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->''"No wonder you want me to take sleeping tablets, you're a sex maniac!"''

Seventies Britcom centred on workers of the Luxton & District Traction Company. The main characters are Stan Butler (Creator/RegVarney), a bus driver, and his best mate and conductor, Jack Harper (Creator/BobGrant). Their arch-nemesis is pen-pushing bureaucrat bus inspector Cyril "Blakey" Blake (Creator/StephenLewis). Recurring characters include Stan's mum Mabel (Cicely Courtneidge, then Creator/DorisHare), sister Olive Rudge (Creator/AnnaKaren) and brother-in-law Arthur (Creator/MichaelRobbins). Olive and Arthur are unhappily married, which is often joked about. Seventy-four episodes were made from 1969 to 1973. Three spinoff films were also made between 1971 and 1973.

''On the Buses'' was one of the earliest British sitcoms to centre on working-class people's lives. Much of the humour comes from Stan and Jack's attempts at chatting up women, while trying to get out of doing any work. Critics derided the show as being vulgar, but it was hugely popular with audiences. Some episodes were watched by 16 million viewers, a figure unknown today, due to the splintering of the British televsion market.

Came fifty-third in ''Series/BritainsBestSitcom''.


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!!This show provides examples of:

* AccidentalPervert:
** How Olive and Arthur got married. While lodging with the Butlers, Arthur was heading back to his room but went into the wrong one twice. First Stan's, then Olive's. Both times it's assumed he's there for nefarious purposes, so Mum decides since he "had his fun" he had to marry Olive.
** While timing how often conductresses were using public toilets on their routes, Blake is caught by a constable who assumes Blake is a pervert for following around clippies and recording their bathroom visits.
* TheAllegedCar: Arthur's combination motorcycle and sidecar that he bought used in the second series.
* AllMenArePerverts: Jack and Stan are forever skirt-chasing, much to Blakey's disgust.
* AnimatedCreditsOpening: The series had two different animated openings. While both showcase the characters in various antics, one uses cut-out style animation and the other takes a more surrealist approach with exaggerated body proportions.
* BeautyInversion: Olive was presented as frumpy and uncaring of her appearance, though in real life Creator/AnnaKaren had been a model and dancer prior to the series. When she showcased her natural look during a magazine shoot in the 1970s, viewers were shocked at just how different she appeared from her character.
* BeYourself: Played with in "The Poster". After the others try to make Stan look glamourous so he can compete with the other traditional male models trying to get the poster spot, Stan decides to forgo all that and just be a busman... Except he walks in pretending to be a much more competent and dutiful busman, covering himself in grime to sell himself as a hard worker. This is exactly what the judges are looking for and he wins easily.
* BlindWithoutEm: Olive loses her glasses on a regular basis, and of course can see ''nothing'' without them.
* CampStraight: Jack shows shades of this, to the point where a guest star explicitly calls him 'Twinkletoes'.
* CatchPhrase:
** Blakey's "I 'ate you, Butler!"
** Arthur's "What a lot of rot you do talk."
* TheChewToy: Poor Olive, destined to be dumped on and have fat jokes told about her, despite being played by a former model who also appeared as various scantily-clad characters in sex comedies and ''Film/CarryOn'' films.
* ComicBookAdaptation: ''Look-In'' (a magazine aimed at children) serialized the series in comic strip form between 1971 and 1974. Notably, the show's raunchy style of humour was toned down, due to the fact that it was aimed at a younger audience.
* TheCorrupter: Whilst by no means a respectable person, Stan would be less likely to resort to illegal means without Jack's influence.
* DoubleEntendre: A mainstay of the humour.
* EasilyForgiven: In "Vacancy For Inspector" Jack is promoted to Assistant Inspector and starts ratting out Stan's tricks to get around work, neglecting to mention that they were mostly Jack's ideas. At the end, all Jack apparently needs to do is turn down the job and go back to being a conductor for Stan to forgive him.
* EverybodySmokes: Including on buses, and at the dinner table.
* FinalSeasonCasting: Creator/MichaelRobbins left right before the final series as he was dissatisfied with the quality of the scripts, while Creator/RegVarney left midway through.
* FlashbackEpisode: Stan's Worst Day shows us how Arthur and Olive met, and got [[ShotgunWedding forced to wed]], how Stan and Arthur met, and also that Stan used to be Blakey's conductor and they were friends before they both got promoted.
* ForeignPeopleAreSexy: The infamous episode where the boys pull a couple of Swedish birds. Fatima the snake dancer also deserves a mention.
* GodwinsLaw: Jack and Stan regularly cracking gags comparing Blakey to Hitler is a big case of ValuesDissonance for modern viewers, particularly since all he wants them to do is be on time and do some work.
* GodwinsLawOfFacialHair: Inspector "Blakey" Blake is a tyrannical bus inspector with a toothbrush mustache who dedicates his life to making the lead characters' lives a misery. However, it's often subverted because he's usually depicted as a killjoy who's simply expecting the protagonists to actually do their jobs and provide a public service.
* IntroductoryOpeningCredits: TheMovie has captions giving the names and occupations of the lead characters, though at this point most of the audience would be familiar with them from the TV series.
* {{Housewife}}: Stan's mum, a totally archetypal British 1950s housewife with a scarf perpetually over her hair.
** While a few episodes had her try to get a job and fail, Olive was also this until she divorced Arthur and got a job at the depot in the last series.
* KarmaHoudini: For the most part, Stan and Jack always seem to get away with almost everything they do. Up to and including several acts of theft, defiling a cemetery, attempted benefit fraud, getting otherwise innocent co-workers fired, stopping the Equality Act in its tracks ... and, of course, being highly unprofessional whenever they deign to do their actual jobs.
** Iris in The Darts Match. She blatantly cheats to prevent Stan from being able to start the match by throwing a double, even pushing him over the line to disqualify one of his throws, and not only is no one the wiser, Jack gets her onto the men's darts team by kicking Stan out for her.
** Stella in Not Tonight. She manages to scam Stan out of most of his pay, runs off in the middle of the night to get some new clothes to get a job as a secretary for the depot's General Manager, and gets away with it completely.
** Of the pair, Jack is easily the biggest example of this. No matter what he does, Jack never faces any consequence for his schemes and usually Stan, his family, or Blake will be the one to suffer. At best, he just doesn't get the money or the girl.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: While in the first three series Stan would usually beat Blakey, starting from series four most episodes would end with Stan worse off than he was before, while Blakey chuckles in glee.
* LoveableRogue: Jack and Stan. It’s debatable whether they’re still lovable in this day and age.
* TheMovie: Actually three - ''Film/OnTheBuses'' (1971), ''Film/MutinyOnTheBuses'' (1972), and ''Film/HolidayOnTheBuses'' (1973). The first movie is notable for being the most successful film that Hammer Film Productions ever made. Yes, [[Film/HammerHorror that Hammer]].
* MyBelovedSmother: Mum babies Olive, especially in the first season, even coming along on her first shift as a conductress to take care of her. While she's not as bad with Stan, she still treats him like a child on occasion and prevents him from being alone with his girlfriends if they're over.
* NaughtyByNight: Olive would like to be, but Arthur's not keen.
* NoAccountingForTaste: Olive and Arthur are a brilliantly ghastly combination. We're later shown in a flashback that Arthur had no interest in Olive, he was forced into the marriage after walking into the wrong bedroom while lodging with the Butlers.
* NoodleIncident: Arthur's operation is never outright stated, though the implication is it's something to do with his genitals since it comes up in the context of sex.
* PoliticallyCorrectVillain: Inspector Cyril Blake; sure, there's the odd derogatory comment, but for the most part, he's the most progressive character on the show.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: It would be difficult to find a character who dosen't fit this trope. It is most common in Stan's mum.
* PopculturalOsmosis: "Blakey from ''On The Buses''" is sometimes referred to in conversation (as a comparison to people) by other people who've never seen the series.
* ProtagonistCentredMorality: Stan and Jack are depicted as the protagonists and the show plays on the idea that they are in the right. Despite the fact that they preform several illegal or at least morally wrong actions. Casual dialogue in the seventh series opener insinuates that they're willing to go so far as to defraud a divorce hearing.
* PutOnABus: Rather amusingly for Tropers, Stan leaves the series for OopNorth, on the grounds that bus drivers make more money there, thus he literally was put on a bus.
** At the start of series seven, Arthur has suddenly abandoned Olive after ten years of marriage.
* {{Retool}}: Necessitated by Creator/MichaelRobbins and later Creator/RegVarney leaving the show. The premise changed to allow Olive a job at the depot and Blake to move in with her and Mrs Butler.
* RulesLawyer: Jack. Whenever Blakey tries to catch them in the middle of a scheme, Jack will whip out some rule that prevents the inspector from finding out what they're up to.
* RunningGag: The show attempts to depict Arthur's operation as this.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Jack Harper's catchphrase might as well be "As shop steward. I can do whatever the 'ell I bleedin' want".
* SexlessMarriage: Arthur and Olive, to the latter's dismay. Unless Arthur is very drunk.
* ShipTease: One episode depicts a drunk Stan attempting to snog both Blakey and Jack, within five minutes of each other. In series seven, as part of a joke, Jack explicitly kisses Stan's cheek.
* ShotgunWedding: To all intents and purposes, the reason why Arthur married Olive in the first place after a BedmateReveal.
* SitcomCharacterArchetypes: Jack and Stan are Wisecrackers, Blakey is The Bully, Arthur is The Stick, and Olive is The Dork.
* SpinOff: ''Don't Drink the Water'' ran for thirteen episodes across two series in 1974 and 1975 and saw Blakey retire to Spain with his sister only to find himself beset by just as many problems as he was in Britain.
* StayInTheKitchen: Olive and Mrs Butler. Subverted in the final series when Olive is forced to get a job at the depot to maintain the double income household after Arthur leaves.
* SurroundedByIdiots: With everything Arthur had to deal with regularly, it is impossible not to see why he left.
* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: When Blakey's mother stays with the Butlers, she treats them like servants and overstays her welcome by taking Mum's politeness as an invitation.
* TransatlanticEquivalent: Creator/{{NBC}} adapted it in the 1973-74 season as ''Lotsa Luck'', with Creator/DomDeLuise as the lead.
* WardrobeMalfunction: Leading to DisasterDominoes at the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBD2-HHQJhc beginning]] of the third movie.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: When it came to work matters (e.g. payment, the union, etc.) Jack would always throw Stan [[IncrediblyLamePun under the bus]] for his own personal gain.
* WrittenInAbsence: Creator/RegVarney left the series in the final season, after "Goodbye Stan", so he isn't in the last six episodes. His absence was explained by Stan moving to the Midlands, to work in a bus manufacturing factory.
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