Favourite Comedy Programmes

[ThaiPauly]

Maybee 3 was to narrow a selection......give it your all.

I have heard of some on this thread I had forgotten all about, but just seeing their names like "On The Busses" makes me laugh.

Have to agree that I would love to have included

"Allo "Allo

Only Fools and Horses

Dad's Army

TILL DEATH DO US PART

Little Britain

Porridge

Rising Damp

The Harry Enfield Show

Bottom

Taxi (best ever American Comedy Show in my Book)

Bean

Black Adder

ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE

and of course "Crossroads" for those of you who remember it. Was not supposed to be a comedy..but fluffed lines , bad acting and moving scenery sure helped it become one, rather like "The Bold and The Beautiful" Has anyone been unlucky enough to watch THAT??

TP

Feel free to add anything you want...... brings back great comedy moments. we need cheering up here in CM right now as its absolutley pissing down this morning!!

[taxexile]

1. reggie perrin , imho some of CJ's moments were worth the price of admission alone.

1(a). dads army , pure joy.

1©. one foot in the grave , inspirational grumpiness.

2. blackadder , for his sneering put downs and Stephen Fry

3. fawlty towers , for the farce and the insanity.

other favourites , in no particular order.

only fools and horses , bilko , bottom , peter cook and dudley moore , i'm sorry i'll read that again , round the horne , frasier , hogans heroes , the brittas empire , porridge , the league of gentlemen , the office.

[raro]

I just notice that no one mentions Little Britain. I never saw it, found the DVDs recently. Is it worth buying?

[taxexile]

little britain ? i found it funny for the first ten minutes , its a character based sketch show and once you know the characters then the punch lines and situations become obvious and the writers tend to struggle to find humour after two or three sketches involving the same bizarre characters.

with a lot of these character based sketch shows , the fast show was another good example , the characters and punch lines wear very thin after a short time and even though these shows attract cult status , i often fail to see what people find so funny.

how many times can you laugh at a salesman in a tailor shop saying "suits you sir "

although i must admit , swiss tony had me grinning before he even opened his mouth.

well constructed situation comedy , where the situations exploit the weaknesses or strengths of the main character offer , to me at least , a much more subtle kind of humour , and i can watch good situation comedies time after time and the enjoyment never seems to decrease.

oh , and i forgot to add dinner ladies to my list above.

[ProfessorFart]

I have found that British humor doesn't cross over well to USA viewers. The 3 stooges rock there Buh' Wheat

I disagree. British TV Comedy from Monty Python through to The Office has gone down a storm in the US. Its just that for some reason American TV executives feel that their audiences are so dumb that they won't like anything which doesn't feature Americans and then have top remake everything to such a lower standard than the original that it is beyond belief. Just look at The Office USA for confirmation of this.

[bendix]

To a certain extent, yes, Professor Fart. But he has a point.

The best UK sitcoms tend to be based in working class situations (Dads Army, On the Buses etc) and both the environment and the idiom don't translate well.

What sense would a middle class family in Dallas make of Rodney and Del Boy roaming around Peckham in a Reliant Robin, for example?

[jayenram]

This subject has been posted before, in a round-a-bout way.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=19641&hl=

However, I would add a few radio programmes:

Round The Horne

Beyond Our Ken

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again

The Navy Lark

And a reasonably newly produced UK comedy which I find funny for reasons that I can't quite explain:

League of Gentlemen.

[Buckwheat]

There is a listing of UK and US sitcoms here;

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Situation_comedy

As far as remaking UK sitcoms to US tastes, the 2 most mentioned are

UK Original

Steptoe and Son

Till Death Do We Part

US Remake

Sandford and Son

All In The Family

I cannot agree that "remaking everything to such a lower standard than the original" is true in these 2 cases.

Anyway, now I have to go to lunch...The cooks are in the kitchen.

[chuchok]

Minder!

Arthur Daley played by the legendary George Cole, would be one of the funniest/clever bit of acting that I have ever seen. .

[jayenram]

Has "Drop the Dead Donkey" received a mention?

[David Duke]

All in the Family and Sanford and Son are the greatest sitcoms in the history of Television

[chuchok]

All in the Family and Sanford and Son are the greatest sitcoms in the history of Television

Nice little troll DD, but no cigar.We all know you don't like British comedy.However, some of us can appreciate both.

Personally, Archie Bunker was about as funny as polio IMHO.

[David Duke]

Actually I would love to see the 2 British comedies that inspired those 2 shows

[markuk]

CNN

[madmitch]

THree that haven't received a mention:

Phoenix Nights

Mind Your Language

Up Pompeii

[raro]

CNN

[David Duke]

Watching the BBC news is about as lively as watching paint dry

[wolf5370]

Watching the BBC news is about as lively as watching paint dry

If the truth's too boring for you, try watching Fox News - not much chance of the boring truth there.

[wolf5370]

Talking about disappinting remakes...I was told once (by someone who works for the BBC) that 'Allo Allo' was sold to a French TV station. However, to not upset the French viewers, the policeman was given a proper French vercabularly and accent, the French restance were removed completely and many of the German jokes regarding the French were removed. In short, there was nothing left that was funny!

[ThaiPauly]

I have just read that the guy who played David Brent in "The Office" has just written and done the voice overs for an episode of THE SIMPSONS

[game4shame]

I have just read that the guy who played David Brent in "The Office" has just written and done the voice overs for an episode of THE SIMPSONS

Correct.

Ricky Gervais wrote and took part in an episode. I think it was aired last weekend on Sky 1 in the UK.

I didn't see it myself. I like The Office but not really a Simpsons fan.

[TRIPxCORE]

Curb Your Enthusiasm!!!

YES! I can't believe only one vote for this show. It is, IMO, the best comedy program of all time.

However, I would add a few radio programmes:

Radio? Geez, you are old!

Let me add:

Seinfeld

Three Stooges

Benny Hill

[thaibebop]

Watching the BBC news is about as lively as watching paint dry

Please tell me that's your real name, as in the name your parents gave you.

[Ulysses G.]

Watching the BBC news is about as lively as watching paint dry

If the truth's too boring for you, try watching Fox News - not much chance of the boring truth there.

I'll take entertaining lies over soporific lies any time!

[girlx]

the young ones is my favorite of all time, monty python is good too

seinfeld & the simpsons are american classics

there used to be those skit shows like 'kids in the hall' and 'in living color' that cracked me up but are no longer around

saw only one episode of 'the office' - pretty funny

[Tippaporn]

We can't forget some of the funniest shows - cartoons:

Walt Disney - Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, et al.

Bug Bunny

Woody Woodpecker

Mighty Mouse

Tom and Jerry (which I watch all the time with the kids here in Thailand).

Edited April 29, 2006 by Tippaporn

[Tippaporn]

And of course . . .

The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show

[tutsiwarrior]

I can't believe that no one has mentioned I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, The Life of Riley, The Dobey Gillis Show, Gilligan's Island, MacHale's Navy, The Jacky Gleason Show and the Dick Van Dyke Show...an' what about Saturday Night Live?, with ol' John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Dan Ackroyd, Jim Murray, et al???

on the UK side no one likes Absolutely Fabulous?...one of my faves, mostly because I wanna have sex with Joanna Lumley (an' I don't care if she's 60 y.o. +) and in the sitcom she's always drunk and randy...I keep hoping the script will have her fall over in a short dress to have viewers be able to look up it...

Edited April 29, 2006 by tutsiwarrior

[ThaiPauly]

I can't believe that no one has mentioned I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, The Life of Riley, The Jacky Gleason Show and the Dick Van Dyke Show...

on the UK side no one likes Absolutely Fabulous?...one of my faves, mostly because I wanna have sex with Joanna Lumley and in the sitcom she's always drunk and randy...I keep hoping the script will have her fall over in a short dress to have viewers be able to look up it...

###### Sexy when she was in the Avengers... not so sure about fancying her in Ab Fab

[tutsiwarrior]

dbbl post...

Edited April 29, 2006 by tutsiwarrior