No, really. I’ve been a fan of British comedy for going on 20 years now. When Napster came out and people were using it to fill out their Metallica collection, I was downloading episodes of Saturday Night Fry, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie’s short-lived radio sketch comedy from the 80s. That’s a great show, by the way, and well worth seeking out. I’ve got terabytes of British comedy (and other stuff too, I suppose) cluttering up my basement. I’m predicting that I will have already tried 90%+ of the shows that pop up in this thread.
But I want you to recommend them anyway, because I’m looking for those few gems that I somehow missed. So there’s your challenge. Find me a good show or ten of any kind - sketch comedy, sitcom, panel shows, whatever - that I haven’t seen, as long as it’s funny. I won’t bother trying to list all the ones I’ve already tried, because that would take forever. But I will respond to what gets suggested here. I’ll even go so far as to allow Canadian or Australian shows, although I have dipped into those now and then, and have yet to find any winners.
Since I believe it would be a bit pointless to point out Ricky Gervais and all his projects or Little Britain, might I suggest “Summer Heights High”, an Australian mockumentary by comedian Chris Lilley about two students (one troubled Islander boy and a stuck-up private school princess) and an overambitious drama teacher, all three played by Lilley.
Especially the drama teacher is hysterical. This show manages to be both physically and very subtly funny - it’s not all in the crazy accents. He also did two other series, We Can Be Heroes and Angry Boys.
Among current shows, I think that Not Going Out is the best sitcom on British TV. Possibly not a fashionable view, because it is quite mainstream, and we tend to be better at edgy or whimsical comedy. Maybe it’s just the zeal of a new convert - I initially overlooked this show because I found Lee Mack a bit end-of-the-pier/Butlins redcoat. But I’ve really changed my mind about him. The show has a high gags-per-minute rate, and the gags are actually funny.
I also like The IT Crowd (from one of the guys who wrote Father Ted, and quite similar in feel), except I don’t like the more recent seasons as much as the first.
There’s also the Armstrong and Miller show, a pretty good sketch show, especially the RAF pilots bits.
[edit] Nearly forgot - Peep Show! In fact, most things involving David Mitchell are worth watching. He makes a great panel show guest.
Murder Most Horrid - An anthology series starring Dawn French. I’ve only seen a couple episodes so I don’t know how well the quality holds up from show to show, but Overkill is one of the funniest half hours I’ve ever seen.
The Games - Australian mockumentary about the organizing of the Sydney Olympics.
The Catherine Tate Show: sketch comedy, mostly but not entirely based on recurring characters. Actress/writer Catherine Tate plays a wide variety of roles, ranging from an insolent teen girl to a sleep-deprived young mother to a critical granny.
I expect you’ve seen Mock the Week, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Have I Got News For You and QI, but how about Would I Lie to You, The Bubble, 8 Out of 10 Cats (hosted by the odious Jimmy Carr, so I avoid it, but it’s probably otherwise good)?
Fawlty Towers
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
The Two Ronnies
[early seasons of] Only Fools And Horses
Black Adder (there are 4 seasons of that)
Anything with Harry Enfield and/or Paul Whitehouse
Vic Reeves [may be more of an acquired taste]
Limmy’s Show has so far only been broadcast on BBC Scotland, but I think it’s due to go nationwide shortly. I think it’s one of the better new sketch shows - quite dark in places.
