British and American Television Comedy

[Secura]

I'm very particular about comedies from across the pond, really; there's sometimes a level of humour that I don't find funny, or I feel has been dumbed down for the wider audience. Having said that, I do like US comedy just as much as British, really.

My current favourites from the good old US are The Big Bang Theory and Scrubs. BBT feels a little like IT Crowd for a younger, less tech-orientated audience; the jokes aren't so vague that only a certain demographic will understand them. And Scrubs... well, I've loved that since the very beginning, though it feels as though they're trying to live past their prime by continuing past Season Eight.

They should take a leaf out of Fawlty Towers' book; quit while you're ahead, before things get stale.

[Centurion1]

American Pie had its moments. Especially the first one. which was a rather sweet movie too. Then the series quickly deteriorated.


I, erm....I personally wouldn't watch such plebeian rubbish, of course. The above is what I remember from the reviews.

Lets be frank my dear frenchmen, you liked the first one because of the lovely nadia.

i like office.

personally i do not find scrubs funny, at all. but many people do so i dont judge

[naut]

personally i do not find scrubs funny, at all. but many people do so i dont judge

I liked it when it first came out. So seasons 1-4ish. But now I'm kind of over it and I don't really find it funny anymore.

I love Brit-coms though. I adore IT Crowd (half my Uni course is IT so...). But my favourite is the Mighty Boosh, quirky and ridiculous.

Of the recent US offerings Arrested Development has to be my favourite. The writing is fantastic, unbelievably witty and dry show.

[a completely inoffensive name]

I don't care for any of those shows you guys watch but I love iCarly and Drake and Josh on Nickelodeon. That stuff is waaaay more hilarious then Monty Python, Scrubs or Ricky Girvais.

[Subotan]

Are things just getting a little too... PC, and thus we're getting less funny as time goes by? Do modern comedians and sit-coms simply not compare to their predecessors?

Tastes change, and morals change as time goes on, but humour is constant. Just look at Lysistrata or the Comedy of Errors for proof.

I agree older comedies were generally better but also agree with your examples of good modern day comedy. Almost identically, even (other than not watching and therefore not really knowing if the IT crowd is good). .

The first series is fantastic, just utter brilliance. The second, not so much, but the first episode at least is til worth watching.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Two and a half men was great (I've seen the first 2 seasons), but from what I've seen it doesn't work with Jake grown up.

The weirdest thing about sitcoms to me is how utterly unfunny they are if you miss the beginning.

That 70's show was great too. What's his name who always wore sunglasses was my favorite.

[Centurion1]

That 70's show was great too. What's his name who always wore sunglasses was my favorite.

hyde. yeah its a funny show.

[Beskar]

Yes Ministter, Red Dwarf, New Statemen, the list could go on.

Peter Kay is good though, with Phoenix Nights... damn, haven't seen that in ages. Remind me to watch it when I return home.

[Strike For The South]

If you haven't seen Airplane or Animal House, you haven't seen American comedy.

[Samurai Waki]

Rather enjoyed Little Britain, despite it's rather short running. Seinfeld had some excellent episodes, as did Everybody Loves Raymond. As far as animated series, I still love South Park, Family Guy is beginning to stale, but American Dad is really starting to find it's legs, Love the Apocalypse episode.

[CountArach]

And Scrubs... well, I've loved that since the very beginning, though it feels as though they're trying to live past their prime by continuing past Season Eight.

Scrubs stopped being funny around teh time they introduced a plotline. I enjoyed the first two seasons, but past that, no thanks.

I personally love British comedy, partly because that is what I have been exposed to for much of my childhood and have been on a bit of a journey of discovery lately as to what is out there. Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are both geniuses and anything they touch is fantastic (A Bit of Fry and Laurie, for instance, or QI). Blackadder, as always, is hilarious. However, 'Allo 'Allo grates at me a bit and I can't quite place what it is, and don't even get me started on Are You Being Served.

[Furunculus]

Brit comedies:
Blackadder is awesome.

Yank comedies:
quite fond of Scrubs.

Gavin and Stacey had some funny characters (ness and bryn), but the domesticity of it was depressing.

[Beskar]

Gavin and Stacey had some funny characters (ness and bryn), but the domesticity of it was depressing.

It was depressing. To imagine people are even like that. I guess the show would be boring if they were simply normal.

[Secura]

It was depressing. To imagine people are even like that. I guess the show would be boring if they were simply normal.

"You've got to hold and give
But do it at the right time
You can be slow or fast
But you must get to the line!"

The thing is, that show is like Little Britain in a way; you know that it's stereotyping and taking the mickey out of us, but we watch it anyway because it's good, compulsive viewing.

[Beskar]

The thing is, that show is like Little Britain in a way; you know that it's stereotyping and taking the mickey out of us, but we watch it anyway because it's good, compulsive viewing.

Actually, Little Britain is pretty true. Such as Andy (the character in the wheelchair), if you worked with people with learning disabilities, it is unfortunately very close to the real thing, except they are legitimately disabled.

[tibilicus]

True fact, any comedy shown on BBC 3 isn't funny. two pints of lager and a packet of crisps needs to be burned and eradicated from the BBC archives.

Only real comedy I like these days is peep show. I watch quite a few American comedy's like two and a half men but not to many actually make me laugh out loud. A lot of them have a trend of deteriorating rapidly as they go on as well. Scrubs started going down hill after season 6, season 8 was shocking and I prefer to blank the current season from my memory.

[Secura]

Actually, Little Britain is pretty true. Such as Andy (the character in the wheelchair), if you worked with people with learning disabilities, it is unfortunately very close to the real thing, except they are legitimately disabled.

So they're all balding, pot-bellied men with bad hygiene and mono-syllabic responses?