didn't hold. Eddington got the better of Hawthorne's Sir Humphrey Appleby as the show wore on, and at the end of the run Eddington's character actually became Prime Minister, head of the government.

What set it all apart for me was the language, which was intricate and almost Shakespearean. I actually spent good money to buy a book of scripts, in hardcover, and it is one of the best purchases I ever made.

I'm certain my preference for Yes Minister over, say, Baretta or Miami Vice (not to mention M*A*S*H or Seinfeld) doubtless marks me as an intellectual snob, but I'll get over it if you will.

Eddington himself passed away in 1995, and Hawthorne, who died in 2001, may be best-known as the voice of the Professor in the Disney version of "Tarzan, but never mind. They taught, and made me laugh until I cried. They done good.