Favourite British comedies?

In order of preference, and counting best seasons only for some:

Fawlty Towers
Blackadder
Yes (prime) minister
Red Dwarf
Bottom
One foot in the grave
The young ones
Not the 9 o’clock news
Brittas Empire
KYTV
The detectives
Canned Carrot
A bit of Fry and Laurie
Alas Smith and Jones
The vicar of Dibley
Dads army
Allo allo

I assume Have I got News for you? does not qualify - otherwise it would be verrrrry high.

AbFab doesn’t do it for me. And MP has not aged very well. IMHO of course.

Allo Allo
Are You Being Served?
Faulty Towers
The Vicar of Dibley
Absolutely Fabulous
Keeping Up Appearances

Allo Allo
Are You Being Served?
Faulty Towers
The Vicar of Dibley
Absolutely Fabulous
Keeping Up Appearances

Allo Allo
Are You Being Served?
Faulty Towers
The Vicar of Dibley
Absolutely Fabulous
Keeping Up Appearances

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin is the top, absolutely.

(I used to have a sort of absurd belly-shirt that I had printed with an approximation of the GROT logo. I only wore it outside a half-dozen times or so – I’m not sure that anyone got it.)

There’s something to be said for Rising Damp, too, but it’s obviously not in the same league.

Dozens of my favourites have been mentioned already, so I’ll try to keep the redundancy down by just mentioning things that haven’t come up yet.

Spitting Image – Featuring, among other great things, some of Chris Barrie’s finest work. Best Reagan impersonation ever. Kind of weird picturing that voice coming out of “Rimmer,” though.

Nobody’s mentioned BBC Radio comedies yet?

Acropolis Now is freaking brilliant.

Saturday Night Fry, particularly the earlier incarnation.

Little Britain.

A Very Bloody History of Britain.

Tales From the Mausoleum Club. (Brilliant parodies of various gothic horror tales.)

The Mighty Boosh – Kind of like what would happen if Hunter Thompson and Douglas Adams collaborated on a show about a couple of slackers who work in a zoo. Very strange.

Allen Partridge – dear God, my sides hurt and my pants are ruined.

There’s a show I’m having a hard time remembering, where the main character is a ‘nicey’ somewhat insecure woman, and the supporting characters are a senile old neighbor lady, a live-in builder that mainly just consumes all her tea, and a west-indian cab driver. Episodes revolved around mundane tasks like going to the Tesco’s to get a new sweeper, and invariably devolved into total anarchy. What was the name of this show? I want to say the author/star’s name was Susan Smith, but I know that’s not quite right. Funny as hell, though, that show.

My votes go to;

Blackadder
The Office
The Young Ones
The Comic Strip Presents …
Yes Minister
Yes Prime Minister
Red Dwarf
Absolutely Fabulous

with honorable mentions to Mr Bean and Only Fools And Horses up to the point where Grandad died. I think it has got steadily worse since then, and should have been cancelled at least 5 years ago.

For whatever reason, I completely fail to see the appeal or humour in;

Benny Hill
Dads Army
Are You Being Served
Keeping Up Appearances
The Good Life
Monty Python (Dead Parrot/Ministry of Silly Walks excepted)
League of Gentlemen
Father Ted
Royle Family
Allo Allo
Britas Empire
One Foot In The Grave

The only shows I can think of that have gone as yet unmentioned are:

Trigger Happy TV.
Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps.
Men behaving Badly.

Any of those make it stateside?

Not one mention of “It ain’t halh hot mum” … I have fond memories of that from the early 70’s

Not one mention: You Rang, M’Lord?

The Office
Mony Python
Fawlty Towers
Blackadder
Trigger Happy TV
Father Ted (made with Irish talent and British money)

Comedy panel shows:

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Have I Got News for You
Shooting Stars

Monty Python
Mr. Bean
Are You Being Served
Yes, Prime Minister
Danger Mouse (well it was funny and British)
Young Ones
The Comic Strip Presents

Favorite of all time:Red Dwarf (could watch it over and over and over)

Ones I never got into:

Absolutely Fabulous (maybe it was just that awful theme song)
BlackAdder (although I only saw a couple episodes)
Benny Hill

If we’re talking favorite lines, I have to mention my all-time favorite from Black Books:

A must-watch series.

Open All Hours
Porridge
Only Fools and Horses

Hmmm, do I like anything that David Jason wasn’t in?
Oh yes:

Red Dwarf
Blackadder
Fawlty Towers
The Royle Family
Early Doors
Coupling - the Madam Butterfly vs Spiderman episode especially

It was a great, though short show (only 6 episodes). It wasn’t really like the X-files, more a grritty british cop show - with vampires.

It’s available as a US release, or I could lend you my copy if you like.

Black Books! Other people who’ve seen Black Books! Hello!

My obsession with this most excellent series is echoed in both my username and my signature. Deary me.

Favourite line has to be “Why do you have to make the bacon so curly?”

I recently saw Dylan Moran performing stand up and he is smashing.

I’ll go now.

I forgot all about Chef! Thats right after red dwarf for me.
Also, the one where ‘Rimmer’ from red dwarf ownes a health club.
Id love to come to this Austin Dopefest. Whats the details?

I can’t believe noone except the OP mentioned Spaced - absoluetely brilliant comedy, quite surreal at times, about these 20 somethings in London. That makes it sound like Friends or Coupling, but it couldn’t be more different. Well it could if it was about Martians invading the earth i suppose, but you know what i mean. I imagine it wouldn’t really appeal to non UK people though - they’d probably miss a lot of the references…

September 13th. Probably at Chuy’s on Barton Spring Road. Details here.

I’ve…acquired…copies of four of the first six episodes of Saturday Night Fry, and they’re brilliant. I mean, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. Plus guests! 'Nuff said. If anyone can help me get the rest, that’d be lovely.

And, Ultraviolet, thank you for the Black Books DVD info. I’ve been looking at getting a new DVD player, and I will now, in all seriousness, get a multiregion player specifically so I can get those.

I have to add my hearty recommendation for BlackAdder.
Also,
The Good Life, AKA Good Neighbors
If you like that, you’d like
Ever Decreasing Circles, starring Richard Briers from Good Neighbors.
For a gentle comedy, look for After Henry, starring Prunella Scales (Sybil Fawlty) and Joan Sanderson, Mrs. Richards, the deaf woman from Fawlty Towers.
I also need to follow up with
Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister.
Possibly the best television comedy anywhere, anytime.