# 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:** 2
**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, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/21 "2005-01-23T02:50:33Z")
Another thought…if you like Britcoms you might want to look into BBC radio as well. Unlike the US, England still has _shows_ on the radio and not just lousy music. My SO inflicted on…I mean, shared with me some classic British radio comedy along the lines of **Round the Horne** (“Hello I’m Julien and this is my friend Sandy…”). You can get a lot of it online. ---
**Author:** ![Bernard\_Marx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bernard\_Marx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernard_Marx)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/22 "2005-01-23T03:00:38Z")
I loooooove to nitpick 😃 > [@](#): > > Originally posted by **DooWahDiddy** > Try “'Allo 'Allo!”. It’s a hilarious comedy set in France during WWII. Lots of boobie jokes, double entendres, and an effeminate member of the Gestapo! Flick was not all that effeminate, and Gruber wasn’t in the Gestapo I echo your admiration for the show, though. “Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once” ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/23 "2005-01-23T03:25:37Z")
> [@Bernard Marx](#): > > I loooooove to nitpick 😃 > > Flick was not all that effeminate, and Gruber wasn’t in the Gestapo In the second or third episode of the series Herr Otto Flick was shown to undress, revealing stockings and some sort of sexy “domination” outfit. That’s what I was referring to. Maybe “effeminate” wasn’t the right word, but he certainly wasn’t the tough Gestapo member he was supposed to be (and therein lies the humor). ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/24 "2005-01-23T03:54:04Z")
Another recommendation for **Father Ted** –an Irish sitcom about three priests and their housekeeper who’ve been relegated to a remote parish on an island in the middle of a vaguely irradiated zone. Ted is a bit of a shyster, Dougal is hopelessly scatterbrained, Jack is an alcoholic pedophile (or at least he likes the young girls), and Mrs. Doyle, the housekeeper, is obsessed with tea. Definitely not your standard sitcom, but if you like twisted irreverent humor, you’ll probably like it. ---
**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, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/25 "2005-01-23T21:21:18Z")
> [@Bernard Marx](#): > > Flick was not all that effeminate, and Gruber wasn’t in the Gestapo Herr Gruber had a small role in _Pirates of the Caribbean_. I thought that was pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/26 "2005-01-23T21:44:47Z")
I haven’t seen **'Allo 'allo** for many years, but when I did, I didn’t like it, and for whatever reason reminds me of the **Are You Being Served** genre of comedy. I’d echo the recommendations for: **Yes, Minister Yes, Prime Minister Coupling As Time Goes By Father Ted** I’d also recommend **Drop the Dead Donkey.** I’m not sure if it’s available on DVD, but years ago, CBC picked it up to show it in Canada and I found it very funny. It’s a workplace based comedy set in a major television news studio. Finally, though I wouldn’t call it a comedy per se, I really liked\*\* A Year in Provence \*\* starring John Thaw of Inspector Morse fame, based on Peter Mayle’s book. It certainly has funny “fish out of water” moments. ---
**Author:** ![MidnightRadio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@MidnightRadio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MidnightRadio)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/27 "2005-01-24T07:36:23Z")
I disagree with whoever said that you wouldn’t like _Keeping Up Appearances_ if you didn’t like _Are You Being Served?_. Of course, I liked both of them and they are kind of linked in my mind because here in the States, they were (are?) aired back to back every Sunday night on PBS. But I think _Keeping Up Appearances_ has more heart and I don’t think the jokes are quite as obvious nor the characters as one-dimensional. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/28 "2005-01-24T07:54:16Z")
Another thumbs down for **'Allo 'Allo** (juvenile, excessively repetitive, picture postcard smutty unfunny) and another thumbs up for **Porridge** (prison sitcom with Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale) and **Yes Minister / Yes Prime Minister** (though political, it translates well, and has much wordplay, a la Python and Blackadder). Not mentioned so far, **Dad’s Army** (based around the volunteer Home Guard defence force in England in WWII and featuring a character (Captain Mainwaring) often seen as a precursor of David Brent in The Office). And two with Leonard Rossiter from the 70s. (Actually, all my recommendations are from the 70s.) **The Life and Times of Reginald Perrin** (quite dark in places - it’s about a blokie who fakes his own suicide) and **Rising Damp** (more of a traditional sitcom, and like nearly all of the others beautifully free from the shackles of PC!) ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/29 "2005-01-24T08:04:16Z")
Seconding **As Time Goes By** and throwing in **One Foot in the Grave** , which are both funny. **Bottom** has both Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall (From T **he Young Ones** ) in it, and from the little I saw of it seems funny. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/30 "2005-01-24T10:02:39Z")
There’s a relatively new one called _Peep Show_ that is very good. [http://www.bbcamerica.com/genre/comedy\_games/peep\_show/peep\_show.jsp](http://www.bbcamerica.com/genre/comedy_games/peep_show/peep_show.jsp) ---
**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 24, 2005, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/31 "2005-01-24T12:09:52Z")
> [@MidnightRadio](#): > > I disagree with whoever said that you wouldn’t like _Keeping Up Appearances_ if you didn’t like _Are You Being Served?_. Of course, I liked both of them and they are kind of linked in my mind because here in the States, they were (are?) aired back to back every Sunday night on PBS. But I think _Keeping Up Appearances_ has more heart and I don’t think the jokes are quite as obvious nor the characters as one-dimensional. I have to disagree (and yes, I was the one who linked them above). _Keeping Up Appearances_ is, if anything, even MORE one-joke than AYBS. Every single episode is the exact same thing: Hyacinth puts on airs. A social occasion is presented. Hyacinth puts on more airs, rattling Elizabeth (or her brother) in the process. Richard rolls his eyes and sighs heavily. Hyacinth’s family embarrasses her at the social occasion. Rinse, repeat. Throw in a periodical call from Sheridan or a chance to schmooze up with the hunky young minister and the picture is complete. Every. Single. Episode. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/32 "2005-01-24T14:45:35Z")
I rerecomend **Coupling** and **Father Ted** and add in **My Family**. \*\*My Family \*\* is kind of a UK version of Married with Children or Malcom in the Middle. I’m also enjoying **The Worst Week of my Life** , which is a mini-series I believe of the week leading up to a wedding. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/33 "2005-01-24T15:00:48Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > The Comic Strip Presents Yeah, but just try to _find_ it! I managed to get _Eat the Rich_ and _Bad News Tour_, but the one I _really_ want is _The Beat Generation_. That was the best! And the one about the gangs was good, too. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/34 "2005-01-24T15:03:20Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > \*\*My Family \*\* is kind of a UK version of Married with Children or Malcom in the Middle. That’s a _huge_ insult to Malcolm in the Middle. My Family is _dreadful_. (IMO…) ---
**Author:** ![Legolamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@Legolamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legolamb)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/35 "2005-01-24T15:44:32Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > That’s a _huge_ insult to Malcolm in the Middle. My Family is _dreadful_. (IMO…) Agreed. A horrible waste of the usually reasonably good Robert Lindsay. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/36 "2005-01-24T16:47:29Z")
It’s the **Official** (cos he’s so opinionated and an expert) \*\*Futile Gesture \*\* rundown of the above recommendations!!! (Well, the ones I know anything of) **’Allo 'Allo!** Oh those wacky Nazis! Only funny to those who think foreigners are funny and silly because they speak funny. Dire, dire, dire. **Are You Being Served?** Hard to hate, but totally lame and now dated. **As Time Goes By** OK. On the bland side. **A Bit of Fry & Laurie** Brilliant. Geniuses at work. **Blackadder** Without peer. Will it ever be bettered? I suspect not. **Brittas Empire** Dire, formulaic. Full of characters you can’t help but hate. **Bottom** Not bad, but can’t escape the fact that it’s not as good as **Young Ones** , so a constant air of disappointment. **Butterflies** Written by Carla Lane, therefore inevitably dreadful and full of ineffectual whiners. **Chef!** Bad. It’s around this time that everyone noticed that Lenny Henry’s limited talent had dried up. **Comic Strip Presents**. Very patchy. Occasionally brilliant. Often poor. **Dad’s Army** A classic, but rather ruined by the 101 imitations that have since tried to copy its style. **Dinnerladies** Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Victoria Woods can be funny, but not in this she isn’t. **Drop the Dead Donkey** This was based in a newsroom and used topical humour. So inevitably it has dated very quickly. Good at the time though. **Fast Show** Brilliant at the time, but suffered from too many ideas crammed into too small a time! **Father Ted** Great. Scripted by writers who knew exactly what the art of sitcom should be. **Keeping Up Appearances** The anti-sitcom devised by satan himself. Words can’t describe how I hate this series. **League of Gentlemen** Never saw the appeal in this. Grotesque characters that creeped me out. **Little Britain** First series; very good. Second series; yeah but no but, we’ve totally run out of ideas so we’ll just try and shock you. **Monkey Dust** Occasionally funny, consistantly repetitive. Same joke every episode. **My Family** Ugh! Ugh! Kill them all! Terminally cosy. **New Statesman** Political comedy that’s rather dated now. **One Foot in the Grave**. Gets tiresome rather quickly, and the situations are rather far fetched for a programme that 's not supposed to be bizarre. **Open All Hours** Dull. Comedy at a crawl. But not as bad as Roy Clarke’s other effort **Last Of the Summer Wine** , the dullest, most repetitive and boring sitcom ever written. **Peep Show**. OK. Hard to like or care about any of the characters though. **Porridge** A classic, but dated. **Rising Damp** From another age. Equally likely to offend as amuse. **To The Manor Born** Very dated, very blah. **Vicar of Dibley** I’m torn on this one. Sometimes good, other times, well, its about that tired comedy format; the vicar, isn’t it? I’ll give it a pass simply because of Dawn French. \*\*Yes, Minister \*\*Smug political comedy for smug people. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/37 "2005-01-24T18:06:32Z")
_Are You Being Served_ and _'Allo 'Allo_ both had the same producer, so the similarity is more than coincidence. Strangely, I like _'Allo 'Allo_ quite a lot and never really cared for _Are You Being Served_. _One Foot in the Grave_ certainly has its moments. I can’t imagine an American network ever taking some of the creative chances that this show managed to pull off. The lead character is the most insufferable grouchy old man you can imagine, and a few of the episodes have two characters stuck someplace (doctor’s waiting room, traffic jam) and just talking for 30 minutes. The local PBS station ran this show, and I managed to catch only half of the final episode. I really hope they’ll run it again so I can see all of it. Some that haven’t been mentioned… **Murder Most Horrid** Sort of an anthology, like _The Twilight Zone_, because lots of people die (but in amusing ways). Every episode has Dawn French (different characters, of course) and the episode with Amanda Donohoe as an assassin has the single funniest line I’ve ever heard in a TV show. **The Games** Australian, not British, mockumentary about the organizing of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. It’s sort of a cross between _This is Spinal Tap_, _Sports Night_ and _Cops_. It takes a few minutes to get into, but I’ve never seen anyone else sustain such a perfect degree of deadpan absurdity. ( **Usram** , if you like _People Like Us_, definitely try to find _The Games_.) There’s a scene where they’re asking the contractor who built the stadium how long the 100 meters track is; and then have to convince him that “about 100 meters” isn’t quite what they had in mind. All in all, maybe the best series I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/38 "2005-01-24T21:13:53Z")
I like My Hero - the adventures of an unlikely Superman. Although the “baby” in later seasons is creeepy. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/39 "2005-01-24T21:21:07Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > That’s a _huge_ insult to Malcolm in the Middle. My Family is _dreadful_. (IMO…) Or maybe it is an insult to the UK… Malcom in the Middle is a fantastic show and IMO the Brits are just too nice to do a funny show that is as mean as MitM. My Family is sort of a nicer or _British_ version. Is there another BritCom with a dysfunctional family in the vein of Malcom, Simpsons, Married with Children or Rosanne? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157/40 "2005-01-24T21:31:07Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I like My Hero - the adventures of an unlikely Superman. As do I. It’s sort of like “Mork & Mindy” if Mork had been played by Christopher Lloyd. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-to-me-some-britcoms/286157.md?page=3)