MY TOP 25 FAVOURITE BRITISH TV COMEDIES!!!
I've been watching British comedy since I was a little lad and have enjoyed quite a few of them over the years. But these, for better or worse, are my favourites:
1) Monty Python's Flying Circus -- The winner and still champion! Nothing has ever bettered it! Inspired by radio's Goon Show, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin blazed the TV trail for British humour as we know it today.
2) Fawlty Towers -- Absolutely brilliant. John Cleese opted to end the series after only 12 episodes but he left us with a comedy masterpiece that reigns as the greatest British sitcom in history!
3) The Good Life -- The "warm and fuzzy" sitcom about a couple who leave the rat race to become self-sufficient. Some might sniff at the high ranking but I find the charm of stars Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal (sigh), Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington combined with genuinely funny situations to be a winning combination. Shown in America as "The Good Neighbors".
4) The Young Ones -- Anarchic punk comedy at it's finest. Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan & Alexei Sayle produced a hit comedy for the MTV generation. And then annihilated it!
5) The Benny Hill Show -- All too often dismissed as low-brow and politically incorrect (both of which ARE true), Benny Hill was also extremely clever and witty. All that is remembered is his ogling women and running around but that was only a small part of his repertoire. He also wrote hundreds of witty (Yes, I said witty) sketches, poems and songs that still hold up as extremely funny. If you don't believe me, you just weren't watching. Benny Hill single-handedly built Thames Television and was a clown/comedian in the classic tradition. I'm really tired of people putting him down. So there!
6) Solo -- After "The Good Life", Felicity Kendal starred in this superb sitcom about a woman who loses her job AND her boyfriend just as she turns 30. Brilliantly written by Carla Lane (who also wrote "Butterflies"), this series was limited to 12 episodes but was memorable nonetheless.
7) Father Ted -- Insane series about a trio of Irish priests who are so inept that they are relegated to the remote, inhospitable Craggy Island. Laugh-out-loud hilarious!
8) Red Dwarf -- The oddest of Britcoms: a science-fiction comedy. This usually unfunny genre works brilliantly (at least until the lackluster final season misstep) as the last human left alive travels thru space with a creature evolved from his cat, a hologram of a dead crewmate and a neurotic android.
9) The Goodies -- this surreal "hippiesque" comedy starred Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden & Bill Oddie in what has rightly been described as a live-action Warner Brothers cartoon in which anything can happen: including a gargantuan-sized cat attacking London in the aptly-titled episode "Kitten Kong"
10) Two's Company -- Elaine Stritch stars as American author Dorothy McNabb who, while living in London, hires a "veddy British" butler played by Donald Sinden. The constant clash of personalities is priceless as America vs England in a no-holds-barred prizefight of a Britcom.
11) Are You Being Served? -- one of those "gently funny" Britcoms I usually don't like but this one has a charm that I can't explain. Not brilliant by any means (in fact usually quite dumb) but I like it. Go fig.
12) Not the 9 O'Clock News -- Hilarious sketch comedy show which featured a very young Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith, Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys-Jones poking fun at news programs and life in general. Sort of the British "Saturday Night Live".
13) Absolutely Fabulous -- Patsy and Edina! Brilliant in it's first couple years (but losing some steam in later seasons), this huge hit actually deserved to be so popular. Created by Jennifer Saunders & Dawn French and featuring the showstopping performance of Joanna Lumley.
14) Black Books -- I've only seen the first season of this show (co-created by the creator of Father Ted) but I loved it. Having of late worked in a bookstore myself, I can SO relate! Bernard Black is my new hero.
15) Mr Bean -- This Chaplinesque comedy played mostly silently by Rowan Atkinson is actually quite funny. Black Adder is OK but I prefer Bean.
16) Coupling -- The first two seasons were brilliant. Often called the British "Friends", it's so much more than that. Haven't seen the later ones so I'm basing this on the first two. But WHAT a couple of seasons!!!
17) To the Manor Born -- After "The Good Life", Penelope Keith starred in this "quietly funny" comedy which is also not brilliant by any means but enjoyable nonetheless. Keith plays the lady of the manor who, after the death of her husband, loses the estate to a supermarket magnate. Romantic comedy ensues.
18) Butterflies -- Another extremely well-written Carla Lane series that finds Wendy Craig starring as a bored, neglected housewife who finds the opportunity to have an affair tantalizingly close. Will she or won't she?
19) French and Saunders -- Often hilarious sketch comedy. My personal favourite episode is the one with Alison Moyet.
20) Thompson -- Surprisingly hilarious sketch comedy by future Oscar-winner Emma Thompson.
21) Open All Hours -- Ronnie Barker (of The Two Ronnies) stars as a crotchety small store owner.
22) Yes, Minister -- Very witty depiction of political life in Britain starring Paul Eddington (fresh from "The Good Life") and Sir Nigel Hawthorne.
23) Kelly Monteith -- The oddest thing: an American comedian no one in America has heard of becomes successful in England and gets his own very funny sketch comedy TV show. I particularly remember a hilarious sketch about an airplane trip.
24) Desmond's -- The most successful and best all-black British sitcom is set in a barbershop owned by Jamaican immigrant Desmond Ambrose (Norman Beaton); this show has been described as a sort-of British Cheers. Years ago, BET aired this series in America.
25) The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin -- Leonard Rossiter stars as a sales executive who has something of a nervous breakdown and tries to fake his own death and drop out of the rat race of the business world. Wryly funny!
1) Monty Python's Flying Circus -- The winner and still champion! Nothing has ever bettered it! Inspired by radio's Goon Show, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin blazed the TV trail for British humour as we know it today.
2) Fawlty Towers -- Absolutely brilliant. John Cleese opted to end the series after only 12 episodes but he left us with a comedy masterpiece that reigns as the greatest British sitcom in history!
3) The Good Life -- The "warm and fuzzy" sitcom about a couple who leave the rat race to become self-sufficient. Some might sniff at the high ranking but I find the charm of stars Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal (sigh), Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington combined with genuinely funny situations to be a winning combination. Shown in America as "The Good Neighbors".
4) The Young Ones -- Anarchic punk comedy at it's finest. Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan & Alexei Sayle produced a hit comedy for the MTV generation. And then annihilated it!
5) The Benny Hill Show -- All too often dismissed as low-brow and politically incorrect (both of which ARE true), Benny Hill was also extremely clever and witty. All that is remembered is his ogling women and running around but that was only a small part of his repertoire. He also wrote hundreds of witty (Yes, I said witty) sketches, poems and songs that still hold up as extremely funny. If you don't believe me, you just weren't watching. Benny Hill single-handedly built Thames Television and was a clown/comedian in the classic tradition. I'm really tired of people putting him down. So there!
6) Solo -- After "The Good Life", Felicity Kendal starred in this superb sitcom about a woman who loses her job AND her boyfriend just as she turns 30. Brilliantly written by Carla Lane (who also wrote "Butterflies"), this series was limited to 12 episodes but was memorable nonetheless.
7) Father Ted -- Insane series about a trio of Irish priests who are so inept that they are relegated to the remote, inhospitable Craggy Island. Laugh-out-loud hilarious!
8) Red Dwarf -- The oddest of Britcoms: a science-fiction comedy. This usually unfunny genre works brilliantly (at least until the lackluster final season misstep) as the last human left alive travels thru space with a creature evolved from his cat, a hologram of a dead crewmate and a neurotic android.
9) The Goodies -- this surreal "hippiesque" comedy starred Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden & Bill Oddie in what has rightly been described as a live-action Warner Brothers cartoon in which anything can happen: including a gargantuan-sized cat attacking London in the aptly-titled episode "Kitten Kong"
10) Two's Company -- Elaine Stritch stars as American author Dorothy McNabb who, while living in London, hires a "veddy British" butler played by Donald Sinden. The constant clash of personalities is priceless as America vs England in a no-holds-barred prizefight of a Britcom.
11) Are You Being Served? -- one of those "gently funny" Britcoms I usually don't like but this one has a charm that I can't explain. Not brilliant by any means (in fact usually quite dumb) but I like it. Go fig.
12) Not the 9 O'Clock News -- Hilarious sketch comedy show which featured a very young Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith, Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys-Jones poking fun at news programs and life in general. Sort of the British "Saturday Night Live".
13) Absolutely Fabulous -- Patsy and Edina! Brilliant in it's first couple years (but losing some steam in later seasons), this huge hit actually deserved to be so popular. Created by Jennifer Saunders & Dawn French and featuring the showstopping performance of Joanna Lumley.
14) Black Books -- I've only seen the first season of this show (co-created by the creator of Father Ted) but I loved it. Having of late worked in a bookstore myself, I can SO relate! Bernard Black is my new hero.
15) Mr Bean -- This Chaplinesque comedy played mostly silently by Rowan Atkinson is actually quite funny. Black Adder is OK but I prefer Bean.
16) Coupling -- The first two seasons were brilliant. Often called the British "Friends", it's so much more than that. Haven't seen the later ones so I'm basing this on the first two. But WHAT a couple of seasons!!!
17) To the Manor Born -- After "The Good Life", Penelope Keith starred in this "quietly funny" comedy which is also not brilliant by any means but enjoyable nonetheless. Keith plays the lady of the manor who, after the death of her husband, loses the estate to a supermarket magnate. Romantic comedy ensues.
18) Butterflies -- Another extremely well-written Carla Lane series that finds Wendy Craig starring as a bored, neglected housewife who finds the opportunity to have an affair tantalizingly close. Will she or won't she?
19) French and Saunders -- Often hilarious sketch comedy. My personal favourite episode is the one with Alison Moyet.
20) Thompson -- Surprisingly hilarious sketch comedy by future Oscar-winner Emma Thompson.
21) Open All Hours -- Ronnie Barker (of The Two Ronnies) stars as a crotchety small store owner.
22) Yes, Minister -- Very witty depiction of political life in Britain starring Paul Eddington (fresh from "The Good Life") and Sir Nigel Hawthorne.
23) Kelly Monteith -- The oddest thing: an American comedian no one in America has heard of becomes successful in England and gets his own very funny sketch comedy TV show. I particularly remember a hilarious sketch about an airplane trip.
24) Desmond's -- The most successful and best all-black British sitcom is set in a barbershop owned by Jamaican immigrant Desmond Ambrose (Norman Beaton); this show has been described as a sort-of British Cheers. Years ago, BET aired this series in America.
25) The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin -- Leonard Rossiter stars as a sales executive who has something of a nervous breakdown and tries to fake his own death and drop out of the rat race of the business world. Wryly funny!
All wonderful choices; but you left out two of my faves, "The Vicar of Dibley" and "Keeping up Apperances" .
ReplyDeleteRight then, cheers, carry on.
Oi!
ReplyDeleteYou have to check out Hex, if you get a chance. I discovered it via On Demand -- my new technological love.
I don't have these new-fangled space-age technologies, Miss Jenny Penny. Can somebody help me pry the matchbox loose from my 8-track player???
ReplyDeleteAnd dear, dear Pax: I don't know HOW to tell you this. . .but there's a REASON I left The Vicar of Dibley and Keeping Up Appearances off my list. . .I'm sorry to say. . .
but hey that's just me.