British Comedy

[palingensia]

Come on, there must be plenty of British comedy fans out there. Just a general discussion thread for the genre, no need for anything specific.

I may not have the most diverse experience with British comedy per se, but I do like what I've seen so far. Blackadder, Black Books, Extras, Father Ted, Young Ones, 'Ello 'Ello, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Whose Line is it Anyway?, Fawlty Towers... Some brilliantly funny stuff out there.


Note: Please keep British comedy vs American comedy out of this thread.

 

[(s.i.e)]

i'm not a huge fan of british comedy but i must admitt that it has a fair share of advantages. the holy grail from monthy python for example was a masterpiece, life of brian however was less good but it had a famous song song that will stick with ít's viewers for years: link

 

[Zazie]

Does the Might Boosh count? I really like that show. I have also enjoyed Britain, My Family and what little I have seen of Bottom. I haven't had much exposure to British comedy, living in the U.S. but do enjoy what I have seen.

 

[Hammerheart]

You missed the best of the Bunch , Only Fools and Horses.

other good ones I would consider

Open All Hours
Porridge
Not Going Out
The Vicar Diblay
Last of the Summer Wine (though i went of it when Bill Owen died)
The Inbetweeners
Men Behaving Badly
Are You Being served


its 'Allo 'Allo! by the way

 

[hobby]

life of brian however was less good

I don't know, I would probably put them about equal, though it is somewhat hard to fault their work...

Well, let's see here, apart from the aforementioned Monty Python works I have also seen Blackadder, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, On The Buses, Are You Being Served?, Fawlty Towers, Black Books, My Hero, The Vicar Of Dibley, George And Mildred and probably more than is enough of The Benny Hill Show.
Glass Eye also reminded me that I need to watch more of My Family.

Most of these are pretty well known, but they are all pretty good, in my opinion anyway, though The Benny Hill Show can get a little repetitive after a while...

 

[Tim the turtle]

The classics hardly need to be mentioned really. Some gems you Americans might not be too familiar with however would be the incomparably brilliant Brass Eye, and also Men Behaving Badly, Red Dwarf, Have I Got News For You (Quiz com), Some Mothers Do 'Av 'Em and Coupling.

 

[Jhonny]

I always feel defensive about British comedies because when they get shipped out to the States the satire loses a lot of its contextual factors and since I love them so much I NEED other people to love them too. They are my weakness. I must say though that I'm not big on Monty Python.

Black Adder II is awesome, and I would recommend anyone who hasn't seen any of the Blackadder series to check it out.
The Office is so well written (I'm sure Stephen Merchant is why Gervais' comedies work out) and I'm not going to compare it to the other office.
The Vicar of Dibley is an example of females being very funny.
Garth Marenghi makes me cry with laughter.
Brass Eye is required watching, especially paedogeddon!
Mitchell and Webb are great writers, although I like the sketch show more than Peep Show.
Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are very British.

 

[Lorde]

Although I'm not a fan of most comedy shows out there, I do enjoy some British comedy on occasion. I think my favorite British Comedy series has to be Monty Python and some of the skits performed on the show. Now-a-days I mostly watch the "Brit Block" on Adult Swim and the shows I've enjoyed so far are:

-The Office (much different than the US version by far)
-The Mighty Boosh (it's just weird, and I like weird)

 

[palingensia]

The Vicar Diblay

How could I miss this, it's brilliant. As Jhonny put it, women being funny at its best.

its 'Allo 'Allo! by the way

It's The Vicar of Diblay by the way. =P

My Hero

Ooh another gem I forgot about. Ardal O'Hanlon is great at playing idiotic roles.

 

[Tim the turtle]

It's The Vicar of Diblay by the way. =P

Actually it's the Vicar of Dibley

 

[hobby]

Yeah, I am pretty sure it is Dibley, not Diblay...

Ardal O'Hanlon is great at playing idiotic roles.

He is pretty much the main reason anyone would watch the show, which is why it went so odd after he left....

 

[palingensia]

Wasn't the show just about him being an idiot superhero? That's what I gathered after watching what I have.

 

[hobby]

Pretty much, but if it were anyone else I seriously doubt it would have ever worked.

 

[KetchupO]

The Catherine Tate Show & Little Britain rock my world <3

 

[Tim the turtle]

That's because you're stupid and don't appreciate good humour.

Sorry, but those programs are appalling. They re-paste the same tired gags and catchphrases ad nauseum with little care for originality or even clever humour. I find it disgusting that we as a nation can go from shows like The Office to tripe like Little Britain.

EDIT: Also I forgot to mention the wonderful I'm Alan Partridge. That show was amazing.

 

[KetchupO]

That's because you're stupid and don't appreciate good humour.

That fact that you try to demean someone's taste in humour just shows how stupid, you, yourself are.

Humour is subjective, dumb-ass. What you see as "good humour" may not necessarily be to someone else's taste or preference, it doesn't make it any less credible.

 

[Tim the turtle]

Humour is subjective, dumb-***. What you see as "good humour" may not necessarily be to someone else's taste or preference, it doesn't make it any less credible.

Whether or not you find something funny has no bearing on the quality of the actual program. If you find Little Britain funny then that's great, but it doesn't stop the show being a pathetic montage of overused catchphrases and gross out humour clearly aimed at the demographics of thirteen year olds and idiots.

 

[KetchupO]

Whether or not you find something funny has no bearing on the quality of the actual program.

Catherine Tate is genius & her material is of quality to me.

If you find Little Britain funny then that's great, but it doesn't stop the show being a pathetic montage of overused catchphrases and gross out humour clearly aimed at the demographics of thirteen year olds and idiots.

You seriously using that argument on a Pokemon forum?

Again, there are different types of humour.

Little Britain just happens to be "Overused catch-phrases & gross out humour".

Not your thing? Fine, but at least learn to appreciate people's different tastes.

Until then, "COMPUTER SAYS NO".

 

[Tim the turtle]

Catherine Tate is genius & her material is of quality to me.

If Oscar Wilde simply wrote The Importance of Being Idle fifty six times would you still call him a genius? If Milton's Paradise Lost was just the phrase "Sing heavenly muse" over and over again with almost imperceptible changes in font, would it still be a masterpiece?

The answer to both of these is no by the way.

You seriously using that argument on a Pokemon forum?

Why not?

Again, there are different types of humour

Yes, yes there are. Good and bad, funny and not funny.

This:

Little Britain just happens to be "Overused catch-phrases & gross out humour".

Falls firmly into the latter.

Not your thing? Fine, but at least learn to appreciate people's different tastes.

Um, no.

 

[soepkip87]

Most of the best british works have been listed here already, but I'd like to give special mention to two shows:
Coupling and the League of Gentlemen.

Coupling is a dead funny 'sit-com', started as a bit of a british version of Friends. It's so much better though.

The League of Gentlemen can be seen as the modern day Monty Python. The entire show (3 seasons, christmas special + film) plays in a small northern town called Royston Vasey, where all manner of funked up people live. It's a brilliant mix between humor and horror and most of the episodes have a high 'WTF' level. Worth it!