There I was, blithely entering links. Not for new comedy, just generic links. Oh you fool, Snod. Read the competition rules properly before entering!

Stupid boy!

Did you used to be Pike? :-)

Yep, that's me. Dad's Army, cutting edge of humour

For me the top 12 sitcoms of all time are... (not necessarily in this order):

Dad's Army
Steptoe & Son
Fawlty Towers
Sgnt Bilko
Only fools and horses
Porridge
Open all hours
One foot in the grave
Last of the Summer Wine
Sykes
Hancocks Half Hour

Put's me right at the forefront...

Yeah I know that's only 11... I'm still writing the twelth!

Frankie

12. 'Til death us do part!

quote:

Originally posted by Frankie Rage:
12. 'Til death us do part!

Alf Garnet, right? And then they did 'In Sickness And In Health', too - with the theme tune by Chas and Dave...

They were supposed to do the theme for 'Fools and Horses', too - but Sullivan did it himself in the end... They're good fun though, and have an absolutely 'British' quality which fits the mood of those shows perfectly...

I'd agree with a lot of the others on that list, too - 'Fawlty Towers' always crops up, and 'One Foot In The Grave' was another of those fantastic comedy/pathos masterclasses that the BBC do so incredibly well...

If we're staying strictly British I'd stick 'Blackadder' (series 2-4) on there as well...

quote:

Originally posted by Frankie Rage:
For me the top 12 sitcoms of all time are... (not necessarily in this order):

Dad's Army
Steptoe & Son
Fawlty Towers
Sgnt Bilko
Only fools and horses
Porridge
Open all hours
One foot in the grave
Last of the Summer Wine
Sykes
Hancocks Half Hour

Put's me right at the forefront...

Yeah I know that's only 11... I'm still writing the twelth!

Frankie

No Blackadder?

13. Blackadder !!!

On the US side... what about Bewitched with original Darren? Cheers,Fraser,Seinfeld, Mash? THe early Friends?



Benkins

All good, except don't know about Seinfeld never seen it... also Golden Girls had some good moments!

I felt a fool last night. Maybe I should respect my body more.

US wise... As well as 'Seinfeld' and 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', I also really liked 'Mad About You' - which linked neatly up to both 'Friends' and 'Seinfeld', by featuring the 'Ursula' and the 'Kramer/Kessler' characters... Something about it really struck a chord... Probably that I wanted to be a newlywed...

US comedy?

The Banana Splits - years ahead of its time.

Also X-Files. The first few series before it took itself seriously. Laugh-out-loud stuff.

And I'm getting into My Name Is Earl, though it leaves the missus cold. Actually, quite a lot leaves her cold. But you don't want to hear about my personal problems

US comedy is OK but there's something slick and glossy about it that I don't like... post the black & white Bilko era that is...

I think in the main it's because US comedy is more aspirational based whereas a lot of our great comedy is more rooted in reality.

Like Father Ted.



Benkins

Yes whereas they have jobs in US sitcoms there's never any work done... but in Steptoe Harold was always out on the cart or coming home with a cart full...

ALBERT:
'arold, what are you doing behind that 'orse, he doesn't like it...

HAROLD:
Go away you dirty ol' man...

Sabriel: that's the trouble with white Americans... there's always a sermon in every smile...

The craft in the top US Sitcoms is really really good mind. We've got a couple of great craftsman here and there Steven Moffatt.... who should be allowed to write all the Doctor Who Eps (His ones make it a completly different show - a class one lol) and David Renwick for Eg.

Have you watched Boston Legal Frankie, not technically a sticom but v v funny and not afraid to criticise the country.



Benkins

Must give Boston Legal a go!

The thing is I know American sitcoms like 'Friends' or 'Frasier' are crafted brilliantly well... but somehow you can see the craftsmanship and it's 'glossy' and 'slick' if you know what I mean? And they play to the crowd... and you can see that...

You shouldn't be able to see the structure of it like that...

To me it's like seeing the scenery shaking in amateur dramatics when someone opens or closes a door... it doesn't make any difference to the story but I don't want to see it (unless I'm supposed to see it...)

I don't know if you know what I mean...?

In the end it makes me not want to watch it not want to be part of that... sorry, non-art, sitcom muzac... that 'Friends', 'Frazier' and the like seem to be to me...

They have no soul?

comedy perfection was achieved with alan partridge. "you feed chickens to cows you mentalist."

quote:

Originally posted by Sabriel:
We've got a couple of great craftsman here and there Steven Moffatt.... who should be allowed to write all the Doctor Who Eps (His ones make it a completly different show - a class one lol)...

I'm glad someone brought that up... His one was 'Blink' this series, right?... The Doctor and Martha were only in a handful of scenes, but the sheer inventiveness of the plot in that one completely blew me away... It was one of those rare pieces of TV that genuinely gets you rivetted and leaves you sitting there at the end saying, "Damn, I wish I'd come up with that"...

'Jonathan Creek' was another one that could have that effect, too...

Blink was blinkin brilliant. You never saw the baddies move. There were no nasty deaths. But my missus was quite literally hiding behind a cushion. When they went down the basement she had to go and stand in the doorway (still with her cushion) so she couldn't accidently see the screen. She's 50, bless her, and she was reduced to a 5-year-old.

Me? I was reduced to hysterics at her antics.