UK: Comedy series of '70 or '80

[Nikolas]

I bought a DVD with video clips from Madness and it is hillarious! I love teh songs and the video clips.

What I was wondering is this: (For people who live in the UK)

Do you know any comedy series of the '70 or early '80 that I could find in DVD. From BBC or whatever else. I'm not Brittish so I have absolutely no idea, exept Benny Hill. Period. But I would like to see more. Can anybody help me?

EDIT: Sorry Eric, I should have said it. I already know Mony Pythons and Mr. Bean. I'm looking for something more "rural" and more unknown. Something that only Brittish middleage (or their children) would know and enjoy... Sorry

[MrColossal]

Monty... Freakin'... Python...

There are no other shows!

[RickJ]

We got " 'allo 'allo " (or perhaps " 'ello 'ello") over her in the US and I found it hilarious .  Don;t konow what they think about it in the UK but.   It's set oin the north of France during WWII.   

[Vince Twelve]

* Vince Twelve strokes his 14 DVD Monty Python's Flying Circus Box Set

[Disco]

I have found Red Dwarf to be fantastically funny. It began in the is late 80's though :/ and is a long-running series.

[Kweepa]

Blackadder - Rowan Atkinson doing something funny and not that Mr Bean nonsense. Series 2 (Elizabethan) is particularly good.
Fawlty Towers - John Cleese masterpiece.
The Young Ones - very funny but very dated early eighties show about 4 students. Has musical numbers, including a Madness appearance.
Jeeves and Wooster - 'House' and 'Wilde' before they got serious. Great PG Wodehouse adaptation.
The Comic Strip Presents - a series of unrelated one hour shows, some parodies of books, films, etc.
Porridge - Ronnie Barker, comedy genius, plays a convict.

Red Dwarf was terrific, particularly around Series 4. The last series tailed off a bit I thought.

There was a tv show recently about the best british sitcoms.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sitcom/winner.shtml
I don't quite get The Vicar of Dibley ranking so high.

[mozza]

Monty... Freakin'... Python...

There are no other shows!

Indeed it is true!
Anything with John Cleese or Rowan Atkinson is enough to make me almost crap myself!

[GarageGothic]

The Young Ones - very funny but very dated early eighties show about 4 students. Has musical numbers, including a Madness appearance.

Young Ones was the first thing that sprung to my mind as well (even though I'm not British). It's very surreal, rude and absolutely hilarious - with some great musical guest performances. Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmonson went on to do the show Bottom in the early nineties which wasn't quite as original but nevertheless quite funny.

Also, although it's a movie rather than a tv show, you must watch Withnail & I.

[DGMacphee]

Young Ones sprung to my mind first too. One of my favourite shows.

[munchiez]

If you haven't seen any Blackadder yet then you should definitely check them out, series 2 & 3 especially.

Fawlty Towers is well worth a look too, shame they only made 2 series.

I loved the early Red Dwarfs, but just wasn't funny after Kochanski replaced Rimmer (series 7ish I think).

They were made later than the 70s/80s, but "Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge" and the follow-up series "I'm Alan Partridge" were sooo funny - worth going out of your way to see

[SSH]

Mr Bean and Alan Partridge are basically just remakes of Frank Spencer from "Some mothers do 'ave 'em"

[Phoenix]

"Dads army" when was that out?
Very British American folks

[Privateer Puddin']

Mr Bean and Alan Partridge are basically just remakes of Frank Spencer from "Some mothers do 'ave 'em"

I've never heard anything along those lines, and now even though you've said it, i can't make the connection. ¬¬

[munchiez]

Mr Bean and Alan Partridge are basically just remakes of Frank Spencer from "Some mothers do 'ave 'em"

I can see the similarities between Mr Bean and Frank Spencer, but Alan Partridge couldn't be more different. Spencer was a timid, accident prone nice-guy, whereas Partridge was an offensive, arrogant chat show host 

[Totoro]

Some people already mentioned Fawlty Towers, and I would definetely support that idea. Of course I would also have liked more episodes, but maybe its even better that way - speaking of Monty Pythong, I really think there were too many episodes and lots of them was not very funny in the end.
I love the beginning however, but "Monty Python's Flying Circus" seems not to be out there in complete DVD-editions, or is it?

[Las Naranjas]

Some people already mentioned Fawlty Towers, and I would definetely support that idea. Of course I would also have liked more episodes, but maybe its even better that way - speaking of Monty Pythong, I really think there were too many episodes and lots of them was not very funny in the end.
I love the beginning however, but "Monty Python's Flying Circus" seems not to be out there in complete DVD-editions, or is it?

* Vince Twelve strokes his 14 DVD Monty Python's Flying Circus Box Set

14 DVD's might make up 1% of the things that were funnier than the Dead Parrot Sketch though.

[Kinoko]

Wheee, one of my favourite subjects!

When I've got a few more things, my wonderful collection shall include:

Red Dwarf (special emphasis on the first 4 seasons)
Black Adder (special emphasis on the 3rd season - Nobody beats Hugh Laurie as the Prince)
Fawlty Towers
Monty Python (series + movies + specials + How To Irritate People)
Father Ted ("My Lovely Horse" - best song ever)
Black Books
Little Britain
Young Ones
Open All Hours
The Two Ronnies
Mr Bean
The Fast Show

Erm... there are more and I'm probably missing something really obvious. Anyway, I do love a good British comedy ^_^

[esper]

Young Ones is one of the best comedy shows ever, next to Monty Python's Flying Circus. I used to watch it in Junior High, and then I would go to school and all my friends would line up to hear me tell stories about the episodes. Even when a 15 year old kid is reciting back what happened in a show he didn't really understand,  it's still hilarious.

Alexei Sayle, the guy that played the landlord in Young Ones, is pretty famous from what I understand, but I'm not British. All I know is that he went on to play in a couple cameo roles in Doctor Who during the Colin Baker years. Doctor Who, although not any of it past Tom Baker, is in my opinion the Holy Grail of being on television. Brad Pitt sucks because he's never gotten to say "Everyone, into the TARDIS!"

Red Dwarf is another of the funniest shows ever. I love British comedy. All the "situation comedies" we have in America are lame attempts at poking fun of little things that happen in everyday life, but the British make fun of everything else, which is much funnier. How is Phoebe singing about how smelly a cat is funny? But then, when you have a human being that evolved from a cat dancing his way past evil alien soldiers and then trying to woo them when they catch him... well, THAT's funny.

And I like how every episode of Black Adder has a different theme song, to the same tune. Great stuff... And Mr. Bean... How could you forget Mr. Bean? (actually, no one seems to have forgotten Mr. Bean!) And then, us dimwitted Americans get a hold of that and make Bean, the Movie and wind up ruining it. For God's sake, they had Mr. Bean TALK! That's just not right! Rowan Atkinson even did a parody of Doctor Who, which, again, Holy-Grailinated him.

And, for more wondrous British humour, try The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy... But not the godforsaken American movie...

[ManicMatt]

I've got red dwarf series 1-7 on DVD! Love it!

My mum has the complte friends series. Love that too! (But not as much as Red dwarf)

If you will excuse me, a fan inside my computer is making strange noises. 

[Miez]

Hey! they may not be 70s or 80s but where are:

- Bottom
- League of Gentlemen

Both are on my favourite list. Even though Bottom is pretty cheesy (which is part of the charm I guess).