The British Sitcom thread

[urnofosiris]

The formidable and wonderful Dawn French will be presenting a show monday the 11th on BBC One at 10.35pm GMT that reviews British Sitcoms. (A nice little interview can be found here.) I am using that as an excuse to start this thread. I may have seen less than half of the shows that are out there, but the ones that got me hooked are really precious to me. So if anyone feels like it, this is the place to discuss your likes and dislikes of British Comedies.



My own tastes vary a bit. At the top of my list in no particular order:



Absolutely Fabulous

French & Saunders

Keeping Up Appearances

Birds of a Feather



I love French and Saunders, almost everything they touch turns to comedic gold. One recent exception has been Dawn French in The Wild West. She supposedly plays a lesbian but I gave up after episode two. Surprisingly unfunny. The Vicar of Dibley on the other hand is fantastic. Unfortunately I kept forgetting to tune in, so I missed many eps, but I did catch the one that had Kylie in it.

I cannot praise Keeping up Appearances enough. Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet) is a goddess. I want her for my neighbour, but I am sure she would not want to live in my neighbourhood.

Well, I could go on like this for a while, but I better not. I am looking forward to what Dawn French will have to say.

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Coffee, Food, Kisses and Gay Love........Get it while you are hot

Edited by: DrG at: 5/11/03 1:09:56 am

[Nix42]

Well if we're talking British sitcoms, I'm going have to mention the 70s classic that is Are You Being Served? Anything that can get away with double entendres about Mrs Slocombe's pussy has to be good



And for those now feeling nostalgic (sorry wrong thread!), here are the opening titles

Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast

[SJ]

I was going to say Are You Being Served as well

Such a great funny Brit sitcom

You Rang My Lord I thought was pretty funny too esp Miss Kitty

[concrete]

Goeie draad! As there are so many brilliant british sitcoms it's very difficult

to pick out the really special, funny ones. Of course all French/Saunders

stuff. Their solo-projects, although I must go along with G. when it comes

to Dawn's "Wild West" that was, well, to me, a load of unfunny bollocks.

Ab Fab deserves a special mention. Too funny for words.

There's "A League of Gentlemen" which I really like (ooooh, suits you, Sir...).

"Fast Train" "The Young Ones" "Are You Being Served?" "Birds Of A Feather"

"You Rang, M'Lord?" (Miss Sissy I recall, no Miss Kitty unless I missed

something ) "Smack The Pony" which primarily consisted of women and

was rather underrated if you ask me (which nobody does, but hey...). I could

go on but I won't. T.V. would be very boring indeed without british

comedies so bless 'em all (well, almost all). Thanks for pointing out Dawn French's appearance tomorrow, G.! I'll definitely will be watching.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious. ...

[justin]

My two favorite sitcoms are Spaced (It's a shame there isn't going to be a third series) and Drop The Dead Donkey.



Apart from that I like most of the shows that have been mentioned here.

I understand, you should be with the person you l-love


I am

[bronwyn]

When I lived in England I got addicted to a number of British shows (not all comedies) that I sadly only get a few of here in Canada. Some of these are older and I've watched them on rerun at home.



The comedies:

-Two Pints of Lagar and a Packet of Crisps

-AbFab

-The Vicar of Dibley

-The Royle Family

-Blackadder

-Father Ted is Irish but I'll stick on this list anyway

-Monarch of the Glen was kinda cute



The Dramas:

-Cracker (I love this show)

-The Cazalets (this was a mini-series but hey)

-Robin of Sherwood (this is really old but I love it)



Did anyone see Metrosexuality?



I'm also sadly addicted to Corrie and Changing Rooms. I know. I'm lame.



xxx,

Bronwyn

[LilacWine22]

hi know most have been mentioned but these are the ones i like!



absolutley faboulous



the royal family



only fools and horses



the vicar of dibley



my family



at home with the braithwaites



bad girls



v graham norton



never mind the buzzcocks





ok i know they are not all sitcomes but some good stuff

[mollyig]

I just love The Office. It's such a unique show, with such funny characters.

I love my Love, and well she knows
I love the ground whereon she goes

[littlecrazy80]

I loved Absolutely Fabulous when I´ve seen it on german TV. I started watching it because of Julia Sawalha from Press Gang(?).



*lil´c*

Unter den Blinden ist der Einäugige König.



Check this out

[The Partisan]

For me, I love Coupling, and Black Books.

[xita]

I love Are You Being Served, it amuses me when I catch it. And I am an obsessed fan of Ab Fab, I have all the DVDs. And I can watch them over and over. Brilliant.

[Zippy]

Comedy eh? Well I am a huge fan of Drop the Dead Donkey, I strive to be more like Joy, but I haven't managed to perfect my headbutting technique yet.



Another one of my favs is Gimmie,Gimmie,Gimmie. Kathy Burke is just so bloody funny, I know it isn't very pc and the whole show got slated by the gay press but it is still very funny.



Black Books also very funny show, Bill Bailey is a very funny guy.Other shows I like include Game On, Open all Hours, Spaced oh and Red Dwarf.

Drink beer. Shag birds. Talk bollocks.

[Kieli]

Waiting for God, Monty Python, The Kenny Everett Show and Benny Hill? The last two were total trash but I loved them because they were bawdy. My aunt should've been shot for letting me stay up to watch them

[SJ]

Yeah Miss Sissy,dunno why I said that

[Alirissa]

I recently got addicted to Coupling. It is quite brilliant. Very similiar to Friends, but I think Coupling is much smarter and funnier. I'm also a long time fan of Robin of Sherwood. I keep hoping they will bring it back since it ended with a cliffhanger. Then there are other favorites of mine - Keeping up Appearances, Vicar of Dibley, Ab Fab, The Thin Blue Line. I also remember a sitcom about a gym and the manager was oblivious to all the craziness going on, it was on about 10 years ago here in the states. I can't remember the name though. And did anyone watch French and Saunders spoof of the first Lord of the Rings movie? I watched it about 20 times. It was hilarious!



How could I forget I use to watch Benny Hill and The Dave Allen Show when I was a kid.

Edited by: Alirissa at: 5/12/03 8:43:48 am

[Puff]

Ab Fab

The Vicar of Dibley

Blackadder (Particularly the Elizabethan season)

Some mothers do have em

The diner ladies? (A victoria Wood show that cracked me up)

and French and Saunders were all really funny.



I was lucky enough to see French and Saunders live on their second show...my ribs hurt the next day from laughing so much.



Edited to add Red Drawf which I can't believe I forgot.

---

Cheese. It's milk that you chew.

Edited by: Puff  at: 5/12/03 7:39:22 am

[Laika 27]

Don't forget...FAWLTY TOWERS!!!!!



My other faves are:

Ab Fab

Blackadder

Father Ted

Black Books (still hoping for a new series)

Open All Hours



Ooops! almost forgot Rising Damp. Me thinks I like my comedy very quirky. Thanks for that info Partisan..wooo hooo!!! Can't wait.

Edited by: Laika 27 at: 5/13/03 10:57:09 am

[The Partisan]

Last I heard, Laika, Black Books was presently writing the 3rd series. Score one for the good guys.

[Minnie Mone]

Drop the Dead Donkey is one of my all time favorites! The best episodes (IMHO) was when they went paintballing, and the awards night. It was hilarious! Not to mention a lesbian character that stayed that way even when being chased by the hunk of the show.



And who mentioned Press Gang? I still have most episodes on video! Julia Sawalha was also the one to get me watching Ab Fab. And did you catch Dexter Fletcher in Kylie Minogue's "some kind of bliss" clip?



The Office was pure genious as far as I'm concerned. I laughed, I cringed, I cried. It is just way too much like every office I've ever worked in. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favour! Like the other British Classic "Fawltey Towers" it only has 12 episodes. All of them pure gold!

[SJ]

Acorn Antiques

[wolfwynd]

ah sitcoms gotta love them!



My fave ones are (and yeah I know they're not all sitcoms!)



Ab Fab (I love Jennifer Saunders!)

Blackadder (Everything up to the "Blackadder Goes Forth")

Red Dwarf (INHO - the BEST comedy to come outta Britain!)

My Family (Cracks me up every time!)



Just my two cents, I'll go back to reading fic now Although if you're lucky I might actually get round to writing some more as well!



Keep the love alive... + =



Wolfwynd

[tommo]

Quote:

---

Acorn Antiques

---

See, that's the kind of quality sitcom you just don't see anymore.



I loved Acorn Antiques. Mainly because of Mrs Overall. "Try my macaroons, they've been on a low light since Wednesday!"

"Dude, you just rescued a puppy!"

[Nix42]

The Good Life .. another one that I loved, although maybe it was just Felicity Kendall

Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast

[rduffy24]

As a kid, I enjoyed Dad's Army. Actually, as an adult, I enjoyed rewatching them recently on t.v.! Its sad, but many of the recent programmes just aren't up to the same standard, so I guess that's why they reshow them repeatedly.



I remember one with Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques..but I can't remember what it was called!



What I remember most about Felicity Kendall was that she was named 'Rear of the Year'.......

[jaycatt23]

Phoenix Nights is absolute genius

[Nix42]

Yep, Peter Kay is a comedy god

Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast

[Minnie Mone]

Anyone a fan of The Sketch Show?



That is classic humour! I got the chance to see Lee Mack while he was in Australia for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and he was hilarious!

[AlteaThree]

OOO, British TV is great! Well, at least what I get here in Canada of it off of PBS, Knowledge Network, Showcase, YTV, etc.



My faves:



At Home With the Braithwaites (just discovered it!)

Are You Being Served?

AbFab

Keeping Up Appearances

Red Dwarf(well, way back when)



I also love "Midsomer Murders"

"Hey, did you go to Hollywood Upstairs Medical college too?"

[taralicious]

As an incurable anglophile from my puberty to my adultery,

I'll chime in with my favorites.

More of an old school guy myself:

The Two Ronnies

The Goodies

Only When I Laugh

Mind Your Language

The Good Life(there will never be such an assemblage of talent as with the foursome on display here) Kudos to Richard Briers, Felicity Kendall, Penelope Keith, and the late Paul Eddington.

Are You Being Served?

Open All Hours

FAWLTY TOWERS(Flowery Twats, Farty Owls, etc)

Three Up, Two Down(Lysette Anthony, Yum Yum!)

[tommo]

Yes but have you seen Lysette Anthony on Night and Day recently? How the mighty have fallen...she's looking harsh...

"Dude, you just rescued a puppy!"