Great British sitcoms

[tbtc]

I’m not sure that Little Britain/ Come Fly With Me being in this discussion (as sketch shows), but they always felt a bit cruel, punching down, simplistic… compared to the likes of Harry Enfield’s characters that has gone before…

Walliams and Lucas have carved out nice careers for themselves afterwards but their “big break” doesn’t fit so comfortably with the subsequent self appointed role as moral guardians

To a point, but Del Boy was intended to be a likeable character (the loveable rogue trope) whereas I don't believe Basil Fawlty was written as someone the audience should like, at best you might pity him but that's as good as it gets.

That’s an interesting point

I found Only Fools And Horses okay without really getting what the fuss was about, because other than Del Boy all of the other characters seemed very two dimensional, any scene without Del front and centre seemed a bit flat (whereas e.g. Red Dwarf could put any of the main four characters in a room together and it’d be funny)

Sit Coms can often be split into those with a “weird” main character (Hyacinth Bucket, Basil Fawlty, Gordon Brittas) or those where an “ordinary” character is surrounded by weird ones (Dave Lister, Ted Crilly, James “The Wee English Fellow”, Jen in the IT Crowd) - which is why something like One Foot In The Grave feels tougher to write, Victor Meldrew seems an ordinary guy surrounded by ordinary people but events/ misunderstandings conspire to engineer a situation that caused him to blow his top (at least, he’s not as highly strung as Fawlty who’d start an argument in an empty room… Meldrew is more interesting because he starts every episode unstressed before gradually being “tested”)

I was slightly surprised to see Outnumbered getting 8.2% of the votes (as things stand), but I suppose it depends on your generation, it felt like the BBC always had a “Family” sitcom in the schedules - 2.4 Children, My Family, Outnumbered - but they’d rather fill their schedules with quiz/reality shows these days, the kind of “starter sitcom” that the whole family can watch no longer exists (but then, in an era where we all have our own devices, no longer have multi generations watching the same telly at the same time, i guess it’d be a lot harder to fill that gap)

Its easy to measure if comedy is funny, because you listen for the laughter. Comedy which makes other people laugh but leaves you cold, is still comedy, its just not for you

Good point, I’d rather we had Sit Coms like Mrs Brown/ Miranda over all of the “unscripted” reality tosh (even though those Sit Coms do nothing for me), there’s plenty of scope for comedy that isn’t just aimed at people like me

If yuu want to know how and why jokes work, Jimmy Carr wrote a book the Naked Jape. For sitcoms, Joel Morris is publishing a book Comedy Basic as a sample, he picked through the jokes in 2 minutes of the Simpsons.

The Jimmy Carr book is great, he’s very good at explaining the “science” of how jokes work without letting too much daylight in on the magic

I’ve ordered the Joel Morris one, looking forward to it

 

[yorksrob]

Oh yes, I thought 2.4 children was good. A bit underrated I think.

 

[Bevan Price]

Most of Till Death Us Do Part , I should imagine.

I could never comprehend why Till Death Us Do Part was described as "comedy". I just thought it was rather sick, tedious and boring. Whilst the actors may have been talented, waiting for Alf Garbage to insult his wife was just repetitive "yuk".

 

[AlterEgo]

Yes it is odd isn’t it.

For example I am so gobsmacked at how anyone can find Mrs Browns Boys funny. For me it’s one of the worst shows ever made.

I use Mrs Brown’s Boys as an absolute barometer of taste. If someone claims they like it I don’t trust anything else they say regarding personal taste!

 

[duncanp]

I could never comprehend why Till Death Us Do Part was described as "comedy". I just thought it was rather sick, tedious and boring. Whilst the actors may have been talented, waiting for Alf Garbage to insult his wife was just repetitive "yuk".

I think the British sense of humour and social attitudes have changed since the 1960s when Till Death Us Do Part was first shown.

All comedy characters have an element of truth in them, otherwise they wouldn't be funny.

It is just that what we find funny changes over time.

 

[Trackman]

For those who followed it on YouTube was a very well put together comedy soap called Buggernation Street. It used footage from early 70s Coronation Street episodes and was overdubbed with new storylines. It was very,very rude,extremely un-PC and hugely funny. Sadly its 28 or so episodes got pulled by YouTube back in the autumn and its creators channel shut down.
This is not to be confused with Sorrynation Street which is a poor imitation using 90s footage.

I couldn't stop laughing when I watched an episode!

To the Regiment! I wish i was there!

Think I've mentioned this before, they wrote a third series and the BBC axed it. Why oh why!??

I've got a soft spot for Not Going Out with Lee Mack.

Same here.
He's great on the 1% club which the next series is being filmed around about now.

 

[BJames]

Admittedly I have not seen some of these - especially some made years before I was born, although I did get into Only Fools and Horses and thoroughly enjoyed Fawlty Towers, although it has been many years since I've watched either. For me, Gavin & Stacey and Outnumbered are two of my all time favourites (but I'll add another vote for Not Going Out too as mentioned above).

Yes it is odd isn’t it.

For example I am so gobsmacked at how anyone can find Mrs Browns Boys funny. For me it’s one of the worst shows ever made.

I use Mrs Brown’s Boys as an absolute barometer of taste. If someone claims they like it I don’t trust anything else they say regarding personal taste!

I could not agree more. I cannot stand it.

 

[pdq]

the kind of “starter sitcom” that the whole family can watch no longer exists

I think Ghosts fulfils this brief quite well.

 

[johnnychips]

I am very pleased nobody has mentioned Only When I Laugh apart from in that big list. How talented actors like James Bolam and Peter Bowles came to be associated with such dross is hard to comprehend.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

There is a special place in hell reserved for that.

I’m a fan embarrassingly, to the bewilderment of both my parents, who consider it to be the worst show ever created.

 

[Runningaround]

I certainly wouldn't call to have it banned for any form of "ism" or "phobia", I just find the hypocrisy of certainly left-leaning entertainers rather distasteful. Lucas and Walliams in particular seem to have an "it's okay when WE do it" attitude, but will condemn people like Ricky Gervais and Jimmy Carr for making "edgy" jokes. It just reeks of envy to be honest, because they'll never make anything as groundbreaking as The Office or After Life.

As I said my main criticism is that it isn't funny in my opinion, bit I wouldn't ban it because I don't like it. I'd just rather the populace at large let it fade into history!

They apologised for the racist and homophobic stereotypes and since then I've not seen it repeated.

There ''Come Fly With Me'' was much better.

 

[Runningaround]

Only foold and horses was flogged to death and replayed so often that it stopped being funny imo.

The office was one i couldnt get into. To cringe.

I do like the likely lads mind!

The reason why ''Phoenix Nights'' and ''Max and Paddy'' aren't in the list is because few remember them as Peter Kay doesn't allow his shows to be repeated.
Perhaps the reason why OFAH is so well remembered is that you can turn on the telly at anytime of day and watch an episode, Father Ted is getting repeated again after a rest and ''The Peep Show'' is on a continuous repeat and both are on the list.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I am very pleased nobody has mentioned Only When I Laugh apart from in that big list. How talented actors like James Bolam and Peter Bowles came to be associated with such dross is hard to comprehend.

I remember that. I watched it when it was originally on and its repeats over the years.
For some reason ITV sitcoms seem to be more forgettable than BBC ones. Possibly because ITV doesn’t seem to make sitcoms anymore and ITV 3/4 doesn’t show old regional sitcoms like Take a Letter Mr Jones. That sort of thing is left to either TPTV or the defunct Forces TV.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

They apologised for the racist and homophobic stereotypes and since then I've not seen it repeated.

There ''Come Fly With Me'' was much better.

They still need to apologise for the far greater crime of failing at comedy!

Matt Lucas has done nothing of note since Shooting Stars.

 

[Pinza-C55]

The list doesn't include Hi De Hi so I can't take it seriously.