American Comedy Vs. British Comedy "TV"

[Kegg]

Who is funnier?

Generally Americans. I can easily rattle off at least a dozen American sitcoms I love, and I couldn't give you half that number of British shows. There's a very sharp, broad, scripted quality to my favourite sitcoms (say classic era Simpsons) that, while some British shows come close to it in terms of style, few really equal.

Granted, there's a bias in being exposed to so much British TV, a great deal of which is truly awful... while not seeing the worst say American TV has to offer.

In short: Red Dwarf gets a couple of laughs. But I can't think of an episode of that show I've loved as much as Futurama's "Roswell That Ends Well."

It was even said a recent thread about Frasier, that it was the most British American sitcom we've ever had.

That's an interesting because I'd consider it a very American sitcom (even with Jane Leeves). Very much Three's Company with erudite references... and essentially it takes Cheers's slobs vs. snobs humour and just chooses to centre on the snobs instead. It doesn't much resemble most British sitcoms I've watched.

 

[Harvey]

Granted, there's a bias in being exposed to so much British TV, a great deal of which is truly awful... while not seeing the worst say American TV has to offer.

I suspect most American viewers -- myself included -- have the same perspective, except the nationalities are reversed. I've really only seen the best of British television -- be it drama or comedy. I assume the crap just isn't imported to the United States, or at least isn't that visible.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

One I didn't see mentioned here was SOAP

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTeppN1PwH8[/yt]


[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRpHIM6wqCY[/yt]

Way ahead of its time when it came out.

 

[JoeZhang]

Who is funnier?

Generally Americans. I can easily rattle off at least a dozen American sitcoms I love, and I couldn't give you half that number of British shows.

<tongue in cheek> Who can take seriously the views of a man who's country gave us Mrs. Brown's boys?

It was because of that show that Q put humanity on trial in TNG.

 

[MacLeod]

Well a few years back (2004) BBC did a poll as part of TV series and the Top 10 shows in order where

Only Fools and Horses
Blackadder
Vicar of Dibley
Dad's Army
Faulty Towers
Yes, Minister
Porridge
Open All Hours
The Good Life
One Foot In The Grave

Eagle eyed viewers will note those all aired on the Beeb, number 11 Father Ted didn't air on the Beeb

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

Yeah, that top 10 was always suspicious. (Dad's Army should have been number 1 for a start!)

 

[Guy Gardener]

Those show tell great stories and have fantastic characters but half of them are very rarely funny. I'm surprised It ain't 'alf 'ot mum, Hidey Hi or You Rang MiLord made the list or the original Adrien Mole? (Isn't Sue Pollard just lovely?)

Although if my ageism can spring up again those shows were reruns in my childhood.

White Van Man is hilarious, and Miranda is the funniest sitcom in the universe, and the Thick of It makes Frazier look like a monkey hammering at the typeface with his penis... Which translated into Americanese well with the movie In the Loop which followed through with the new Julia Lewis-Dreyfuss project "Veep" which is a yank britcom if ever I saw one... But then that's exactly what Episodes is with Stephen Madigan and Tasman Grieg from Green Room are matching wits against Matt LeBlanc all too successfully... Black Books!!!

How the hell can there be a list of the funniest (just the beeb? meh?) britcoms with out Space coming up? EVERYBODY loves Simon Pegg! ... Shit even that was something that happened last century.

I suppose the list isn't like a Dead Sea Scroll completely since the Vicar of Dibley is only 20 years old, but Dawn doesn't have that many tricks, and she's really the runt of the Comic Strip Presents litter and Jennifer Saunders carried for for years... Puns unintended. Sorry.

Even Inbetweeners which I still assume is new, finished 3 or 4 years ago if you don't count the movie.

That list is ridiculously narrow made for people who only watched tv as children or 50 years ago.

Has any one ever seen How not to Live your Life?

Any episode of that is funnier than Frank Spenser falling down ten toilets... And I'm quite enjoying Not going out even if it did cheat by having Miranda Hart on board for two seasons.

 

[Hyfen_Underskor]

I don't know what is more surprising - that these aired in the States or that people over there like them...

I have to admit that I don't understand the appeal of Are You Being Served. It seemed that the producers found any excuse they could find to create some sort of a fashion show with the main characters. With the exception of maybe Miss Brahms(?) (some of the names escape me: Lucas, Mrs. Slocumbe, Captain Peacock?), I didn't find too pleasant of a sight.

 

[Kegg]

I watched the Inbetweeners in its first run, Guy Gardener, and it was one of the funniest shows I'd seen in years. I still refuse to get my head around the idea there's not one but two American remakes (one of the TV series, the other of the film).

Also Only Fools and Horses? Really? That beat Fawlty Towers?

Who can take seriously the views of a man who's country gave us Mrs. Brown's boys?

It was because of that show that Q put humanity on trial in TNG.

Ah, but we were exonerated by Love/Hate!

 

[JoeZhang]

White Van Man is hilarious, and Miranda is the funniest sitcom in the universe

Miranda is as funny as lung cancer.

 

[MacLeod]

Those show tell great stories and have fantastic characters but half of them are very rarely funny. I'm surprised It ain't 'alf 'ot mum, Hidey Hi or You Rang MiLord made the list or the original Adrien Mole? (Isn't Sue Pollard just lovely?)

Although if my ageism can spring up again those shows were reruns in my childhood.

White Van Man is hilarious, and Miranda is the funniest sitcom in the universe, and the Thick of It makes Frazier look like a monkey hammering at the typeface with his penis... Which translated into Americanese well with the movie In the Loop which followed through with the new Julia Lewis-Dreyfuss project "Veep" which is a yank britcom if ever I saw one... But then that's exactly what Episodes is with Stephen Madigan and Tasman Grieg from Green Room are matching wits against Matt LeBlanc all too successfully... Black Books!!!

How the hell can there be a list of the funniest (just the beeb? meh?) britcoms with out Space coming up? EVERYBODY loves Simon Pegg! ... Shit even that was something that happened last century.

I suppose the list isn't like a Dead Sea Scroll completely since the Vicar of Dibley is only 20 years old, but Dawn doesn't have that many tricks, and she's really the runt of the Comic Strip Presents litter and Jennifer Saunders carried for for years... Puns unintended. Sorry.

Even Inbetweeners which I still assume is new, finished 3 or 4 years ago if you don't count the movie.

That list is ridiculously narrow made for people who only watched tv as children or 50 years ago.

Has any one ever seen How not to Live your Life?

Any episode of that is funnier than Frank Spenser falling down ten toilets... And I'm quite enjoying Not going out even if it did cheat by having Miranda Hart on board for two seasons.

Well if you note I did say it was done in 2004 as for the full list

http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/top/

And of course with any poll it's results are to be taken with a pinch of salt.

And wasn't it Spaced not space that Stared Simon Pegg which aired on CH4?

And sometimes as people get older they get nostalgic about things.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I watched the Inbetweeners in its first run, Guy Gardener, and it was one of the funniest shows I'd seen in years. I still refuse to get my head around the idea there's not one but two American remakes (one of the TV series, the other of the film).

The film wasn't American or a remake. It was a British continuation/finale for the series. Rumour has it the second film is being written now. And the American remake failed in every way imaginable.

 

[lurok]

C4 has had some pretty good ones with Spaced, Black Books and Green Wing.

I wonder what the US version of Are You Being Served? was like?

 

[Kegg]

I watched the Inbetweeners in its first run, Guy Gardener, and it was one of the funniest shows I'd seen in years. I still refuse to get my head around the idea there's not one but two American remakes (one of the TV series, the other of the film).

The film wasn't American or a remake.

I said they're remaking the film, not that the film is a remake. The film remake of the Inbetweeners will apparently be unrelated to the MTV remake.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I wonder why the Americans never took to Last of the Summer Wine - it certainly had a heck of a lot of episodes compare to the usual British comedy show - 295 in all. Perhaps it was the accents/dialects, insufficient cultural overlap, or perhaps it was because it was the same old jokes, repeated again and again and again...

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I watched the Inbetweeners in its first run, Guy Gardener, and it was one of the funniest shows I'd seen in years. I still refuse to get my head around the idea there's not one but two American remakes (one of the TV series, the other of the film).

The film wasn't American or a remake.

I said they're remaking the film, not that the film is a remake. The film remake of the Inbetweeners will apparently be unrelated to the MTV remake.

Ah, sorry. I misunderstood. Didn't realise they were going ahead with a remake of the film after the series failed.

 

[MacLeod]

I wonder why the Americans never took to Last of the Summer Wine - it certainly had a heck of a lot of episodes compare to the usual British comedy show - 295 in all. Perhaps it was the accents/dialects, insufficient cultural overlap, or perhaps it was because it was the same old jokes, repeated again and again and again...

295 episodes of 31 series running from 1973-2010. So around 10 a year.

 

[Guy Gardener]

You say last of the Summer Wine, I say Golden Girls.

(First of the Summer Wine, I'm not kidding, was just sad.)

I have 5 episodes of Amanda by the Sea, the American remake of Fawlty Towers starring Bea Arthur that I am just afraid to watch.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I wonder why the Americans never took to Last of the Summer Wine - it certainly had a heck of a lot of episodes compare to the usual British comedy show - 295 in all. Perhaps it was the accents/dialects, insufficient cultural overlap, or perhaps it was because it was the same old jokes, repeated again and again and again...

295 episodes of 31 series running from 1973-2010. So around 10 a year.

But just fine for syndication - not HD though, most of it.

 

[Guy Gardener]

HD of Compo?