Mr. Humphries is never elaborated upon. Though Mr. Humphries exhibits many of the behaviors typical of a gay stereotype, his true sexual orientation is never explicitly confirmed in the series. The reticence was a necessity given prevailing attitudes at the time the series was produced: after the first five episodes of "Are You Being Served?", a senior BBC executive ordered David Croft to "Get rid of the poof" from the show – Croft declined, saying: "If the poof goes, I go." Many jokes throw Mr Humphries into heterosexual clinches. At one point he is asked to fill in for Mrs. Slocombe at
Mr. and Mrs. North his early days at WPTZ TV in Philadelphia, Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams occasionally spoofed the show in sketches titled "Mr. & Mrs. South" on Kovacs's' morning comedy show "Three To Get Ready." Mr. and Mrs. North Mr. and Mrs. North are fictional American amateur detectives. Created by Frances and Richard Lockridge, the couple was featured in a series of 26 Mr. and Mrs. North novels, a Broadway play, a motion picture and several radio and television series. The characters originated in 1930s vignettes written by Richard Lockridge for the "New York Sun", and he brought them back for short