| Author |
 Topic  |
|
Shiv 
"What a Wonderful World"
|
 Posted - 01/15/2007 : 19:40:28
|
quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
quote:
Originally posted by AIRBOLT
However he is terrific in Father Ted( For anyone unfamiliar , a programme about three Irish Priests "exiled" to a remote Irish Parish . People either love it or hate it
Does anyone really hate it (apart from the Catholic church, which I believe slated it) - it's definitely one of my top few sitcoms of all time.
Father Ted, oh yes indeed. Marvellous. I have Irish heritage, and spent time with family in Ireland when I was younger. I can assure you that the depiction of priests drinking and smoking and getting up to shennanigans is not a total fantasy. Not surprised the Catholic Church in Ireland slated it! I was also disappointed with Ardal O'Hanlon in My Hero - he was hysterical in this.
Since the thread of this discussion is sports and sitcoms I've been trying to rack my brain for a sitcom based around sport. Any ideas?
|
 |
|
|
randall 
"I like to watch."
|
Posted - 01/15/2007 : 20:24:43
|
quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
Now wait a minute, don't you go dissing Eight Simple Rules, buddy. That was a good show - especially the shows right after John Ritter died - which are probably the best written 'comedy' episodes I've ever seen. True to life, not without wit and completely honest.
I've never seen 8 SIMPLE RULES, but I read about the writers' adroit handling of Ritter's tragic passing, and I tip my hat to them.
Best written sitcom? I give it to ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, with the British THE OFFICE [sorry, Chocky] a close second [yes, it was definitely scripted]. And for writing, don't forget the classic work on M*A*S*H and THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW.
A comedy, but not a sitcom: when it was steaming hot, I thought BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER the best written show on television. |
|
|
|
Airbolt 
"teil mann, teil maschine"
|
Posted - 01/15/2007 : 22:29:20
|
quote:
Originally posted by ChocolateLady
Now wait a minute, don't you go dissing Eight Simple Rules, buddy. That was a good show - especially the shows right after John Ritter died - which are probably the best written 'comedy' episodes I've ever seen. True to life, not without wit and completely honest. You've got to give them something for that, and even afterwards it didn't go too down hill. And the girls who played the two daughters are actually quite good actresses.
I'm afraid I have a hole in my British comedy education regarding One Foot in the Grave, however. I don't know it at all. I hope its better than Open All Hours.
You have a point re Eight Simple Rules - I hadnt given them credit for handling John Ritter's Death. I was a little surprised that the " younger" Daughter is in her mid twenties! Plus its nice to see James Garner.
Not sure I agree on Open All Hours but I admit it's an acquired taste. It has two excellent leads in Ronnie Barker ( Porridge )and David Jason ( Only Fools and Horses ). Although it is set in a Northern Town in England , eccentric shopkeepers are universal ( ie Apu ) |
|
|
|
Airbolt
"teil mann, teil maschine"
|
Posted - 01/15/2007 : 22:36:06
|
quote:
Originally posted by Shiv
quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
quote:
Originally posted by AIRBOLT
However he is terrific in Father Ted( For anyone unfamiliar , a programme about three Irish Priests "exiled" to a remote Irish Parish . People either love it or hate it
Does anyone really hate it (apart from the Catholic church, which I believe slated it) - it's definitely one of my top few sitcoms of all time.
Father Ted, oh yes indeed. Marvellous. I have Irish heritage, and spent time with family in Ireland when I was younger. I can assure you that the depiction of priests drinking and smoking and getting up to shennanigans is not a total fantasy. Not surprised the Catholic Church in Ireland slated it! I was also disappointed with Ardal O'Hanlon in My Hero - he was hysterical in this.
Since the thread of this discussion is sports and sitcoms I've been trying to rack my brain for a sitcom based around sport. Any ideas?
I havent seen it but wasnt there a show called " Phenom" about an aspiring tennis prodigy?
Plus Hayden T Nelson in " Coach" which i have very vague memories of.
Of course there is the notorious " Footballer's Wives " ( UK ) which is a comedy in all but name!( it certainly brought a whole new meaning to " when saturday comes! " |
Edited by - Airbolt on 01/15/2007 22:38:11 |
|
|
|
Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
|
Posted - 01/15/2007 : 23:17:13
|
quote:
Originally posted by Shiv
...I have Irish heritage...
You must be a Siobhan then, right?  |
|
|
|
w22dheartlivie 
"Kitty Lover"
|
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 00:53:26
|
| I've seen quite a few of the shows that have been mentioned. I wasn't too fond of Absolutely Fabulous, but never could pinpoint why. My friends and I used to get a kick out of the Blackadder shows (after all, it gave us the yummy Hugh Laurie) as well as The Vicar of Dibley. Again, don't know why. When I was a kid, about the only shows we received at the time were Benny Hill (ugh) and a similar sketch comedy show with this Irishman Dave Allen (?). He was missing part of a finger (I was a kid, we notice those things). I actually had a mad crush on him. If memory serves, he died a couple years ago. I'm not intending to purport quality with these offerings, just saying we watched. |
Edited by - w22dheartlivie on 01/16/2007 00:55:33 |
|
|
|
thefoxboy
"Four your eyes only."
|
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 01:32:37
|
quote:
Originally posted by wildhartlivie
I've seen quite a few of the shows that have been mentioned. I wasn't too fond of Absolutely Fabulous, but never could pinpoint why. My friends and I used to get a kick out of the Blackadder shows (after all, it gave us the yummy Hugh Laurie) as well as The Vicar of Dibley. Again, don't know why. When I was a kid, about the only shows we received at the time were Benny Hill (ugh) and a similar sketch comedy show with this Irishman Dave Allen (?). He was missing part of a finger (I was a kid, we notice those things). I actually had a mad crush on him. If memory serves, he died a couple years ago. I'm not intending to purport quality with these offerings, just saying we watched.
I loved The Dave Allen Show. Thanks for the memory. |
|
|
|
BaftaBaby
"Always entranced by cinema."
|
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 02:08:01
|
quote:
Originally posted by thefoxboy
quote:
[i] Irishman Dave Allen (?). He was missing part of a finger (I was a kid, we notice those things). I actually had a mad crush on him. If memory serves, he died a couple years ago. I'm not intending to purport quality with these offerings, just saying we watched.
I loved The Dave Allen Show. Thanks for the memory.
Ooo, I agree. When I first came here to the UK in the late 1960s he was the only comedian - at least the only one on tv - who was like a real US stand-up, even though he sat on a stool to deliver his material. He reminded me a bit of Shelley Berman.
Other Brit comedy which appeals to me that hasn't been mentioned is The League of Gentlemen - very bizarre and dark, and not like anything I know in the US. Plus The Mary Whitehouse Experience which featured two then-duos of Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis and David Baddiel and Rob Newman. Also Brass Eye, The Day to Day, and Alan Partridge.
US sitcoms have always appealed more to me than UK ones, though Green Wing has made me laugh out loud and startle the cat!
We shouldn't dismiss early US stuff, if anyone else is old enough to remember these seminal b&w unmissable shows:
Your Show of Shows - which evolved into The Sid Cesar Show, co-starring Carl Reiner and Imogen Coca and written by a team that included Neil Simon, Mel Brooks and Woody Allen!
The incomparable Ernie Kovacs. Some footage remains, but most of it was wiped. He did character comedy [Percy Dovetonsils, an effete poet among them] and sketches, even some improvisation which at the time was almost unheard of. His wife singer Edie Adams was also an accomplished comedienne and featured on the shows.
You can see some of his characterizations in the Wikipedia article here
Both these shows paved the way for SNL and Laugh-In.
Back in the 1950s a handful of women got their own shows, probably the most famous was Lucille Ball, but there was also The Betty White Show [yes, the same Betty White who was in Golden Girls], and The Molly Goldberg Show [starring a very funny ex-vaudevillian] featuring her fictional Jewish family. One of her recurring catchphrases was when anyone on the other end of a phonecall asked her to hang on, she always replied: "I'm hanging."
We shouldn't forget those very early, very funny Friends episodes; and Scrubs starring Zach Braff is a more recent example of consistently funny writing, or the off-the-wall humor of ex-SNL actor Jay Mohr as Peter Dragon, bastard film producer in Action.
|
|
|
|
Conan The Westy
"Father, Faithful Friend, Fwiffer"
|
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 03:30:30
|
| What about the Goodies and Kenny Everett? |
|
|
|
w22dheartlivie
"Kitty Lover"
|
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 04:52:04
|
quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
Ooo, I agree. When I first came here to the UK in the late 1960s he was the only comedian - at least the only one on tv - who was like a real US stand-up, even though he sat on a stool to deliver his material. He reminded me a bit of Shelley Berman.
Other Brit comedy which appeals to me that hasn't been mentioned is The League of Gentlemen - very bizarre and dark, and not like anything I know in the US. Plus The Mary Whitehouse Experience which featured two then-duos of Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis and David Baddiel and Rob Newman. Also Brass Eye, The Day to Day, and Alan Partridge.
US sitcoms have always appealed more to me than UK ones, though Green Wing has made me laugh out loud and startle the cat!
We shouldn't dismiss early US stuff, if anyone else is old enough to remember these seminal b&w unmissable shows:
Your Show of Shows - which evolved into The Sid Cesar Show, co-starring Carl Reiner and Imogen Coca and written by a team that included Neil Simon, Mel Brooks and Woody Allen!
The incomparable Ernie Kovacs. Some footage remains, but most of it was wiped. He did character comedy [Percy Dovetonsils, an effete poet among them] and sketches, even some improvisation which at the time was almost unheard of. His wife singer Edie Adams was also an accomplished comedienne and featured on the shows.
You can see some of his characterizations in the Wikipedia article here
Both these shows paved the way for SNL and Laugh-In.
Back in the 1950s a handful of women got their own shows, probably the most famous was Lucille Ball, but there was also The Betty White Show [yes, the same Betty White who was in Golden Girls], and The Molly Goldberg Show [starring a very funny ex-vaudevillian] featuring her fictional Jewish family. One of her recurring catchphrases was when anyone on the other end of a phonecall asked her to hang on, she always replied: "I'm hanging."
We shouldn't forget those very early, very funny Friends episodes; and Scrubs starring Zach Braff is a more recent example of consistently funny writing, or the off-the-wall humor of ex-SNL actor Jay Mohr as Peter Dragon, bastard film producer in Action.
One of the few perks of early cable was that they ran 50s sitcoms that you don't often see these days. Ernie Kovacs was one, as was the Betty White Show. Others I loved: My Little Margie, The Bob Cummings Show, I Married Joan, The Honeymooners, The Farmer's Daughter, The Loretta Young Show, The Burns and Allen Show, Mr. Peepers, Our Miss Brooks, Ozzie and Harriet, The Life of Riley, Make Room for Daddy, The Red Skelton Show, and last but not least, I Love Lucy. I watched those shows every night!! |
|
|
|
ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
|
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 07:43:58
|
quote:
Originally posted by Randall
And for writing, don't forget the classic work on M*A*S*H ...
Bar none, I'd have to say that this was the best written comedy show ever - on either side of the pond. They had the courage to run whole shows with no laugh tracks, which would have killed other shows dead in their tracks. Nothing past or present has ever come close, and probably nothing will ever come close in the future.
|
|
|
|
Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
|
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 08:34:19
|
I reckon Blackadder is the funniest comedy series ever.  |
|
|
|
Ali
"Those aren't pillows."
|
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 08:47:15
|
Not the first series, surely.
|
|
|
|
ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
|
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 08:54:42
|
quote:
Originally posted by Ali
Not the first series, surely.
I have to agree with you on that - the first series of Blackadder wasn't that good. From the second one on, it was far better. |
|
|
|
BaftaBaby
"Always entranced by cinema."
|
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 09:16:42
|
Ah, humor
Or indeed humour! 
It's such a personal taste thing, doncha' know!
Everyone I know who works in the "funny industry" from wannabe writers sending in their one-liners hoping for a commission, to heads of comedy in radio and telly, they ALL moan moan moan the live-long day about what's funny.
To try to establish what's the "best" in any comedic field is like saying what's the "best" flower in a meadow.
If you can think of these people/titles to quote here, it means a sufficient number of people over the years have found something consistently to laugh at.
Just grab your fav quaff, snuggle into a comfy chair, tune into your fav funnybones on a delivery-mechanism of your choice [not to forget going out to see the live stuff - eh, Benj?!] and laff yer bonce off!
PS: Bonce? another of those UK words that baffle the Americans; it means head. But you knew that by the context, dint ya?!
|
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
How much British/U.S. culture confounds MERPs?
