I remain wary that, as a Brit, I could be accused of threadshitting if I just start naming obscure British shows but… A lot of what would be considered in Britain the best (or best known) shows aren’t being mentioned.
Since Monty Python’s Flying Circus is getting almost universally name checked… It was an early 1970s comedy sketch show. Later comedy sketch shows that were big but are being ignored in this thread included:
Not The Nine O’Clock News in the late 70s. A main cast of four included Rowan Atkinson (later to do Mr Bean and Blackadder) and Mel Smith and Griff Jones (who did Alas Smith and Jones - another popular sketch show)
The Fast Show from the late 90s although it made a come back in 2014. Some say dismissively the content is primarily just repeated catch phrases. Wikipedia suggests it was retitled Brilliant in the US. One of Johnny Depp’s favourite shows apparently. He demanded the chance to do a cameo.
Do Americans like Spike Milligan of the Goons - where Peter “Pink Panther” Sellers started? Spike had his series of Q TV shows (Q5, Q6 and so on)
Away from sketch shows there’s some missing classic sitcoms. I haven’t noticed anyone mentioning:
Porridge the great Ronnie Barker (from The Two Ronnies) as a pragmatic petty criminal in jail. He was a great writer and massively under rated actor. His later show Open All Hours was a gentler comedy more like the long lasting Last of the Summer Wine which had no Barker connection.
Rising Damp about a sleazy landlord and The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin about a disillusioned middle class businessman who eventually fakes his own death. Both shows, which were otherwise unconnected, starred the comedic genius actor Leonard Rossiter. He had a few film roles including 2001: A Space Odyssey and Barry Lyndon although they were minor roles.
There are plenty of other sitcoms but those three were, and are, particularly highly rated. I suppose I could have added Citizen Smith, The Likely Lads and To Death Us Do Part. Plus for successful 1990s comedy you have Men Behaving Badly which was apparently remade for the US.
Since Americans are aware of cruder stuff like Are You Being Served I am surprised no one appears to have mentioned the Carry On franchise. Basically a series of about 30 low brow comedy films. Starting in the late 1950s they were originally released in cinemas but they are still, to this day, permanently on TV in both their original form plus they get edited into chunks and put out as compilation shows.
I note that while every British viewer is familiar with dozens of US cop shows, the US viewers seem less aware of the multitudinous British cop shows. Just a single mention of The Sweeney here and a Prime Suspect (Helen Mirren) there.
British soaps don’t seem to travel. Occasional East Enders mentions but nothing from the “flagship” soap Coronation Street, the third place Emmerdale or the lesser youth orientated Brookside and Hollyoaks.
Children’s shows? The vast Gerry Anderson puppet Sci-Fi output of Thunderbirds but also Captain Scarlett, Joe 90, Stingray were childhood favourites and, ironically, shamelessly aped US shows. Then he moved from puppets to actors and churned out ***Project UFO ***and Space 1999.
Then there is Ardman Animation pushing out kids shows like Shawn the Sheep but also the Wallace and Grommit films.
TCMF-2L
