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Best Sitcom of All Time


Rds1983

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The Office (UK) is my number 1. 

Lots of excellent ones though - Peep Show, Detectorists, Phoenix Nights, I'm Alan Partridge, Only Fools, Fawlty Towers. 

Plus one of my faves and hugely underrated... Saxondale. 

 

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Some of my favourites in no order - Only Fools & Horses, Porridge, The Office (UK), I’m Alan Partridge, Phoenix Nights, Steptoe & Son, Fawlty Towers, Blackadder.

A very underrated sitcom and one I can always watch again and again…….Early Doors……..

“To the regiment” 

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12 minutes ago, ferguson1 said:


Some of my favourites in no order - Only Fools & Horses, Porridge, The Office (UK), I’m Alan Partridge, Phoenix Nights, Steptoe & Son, Fawlty Towers, Blackadder.

A very underrated sitcom and one I can always watch again and again…….Early Doors……..

“To the regiment” 

Early Doors is superb

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Early Doors is definitely underrated, but those who like it, REALLY like it. 

Marion & Geoff, I’ve said before I think is incredibly underrated. 

And in the vein of one location set sitcoms, there was a sitcom called The Smoking Room. I remember enjoying that at the time, not sure how it holds up now. 

In the Richard Briers stakes, I think Ever Decreasing Circles is much better than The Good Life. I would love to have just 10% of Peter Egan’s charm in that.

Motherland is a recent good one which I don’t think has been mentioned. 

But now I’m just naming shows I like.

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19 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

I assume you all haven’t watched Dear John. Or you are too cool for school. 

Funnily enough we were laughing about Kirk St Moritz only this evening. 
 

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A partial list: 

IT Crowd - never seen it 
Community - never heard of it 
Always Sunny - never seen it 
Peep Show - never seen it 
The Office (UK) - actively dislike 
The Office (US) - never seen it 
Spaced - never heard of it 
Father Ted - love it 
Only Fools and Horses - actively dislike
Fawlty Towers - liked it at the time 
Seinfeld - indifferent 
Parcs and Rec - indifferent 
Hi De Hi - actively dislike 
Are You Being Served? - actively dislike 
It Ain't Half Hot, Mum - actively dislike
Goodnight Sweetheart - actively dislike
Dear John - never heard of it 
Blackadder - pretty good 
Porridge - actively dislike
Dad's Army - liked it at the time 
Bottom - actively dislike
Red Dwarf - actively dislike
Black Books - never seen it 
Yes Minister - actively dislike
Hancock's Half Hour - indifferent 
Lenin of the Rovers - never seen it 
Operation Good Guys - never heard of it 
Welcome To Our Village Please Invade Carefully - never heard of it 
The Young Ones - liked it at the time
Brooklyn 99 - never heard of it 
The Good Place - never heard of it 
Phoenix Nights - never seen it 
The Grimleys - liked it at the time
Scrubs - indifferent
Toast of London - never seen it 
GM Darkplace - never seen it 
Ghosts - never seen it 
The League of Gentlemen - actively dislike
Green Wing - never seen it 
15 Storeys High - never heard of it 
Malcolm in the Middle - never seen it 
Extras - never seen it
I'm Alan Partridge - excellent
The Thick of It - never seen it
The Royle Family - indifferent 
How I Met Your Mother - never seen it 
Catterick - never heard of it 
Sorry! - actively dislike 
Soap - liked it at the time 
Sergeant Bilko - liked it at the time 
Miranda - indifferent 
Vicar of Dibley - indifferent 
Curb Your Enthusiasm - never seen it 
Nathan Barley - never heard of it 
Coupling - Never heard of it 
Rising Damp - actively dislike
Reggie Perrin - actively dislike
Inbetweeners - never seen it 
Big Bang Theory - never seen it 
Detectorists - indifferent 
Early Doors - never seen it 
Not Going Out - indifferent 
The Good Life - indifferent 
Motherland - never seen it 
Happy Days - indifferent 

From my childhod, there were loads that my parents loved, e.g. The Army Game, Bootsy and Snudge, The Rag Trade, Hugh and I, Terry and June, Man About the House, Me Mammy, Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Green Acres, Bewitched, etc.  I pretty much hated them all. 

Same thing goes for standup comedy - with a VERY few exceptions, I just have no interest. 

I think I like humour, but I'm somehow not really into 'comedy'. 


 

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34 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

I assume you all haven’t watched Dear John. Or you are too cool for school. 

I listen to a podcast which covers various sitcoms and Dear John was one that they did. They weren’t particularly complimentary. Didn’t hate it, just not enthused by it. From their perspective it comes across like it was John Sullivan finding something to do between series of Only Fools and then running out of enthusiasm for it.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Belinda Lang came out of it positively. 

Successful US remake though, again, as far as I can tell. 

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1 hour ago, Mark Albrighton said:

I listen to a podcast which covers various sitcoms and Dear John was one that they did. They weren’t particularly complimentary. Didn’t hate it, just not enthused by it. From their perspective it comes across like it was John Sullivan finding something to do between series of Only Fools and then running out of enthusiasm for it.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Belinda Lang came out of it positively. 

Successful US remake though, again, as far as I can tell. 

It was excellent for its time. 

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1 hour ago, mjmooney said:

 

Black Books - never seen it 
Lenin of the Rovers - never seen it 
Operation Good Guys - never heard of it 
Welcome To Our Village Please Invade Carefully - never heard of it 


 

Black Books - an alcoholic who hates people but loves books opens his own bookshop. This was Bill Bailey's breakthrough. 

Lenin -  Radio sitcom by Alexi Sayle.  A football club run on communist principles.  A great listen for football fans. It contains all the 1980s football stereotypes.  

Good Guys - Probably the first mockumentary.  An inept undercover Police squad. 

Welcome - Radio sitcom. Aliens invade a small English village to test the feasibility of a full scale invasion.  The locals involve them in stereotypical middle class problems.  

 

Black Books is an acquired taste. The other 3 are obscure but vastly under-rated that should have been mainstream hits but weren't.  

 

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I could probably quote every episode of Blackadder verbatim so I guess I’d have to say that was the best 

but others worthy of mention , indeed already have been mentioned 
 

Thick of it

Alan Partridge

Porridge

Father Ted 

what we do in the shadows  

The IT crowd 

Inbeweeners - for the boring thread but ,my house could have been one of the filming locations had I replied to the leaflet delivered asking us if we were interested in allowing our house to be used for a TV show  called Baggy Trousers ( original name for the inbetweeners )

and of course Bottom - the slapstick comedy in bottom makes it timeless where as The Young ones which 13 year old me loved , 53 year old me watches it on U.K. gold and occasional gem of a line apart struggles to raise a snigger 

 

I know generally American comedy isn’t great but I do have a soft spot for Malcom in the middle , it’s just so well written and the characters are great 

Edited by tonyh29
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6 hours ago, Xela said:

The Office (UK) is my number 1. 

Lots of excellent ones though - Peep Show, Detectorists, Phoenix Nights, I'm Alan Partridge, Only Fools, Fawlty Towers. 

Plus one of my faves and hugely underrated... Saxondale. 

 

I only watched Detectorists a few months ago so I can’t believe I forgot it. Perhaps not that funny, but an all time great TV show nonetheless.

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Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, mjmooney said:

A partial list: 

IT Crowd - never seen it 
Community - never heard of it 
Always Sunny - never seen it 
Peep Show - never seen it 
The Office (UK) - actively dislike 
The Office (US) - never seen it 
Spaced - never heard of it 
Father Ted - love it 
Only Fools and Horses - actively dislike
Fawlty Towers - liked it at the time 
Seinfeld - indifferent 
Parcs and Rec - indifferent 
Hi De Hi - actively dislike 
Are You Being Served? - actively dislike 
It Ain't Half Hot, Mum - actively dislike
Goodnight Sweetheart - actively dislike
Dear John - never heard of it 
Blackadder - pretty good 
Porridge - actively dislike
Dad's Army - liked it at the time 
Bottom - actively dislike
Red Dwarf - actively dislike
Black Books - never seen it 
Yes Minister - actively dislike
Hancock's Half Hour - indifferent 
Lenin of the Rovers - never seen it 
Operation Good Guys - never heard of it 
Welcome To Our Village Please Invade Carefully - never heard of it 
The Young Ones - liked it at the time
Brooklyn 99 - never heard of it 
The Good Place - never heard of it 
Phoenix Nights - never seen it 
The Grimleys - liked it at the time
Scrubs - indifferent
Toast of London - never seen it 
GM Darkplace - never seen it 
Ghosts - never seen it 
The League of Gentlemen - actively dislike
Green Wing - never seen it 
15 Storeys High - never heard of it 
Malcolm in the Middle - never seen it 
Extras - never seen it
I'm Alan Partridge - excellent
The Thick of It - never seen it
The Royle Family - indifferent 
How I Met Your Mother - never seen it 
Catterick - never heard of it 
Sorry! - actively dislike 
Soap - liked it at the time 
Sergeant Bilko - liked it at the time 
Miranda - indifferent 
Vicar of Dibley - indifferent 
Curb Your Enthusiasm - never seen it 
Nathan Barley - never heard of it 
Coupling - Never heard of it 
Rising Damp - actively dislike
Reggie Perrin - actively dislike
Inbetweeners - never seen it 
Big Bang Theory - never seen it 
Detectorists - indifferent 
Early Doors - never seen it 
Not Going Out - indifferent 
The Good Life - indifferent 
Motherland - never seen it 
Happy Days - indifferent 

From my childhod, there were loads that my parents loved, e.g. The Army Game, Bootsy and Snudge, The Rag Trade, Hugh and I, Terry and June, Man About the House, Me Mammy, Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Green Acres, Bewitched, etc.  I pretty much hated them all. 

Same thing goes for standup comedy - with a VERY few exceptions, I just have no interest. 

I think I like humour, but I'm somehow not really into 'comedy'. 


 

I already feel like I'm becoming a curmudgeon as I get older, and this just reinforces the feeling that I'm likely headed in that direction.

Edited by il_serpente
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Perhaps they weren't available in the UK, but the following are among the best in the US:

All in the Family

Mary Tyler Moore Show

Bob Newhart Show (original from the 70's).

I also can't believe nobody has mentioned Arrested Development.   I don't think you need to be an American to appreciate it.

Also, shout out to whoever mentioned Reginald Perrin.

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9 hours ago, tonyh29 said:

I could probably quote every episode of Blackadder verbatim so I guess I’d have to say that was the best 

but others worthy of mention , indeed already have been mentioned 
 

Thick of it

Alan Partridge

Porridge

Father Ted 

what we do in the shadows  

The IT crowd 

Inbeweeners - for the boring thread but ,my house could have been one of the filming locations had I replied to the leaflet delivered asking us if we were interested in allowing our house to be used for a TV show  called Baggy Trousers ( original name for the inbetweeners )

and of course Bottom - the slapstick comedy in bottom makes it timeless where as The Young ones which 13 year old me loved , 53 year old me watches it on U.K. gold and occasional gem of a line apart struggles to raise a snigger 

 

I know generally American comedy isn’t great but I do have a soft spot for Malcom in the middle , it’s just so well written and the characters are great 

How could I forget  What we do in the shadows?  Brilliant 

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