# Smart Comedies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [September 26, 2022, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239 "2022-09-26T05:30:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/82 "2022-09-27T16:47:05Z")
> [@MonkeysBrother](#): > > It’s been many years since I watched it, but I remember _Slings and Arrows_ as being smart and clever (and especially fun if you’re a theater buff). Like Remember WENN, one the great little-known shows. But it’s an hour-long drama with comic touches rather than a comedy. Its seasons parallel Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear after all. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/83 "2022-09-27T20:10:08Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > _The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin_ [the original one with Leonard Rossiter]. I loved this show and almost added it to the thread. But I thought his advertising coworkers were pretty stupid. One bit I loved was when his wife made up a lover, and she made him half-Scottish and half\_Hungarian which is essentially my ethnic makeup. > [@Fortyfold](#): > > Perhaps _Mapp and Lucia_, Although that might be called highbrow rather than smart. Based on the books by E.F. Benson. Very prolific gent. He also wrote a wildly popular (at the time) book called _Dodo_ and two sequels. It was interesting, but it had a rather devastating final line. I appreciated it more for that than the rest of the book. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/84 "2022-09-27T20:16:20Z")
Nvrmnd ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/85 "2022-09-27T20:17:43Z")
nvrmnd. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/86 "2022-09-27T20:52:23Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > My memory is hazy, but I do recall that one of the more unusual and original TV comedies of the 1960s was **My World and Welcome To It** , starring William Windom, and based on the stories and cartoons of James Thurber. (1969-1970) Definitely off the beaten track, and with the Thurber lineage, pretty clearly “smart”. Yep, absolutely. But only one season. _Too_ smart. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/87 "2022-09-27T21:00:48Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > I never quite got into Frasier. “Oh it’s so smart!” No, it isn’t. Frasier is a radio psychiatrist. Yes, he’s smart. Niles is … investment? Yes, he’s smart. But the show really was a “fish-out-of-water” show. All of the humor came from snobby Niles and Frasier having to deal with ex-cop Martin and his chair and dog, or language differences with Daphne. I don’t see “smart” in that. I liked _Frasier_, but it did sometimes fall into the “humorous misunderstanding” trope, especially in the later seasons. That itself would violate the OP’s criteria. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/88 "2022-09-27T22:33:00Z")
**The Vicar of Dibley.** [https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0108981/?ref\_=nv\_sr\_srsg\_0](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0108981/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0) ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/89 "2022-09-28T02:43:48Z")
I’m currently re-watching **Scrubs**. It’s a smart comedy with good acting and creative directing. What could have been uni-dimensional characters are nicely fleshed out throughout the series. And Neil Flynn (the janitor) never fails to crack me up. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/90 "2022-09-28T03:59:50Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > I’m currently re-watching **Scrubs**. It’s a smart comedy with good acting and creative directing. Yes, the only “stupid” is the jock horndog surgeon, and even so, he is good at being a surgeon. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/91 "2022-09-28T04:07:45Z")
This might not count since it’s an _entirely_ different type of comedy than a sitcom, but would you consider a game show? 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown. The game show aspect is just sort of nonchalantly followed to segue from going off on one tangent to going off on the next as it’s really more of a panel show. Watching 7+ comedians going back and forth in real time is a good show in how witty some of these people can be. Along a similar line of 7 comedians making jokes in real time for 90 minutes masquerading as a game show is the Big Fat Quiz. In fact, it’s the same host and a lot of overlap in the guests. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, the only “stupid” is the jock horndog surgeon, and even so, he is good at being a surgeon. The Todd objectifies women in an over the top manner, but other than than, I’m not sure if I’d classify him as stupid. Doug, on the other hand, Doug was their Screech. [![](https://64.media.tumblr.com/d3dfe5ef14cd82257444cf8726b5f4c7/tumblr_ow86tyYMcu1w4vgb7o6_400.gif) ](https://64.media.tumblr.com/d3dfe5ef14cd82257444cf8726b5f4c7/tumblr_ow86tyYMcu1w4vgb7o6_400.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/92 "2022-09-28T05:22:04Z")
I nominate **The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis** to the list of smart comedies. I always felt this show was ahead of it’s time for a late ‘50’s sitcom. Breaking the 4th wall was unique for sitcoms of that era. It had surprisingly mature dialogue for a show focusing on teenagers and their relationships with peers, parents and authority figures (mostly teachers). Bob Denver’s _Maynard G. Krebs_ wasn’t stupid (unlike Gilligan who he played later), he was just a laid back, jazz lovin’ beatnik. Funny show, clever writing, well-acted. If the OP allows non-sitcom smart comedies, I nominate **Your Show of Shows**. Sketch comedy at its finest. Great comedy troupe, stellar writers, timeless 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:** [September 28, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/93 "2022-09-28T13:58:53Z")
Going back several years, I’d suggest Pearl. It starred Rhea Perlman and Malcolm McDowell as a working class woman who went to college and locked horns with a snobbish professor. Both had their own kind of smarts and eventually developed a grudging respect for each other. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/94 "2022-09-28T15:34:39Z")
So…basically _Educating Rita_? ETA: Just looked up the Wiki page for that. This phrase is hilarious all on its own: > [@](#): > > She is accepted as a night student at the prestigious Swindon University. Ah yes - the prestigious Swindon University. In American terms, this is like talking about the well-known Ivy League school The University of Peoria. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/95 "2022-09-28T15:37:12Z")
I liked that show, but it was a one season one, wasn’t it? Also had Carol Kane who often stole the show. A young Lucy Liu & Kevin Corrigan (Professor Professorson of Community) ---
**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:** [September 28, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/96 "2022-09-28T15:58:39Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I liked that show, but it was a one season one, wasn’t it? Oh, right. I missed that in the OP. It was indeed a single season. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/97 "2022-09-28T18:15:42Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > I nominate **The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis** to the list of smart comedies. I always felt this show was ahead of it’s time for a late ‘50’s sitcom. Agree. Clever and funny. > [@Infovore](#): > > Going back several years, I’d suggest Pearl. It starred Rhea Perlman and Malcolm McDowell as a working class woman who went to college and locked horns with a snobbish professor Sounds like an Americanized version of _Educating Rita._ > [@Gyrate](#): > > So…basically _Educating Rita_? Should have read one.more.post. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/98 "2022-09-28T18:29:23Z")
How about _Brooklyn 99_? It’s a show about cops, all of whom are super-smart in their own quirky weird ways. There are rare episodes that hinge on misunderstandings, but they’re not as dumb as thinking a goldfish is a person. It’s got some really intelligent writing. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/99 "2022-09-28T18:32:39Z")
There is a lot of cringe humor in that show. I think it goes against what Dr. D was looking for in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/100 "2022-09-28T19:09:28Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > I nominate **The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis** to the list of smart comedies. I always felt this show was ahead of it’s time for a late ‘50’s sitcom. I used to love that show. “You rang?” > [@What\_Exit](#): > > I liked that show, but it was a one season one, wasn’t it? Too many great, smart comedies got canceled early. 😢 I think the American public really doesn’t like smart comedies. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2022, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239/101 "2022-09-28T19:57:12Z")
[Derry Girls](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7120662/) is excellent. I have a pretty low tolerance for cringey humor and find it very watchable (aside: I find it weird I can watch violent or scary show without my brain thinking “oh no this is actually happen, be scared!” but I can’t do that with an embarrassing cringey comedy show. My brain is like “Oh this embarrassing thing is actually happening! Be embarrassed!”) The older Irish (from Ireland not Northern Ireland) show Father Ted is absolutely amazing though the much of the humor is based on the fact Father Dougal is dumb, so I guess doesn’t count. If films count, and you like political humor I just saw Vice and thought it was excellent. It does feature George W Bush so may be disqualified on the same count (though his stupidity is not played for laughs like Kramer’s IIRC) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smart-comedies/972239.md?page=6)