Reply With QuoteAuf Wiedersehen, Pet.
Series 1. The writing and acting are unequalled, IMO. Plenty others could mention but this is my standout of 50 years TV viewing
Apologies if this has been done before, had a look and couldn't find anything.
Top 4/5 comedies. I was looking through my old CDs and chuckled when I came across:
Yes Minister/Prime Minister
Porridge
Bilko
Faulty Towers
Dave Allen.
Cheered me up no end.
In no particular order.
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
Series 1. The writing and acting are unequalled, IMO. Plenty others could mention but this is my standout of 50 years TV viewing
Top 4 is hard but off the top of my head.
Blackadder series 2-4 but not the first series or the specials.
Jeeves and Wooster.
Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister.
Red Dwarf Series II to VI.
Close runners up for me is Spaced.
Only Fools and Horses
Blackadder 2-4
Father Ted
Still Game
Father Ted
Thin Blue Line
Fawlty Towers
The Simpsons
Blackadder
Too hard to pick 4, but my favourite UK shows I could watch again and again are:
Only Fools and Horses
Father Ted
The Office
Peep Show
Spaced
From the US:
Curb Your Enthusiasm
The Office
Tough to choose but I’d go with:
Peep Show
I’m Alan Partridge
The Office US
Rising Damp (for the genius of Leonard Rossiter)
Originally Posted by EBB21
I've been going through the entire Bilko, or The Phil Silvers Show an episode a day this year starting on Jan 1st, hence I'll be watching the 81st instalment later. Absolutely remarkable for its time. Still holds up today.
I suppose these choices reflect my age more than anything, but apart from Bilko my favourite sitcoms are
Steptoe and Son
Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads
M*A*S*H
Fawlty Towers
Porridge
The New Statesman
.. though I might nominate a different set if I thought about it tomorrow.
Like any "Best (insert subject of choice)" thread I've seen over the years what we'll learn here is that there are very, very many great comedy shows, and no best one.
F.T.F.A.
Oh god this is tricky so im going to split between UK and US. (cheat, in other words)
US -
Archer
Arrested Development
Brooklyn Nine Nine
Parks and Recreation
UK -
Derry Girls
Green Wing
Black Books
Afterlife
A difficult one so I'll be like verv and divide mine up between this side of the Atlantic and the US.
This side;
Father Ted (Irish obvs)
Vic Reeves big night out
Fawlty towers
Monty Python
US;
Seinfeld
Frasier
Big bang theory
Married with children.
Cheers,
Neil.
Agree with quite a few of the above but would like to add 'Early Doors', 'Ab Fab' and 'Fleabag'
Flowery Twats (see what I did there)
Fools & Horses
Still Game
Bottom
1. Only Fools and Horses
2. Phoenix Nights
Still undecided on the other two
This^
IMHO the thing that makes both those comedies stand out to me is that they are very simple, and they have lots of supporting characters who are as funny as the main characters
Impossible to come up with THE 4 best, but these are some of my favourites :
Father Ted
Black Books
The IT Crowd ("The Work Outing" is a candidate for the funniest 30 minutes of TV ever, IMO)
The Office (not The US Office)
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Porridge
Slack Bladder
Fawlty Towers
Green Wing
The Comic Strip Presents
The Fast Show
Glad to see there's no affection for this group of 70s "Classics"....
Love Thy Neighbour
Til Death Us Do Part
It Ain't Half Hot Mum
Mind Your Language
Curry and Chips
Frasier would definitely be in mine.
red dwarf
father ted
blackadder
the inbetweeners
In no particular order:
Father Ted
IT Crowd (another vote for episode - 'The Work Outing' - just genius)
I'm Alan Partridge
Mash (with no laughter track)
Slackbladder,
Only Fools,
Red Dwarf (All the Rimmer ones),
Keeping up Appearances,
Not sure on the fifth:
Open All Hours, Mind Your Language (silly I know, but we enjoyed it), Last of the Summer Wine( Blamire, Foggy and Seymour series only), Mr. Bean...
Only Fools and Horses
The Office (UK)
Fawlty Towers
Blackadder S2-4
The IT Crowd
I would agree with several of the above and add:
The Good Place
Things We Do In The Shadows
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
I'm Alan Partridge Series 1
The Day Today
The Office (UK)
Friday Night Dinner
1. Still Game
2. Father Ted
3. Fawlty Towers.
4. Dad’s Army
Hard to pick 4
Only Fools and Horses
Auf Wiedersehen Pet
Gavin and Stacey
Parks and Recreation
Car Share
The Office US
The IT Crowd
Married with Children
Does Barry count?
For me
Phoenix Nights
Dads Army
Bottom
Allo Allo
and The much underrated: Phoneshop
Phoneshop is genius in a clown costume!
I was hoping others would remember some I'd meant to mention and you've come up trumps. Thanks
For example:
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. (Spent time myself in Düsseldorf on an archaeological dig, resembled a building site at times, great memories).
Dad's Army
Blackbladder final series
Only Fools and Horses (Batman / Robin and Chandelier episodes )
Likely Lads
Made me laugh just thinking about them.
This is very difficult. Mine would be in no particular order:
Only Fools & Horses
Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge
Fawlty Towers
Dad’s Army
League of Gentlemen
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Such a hard question! I'll go:
From the UK (this list could have 20 shows):
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
Blackadder
Only Fools and Horses
Porridge
From the US:
Cheers
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Rules of Engagement
The Goldbergs
Seinfeld
How can you pick 4?
4 UK shows I liked
Blackadder
Fawlty Towers
Lovejoy
My Hero
Did anyone mention "Only When I Laugh"?
I'd forgotten this until a chance conversation incorrectly identified it as the source of the phrase "I'll have half!" (That turned out to be Love They Neighbour!)
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Good thread.
UK side:
Blackadder 2-4 obviously.
Father Ted.
The IT Crowd.
The Office.
Coupling.
US side:
The Office.
Arrested Development 1-2.
Modern Family.
Parks and Recreation.
Friends.
Big Bang Theory.
Scrubs.
And absolute best comedy, action, drama hybrid - Chuck - without question.
Ps - I’ve just never really clicked with Seinfield.
Last edited by TheFlyingBanana; 23rd March 2023 at 08:35.
The Phil Silver’s show
League of Gentlemen
Red Dwarf
Fawlty Towers
Yes! Came here to say this thread needs more League of Gentlemen!
Only Series 1 & 2, fell off a bit after that, and don’t get me started on the film!
I’d also like to add Red Dwarf, although not the later series reboot.
I feel like mine change week to week!
However, I can't skip past an episode of the IT Crowd, so that's a staple. I grew up with Red Dwarf and still dig out the DVDs every few months. My dad and I both absolutely fell in love with Frasier (he was also a sucker for the original Cheers show which did nothing for me).
The wild-card would probably be Schitts Creek. My wife and I watched on a recommendation, loved it, and immediately started it from the beginning again.
Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister
The New Statesman
Spitting Image
Not the Nine O'clock News
I opted for politically themed comedies because there are too many which would deserve to be listed without a more restricting criteria. The contribution this country made to comedy in the second half of the last century should never be underestimated.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Go on then I’ll play too. But it is almost impossible to choose only four
I am ignoring comedy shows such as The Two Ronnies, Dave Allen or Not The Nine O’Clock News etc as in my book a “comedy series” is a sit com
In no particular order
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
Only Fools & Horses
The Young Ones
Farty Owls
On topic recommendation for Ted Lasso - if you’re wavering over the subscription it’s well worth it
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
so so many to choose but these are all top notch imo
USA
1 Frasier
2 Cheers
3 The office
4 Schitts creek
Home
1 Peep show
2 Spaced
3 Early doors
4 The fast show
Surprised no one has mentioned Allo Allo.
Good moaning! Id lick to spik to u aboot this post ;)
I took a free trial of Apple TV just to watch Ted Lasso as I'd been dying to see it. I gave up after two episodes. I thought it was cringy, stereotypical of American and English people, poorly written and badly acted. Should I have persevered? It would need to get a lot better!
One I believe not mentioned: Trigger Happy TV
Essential viewing circa. 2000!
Glad to see Coupling getting a shout
Blackadder (2-4)
Father Ted
Only Fools and Horses
IT Crowd
I've no idea how anyone can list just four.
A list of six with many I'm sure I've missed out.
After Life
Fleabag
Coupling
Inbetweeners
Black Books
Extras
This pist, surely?
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
* The Fast Show
* Fawlty Towers
* The Office (Uk, not the turgid US rubbish)
* Extras
All the above reward repeated viewings and even if you know every line and every joke they’re still brilliantly funny, incredibly well written and acted.
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