Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: In the 1978 special "Happy Returns", the store is celebrating Mr. Grace's birthday; the staff have rehearsed an extended musical number to perform as entertainment. At the last minute, they have to perform something else, so they break into an impromptu version of "Steppin' Out". Okay. Suddenly, Mr. Grace appears, holding a puppet body under his neck, singing a song about "bread and drippin'" which contains only a couple of intelligible words in it. This weird little ditty doesn't fit with the other music at all, and turns Mr. Grace from guest of honor to entertainment with no explanation. Then, the staff segue into "Happy Birthday to You" as if nothing had happened.
Cargo Ship: Mr. Mash's somewhat disturbing attitude towards the female mannequins.
Crosses the Line Twice: "Shoulder to Shoulder" has a scene where decorators who explicitly resemble contemporary BBC celebrities sexually harass any Grace Brothers employee that horns in on their territory...including one decorator who isn't above doing it to Captain Peacock, of all people.
Not counting Mr. Humphries, who implicitly fills the role in the final two seasons, Mr. Grainger is unanimously considered the best of the Senior Salesmen.
While not held in as high regard as Mr. Grainger, Mr. Tebbs has had a better reception from the show's fanbase than the other replacement Senior Salesmen.
Also Trevor Bannister was far more popular and had more chemistry with the rest of the cast than Mike Berry.
Averted with Arthur English, whose Mr. Harman was always much more popular than Larry Martyn's Mr. Mash. Most likely because Harman is a much more jovial and avuncular character than the snide and nasty Mash.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Although the show was popular enough in Britain, it is well known as one of the most unexpectedly successful transatlantic transplants, being very popular in the US and Canada thanks to years of reruns on PBS.
And in the State of New South Wales in Australia (The ONLY state!) because until quite recently, the biggest department store retailer in that state was called, you guessed it, Grace Brothers.
The sequel series, Grace & Favour, was shortlived in the UK, but it was much better received in North America with it being retitled, Are You Being Served? Again!.note Separately, even John Inman preferred the American title over the original one.
Harsher in Hindsight: In the episode, "No Sale," Grace Brothers attempts an experiment of an earlier morning opening time and it proves a major success with rush sales by hurried customers who are practically throwing money to the staff in their haste. The disgruntled floor staff sabotage it to stop it. Today, with the Retail Apocalypse business disruption costing thousands of retail jobs, the floor staff come off as a bunch of whiners who you'd think would be delighted at their store doing splendid business and thus preserving their own jobs.
Ho Yay: Mr. Lucas and Mr. Humphries have some, such as Mr. Lucas pinching Mr. Humphries on the bottom, or the two being each other's date for a formal dinner. Also, at his fake Greek wedding to Mrs. Slocombe, Mr. Humphries pushes Miss Brahms aside during the dance to take her place with Lucas.
Replacement Scrappy: Virtually every replacement for a main character. Mr. Grainger's four replacements (with Mr. Tebbs being better-received than the other three in no small part due to his role in "Do You Take This Man", widely considered one of the best parts of Series 6), Mr. Spooner replacing Mr. Lucas, and Old Mr. Grace replacing Young Mr. Grace. It could be argued the only exception was Mr. Harman replacing Mr. Mash.
Miss Thorpe from Series 3 is played by Moira Foot, who would later be best known for playing Denise Laroque in 'Allo 'Allo!.
The ballet mistress from "Strong Stuff This Insurance" is played by Amanda Barrie, who would later be best known for playing Alma Halliwell in Coronation Street.
A lady customer from "The Erotic Dreams of Mrs. Slocombe" is played by Brenda Cowling, who would later be best known for playing Mrs. Lipton in You Rang, M'Lord?.
A little boy from "The Father Christmas Affair" is played by Donald Waugh, who would later be best known for playing Hughes in Grange Hill.
The gent for the gents' from "New Look" and the matching pantaloons customer from "Do You Take This Man?" are played by Felix Bowness, who would later be best known for playing Fred Quilley in Hi-de-Hi!.
Three guest roles between 1978 and 1981 were played by Gorden Kaye, who would later be best known for playing René Artois in 'Allo 'Allo!.
The pants customer with an afro from "The Old Order Changes" and the blazer customer from "The Apartment" are played by Jeffrey Holland, who would later be best known for playing Spike Dixon in Hi-de-Hi!.
A doctor from "Is It Catching?" and a waiter from "Closed Circuit" are played by John D. Collins, who would later be best known for playing Fairfax in 'Allo 'Allo!.
Three guest roles from between 1976 and 1978 are played by Mavis Pugh, who would later be best known for playing Lady Lavender in You Rang, M'Lord?.
Seasonal Rot: Many agree the show's quality took a hit after Mr. Lucas left that it never recovered from. The 8th series (first without Mr. Lucas) is known as a particularly messy year. The senior salesman is replaced after 4 episodes, and his replacement only stays for the remaining four of the series. Neither of them get more than a couple of lines per episode. It is also the year the unpopular Old Mr. Grace sat in for Young Mr. Grace. Finally, it includes "Roots?", an almost-never rerun musical episode that ends in a blackface song-and-dance number.
The newspaper comic strip, Retail, is in many ways the modern American answer to this series. This similarity has been acknowledged in that comic strip by one or two Shout Outs to, like Stuart spending his vacation at a "Power Management Retreat" run by a Mr. Rumbold.
Superstore could also be seen as one to an extent.
In "The Punch and Judy Affair", all the men protest when Mrs. Slocombe wants to play the policeman, finding the idea completely outrageous. Women had been integrated into the main British Metropolitan Police Service in 1973, which is just before the show started running.
While not considered that out of the ordinary during the '70s, the number of casual jokes regarding molestation, sexual harassment, and rape in earlier seasons would get side-eyed hard nowadays, if not considered downright offensive, particularly regarding the repeated accusations of Captain Peacock harassing Miss Brahms, throwing their power imbalance into the equation. It's probably telling of how societal views changed even during the show's run as those kinds of jokes were phased out near the end of Mr. Lucas' run and Captain Peacock changed from a Memetic Molester to simply an amorous guy who gravitated toward pretty young girls but didn't get beyond (usually failed) attempts to chat them up.
Many of the Funny Foreigner customers the staff serve, such as the Japanese man and the group of wealthy Arabs, are characterized as cartoonish stereotypes that would nowadays be considered unacceptable, or at least cringeworthy.
YMMV for the 1977 film:
Hilarious in Hindsight: At one point Cesar says, "Listen very carefully", which would later become part of Michelle's catchphrase on another David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd sitcom, 'Allo 'Allo!.
One of Mr. Humphries' transgender friends is played by Rikki Howard, who would later be best known for playing Betty Whistler in the first five series of Hi-de-Hi!.
Ricardo Montez appears as an uncredited revolutionary only a few months before being cast as Juan Cervantes in Mind Your Language.
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