The premise of Mother and Son is simple.
Maggie, the slightly senile widow, and her son Arthur live together and must deal with everyday situations.
Funny, right? Well, it doesn't sound like it would be — but it's hilarious.
And with news of a reboot of the series with Matt Okine and Denise Scott in the starring roles, we thought we'd reflect on what made the original such a classic.
The original pairing of Ruth Cracknell and Garry McDonald made the show a viewer favourite when it screened for six seasons from 1984 to 1994.
In 1994, Cracknell won two Logies for Most Popular Comedy Personality and Most Outstanding Actress, while McDonald won Most Outstanding Actor.
Cracknell also won the Most Outstanding Actress Logie the previous year.
She died in 2002 after a long illness.
Michelle Arrow is Associate Professor of Modern History at Macquarie University and author of Friday On Our Minds: Popular Culture in Australia Since 1945.
She said although the premise of Mother and Son isn't something you'd usually find on television, it was that ordinariness, combined with the actors playing Maggie and Arthur, that made it work.
"It's a very relatable situation," Dr Arrow said.
"As well as sort of comic genius by nature of the actors who are performing it all."
Dr Arrow said the ambiguity of the show also made it a winner in the way it captures the constantly changing relationship between a parent and child when the child is in a caring role.
"You were never quite certain whether Maggie was really losing her faculties and whether she was experiencing some memory loss or dementia, or if there was a little bit of a kind of twinkle in the eye that suggested she was sort of playing her kids," she said.
"And there was something interesting about that, I think, that it gave her agency.
"I think what it did was that it didn't portray the mother as 'oh poor Mum', this sort of harmless old lady, who just needs to be looked after.
"She's kind of an equal partner in this sort of slightly duelling relationship that the two of them have, and you're never quite sure who's on top.
"Actually, it's usually her I think, that usually comes out on top in the situation."
Dr Arrow said Mother and Son resisted stereotypes around older Australians.
"Yes, she's a bit daffy and vague, but she sort of knows what's going on.
"And she's got, particularly Arthur, wrapped around her little finger, which I think is quite an interesting depiction of someone and a really refreshing picture of older Australians, which I think is partly why people love it."
She said McDonald was also key to the show's success.
"You've got Norman Gunston, the actor Garry McDonald, who was pretty famous throughout the 1970s, for playing a very broad character.
"And then he's there in this quite straight man sort of role, which also, I think, was one of the reasons that it appealed to people because he was sort of playing a different side of his personality that people hadn't seen before."
Dr Arrow said the relationship between siblings was also a rich vein for drama and comedy in the show given the favourite son was rarely around.
She thinks the reboot is timely.
"We know with shortages of carer workforces in aged care and childcare that Australia is waking up to the fact that care is important and it's undervalued," Dr Arrow said.
"And I think Mother and Son in 2023 might actually throw a new light on those kinds of questions, like how do we as a society manage care for older Australians who need help at home?
"And how do we appreciate and value that kind of care?"
The show's original creator, Geoffrey Atherden is collaborating with those re-creating the series, which will air on ABC TV and ABC iView in 2023.
The first season of the original is available on iView.
