# Recommend to me some Britcoms **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157 "2005-01-22T22:50:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/1 "2005-01-22T22:50:58Z")
I’ve always been a huge fan of British comedies… can’t get enough of them. I’d like you to help me add some fodder to my grist mill. They don’t have to be new, so long as I can find them on DVD. To give you some idea of my taste, here’s some of the shows that I really like… **Monty Python The Goodies Not The Nine 'O Clock News Blackadder Red Dwarf The Office Doctor In The House The Young Ones Absolutely Fabulous Fawlty Towers** and here’s a few I don’t like… **Mr. Bean Are You Being Served? The Good Life** So, what do I need to see? ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/2 "2005-01-22T23:00:05Z")
Try [“'Allo 'Allo!”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086659/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxzZz0xfHR0PW9ufHBuPTB8cT1BbGxvLCBBbGxvfG14PTIwfGxtPTIwMHxodG1sPTE_;fc=1;ft=28;fm=1). It’s a hilarious comedy set in France during WWII. Lots of boobie jokes, double entendres, and an effeminate member of the Gestapo! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/3 "2005-01-22T23:11:30Z")
Judging from your list, I’d recommend “As Time Goes By”, which isn’t strictly a sitcom, but is (to my 8-year-old recollection) about 80/20 comedy/romance. Avoid “Keeping Up Appearances” if you don’t like AYBS?. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/4 "2005-01-22T23:20:31Z")
Check out Chef! - particularly the earlier series. The newer series isn’t awful, but it wasn’t nearly what the earlier ones were. ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/5 "2005-01-22T23:25:31Z")
**Little Britain** is pretty new, it’s a sarcastic, manic hilarious look at Britain, **Monkey Dust** is a dark, animated view of a soulless world, which is equally hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/6 "2005-01-22T23:27:40Z")
Admitedly neither of the above are really Sitcoms, but are British and Comedy, **Coupling** is a very good britcom in the traditional sense of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Legolamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@Legolamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legolamb)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/7 "2005-01-22T23:29:33Z")
I’d recommend _[Spaced](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187664/)_. It’s written by and stars Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson of _Shaun of the Dead_ fame. ---
**Author:** ![Selkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/8 "2005-01-22T23:47:03Z")
**vl\_mungo** , having recently been sent on a quest to find Britcoms for my ailing mother, may I point you to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=57751&page=1&) for more recommendations. I’m relieved she’s moved onto comedies after exhausting seemingly every costume drama set in the British isles ever made. By the time we got to the one about the Edwardian nannies, I was ready to kill myself. I know a lot of people knock material like _The Vicar of Dibley_ but I liked it … and it’s a LOT more entertaining than anything involving Edwardian nannies, or wartime food rationing, or … ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/9 "2005-01-22T23:50:00Z")
> [@Selkie](#): > > I know a lot of people knock material like _The Vicar of Dibley_ but I liked it … and it’s a LOT more entertaining than anything involving Edwardian nannies, or wartime food rationing, or … Besides which, Dawn French could put any three Edwardian nannies on their bustled arses by simply raising an eyebrow. Speaking of which, you MUST check out the various eps of “French & Saunders”, starring the aforementioned Dawn French and AbFab’s Jennifer Saunders. It’s sketch comedy, and hit-or-miss, but when they hit they HIT (and it happens more often than the “miss” part). When they miss it’s not horrible, just boring. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/10 "2005-01-22T23:51:07Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Speaking of which, you MUST check out the various eps of “French & Saunders”, starring the aforementioned Dawn French and AbFab’s Jennifer Saunders. It’s sketch comedy, and hit-or-miss, but when they hit they HIT (and it happens more often than the “miss” part). When they miss it’s not horrible, just boring. “You” in that post being **vl\_mungo** , not **Selkie**. Unless she wants to. ---
**Author:** ![Selkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/11 "2005-01-22T23:53:40Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > “You” in that post being **vl\_mungo** , not **Selkie**. Unless she wants to. Actually, Selkie has already partaken of French & Saunders. I thought there were more misses than hits, myself, but I agree that the ones that hit really hit. Loved the take-off on _The Silence of the Lambs_, for example. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/12 "2005-01-22T23:57:27Z")
> [@Selkie](#): > > Actually, Selkie has already partaken of French & Saunders. I thought there were more misses than hits, myself, but I agree that the ones that hit really hit. Loved the take-off on _The Silence of the Lambs_, for example. Heh! I think my favorite F&S skit (besides the Fellowship of the Ring spoof) was the takeoff on _The House of Elliot_. Even being completely unfamiliar with the source series, it had me ROLLING! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/13 "2005-01-23T00:03:28Z")
Only Fools and Horses Porridge. Steptoe and Son. Hi-de-hi (For the first 5 seasons or so, after that it got a bit weak) The Comic Strip Presents ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/14 "2005-01-23T00:17:53Z")
Black Books has made me laugh harder than any show I’ve seen in the last few years. Think a surreal Fawlty Towers in a bookstore. Great, great show. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/15 "2005-01-23T00:19:22Z")
Just to ad a bit of random factoids, Dawn French is married to Lenny Henry, the creator and star of Chef! And speaking of Lenny Henry, you might want to check out the Lenny Henry Show, from the late 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/16 "2005-01-23T00:49:41Z")
I’m going to try a “if you like that, you’ll probably like this” kind of thing. Here goes: Monty Python - **The League of Gentlemen** , **A Bit of Fry & Laurie** The Goodies - **Father Ted** Not The Nine 'O Clock News - **The Fast Show** Blackadder - no recent shows are as good as Black Adder Red Dwarf - **Father Ted** The Office - maybe **The Day Today** , **I’m Alan Partridge** , **Brass Eye** , **People Like Us** Doctor In The House - any crappy 1970s ITV sitcom, e.g. **Love Thy Neighbour** The Young Ones - **Spaced** , **Black Books** Absolutely Fabulous - don’t know, don’t like it Fawlty Towers - no recent shows are as good as Fawlty Towers. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/17 "2005-01-23T00:57:52Z")
Just another vote for _The Vicar of Dibley_. I’m currently running through the episodes but I have to rent them from a video store that’s 25 miles away. It is _silly_ comedy, but sometimes there are some lines that make me think. Like in the very first episode, when Geraldine is describing getting “the call”. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/18 "2005-01-23T01:00:36Z")
Maybe you’d like **The Brittas Empire**? But perhaps not. Maybe you’d like **The New Statesman** with Rik Mayall? Erm, might be a bit too reliant on knowledge of british politics and outdated. **Yes Minister**? Also very political. **To The Manor Born**? That’s kind of Good Life-ish, hmmm. **Butterflies**? Nah, that’s not really hilarious enough. Oh well, it was worth a try. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/19 "2005-01-23T02:03:07Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > Monty Python - **The League of Gentlemen** , **A Bit of Fry & Laurie** Oh, yeah, A Bit of Fry & Laurie. One of the best shows ever! It’s at least as good as Monty Python. It’s a crime that they’ve only made one “best of” VHS tape commercially available. I’ve found a bit more available online, but there’s still a lot that’s not out there anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/20 "2005-01-23T02:36:17Z")
The one show I really liked but had never heard of over here was **Dinnerladies**. Seems to be rather underrated even over there but I thought it was hysterical. And I would second **Porridge** (and Ronnie Barker’s other show \*\*Open All Hours \*\* isn’t bad either) and **definatly** **Yes Minister**. Why can’t we get satire like that over here? Lord knows we’re ripe for it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157.md?page=2)