Well, I don’t want to list any (because I’d list some already mentioned, and probably feel quite ashamed of a couple) but I can’t quite see (from a U.K. perspective) why so many are imported to and enjoyed in the States. For instance, do you have much from other Anglophone countries like Australia or New Zealand? That would sort of interesting to know, because it now occurs to me that I can think of one amusing Oz comedy that came to Britain, and I can’t think of any from NZ.
BTW, I don’t suppose you’d get Rory Bremner or Mark Thomas over there (given that they tend to depend on politics/current affairs), or perhaps you do, since Michael Moore’s show worked over here.
New Zealand doesn’t make exportable shows - because they’re all crap. CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP. Complete rubbish.
This is from someone who has worked in the industry in NZ Well, I sort of did. A little.
I do know lots of people in the industry anyways…
NZ make shows that are good for the locals, and have made good sketch comecies in the past, but haven’t made a sitcom in yeeeeeears. The last one of note was called Melody Rules and believe me, you do NOT want to see that.
I haven’t been there in two years - maybe they’ve improved. koffkoffnotlikelykoffkoff*
Hmmmm… now that I think about it more, there was a good britcom on CBC a few years back called Drop The Dead Donkey. It parodied a news show… I can’t remeber that much about it… just that the award winning field reporter used to be hilarious. He would go around arranging for South American rebels to be executed so he could report on government brutality and smacking African children so they would cry for the camera when he covered a famine.
Another vote for ‘As Time Goes By’ – witty, subtle, top-rate actors, it’s great. I do have some questions though:
– Seeing Felicity Kendall’s name above got me to thinking – wasn’t she in a show called ‘No, Honestly’ about a young couple (CD and Clara??) with the guy who played Dr. Herriot in the movie ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’?— Saw that YEARS ago as a child. Do I have the details wrong?
– Also, have heard mention of from Brit friends, but have not seen firsthand ‘May to December’ — could someone give me a rundown on what that’s all about and how it rates?
One I forgot to mention earlier is “On The Busses”. This is the first Britcom I remember seeing. It was broadcast alot by CBC in the mid 70s. I recently rented a couple of tapes, and am happy to say they are just as funny over 20 years later.
I love most of the ones already mentioned but wanted to add another. It’s a Fine Romance, an early Judi Dench show. Two totally dysfunctional people trying to carry on a relationship; I think it’s pretty good.
Of course, maybe that’s because I relate to those two so well…
I saw and taped “May To December” a couple years ago when it aired on the Knoxville, TN PBS station. I now live near Cincinnati, and am not sure if it has aired here. The basic story is 53 year old widowed (or is it widowered?) solicitor takes as a divorce client 26 year old P. E. teacher. They both love old musicals, and you can guess the rest. Yes, slowly, against, almost everyone’s advice, they fall in love. Sounds simplistic, but it was, for lack of a better word, a “comfortable” sincere comedy. The main characters were Alec Callendar (get it? so clever, that) (played by Anton Rodgers) and Zoe Angell/ Callendar (Eve Matheson/Lesley Dunlop). Alec’s 21-year-old son, Jamie (Paul Venables), a late 80s/early 90s hip sort (or whatever the slang is) of dude-lawyer in training. Simone (Carolyn Pickles), Alec’s anal-retentive wife-of-the-Vicar daughter. Zoe’s mom, Dot, and her sister, Debbie (Debbie Cotterill), and Alec’s two receptionists, middle-aged staid Miss Flood, and of course, the dingbat Cockney new girl Hilary (some of the actors’ names escape me at the moment, but Hilary was played by the daughter of that guy who played the weird Nazi in “Raiders of The Lost Ark”).
In what rarely works, Eve Matheson (the first red-headed Zoe) left the show after two series (13 eps, I think), and was replaced by the very different, brunette Lesley Dunlop. Surprisingly, Dunlop soon made the role her own and played Zoe for the final four series. The show had 39 eps in all. I recommend it.
I haven’t found a site devoted solely to the show, but if you punch the title in on google, you’ll gt a few episode guides and a few pictures.
Has anybdy seen “Till Death do Us Part”? (The inspiration for “All In the Family”)
I’ve wondered why they haven’t shown it over here. I’m curious, given how different “Man About the House” was from “Three’s Company” (for example it was funny).
Q, Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Mr Bean, Porridge, Open All Hours, One Foot in the Grave, Yes Minister/Prime Minister, Blackadder, Ab Fab, Waiting for God, Drop the Dead Donkey, Red Dwarf … so many comic staples, keep 'em coming.
What really impresses me is the number of US dopers on the same wavelength. I’ve known for a long time that the stereotype of British humour not working in America was bunkum, but it’s good to hear it refuted again.
How many dopers have seen the “The Plank” written by Eric Sykes and Arthur Lowe (though there was barely a word spoken) with the whole range of British comics?
Thank you, I could not remember Sheridan’s name!
No, actually, we daughters (my sister and me) and more along the lines of the other two sisters (my sister is tall, but not so trashy, and I am shorter, but not so heavy and slobby).
My neuroscience professor shows us 10-15 minutes of The Vicar of Dibley just to break the class up. Some people don’t get it, but a good number of people (me included) really like it.
I think this was the series before it became ‘In Sickness and in Health’. I haven’t seen it aired for a few years and suspect that, at least in part, this is due to the rather racist nature of the character Alf Garnet (I don’t recall the actor’s name, but he often had to defend himself against accusations that he was racist). Winston (a gay black guy) winding up Alf was excruciatingly funny, and it seemed really cutting edge at the time.
Can anyone help with the actors names?
Wasn’t the actor who played the scouse layabout son-in-law Blair’s afther-in-law…or am I making this up?
[I just found Alf’s name, Warren Mitchell, but Winston?]
Yeah, it caused the same controversy here in the UK among self-appointed moralists with an irony bypass. There was a special edge to Alf’s antisemitism (“See, the fing about yer Jew is …”) given that Warren Mitchell is Jewish himself.
As London_Calling said, this is true. It causes its own controversy, too, because Tony Booth has always been a keen proponent of old-fashioned Socialism which his Prime Minister son-in-law is, er, not and Booth is always being asked for quotes that will embarrass Blair. Their Christmas dinner table would be an entertaining place to be.
Back to the subject of the OP, I believe you get *The League of Gentlemen* and *The Fast Show* over there which are among my favourites comedy shows of recent years. *The Last Fast Show Ever* aired here over Christmas in a three-part special with a guest cameo by Johnny Depp who's a fan apparently. Opinions?
Well, I sort of did. A little.
