British comedy: films, tv shows, stand-up, etc.

[GivenToFly]

What do you think about it? Do you enjoy it? Hate it? Do you like some stuff but not others? Who/what are your favorites and who/what do you dislike? How do you think it compares with American comedy?

And whatever else you wish to discuss. There was some discussion on it in a recent thread which maybe we could expand on.

[Chinaski]

Everybody needs Peter Cook, Chris Morris and Stewart Lee in their lives.

[wasted]

Fawlty Towers.

Basil.

Yes my little nest of vipers.

[Black Sabbath]

It's shite

[wasted]

Sausages.

Peep Show was pretty good for a while.

[PappyTron]

"What a fucking disgrace"

[DieselDaisy]

Favourite comedy? The English Football Team.

[wasted]

favorite comedy is probably Match of the Day. Golden Boy and Hansen never fail to crack me up. What's David Luiz best position? Probably Left back on the bench. Defensively they were awful.

[spunko12345]

Del Boy: I remember what Mum said on her death bed. She said to me: Del, she said, please give little Rodney all the encouragement that you can. Never, Del, never hold him back.

Rodney: She didnt half say a lot on her death bed, didnt she?

Del Boy: What?

Rodney: Whatever the subject is, Mum had something to say about it on her death bed. She must have spent her final few hours in this mortal realm doing nothing but rabbiting!

Del Boy: You are walking a bleeding tightrope here, Rodney!!!!

Rodney: No, hang on! Right, you remember last week we were having a row about whose turn it was to go down the chippy, yeah? And you claimed that Mum said on her death bed: Send Rodney for the fish!

Del Boy: Yeah well, Id had a few, hadnt I?

[Gracii Guns]

The IT Crowd was awesome.

[Guest Len B'stard]

As far sitcoms or the stage go England are miles ahead of everyone and will probably remain so. England lead the way with em, they shaped them. I meant stage as in theatre here. England comes from a long tradition of theatre and all this stuff and a lot of sitcoms, some of the best ones i find, are very stagey in the way that they are produced, limited set and all that.

I mean you only need to look to the 60s and see how many knock offs of English comedy that exist out there.

Til Death Us Do Part, now, conceptually, is there any greater comedy than that, i think it's fantastic. Alf the bigoted old git, Mike his scouse 60s Jack the Lad left wing son in law, his daughter Rita and Else all in that one living room predominantly and the whole thing being this vehicle of social commentary, it's just fucking brilliant as an idea because, through Alf the bigot, you can pretty much say any-fucking-thing you want but it's not even as simple as that because it's not simply (or even necessarily) that the character of Alf was a conduit for any personal beliefs on the part of Johnny Speight, far from it, he was just a tool through which Speight could directly or indirectly address just about anything he wanted...and all through the most hilairiously offensive cutting edge comedy.

Or Steptoe and Son, which i think is the greatest comedy ever made, it is just perfect, the set, the way it is lit, the characters in it, the representation of those characters (and this is important) not by stock comedians but serious character actors that just made the whole thing come across so well. Harold the ambitious flighty dreamer and his fuckin' horrible old Dad, morally obtuse, totally unforgivable in his beliefs, his actions, everything, just a total opposite to Harold. And it's impossible to not get Steptoe and Son on some level because everybody understands that thing of finding oneself in a situation with an absolute cunt that you have nothing in common with but for whatever reason have to get along. It is SOOO brilliantly written too, Galton and Simpson were the definition of genius, the subtle nuances of the dialogue, the way Harolds character is purposely written to trying to speak like a toff but not quite making it and trying to weave it into cockney patter and keep the flow of it all going, it's brilliant.

And it's tragic, it's actually deeply tragic and i think all comedy needs this to be seriously enduring, there is something, and i don't mean subtley) about Steptoe and Son, there are parts in it that just make you wanna fuckin' weep, Harold trapped in this awful life, thwarted at every turn by his old man when all he really wants is something better in life, something elevated, something of value, you almost see Harry Corbett in real tears at times.

You could take that comedy, the bones of it and pick it up and transport it to any culture across the world and it would work, it was translate near perfectly, it is that brilliantly put together.

or Tony Hancock or Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads or Not Only But Also with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore or something like Fawlty Towers which is like the most brilliantly put together slapstick i've ever seen...underrated ones like Citizen Smith too. And then like all the 80s stuff like New Statesman, The Young Ones, Only Fools and Horses, the entire Comic Strip lot, then the 90s stuff like Alan Partiridge or The Fast Show.

Even the darker Sexcapade days of Carry On and Robin Askwith films like The Confessions of a Window Cleaner and Virgin Soldier and Bottle Boys and Benny Hill.

And also, last but certainly not least, probably because we're getting a bit old with this one, you only really got it on the radio and thats The Goon Show, i can't believe how much love there is for Monty Python and yet The Goons barely get a mention these days Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and them.

There's loads that i've missed too but yeah, best in the world i think, not least because look how widely immitated it is, Archie Bunker is Alf Garnett, Sandford and Son are Steptoe and Son, there are versions of Only Fools and Horses in places like Khazakstan, Pakistan have a take on Fawlty Towers called Guest House, we're talking about inter-fuckin'-nationally here.

[spunko12345]

I grew up on fawlty towers, only fools and horses, steptoe and son, citizen smith etc and you just can't beat them.

As Len suggested there's an element to all of them of being trapped in a situation where one of thems an idiot who feels like "I would be fine if it wasn't for this idiot" but they all need each other. Which all goes back I suppose to Lawrel and hardy.

Rodney reckons he'd be flying if it weren't for del but he needs him. There's a warmth to it that is vital in comedy.

Same goes for Basil he reckons his life would be much better if it wasn't for Sybil nagging him but how long do you reckon he'd last running that place on his own?

Likewise Eddie and Richy in Bottom.

[wasted]

Ive got Miami Twice on dvd. I got it free when I spent 35 in HMV.

[Guest Len B'stard]

I grew up on fawlty towers, only fools and horses, steptoe and son, citizen smith etc and you just can't beat them.

As Len suggested there's an element to all of them of being trapped in a situation where one of thems an idiot who feels like "I would be fine if it wasn't for this idiot" but they all need each other. Which all goes back I suppose to Lawrel and hardy.

Rodney reckons he'd be flying if it weren't for del but he needs him. There's a warmth to it that is vital in comedy.

Same goes for Basil he reckons his life would be much better if it wasn't for Sybil nagging him but how long do you reckon he'd last running that place on his own?

Likewise Eddie and Richy in Bottom.

It's funny you should mention that actually, specifically in relation to Steptoe and Only Fools because John Sullivan was inspired to write comedy after watching the pilot of Steptoe on The Comedy Playhouse and i've always thought that there were shades of Steptoe in Only Fools, specifically the thing you mentioned of Rodney reckoning he'd be flying without Del, it's exactly like Harold and Albert.

And Citizen Smith i always saw as like, the bare bones of Only Fools are there, Del is Wolfie, Rodney is Ken his mate and Grandad/Unc' are represented in Tucker, the dopey one, a lot of the step ups and situations are sort of roughly similar too.

But you're right, it's a lot more universal than that, there's shades of it in things like Fawlty Towers too, in Basil and Sybill, that never occured to me but you are spot on, i guess it's sort of an old comedic chestnut, the odd couple but fuck me, there's so much mileage in it.

Edited May 9, 2013 by sugaraylen

[wasted]

Some mothers do have em. I don't think I've ever seen it.

Butterflies. I used to watch that. Yes, Prime Minister.

What was that show about the country vets? All Creatures Great and Small.

Last of the Summer Wine.

Dad's Army.

[Guest Len B'stard]

Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em gets written off as 70s pap but i think it's fucking brilliant and he's a brilliant actor, some of the stunt co-ordination alone what legendary for its day. And Frank Spencer is just an inimmitable character, just hilairious.

Even some of the more common type ones like Keeping Up Appearances and One Foot in the Grave, the less cutting edge stuff is brilliant too, wonderful well rounded characters that you just remember forever.

I mean how long has it been since anyones seen KUA but i bet you everyone remembers the characters, they're just so singular and unique, Onslow, her sisters Rose and Violet, the vicar, Emmett next door, Hyacinth herself and her beleagured husband Richard, now you gotta remember we're talking about a show that i ain't seen since the mid 90s...but i just remember it so vividly.

Edited May 9, 2013 by sugaraylen

[wasted]

whats the one with the two Ronnies in a shop?

Perfect World was funny but it only lasted a season. Dennis Pennis.

I keeping up appearances. It's that woman, twitching curtains.

Harry Hill!

I'm throwing out ideas because I can't remember the one I really want to bring up. After the Young Ones but before all the Office, not Men Behaving badly but...no, that didn't work. Steve Coogan.

I used to watch Bilko religiously. That's more of a confession.

[Guest Len B'stard]

Ab Fab?

Dennis Pennis was a fuckin' legend, like a punk Ali G

[wasted]

I used to make a point of watching it, like stay up to watch it. but it only lasted 1 season. go get em boy!

Ab Fab is the right time period, but there was another show. maybe there wasn't.

Porridge!

finally, that Father Ted and Blackadder.

[spunko12345]

The Royle Family deserves a mention.

Jim: I'm off down The Feathers. Get your coat on Barb.

Barbara: Oooh are you taking me with you thanks Jim.

Jim: No Barb love, I'm turning the central heating off! :)

[GivenToFly]

I was expecting a more international discussion here, of the more famous stuff but, wow, I haven't heard of like 95% of the titles mentioned here.

[PappyTron]

Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em gets written off as 70s pap but i think it's fucking brilliant and he's a brilliant actor, some of the stunt co-ordination alone what legendary for its day. And Frank Spencer is just an inimmitable character, just hilairious.

Even some of the more common type ones like Keeping Up Appearances and One Foot in the Grave, the less cutting edge stuff is brilliant too, wonderful well rounded characters that you just remember forever.

I mean how long has it been since anyones seen KUA but i bet you everyone remembers the characters, they're just so singular and unique, Onslow, her sisters Rose and Violet, the vicar, Emmett next door, Hyacinth herself and her beleagured husband Richard, now you gotta remember we're talking about a show that i ain't seen since the mid 90s...but i just remember it so vividly.

I love Keeping Up Appearances! Hyacinth is brilliant - absolute genius comic timing and the ability to do physical comedy as well, which is not easy for an older woman.

[Nobodys_Fault]

Some mothers do have em. I don't think I've ever seen it.

[wasted]

The Good Life.

League of Gentlemen is something i never got into.

Fast Show, Vic and Bob quiz show was insane. Ulrikakaka.

[Chinaski]

I'm so happy I live in a world where Shooting Stars was allowed to exist.