What Are Televisions Greatest Sitcoms?

Realy people. How about the Honeymooners and Seinfeld? The pinnacle of the best in comedy. Oh, and the Vicar of Dibley.
 
Droflet said:
Realy people. How about the Honeymooners and Seinfeld? The pinnacle of the best in comedy. Oh, and the Vicar of Dibley.
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Seinfeld yes! I think @BAYLOR mentioned it.

As Time Goes By is my favorite dramedy. I watch it every few years.
 
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pogopossum said:
Big Bang Theory was unrelentingly hilarious.
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And a reasonably well-disguised rom-com across its entire run.

I don't particularly like rom-coms (I couldn't get on with Friends at all, or the various rom-com films), but I've watched all the episodes of The Big Bang Theory at least twice (as it's continually being repeated on E4 here in the UK, often when I'm making a meal)... and the jokes and situations bear repeating.

There was a thread about the show on here and how it could be a bit cruel to one or other of the major characters at one time or another...

...but I was brought up on the gem that was Steptoe and Son (both on the radio and the TV), where the whole point was there was at least one character being the "monster" in an episode. It varied from week to week as to which of the two main characters took on this role, but the situations they got into were both very funny and often profoundly tragic, as neither main character could escape** from the other... nor, deep down, really wanted to (other than briefly).


** - Producing comedies in which a character is trapped is very hard to do, and there are umpteen shows where it is done very badly. I recall listening (though not for very long) to one where someone kept being interrupted by people ringing the doorbell. Why oh why did she not simply ignore them when she had something or other very important for her to do (which, never got done)? If it had been a comedy set in an office it would have made more sense, but the character always opened the door of her home and got involved (very unfunnily) with whomever had randomly washed up on her doorstep.

Another "comedy" simply had a family whose children had all returned home, often for no better reason than it drove the plot (badly) and everything flowed (unbelievably) from that. Basically, the show was full of "monsters" who thought about nothing but themselves, with one or two of the other characters being persuaded to give way over and over again for no good reason at all. (Of course, now that situation is more like reality -- in terms of people being forced back into the family home -- so, give or take the awful writing, that situation may work these days.)
 
The Munsters were in the same season with the Adams Family. Good old network competition. Grandpa, Herman, and Lily, plus John Carradine and an endless list of great guest appearances.
Green Acres
Car 54 Where Are You
Top Cat
Get Smart
Beverly Hillbillies
Sanford and Son
Rising Damp
The Good Life
Soap
Are You Being served
 
Bit left of field and the actors were amateurs but CU Burn is my all time favourite -they did a great job with what they had to work with and to me the writing was unmatched ...there's a scene where the undertakers lose the body and end up improvising a cremation 'huh, smells like sausages' remarks one of the mourners, cracks me up every time.
 
Soap ran from 1977 tp 1981 it spoofed everything from the Exorcist to Close Encounter of the third kind it was brainily funny show Billy Crystal , Robert Ulrich , Richard Mulligan , Catherine Helmmond and Robert Guillume .:cool:

Benson staring Robert Guillume was a very successful spinoff of Soap ran from 1979 to 1986 . It too was a great comedy show.:cool:
 
Are You Being Served This is a truly magnificent and hilariously funny comedy series with a top notch cast of actors. :cool: :D
 
Am I surprised that no-one has mentioned Friends yet?
Sledge Hammer - Any show that ends by nuking a city has to be on the list somewhere...
 
CupofJoe said:
Am I surprised that no-one has mentioned Friends yet?
Sledge Hammer - Any show that ends by nuking a city has to be on the list somewhere...
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I loved Sledge Hammer That scene was hysterical. Then there was the episode that Spoofed Robocop. :D
 
There was a great comedy called Outsources that was very good. It only lasted for one series, as they shut it down as the makers didn't want to insult those that actually lost jobs due to outsourcing. Well worth watching, IMO.

Oh, Flight of the Conchords also needs to be on any list of the best comedies.

Has anyone seen Bored to Death? A HBO comedy about a struggling writer trying to make his life more interesting by becoming an unlicenced detective. I adored this show.

The Mighty Boosh. Not everyone's cup of tea, but surreal and funny.
 
What's the mater with everyone?

Here we are on the second page and no one has mentioned Fawlty Towers yet! :eek:
With its perfectly crafted threads all intertwining neatly leading to the inevitable breakdown of Basil :p
 
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