This is were you come to discuss British sit-coms. No American shit-coms here please. Discuss your favourite shows, moments, lines and scenes along with any news of upcoming shows or new series. I'll get the ball rolling with my top 5 British sit-coms:

1. Fawlty Towers

Basil Fawlty is the owner of a hotel in Torquay and, to him, he is surrounded by imbeciles who are seemingly intent on making his life as difficult as possible. Essentially a French farce, each episode descends into hilarious chaos as the order comes crumbling down around the helpless and hapless Basil.

2. The Office

Shot in the style of a documentary based in the Slough office of Wernham Hogg (a paper supplier), The Office was the most original comedy of the last 20 years. David Brent is the incompetent manager trying his best to be both a boss and a friend to his staff at the same time and failing miserably.

3. Red Dwarf

Set in deep space, the crew of red Dwarf were wiped out leaving only Dave Lister (an unwashed space-bum who spent 3 million years in stasis), a hologramatic representation of his dead bunkmate (Arnold Rimmer), a creature that evolved from his cat (the Kat) and a mechanoid called Kryten. Essentially a spoof of sci-fi shows such as Star Trek, Red Dwarf has been a mainstay of British cult comedy for over 15 years.

4. Phoenix Nights

Set in The Phoenix Club in the north of England and revolving around its wheelchair bound owner Brian Potter ("Ironside"), Phoenix Nights is one of those timeless comedies that everyone who's ever been to a social club can identify with. It's similar to Fawlty Towers in a sense that Brian is surrounded by idiots (particularly his useless doormen, Max and Paddy) and he is, moreso than Basil due to his disability, helpless to do anything about it.

5. Alan Partidge

Revolving around the exploits of ex-Radio Norwich sportsreader Alan Partidge, the show sees our hero in two guises. The first is as a chatshow host in a spoof mock-up of established shows like Parkinson. However, due to him accidentally shooting and killing a guest in the final episode of the series, he is fired and so during the second and third series we follow his life as a graveyard shift radio presenter.

I love these comedies as if they were my own children. How I whittled it down to five I will never know, especially with the likes of Father Ted, The Young Ones, Blackadder and Bottom being omitted. Anyway; British sit-coms/comedy - discuss and inform.

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Black.
Books.

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Definitely, Black Books is kick-ass.

I only agree with Fawlty Towers and Red Dwarf on John's list, the others are just plain shitty and boring. Especially The Office.

I thought nobody would agree with Red Dwarf seeing that it's not as mainstream as the others. I've never seen Black Books, any good? What channel was it on?

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Red Dwarf kicked arse, and so does the Office. Just watched that today. I liked some of the Rik Mayall sitcoms too.

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Alan Partridge is fucking awesome.

I still find stuff like Hancock hillarious

Black books is good, not amazing though.

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace:

Spoof 80s Hospital Drama - Horror. Absolutetey brilliant. After the gates of hell are reopened in the hospital canteen in the first epiode, the unorthodox Dr. Rick Dagless MD, hotshot Dr Lucien Sanchez, and new addition Dr Liz Asher have to battle with the forces of evil as well as keeping up with the chore of day to day admin.
Features cheap sets, bad lipsync and spoof interviews with the actors and directors.

"Not only has that poor man just been screwed by a giant eye, but he's now giving birth"

The Mighty Boosh

This one takes a bit of getting into, it's really odd. Howard Moon and Vince Noir are zookeepers at 'the zooniverse'. Every week they argue about the relative merits of electro and jazz, as well as going on a surreal adventure. For example:

A bear goes mad and attacks people after being subjected to Howard's slap bass odessy (simply entitled: particle) and is then driven to animal prison. On the way they take a shortcut through a forest where Vince is reunited with Brian Ferry (who raised him in the jungle) and Howard picks up a hitckhiker with an enourmous thumb (the green man-witch). Unfortunately, the hitchhiker is a self proclaimed cockney nutjob and traps howard and vince in a box, which is also a zoo for animal offenders. It goes on...

Features a few of the Darkplace team. There is also a radio show on BBC7 at the moment, you can listen for free on the BBC website, called 'The Boosh'

What? No Seinfeld?

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black books was hilarious.
bill baley, and dylan moran running a book shop. dylan moran is an irish nihilistic drunkard, who refuses to do anything. and bill baley is a wierdo
i think it was on channel 4 but im not sure.

newer ones:
spaced
the office
phoenix nights
black books.
2 pints of lager and a packet of crisps.
this is fantastic. a lot of people say its not very good, and that it appeals to the lowest common denominator, but i think its one of the funniest sitcoms ive ever seen.

classic ones:
yes minister/prime minister
fawlty towers.
but my favourite...
"vot is your name?"
"dont tell him, pike"


things I hate and dont find funny in the slightest.
alan partridge. wanker.
the royal family. boring.

the rest i can take or leave.
my family had quite a good run of nick jokes, and red dwarf was brilliant with the nodnoL episode.


my favourite line from the newer sitcoms has to be
"hes done it again, he put my stapler in jelly. he knows i'm frightened of jelly"

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The Mighty Boosh! How could I forget the Mighty Boosh! Definitely my favourite British sit-com of all time. Most of the shit out there make me laugh out loud (which is rare).

Two pints of of lager, I hate that show. It's so un-amusingly shitty.

Black Books was indeed on Channel 4, as most of the good comedy seems to be these days, although BBC2 has its fair share.

The Good:
Alan Partridge
The Office
BrassEye (can't believe no one has mentioned that yet)
Phoenix Nights
Green Wing (brilliant)

The Bad:
Little Britain (unfunny due to its predicability)
Bo Selecta (its funny at times, but only for a few sketches)
Red Dwarf (never appealed to me)
The Mighty Boosh (didn't appeal either)

Brasseye was classic. Lets get quadraspazzed on cake!

what about doctor who, tom baker era<and the black and white era first doctor whos name escapes my mind>all the other doctors sucked but the tom baker shows are amazing,thats my favorite tv show ever, me and my roomate have slowly been collecting episodes on vhs


monty pythons flying circus shows, i got season 1 and 2 on vhs and some of the movies, it was light years ahead of its time, i ve never felt happier wasting time in front of a tv as when i catch an episode on some obscure american cable channel, i guess its the most commonly known show to americans

what happened to the young ones, it was the most far out show id ever seen in my life, the one where madness plays "my house" with styrafoam instruments while a full scale riot is taking place, abso-fucking-lutely brilliant

The Thin Blue Line.

Look carefully enough, sometimes I have been seen quoting it on this site

I don't think I've ever laughed as hard at a show as I have this one. Det. Insp. Derek Grimm is one of the most classic characters in history, and when he and "hoity-toity" Insp. Raymond Fowler are going at each other, I have sometimes struggled to breathe. Casual sarcasm and shutting down, double entendreurs, and hilariously abusive senior officers are what makes this a gem. One of my all time favourite lines:

Grimm: WELL, ME AND MY OFFICERS HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN FANNYING ABOUT, AND SPEAKING HOITY-TOITY.
Fowler: Well if you don't communicate properly it could lead to no end of confusion!! This report: "The criminal ran around my back and out my side at a colossal lick." Start stringing words together willy-nilly, and you get "The criminal licked out my colossal round backside."
Grimm: WELL HERE ARE TWO WORDS YOU CAN PUT IN A DIFFERENT ORDER: "BUGGER," AND "OFF." I mean "Off," and "Bugger."

I really hope someone else has heard of this show so it can be discussed into oblivion.

Oh, and hardly an episode goes by without some sort of paying out on the French.

"To young people, concepts such as honour, value and moral decency, are as foreign as a Frenchman.....and indeed, no less acceptable."

Black Books was on channel 4.

And i can't believe no one has mentioned Spaced, probably one of the only decent things on british TV in the past 10 years

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i mentioned spaced

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oh yeah.....*ahem*

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Black Books is the FREAKING SHLIZZLE. If you want to see a guy acting like me every fucking second of his life, but worse, you need to watch that shiddup.

"I'll write."
"I won't read it."
"I'll call."
"I'll hang up."
"I'll come and see you."
"I'll be dead by then."

Needless to see, Bernard Black is my fucking hero.



Ya clown, they made 8 or 9 series. That ain't no underground shizzit.

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Fuckin' A! I loved this show to bits. It suffered *only* from being not quite as exquisitely kick-arse as the other Curtis/Elton stuff, and lasted only 2 (?) series or so.

Still, it was great. What happened to Rowan Atkinson these days?

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fucking pile of shit that was Mr has-been.
he lives only 20 mins drive away from me, in a place called freshford.
i dont think hes done anything to date.

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I don't know, but I want the record to show that my cousin was the first American to watch Mr. Bean. We used to watch that on PBS back when I was still around 10, but it only used to come on once in a great while. Later on I found out it was because they didn't make too many episodes.

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I'm not sure what happened to young Rowan after that "spy" movie Johnny English.

I love this show to bits too. On the topic of getting photo evidence of a drug baron developed:

Grimm: Oh, YES this is it. Beautiful shot. Smarmy smooth bastard, disgusting. It's a bit blurry, but I can tell. Sixth sense, you see. Maybe seventh. Possibly even eighth. This is a classic disgrace to society.
Boil: Actually that's you sir, you walked in front of the camera as I took the shot.

Uhh does Monty Python count? With all the stupid shit that's on TV today, I still find that and Seinfeld (I know it's US) to be the funniest shows ever.

YA SMEG HEAD!!!!!!!!

Thus Spake Lister.

Monty Python as great and supremely uvber Genious as it was, was a sketch show, however because it is so great I feel it is unfair to not include in the list.

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Exactly, coupla guys back in the late 60's and they're still funnier than the shit you see today.

Eight, and a movie in the pipeline too. It never really gets the recognition over here that it deserves and it only made the jump from BBC2 to BBC1 after 6 series had already been made.

It truly is one of the most underrated sit-coms on TV. Most people read that it's set in space and subsequently "leave it for the Trekkies to watch". It's their loss, but I absolutely love it!

Kat and Lister are watching the Flintstones:

Lister: Kat, do you think Wilmer's sexy?
Kat: In all probability, Wilmer Flintstone is the sexiest woman who ever lived.
Lister: That's good, I thought I was going a bit strange. What do you think of Betty?
Kat: Betty Rubble? I'd go with Betty, but I'd be thinking of Wilmer.
Lister: This is stupid, we're talking about sleeping with Wilmer Flintstone. She'll never leave Fred and we know it.

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He, *ahem*, does the voice for the Mr. Bean cartoons....

[edit]
He's in the Sunday Times rich list, might explain some't too....

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The League of Gentlemen tickled me until the 3rd series. I hope the film will be more like the 1st series though....

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The last i heard of him, he was suffering from depression, and was in a clinic methinks... i think his marriage/relationship broke down, but don't quote me on that last bit.

I can't believe i forgot about that, thats a kick-ass program, i enjoyed the 3rd series a little bit, only the charity shop workers and Glen and Barry - the debt collectors...

'I'm not fat, i'm large'

I don't know what exactly a sitcom is,but anyway.
I like Mr. Bean,Black Adder(I've only seen the ones with the war)
and Benny Hill's shows.

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Black Adder was great. I liked the WWII series the best.

I haven't seen Black Adder or Mr. Bean in an eon, but I used to watch them on PBS in Cali back in the 80's. Great stuff. I guess the Brit Coms they have on now are pretty old, but they're about the only ones I watch religiously on tv. Keeping Up Appearances, Waiting for God, The Vicar of Dibley, and As Time Goes On. Are You Being Served used to be on but they changed the lineup.

HELLBLASTER' -- A sitcom is a situation comedy. A Britcom is a British situation comedy.

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Black Adder is sensational, cracks me up every time!

Bottom, Young Ones, Red Dwarf (my favourite program ever) Monty Python, Fast Show, Mighty Boosh, Only Fools and Horses

quality programming

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black adder is brilliant, though not as good as porridge.

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I never liked porridge, that era of comedy...i prefer stuff like "Some mothers do 'ave 'em" or "open all hours"


Has anyone seem the smoking room?...or some't like that from one of the BBC channels?

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This thread actually reminds me of my mom & dad telling me that Coronation Street was a comedy when i was younger, just so i wouldn't complain. I'm still trying to work out why that worked for a almost a year.....

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Yeah I've seen a few episodes, it's funny, but I think its funnier if you're a smoker (which I am).

Fawlty Towers. Yeeeeeeeeehaw! Love it.

I hope someone has mentioned Father Ted by now in the above clog, even though it might not strictly be British. This was my favourite show for years.

"Oh THAT. I don't think he's mind that. In fact, I think he'd love a good big hard kick up the arse!"

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It was mainly Irish, but i think Hat-Trick was a british production company.

It's fuckin' harsh Dermot's dead, probably that Lent episode in which he smoked all those cigs gave a helping hand.

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PLAY THE FUCKING NOTE!!!

I was a bit crushed when I found out he died. Ardal O'Hanlon is still going strong though, and fuck, he is one very funny gentleman. Frank Kelly, I hope, is still alive.

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I dont have cable TV or ever watch much.
I know for years that every saturday night an hour before SNL there is a show on PBS here called "Are You Being Served" and it appears to be a British comedy from the 70's
It's been running my entire life as it seems and I do recall some Benny Hill as a child on cable television.
I wish there were more like the stuff you guys are mentioning.

"are you being served?" In my opinion is every "carry on..." film in half an hour, in other words...bollocks.

Frank Kelly is still going, I recently saw him in a UK drama/bordering comedy called "Malice Aforethought". Ardal O'Hanlon's attempt at a sit-com series I'm glad hasn't been mentioned so far "My Hero"....is fuckin' dire, but his stand up is ace.


[edit]
My Family used to own Friday nights.

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Correct!

Yeah I enjoyed that programme

My Family is awful, atrocious and abhorrent! Does anyone remember 'Ello, 'Ello?

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I remember 'Allo 'Allo,
I thought it was quite good, though most of the jokes were the same ones over and over again. (that actually can be said about most sitcoms)

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I hated 'Allo 'Allo, Carmen Silvera used to scare the shit out of me. And Vicki Michelle was an oddity to me when i was younger, I always thought...is she supposed to be fit? Ho-hum, and I could never work out who the bad guys were.....'Hold on, they're French! They must be the bad guys.....but who are these German guys?! What the fuck is goin' on here?! Why isn't Indiana Jones stopping them??'

Damn Primary School education.

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Score, score, score, SCORRRRREEEEEEEE!

This will rock balls.

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From 8-10:30 pm every Saturday night I'm watching "Keeping Up Appearances," "Waiting for God," "The Vicar of Dibley," "As Time Goes By," and if I'm still awake, " 'Allo 'Allo." Great stuff! I liked "Are you Being Served," too, when it was on.

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John Cleese is a genius. Fawlty Towers is awesome.

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