I've always considered British TV series the best out there, but then again, I haven't been exposed to the mass grosse of it. My ideea of good British TV is Red Dwarf, Doctor Who, and Faulty Towers. I've always loved British humour. I was just wondering what other people consider good British TV. Recommend some series, if you will, please.
Keeping Up Appearances and The Good Life are two that stand out to me. Spaced also.
I like the kind of British TV that stays off my television screen.
You can't mention British television without mentioning Monty Pythons Flying Circus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4ZnGprplKU
I don't think there's as much of a distinct "british humour" as people make out, but there is at least a large number of comedy tv shows made, which means there are lots of different kinds, and some of them are watchable! (most are shit)
Right now I'm watching Peep Show (currently on series 4), which I've watched since the start, and like a lot. It's about a pair of flatmates lives... simple enough premise, but it's filmed from character's point of view (often with head mounted cams), with lots of internal commentary making their inability to do anything right all the more tragic.
Not as highly recommended but still surprisingly fun is Ideal. I've only caught this current series. A bit more of a typical sitcom, it is about a small time drug dealer and all the people that visit his flat. I don't think it's as consistent or clever but there so many characters coming and going that there's usually something to like.
As for stuff that has been and gone: Spaced if you like slightly unusual characters, Shaun of the Dead, or appreciate pop culture references; Brass Eye if you want some often bizarre but effective satire and by the same person, Jam if you want the most macabre, perverted sketch show; Black Books for fun drunken bookshop adventures; Garth Marenghi's Dark Place if the idea of a comedy based on terrible, cheap horror novels appeals in the slightest; Father Ted if you like jokes about priests that don't involve little boys; The League of Gentlemen, if you want character based sketches.
There are lots more I am leaving out, especially older things that people will no doubt mention, but I guess I am mostly fond of the more recent stuff that aired since I've been watching TV.
You can watch most of these and probably a lot more shows that people might mention on http://www.tv-links.co.uk which is of course of dubious legality and I probably shouldn't link to it, but I did.
Preempting people arguing over if certain programmes are funny or not... please don't bother. It's to be expected that only a minority of people that check out a given show will like it. Tastes in comedy are quite particular.
My Favourite British TV series is Shameless (http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/S/shameless/) If you haven't seen it, you're really missing out, One of the best shows of the last few years. It's about a messed up family living in community housing in Manchester. It just gets better with each episode. They've only showed up to series 3 in Aus, but thanks to the internet I've spoiled myself and seen all of series 4
Here's a teaser off youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEki49IkPCQ)
There's also Coupling and The Office UK versions, there's a bit lost in the translation in the US versions
Cold Feet was pretty good
Faulty Towers will always be an old favourite
A lot of what is though of as great Biritish Television is the output of the BBC, particularly in terms of comedy. A lot of people complain about paying a license fee, but the advantage of being a public service broadcaster is that the BBC doesn't have to be popular to stay in business it can take risks with new ideas.
Sadly, at the moment, the BBC seems to have forgotten this. It's a while since we've seen anything particularly new on BBC1 or 2. Exciting stuff like The Mighty Boosh is buried on late night BBC3. That's a good one if you're looking for new comedy. Start with the TV series, or if you can the radio series. I wouldn't watch the live DVD first, it's too stadium rock for my taste.
I agree with most so far, Father Ted's probably my favourite.
Also any of the Comic Strip programs from the late eighties (I think) are worth watching, especially "Mr Jolly lives next door".
The smell of Reeves and Mortimer is my all time favorite (the show not the smell)
And who could forget Alan Partridge. "DAAAAN!"
QuoteGarth Marenghi's Dark Place if the idea of a comedy based on terrible, cheap horror novels appeals in the slightest
You sound as if it shouldn't! I love Dark Place.
Some of the old British Comedy is pretty good. I used to love Allo Allo, classic show :D
I dont think much of Modern British TV, especially the crappy murder mysteries. I dont mind Dr Who, even the new ones are ok. Theres also a pretty funny show called Shameless.
I'd like to add:
Black Adder (http://youtube.com/watch?v=7uzZNWu9LNc)
Extras (http://youtube.com/watch?v=NEZmSbzmR5Y)
Brass Eye (http://youtube.com/watch?v=uyNHmskN-vo)
I'm not fond of British humor but do I like 3 British series:
1) The BBC Walking With... Series
2) Primeval
3) the new Doctor Who series
I recommend those to everyone
Quote from: evenwolf on Wed 02/05/2007 13:35:00
Extras (http://youtube.com/watch?v=NEZmSbzmR5Y)
I loved The Office, but I think this is one of the few times I liked Extras.
I loved The Office, but I think I might actually prefer Extras. My girlfriend hates The Office and likes Extras also. Different Strokes for different folks.
Although "Different Strokes" isn't British.
Also: Black Books and Father Ted are two of the greatest things ever. Making fun of the Irish is always fun! :D
Life On Mars - was amazing!
Hustle - Always brilliant.
Spooks - another favourite.
New Tricks - is surprisingly funny!
The Young Ones
Bottom
only fools and horses
open all hours
porridge
then classic channel four movies
trainspotting
lock, stock and two smoking barrels
Quote from: evenwolf on Wed 02/05/2007 13:35:00
Brass Eye (http://youtube.com/watch?v=uyNHmskN-vo)
Chris Morris fan here!
Would like to add The Day Today (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jBJOqsyApk), and his masterpiece (IMO); JAM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEacGiMO3K0)
All things Monty Python
Fawlty Towers
The Young Ones
Bottom
Black Books
Big Train
Coupling
The IT Crowd
Brilliant shows, all of 'em.
how can it be that no-one mentioned Fast Show yet? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCe11wiNknI&mode=related&search=
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - very old, about a clumsy fool
Trigger Happy TV / World Shut Your Mouth - sketches based on city streets, parks etc
Little Britain - massive hit, be prepared for mild gay/trans scenes
Catherine Tate
Yeah Coupling is fun, but Black Adder is in a much higher league than the rest of the tv-comedies from Britain, and as far as I know, in the rest of the world too.
I guess one reason the rest f us think british tv is so good is what is exported is usully the cream of the crop, on the other hand, there may be cult shows that just don't get noticed.
That's how I feel about asian cinema too. All the movies are so goood! But I'm sure there's thousands I haven't seen that are just mindless drivel.
Extras is quite good. Was it cancelled? I usually don't like films about films (or in this case a TV show) but I've been an extra on a few movies: Mike Judge's "Idiocracy" and Richard Linklater's movie that chronicles a boy's life until he's 14 or something. So that'll come out when I'm 30.
The background extras on film sets are really like that. Ricky's character is the snobby person who thinks he's a real actor & his friend is the idiot who's not capable of doing much else. And its so much like Curb Your Enthusiasm, and I love curb. A part of me is fascinated with watching people eat dirt. And that's the resolution! A horribly awkward situation.
As far as I know, Extras hasn't been cancelled. The second series has finished, whether they do a third or not is up to Gervais and Merchant I suppose - I doubt the BBC will stop them making any more if they want to.
If you like British Humour, I suggest looking up the following shows:
Big Train - This is a sketch showing with Simon Pegg, Mark Heap and all that crowd of comediens. Very funny and different.
Clip - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0TZxFQaXkc
The Day Today - This is a mockery of british news broadcasting. Chris Morris is absolutely hilarious... there's a radio show and a TV show, here are clips of both:
Radio Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SPWgodul_E
TV Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6UhXivPyw4&mode=related&search=
(another clip for good measure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp6rdeROfbE&mode=related&search= )
Brass Eye - This is another Chris Morris show. It's a series of satirical documentaries.
Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7jVnrfoZD8
Spaced – a fun series which appeals to my geeky nature ... simon pegg, nick frost, mark heap, that lot again...
Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shHh4Ju7kXA
Look Around You – this show is amazing. It's a mockery of those old learning school science programs that used to come on at 3am in the 80's.
Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBcrTucxiRc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9UXw0fQmno
Haha, great choice of Big Train-clip, Yufster. One of my favourites.
"No way, I can't believe it, the guy is a wanker!"
This one's brilliant as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wey6X7gG4Y&
I agree, british humar is good.
I am not shure if french is better or not, they are both good, share the 1'st and 2'nd place. Some really good movies come there. But I have never seen french TV shows though.
The third is probably Netherlands, just because I love the movie "Rembrandt" :)
I think most of my favourites have been covered.
I'm suprised that no one has mentioned Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Nights) yet. Well now I have. Also entertaining is Quite Interesting, or QI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QI), with the delightful Stephen Fry and Alan Davies, enjoyable, entertaining and punishes the obvious-but-wrong answers. That Mitchell And Webb Look (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Mitchell_And_Webb_Look) is also amusing character-based sketches, by the duo from Peep Show which I also heartily recommend.
My big love is unfortunately current affairs satire, which unless you're hot on British news you probably won't get, but I'll recommend anyway:
Have I Got News For You (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_I_Got_News_For_You) - Long-running satirical panel show currently in it's 33rd series. Love it to pieces, and Paul Merton (who I have seen live) is an absolute hoot.
Mock The Week (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mock_The_Week) - Hilarious HIGNFY-a-like with much more adlib and stand up. Only four series so far.
Dead Ringers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Ringers_%28comedy%29) - Impersonation comedy, generally taking the piss of news and television.
Bremner, Bird and Fortune (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremner%2C_Bird_and_Fortune) - Political comedy with sketches and impersonations.
I find Blackadder to be a tiresome repetition of the same joke; Calling Baldrick an idiot with a ridiculous metaphor. Tired.
I think mitchell and webb and the mighty boosh are britains current best comedy exports.
Quote from: Rincewind on Wed 02/05/2007 21:41:29
All things Monty Python
Fawlty Towers
The Young Ones
Bottom
Black Books
Big Train
Coupling
The IT Crowd
Brilliant shows, all of 'em.
You have impeccable taste, as those would've been on my favourites as well :)
Green Wing is also a fun show, sort of like the British scrubs, while also starring Tamin Greig from Black Books, which makes it inherently funny.
BlackAdder! :D
One of my favorite's is "Allo! Allo!". It's just plain funny..
I was just posting some on another forum so here goes...
Rab C Nesbitt
Lower class Glasweigan (That's a form of Scottish ya knae) Rab is a scummy, overweight idiot and goes through the trials and tribulations of family life. If anyone can really understand this, I'll be amazed.
First part of "Work" episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R41y5k4wXC0
Red Dwarf
Awesome sci-fi comedy, with the last human, Lister, being alive left on a mining ship with the ship's AI Holly (Which has lost all of its IQ due to the years without contact), Rimmer (A smug, annoying prick and honest coward), Kat (A humanoid creature that evolved from Lister's cat Frankenstein) and, eventually, a mechanoid named Kryten. Each episode takes some bizarre sci-fi based phenomenon and throws in gross amounts of hilarity.
Liser teaching Kryten to lie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXCRHPaB36E
Big Train
UK sketch show. It's got Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) and other famous current-gen British comedians in.
"Me Not Being Married"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wey6X7gG4Y&
"Jesus and Satan The Office Prankster"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtUM3IF6rvk&mode=related&search=
For light entertainment, Top Gear (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na36aiBjmHQ&mode=related&search=) is usually good value, and I do enjoy The Real Hustle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxNql9qXQkU) playing various scams on the public.
But generally, I don't think there have really been any great shows recently that can top the classics like Fawlty Towers and Black Adder.
I enjoy british television, a lot. However, I've never felt it was superior to what I get in America. It's just that there's so much drivel that is always on, it's hard to seperate the truly great stuff from the mundane.
I do think there's definitely a difference between the two humors (American and British), as far as older British tv shows go. I can't really explain it, but I just know that if some of the greatest british shows were released here, the mass American audience wouldn't take to them. I'm sure we have a few shows that go the other way.
There surely have been great shows that have come out since Fawlty Towers and Black Adder. It's just that television has changed, so it's hard comparing what's on now to what was on ten twenty years or more ago.
I do enjoy the new Dr. Who. Life on Mars is good. No there not sitcoms, but I find them highly entertaining, as far as new television goes.
-MillsJROSS
The IT crowd is SHIT :(
I can see why people wo hate the IT Crowd think it's awful. But I've come to love the stilted and declamatory performances, and the charmingly clumsy direction. I challenge anyone not to smile at the CD-drive-doesn't-work-because-it-has-a-nest-of-chicks-on-it gag.
SPACED
IT CROWD
PEEP SHOW
NEVER MIND THE BUZZCOCKS
MOCK THE WEEK
RED DWARF
'ALLO 'ALLO
ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE
THE THIN BLUE LINE
Some of the best british tv shows IMO.
The IT Crowd wasn't bad, it just didn't really live up to the hype, and whilst the first couple of episodes were good it kinda lost it's way.
I liked the IT Crowd, but Becky's right: there was too much hype, considering that it was written by co-writer of Father Ted and Black Books, both award winning comedies.
It's quite quirky and had some really good moments, but on the whole was too amateurish to be a classic. Some of the more surreal stuff is nice.
Well, it was only the first season (and I enjoyed it enough to watch the entire season twice), and season 2 might be somewhat less amateurish, now that they've got the experience :)
I think the IT Crowd had the potential to be fantastic, but it gradually degraded into a more generic sitcom of several characters in X situation with Y event(s) happening each episode. They could have been more like The Office in exploring ICT concepts and their effects. I got the impression that if they went this way then the writers were worried that it would confuse the audience as not everyone is IT savvy enough to get all the techy jokes.
I liked the episode where the Irish guy actually got some praise for his work and he couldn't believe it - that's one of several moments that anyone who has worked in IT will appreciate!
US \ British comedy: The usual comment (Which I don't necessarily completely believe) is that British comedy is more clever and uses concepts such as irony. The Office, for example, isn't about obvious punchlines and setups - it has a lot of observational humour, involving a viewer realising or "get" something on their own (Which is honestly far better than the standard sitcom where anyone can guess when jokes are coming which in turn is repetitve), and cringeworthy moments where something is so unbelievably awkward that one can't help but laugh out of embarassment. But hey, The Office was heavily inspired by This is Spinal Tap which was written by Americans.
Ricky Gervais is also a huge fan of Larry David.
Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm are definitely influences for "Extras"
Red Dwarf and the Mighty Boosh.
Dont bother with any of that 'Little Britain' shit. It's just simple minded comedy for the masses.
Oh, also, I'm looking forward to the new season of Hyperdrive. Quirky little sci-fi spoof :)
It maybe a bit too british (although my canadian friend loves it), but Im surprised no ones mentioned Skins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skins_(TV_series)). Its labelled as a "teen drama" but its also full of light humour. Worth a watch if possible. (course, I may only enjoy it because I liked spotting out places they're filming in - its largely filmed around my old college.)