The Official Classic British Sitcoms thread

For the discussion of classic British sitcoms, such as ‘Allo ‘Allo and Rising Damp, and more.

Please mark any major spoilers!

Mind Your Language is still my fav.

haha, Ndi said Rising Damp.

Yeah, I bloody love these shows, and seriously, ‘Allo ‘Allo was a better WW2 sitcom than Dads Army. RANDOM TRIVIA – ‘Allo ‘Allo is a parody of a show called Secret Army, which was about Belgian resistance getting downed British fighter pilots back home to England. The accents in this ‘serious’ version were equally as hilarious as those in ‘Allo ‘Allo.

Other favourites of mine are: Steptoe and Son, The Good Life and obvious ones like Fawlty Towers.

Are You Being Served? Please note that I’ve mainly only seen what PBS has chose to air here in the states 🙁 I’ve seen Fawlty Towers and quite enjoyed it, though.

haha, apparently the States were really offended when whatsherface kept going on about her ‘wet pussy’. lollll

The guy from Are You Being Served, John Inman or sth, died not so long ago 🙁

Other favourites of mine are: Steptoe and Son, The Good Life and obvious ones like Fawlty Towers.

Fawlty Towers is one of my favourites as well. To this day I never get bored with watching those. I generally really enjoy watching the "Only Fools and Horses" episodes as well, although not so keen on some of the most recent one’s.

haha, apparently the States were really offended when whatsherface kept going on about her ‘wet pussy’. lollll

The guy from Are You Being Served, John Inman or sth, died not so long ago 🙁

It is crazy to me how different what you’re allowed to show there is compared to what we’re allowed to show here.

I was so shocked that some of the stuff in the UK version of The Office was allowed, but I imagine it wasn’t pushing the envelope much there.

The US is just a bunch of puritains at heart. 🙂

violent, violent puritans.

I really love "Are You Being Served", pretty damn hilarious. I used to watch a lot of Brit comedies when they’d show them on PBS over here. Great stuff

I never watched much of The Young Ones, but I caught a couple of episodes a while back, and man, I didn’t realise it was so bloody trippy D:

I saw the one where London floods and they open their 1st floor window and there is a shark outside or something ?_?

The main ones I enjoy are the Royle Family, Fawlty Towers and sometimes My Family.

It’s top stuff!

Royle Family in particular for its strikingly accurate portrayal of working class family! But also for Ricky Tomlinson who remains one of my favourite people.

Royle Family is pretty decent, but I didn’t love it enough to become a big fan.

My Family was much better when it first started. The older son is fucking hilarious.

I’ve personally always preferred 2 Pints of Lager and Packet of Crisps to the Royal Family. I’d pick "Little Britain" over either though, I love watching that programme!

Oh man, Little Britain is terrible, srsly, -rep for being a girl and -rep of liking Little Britain.

I mean, how many times can ‘Yeah I know’ be funny ?_? NOT MANY.

also, jk GF, u r neat <3

Oh man, Little Britain is terrible, srsly, -rep for being a girl and -rep of liking Little Britain.

I mean, how many times can ‘Yeah I know’ be funny ?_? NOT MANY.

Hehe, it’s more down to the programmes lack of political correctness than anything else. That, and some of the characters (repetitive catch phrases aside) remind me a alot of people that I’ve come across in day-to-day life. I’m honestly not exaggerating! :laugh:

Nothing beats Fawlty Towers in the end really. Except for my favourite show, Seinfeld (obviously not british).

Little Britain is alright I guess, but far to many people quoted it D:

True, you can only do the (spoiler catchphrases ahead) "Eh eh eeeehhhhhhhhhhhhh!" or "Yeah but No but" so many times lol.

Another favourite that comes to mind is Red Dwarf. I tend to go through phases when i’ll watch one after the other, then leave it for a long while, and then eventually start all over again. I’m still not bored with with watching those even now, though can’t say I was as keen on series 7 as the others.

I have never been big on Red Dwarf, but I heard that series 7 and 8 were awful D:

IMO they definitely weren’t up to the earlier one’s. I still preferred 8 to 7 though.

I love Fawlty Towers, too. Does Spitting Heirs count?

No Blackadder fans? That has some of the funniest lines in it. One I use on another board. I also love Are you Being Served? and the movie was incredibly funny. I also gotto say I’m a huge Benny Hill fan.

Oh yeah…I forgot about Benny Hill. How aboout Monty Python? Some of the sketches are kind of like sitcoms…:)

No Blackadder fans? fan.

Yup, really like most of those as well – my favourite series being the second one.

As for Monty Python – not into all of the films but but really enjoyed The Life of Brian. =)

I don’t think anyone has mentioned Only Fools and Horses.

Rightfully so really, I didn’t find it particularly lol.

My most favouritist most greatest most fantastical brit show had to be Mr Bean. How I laughed at him when I was a kid. Now I just feel sorry for him when I watch it :(. Which, in turn, makes me lol even more.

Mr Bean is bloody awesome

Mr Bean is Great!!

Good times

~Ran

I have the Yellow Video of Mr Bean.

The perilious pursuit, i believe.

It’s legendary, the one where he rings in the new year with Rupert and Hubert.

Oh man, Little Britain makes me cringe loads, I fucking hate it. The only sketch I find somewhat amusing is the Fatfighters one, haha =/

Fawlty Towers is pretty awesome! I forgot to mention that earlier. Andrew Sachs, what a bloody legend. QU�, NO ROOM 16 FOR YOU!

MR FAWLTY, HE GO CRAHZEE!

Bottom has seriously got to be the most lollin thing to come out of Britain for a long time though, right ;x

Ah, yes I’d forgotten about that one.

I haven’t watched them for a long while, but do find them pretty funny. I really enjoyed the "Guest House Paradiso" movie!

o wot, Guest House Paradiso was pretty lame.

Giga Flare, you are running out of rep for me to minus >:!

Well setting and the later (spoiler) vomit scenes aside, how was it terribly different to the episodes? Ritchie and Eddie pretty much behave in the same manner and get up to the kind of antics you’d expect out of them. Explain. :p

Guest House Paradiso was unfunny because of those exact reasons – you had already seen them in the episodes of Bottom, which were hilarious, then you realised they had just re-hashed them all for a shoddy film 🙁

After being subjected to UKTV Gold most of the day, my memory’s been jogged that Butterflies, Open All Hours, One Foot in the Grave and As Time Goes By are all worthy of a mention as well. They had quite a few splendid moments, really old though!

Guest House Paradiso was unfunny because of those exact reasons – you had already seen them in the episodes of Bottom, which were hilarious, then you realised they had just re-hashed them all for a shoddy film 🙁

I guess we must have liked different things about the episodes. =)

I’ve just always found Adrian Edmundson and Rik Mayall really funny in those character roles – both in the programme and film. Sure the characters say and do some really stupid things but then that’s the whole point. The film just wouldn’t have been a Bottom movie if the slapstick humour and silly gags hadn’t been kept in.

Some of the things that happened i.e. the kitchen scene at the start, were admittedly alot less subtle than in the episodes. However if everything about the film had been kept exactly the same then it would have been far too predictable. It was intended for the movie to stand out from the programme, whilst including all the fundamental elements of what makes Bottom popular with fans at the same time.

Co-incidentally, I watched a couple of the Open all Hours episodes over the easter break for the first time. From what I’ve seen so far, I liked it well enough but prefer the Only Fools & Horses sitcom. It’s possible I could eventually change my mind though, as Open All Hours does strike me as a programme which could grow on me.

One Foot in the Grave is brilliantly done IMO. One of my top favourite comedy’s as well.

TITTY BANG BANG! all the way baby! also, steptoe and son is a lot more funnier than only fools andhorses. "you dirty old man!"

Steptoe is fucking awesome.

Also, anything with Ronnie Barker in is terribly lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge7tLYQjtY4

Not a sitcom, but nvm!

Coupling.

Peep show.

(1) Red Dwarf is the best sitcom, hands down. I’ll forgive the slightly-below-good last two series for the awesomeness of the earlier ones.

(2) Father Ted (despite being Irish) is also very funny. The idea of priests being funny doesn’t always work, but I like the show and have them all on DVD.

While I am sure there are others, I am not sure if they fit in the category of "sitcom" or not… So yeah.

Bahamut Zero is pretty right. Red Dwarf 1-6 is a bit special.

I think those one’s are brilliant.

A lot of good one’s mentioned so far. There’s a new one out now called Ruddy Hell! It’s Harry and Paul.
I watched it last Friday and it was kind of hit and miss. You can watch a clip here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N92_SF4s2ls).

Red Dwarf and Blackadder are the fucking nuts.

And steptoe is the worse show ever commissioned.

i’m just going to list stuff other people said.

monty python, fawlty towers, are you being served is rofl, blackadder, red dwarf.

father ted is irish really so!

Another one worth a mention IMO is "Some Mothers Do Ave Em."

I hadn’t watched any of those for ages, but then recently a couple of them were shown on tv and I remembered how much they used to crack me up when I first started to watch themsome years ago.

I managed to catch the last fifteen minutes or so of "The Public Relations Course" episode last week, and "Wendy House" day before yesterday. From the moment I started watching to the time the programme ended I just couldn’t stop laughing.

I used to love Till Death Us Do Part, and Curry & Chips

Now Your Asking

Dad’s Army
Blackadder
Fawlty Towers
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
Open All Hours
Only Fools & Horse
The Green, Green, Grass
Father Ted
Vicar of Dibley
My Family
Goodnight Sweetheart

All My Favs :awsm:

Favorites include:

Red Dwarf
Coupling
Spaced
Absolutely Fabulous

In some of the early posts in this thread, someone was rating the seasons of Red Dwarf.

IMO it would go from best to worst: 1 – 2 – 7 – 5 – 6 – 3 – 4 – 10 – 9 – 8.

I love the first two seasons the most because there really is no adventure and all the comedy comes from the basic relationships between crew members. They start out with some intriguing sci-fi episode concepts like "Future Echoes", "Stasis Leak", "Confidence & Paranoia" and "Parallel Universe".

Season 7 is very underrated. While the exit of Rimmer as a regular crew member and the recasting of Kochanski might throw some fans off, I love how the episodes highlight Kryten as he battles Kochanski for Lister’s affection. It’s Llewellyn’s best season imo. There was obviously an increase in production value with varied locations, better lighting and sets. Favorite S7 episode: "Beyond a Joke".

Seasons 5&6 include some of the most intriguing stories and villains. Adventure takes over as the "Boys from the Dwarf" take on a number of adversaries and enter a number of sticky situations on their pursuit of Red Dwarf. Favorite episodes include: "Back to Reality" and "Legion"

I find seasons 3&4 very similar in tone to 5&6 with the emphasis on adventure and exploration but I don’t think the stories are as interesting. Actually one of my favorite episodes from these is "Marooned". More of a throwback to the first two seasons with Lister and Rimmer simply reminiscing.

I was surprised with how much I enjoyed S10. An aging Lister still wearing the leather jacket makes me laugh more than anything but some of their classic gimmicks are kind of tired. Favorite episode: "Fathers and Suns"

"Season" 9 which is just a miniseries has grown on me with repeat viewings. The whole Blade Runner thing was kind of lame imo but it’s fun seeing the crew react to "modern" society.

Season 8 is just a mess. The resurrection of the entire RD crew takes scenes away from the dwarfers and most of the jokes fall hard and flat.
That three episode season opener was atrocious. By the time we get to the end of the third there was no remembering what happened in part 1. And that ending…ugh. I was sad and happy at the same time when it was all over. I rarely ever watch this season though as a huge fan of the series I do own it.

Red Dwarf
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
The League Of Gentlemen
The Comic Strip Presents…
The Office
I’m Alan Partridge
Blackadder
Father Ted
Phoenix Nights

More sketch than sticom:
Spitting Image
The Brass Eye

Father Ted is one that keeps popping up but I’ve never even heard of it. Mainly since the only British comedy I’ve seen either aired on late-night PBS or BBC America. Turns out Netflix does carry it on their dvd service so I plan on checking it out.

I do love The Office but I haven’t watched the original series in so long.

And I’ve only seen a few episodes of Blackadder, but I do plan on checking out more soon. Also asked former-shriner Dr Faustus about his favorites and he mentioned Bottom. Another one available on Netflix.

Has anyone seen Hyperdrive? Any good?

Father Ted is set around a priest and his priest colleagues in Ireland. It just about qualifies as British as it was produced by Hat Trick (London) for Channel 4 from Britain. Sadly the guy who plays Father Ted Crilly died in the late 90s and the show stopped.

I haven’t seen Hyperdrive (with Nick Frost).

Why no mention of The IT Crowd?