While We Are On Britian, What Are Your Favorite Comedies?

[nctarheel]

Astraea,

I hope you don't mind that I created this separate thread for British comedies. Your post about British mysteries got me to thinking about British shows. I am not much for the British mysteries but I remember watching British comedies.

Most British comedy, I have a hard time understanding...... except for the physical humor.

Thus, in second place, my favorite is Benny Hill. A little too slapsticky; but, funny none the less.

My all time favorite is Mr. Bean with Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean. It is about a sad sack that always gets himself in situations and then makes the situations worse. His performances in this program are almost a mime as there is little, if any dialogue.... but you don't need any. If you get a chance to see a re-run; you'll be rolling in the floor with laughter.

Anybody else have a favorite British comedy?

[naoma99]

I liked Beny Hill.  He made me laugh because it was so "dumb."  My husband is British and

still has his accent.  The one person who is British and whose voice makes me turn off the 
TV is RICHARD QUEST!!!! I simply cannot bear him.  I remember  long ago when he was

picked up after dark in Central Park, New York, with a "sex toy" in his shoe.  He came right

back on the TV without comment in a day or so. Never figured out what the "sex toy" was.

[naoma99]

I liked Hyacinth also-- she was on long ago -- remember her?  And her husband?  She wanted to 

be high class, but alas, it just didn't :"take."  "Keeeping Up Appearances" was the show.

[texn]

The IT Crowd was great. I think I watched it on Netflix. Several times. Finally I learned the key to a high paying tech job. Unplug your computer and plug it back in. Too late, now it's all mobile.

[pp4680]

Absolutely Fabulous, The Vicar of Dibley, Last of the Summer Wine, Fawlty Towers - all hilarious sitcoms that do not fade with time.

[jw78118304]

I like the comedy "Doc Martin" on PBS about a London surgeon who develops a fear of blood and thus was not able to practice his profession of surgery and thus exiled to a seaside community called Port Wein but still has the hautiness of a surgeon and bad bedside manners. I watch all 9 seasons of them in PBS and hope there is a continuation of these series which is popular in Europe and Canada and Australia. Keep all appearance and As time goes by are also good British comedies in PBS.

[mollygolly67]

Doc Martin The Vicar of Dilby,Fawlty Towers and as Time Goes By. Also all the British mysteries.

[boncoov]

I discovered "as time goes by", with Judy Dench, filmed in 90's. Funny and entertaining!
Was on Amazon Prime and now no longer showing. Think I watched all seasons over 3 times .

[lizziekay41]

Judy gets better with age! saw an older series with her real life husband as a shy little gardener-she was quite chubby-the chemistry was still terrific!

[rf85571727]

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@nctarheel wrote:

Astraea,

I hope you don't mind that I created this separate thread for British comedies. Your post about British mysteries got me to thinking about British shows. I am not much for the British mysteries but I remember watching British comedies.

Most British comedy, I have a hard time understanding...... except for the physical humor.

Thus, in second place, my favorite is Benny Hill. A little too slapsticky; but, funny none the less.

My all time favorite is Mr. Bean with Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean. It is about a sad sack that always gets himself in situations and then makes the situations worse. His performances in this program are almost a mime as there is little, if any dialogue.... but you don't need any. If you get a chance to see a re-run; you'll be rolling in the floor with laughter.

Anybody else have a favorite British comedy?

Used to love Benny Hill, very "racy" LOL. Are You Being Served and Grace and Favour are good too. Wish they would have made more of them.

Keeping Up Appearances, another goodie. Scary thing about Hyacinth, I used to have an aunt just like her!

As Time Goes By is probably my favorite.

Had some friends who used to like AbFab but I never could get into that one.

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[lh7266]

Faulty Towers, without a doubt, with John Clesse (sp?). My favorite line is "don't mind him he's from Barcelona". 

Whatever that means because John Clesse was the one who was always getting into trouble. I find Benny Hill sexist. However Mr. Bean is good and I love his innocence.

[lizziekay41]

John Cleese a fabulous actor! Poor Manuel! don't mind him, he's from Barcelona! He was married to Polly when they wrote that-but Prunella Scales played his wife to perfection!

Prunella was in another beauty Lucinda and Map! hats to die for!

[bw95562019]

not sure about spelling of his name but doubt i could do any better. but he is great. from monty python to movies and now new shows he is always funny!

[km8719]

I haven't seen them in the thread but my favorites were Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. They were both comedies from the 1980s about Government and Politics in Britain. My wife and I happened to be living in Britain when the former was first aired so we had some first hand knowledge of the political climate and why these were hilarious. I'm a bit of a political junkie anyway. I do think they transfer well to the US audience because so many of the episode topics translate to what happens in our Government too. Very good acting

[cn5621]

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@km8719 wrote:

I haven't seen them in the thread but my favorites were Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. They were both comedies from the 1980s about Government and Politics in Britain. My wife and I happened to be living in Britain when the former was first aired so we had some first hand knowledge of the political climate and why these were hilarious. I'm a bit of a political junkie anyway. I do think they transfer well to the US audience because so many of the episode topics translate to what happens in our Government too. Very good acting

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If you were to come up with a show about our government, it would have to be on Cable due to the R rating.

[LaDolceVita]

Reggie Perrin on Acorn.  Alas, it only lasted 2 seasons.

[vl235]

Faulty towers

[mapete]

Mr. Bean is favorite of mine also. Coupling is also a favorite. Seen clips of Mrs. Browns Boys on You Tube and would be watching that if it ever aired in the US.

[vh3395]

Maybe I don't fit the qualifications to reply (haven't been to UK in 20yrs), but I am surprised to not see my favorite listed by anyone else above - Shameless. It is dark comedy, but comedy none the less. Also, it has the unique honor of being the best US remake of a UK show.
I don't watch most of the UK comedies - preferring the UK dramas more. My favorites being:
Doctor Who (Though it straddles the comedy/drama divide)
Sherlock
Most of the other mysteries
and it goes without saying - all of the Masterpiece programing.

[lizziekay41]

What year was Shameless?who was in it? was it a film? can't quite place it...

[vh3395]

Shameless was on British TV from 2004-13. (I watched it on BBCAmerica)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shameless_(UK_TV_series)

Showtime version has been running since Jan 2011 and is on going

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shameless_(U.S._TV_series)

Many people would not consider it as comedy but it did win "Best TV Comedy Drama" at the 2005 British Comedy Awards.

[virgy]

I really enjoyed Rumpole of the Bailey!

[oldegranddad]

My favorite is Top Gear, essentially Jackass with cars.

Seriously, I have to nominate Keeping Up Appearances. I have a number of honorable mentions.

[rustyginger11]

Top Gear is very funny and I could not care less about cars. Do no let the cars deter your giving the show a watch.

[drabdale]

Without a doubt the earlier Brit coms were the best - Fawlty Towers, Benny Hill, Bless this House, AB Fab, Monty Python etc. I loved that PBS had TGIF all Brit coms on Friday nights - it was the best. We used to sit up all night roaring. Later we enjoyed Blackadder, Vicar of Dilby, Keeping up Appearances, Are You Being Served. The new crop just don't have the same flair. Now we are enjoying Brit Mysteries on Friday nights. Wish they would bring back the Brit com night.

[bw95562019]

i'm a fan of the old ones. benny hill and monty python were my favorites. also liked fawlty towers.

[theforge]

What about The good life or To the manor born may be to old for somepeople

[lizziekay41]

Oh, how can I forget the Good Life? wonderful!

[jb81659365]

AbFab.

[sb66297763]

BENNY HILL WAS THE BEST

[ms6580]

Spy, Moone Boy & Vicious are just 3 showing on PBS. Hulu has a British section. I prefer dramas but the comedies are often the originals that many of our greatest shows are based on. Sanford & Son was one that I knew of early on. I believe All In The Family was also based on a BritCom  Many leading "American" actors are actually Brits. You'd be surprised just how many. I know I was. They tend to have more respect for actors so children aren't always discouraged from studying acting. Dialects are a big part of the training so they often seem more natural speaking American English whereas Americans trying to sound British are sometimes not quite so. Its just a matter of more practice, I think. The more you watch the easier it is to understand the slang and get through some of the more thick accents. There's also a web site for British slang that's easy to look up. Enjoy!