Not much comes to mind by way of TV.
Filmic comedy that still works is plentiful.
Going back through time:
The Odd Couple
His Girl Friday
And these boys:
I still love the vid of Bottom live where they go off piste
for me, stuff like mighty boosh, blackbooks, green wing, bottom, ypung ones, monkey dust and I bloomin still love mongrels, although nelson reminds me of loads of posters on here.
Really enjoyed the first season of Green Wing. Mark Heap who played Dr Alan Statham was brilliant.
And before that in Spaced.
Always liked Coupling.
Wow, i was thinking about starting this very thread yesterday, mainly because I was wanting to see what would work for my young kids.
Dad introduced me to Monty Python very young and my kids have enjoyed the films (Meaning of Life can wait a bit for now).
He also used to record Red Dwarf so we could watch it together as it was on too late for me! I don't think that aged well though.
Fast Show, Absolutely, Smack the Pony, Vic and Bob worth a revisit. Miller & Armstrong, Peep Show, Mitchell and Webb, Green Wing, Spaced, Black Adder, This is Jinsy, Mighty Boosh, Father Ted, etc, but need to curate some of this I think.
The kids like Would I lie to You. Have the Father Ted DVDs so probably try them next.
Some of Chris Morris's stuff was genius too - I'll never forget seeing an advert for The Day Today as a teenager and for a minute thinking it was real and my mind being completely blown.
Mark Heap was in Jam and possibly some other Chris Morris work. Hilarious.
8 Out Of Ten Cats Does Countdown still works for me…
But no Rachel Riley 🙁
The re-hash of Never Mind The Buzzcocks is awful btw. IMO
The canned laughter on Blackadder grates with me now, even though I still think it is funny they really could do with editing out the laughter track
I recently saw an episode of M*A*S*H from the US with canned laughter. It was b*a*d.
Also wonder about watching Teachers again - particularly the earlier ones.
Spaced was even better than I remembered, you can really see why Edgar Wright and the people behind it have gone on to such great things. Incredibly creative and it also reminded me why we liked Simon Pegg in the first place.
I want to give a shout out for Ever Decreasing Circles, which I watched in full a few years ago and still found very funny, as well as noticing a poignancy and quality of acting that had gone over my head as a youngster.
Obviously Father Ted is timeless because of the theme and setting, but I think Alan Partridge has aged well too - and interestingly the character first appeared on Radio in 1992, the same year that the final series of Allo Allo was broadcast.
Police squad
Is this on any of the streaming services? I've been itching to see it again for a while.
Alf is silly and childish. And still makes me laugh a lot. I kill me!!
The League of Gentlemen... I got it on DVD and it has canned laughter which makes it unwatchable for me. I always saw it as some sort of twisted horror story.
The Detectorists is 7 years old now. Does that count?
Nighty Night. Black as it gets ....
MrsMC was watching Armstrong and Miller on iplayer last night - I'd forgotten how good it was, given the crap they've gone on to do. The posh dirty talking in the Georgian dance skits still cracks me up, as do the street talking airmen.
The canned laughter on Blackadder grates with me now, even though I still think it is funny they really could do with editing out the laughter track
It's far worse on Dad's Army - sounds like people are rolling on the floor crying with laughter, side-splitting hilarity and so on for every minor visual gag. A lot of BBC comedy seems to rely quite heavily on it. Last of the Summer Wine, One Foot in the Grave and Keeping Up Appearances are just as guilty.
Would I Lie To You is consistently excellent, there's been very few bad guests on that and it's genuinely very funny, the ad-lib aspect works well on that and a studio audience means you get proper laughing.
Old school Tom & Jerry
Oh yeah, Nighty Night was full on.
Garth Marenghi's Dark Place was mental.
Police squad, I educated some mates to it a couple of years ago on a mountain biking holiday, they didn’t even know that the naked gun had come from a TV series.
I haven't seen it in years so might have aged badly, but in a similar vein was Get Smart.
I still love the vid of Bottom live where they go off piste
I was never quite sure whether that was genuinely ad-libbed or actually scripted. Genius either way though.
Third rock from the sun..... still works for me.
Third rock was great but not seen it since the first airing. Who remembers Operation hood guys? I really enjoyed it at the time but not sure how it holds up now.
Alan Partridge and Curb are the two greatest comedies ever made
The posh dirty talking in the Georgian dance skits still cracks me up, as do the street talking airmen.
Not to mention Brabbins and Fyffe.
8 Out Of Ten Cats Does Countdown still works for me…
But no Rachel Riley 🙁
But but but...
Nathan Barley was years ahead when it came out, & lots of it seem more relevant now than when it was originally released
There was a documentary on last night about Richard Pryor, hosted by Romesh Ranganathan and it was really good, talking about how comedians are very aware that RP was a messed up character with routines that talk about him being abusive yet he's still respected in terms of the writing and delivery...
I think the IT crowd is one that is starting to show it's age, there is a lot of inherent chauvinisim in it (the portrayal of Jen and women being only in the office because of their attractiveness). I watched them all in order a while back and it was less funny than I remembered.
Has anyone re-watched Fast Show recently?
Mr Bean - the kids love it.
Green Wing still cracks me up.
Also just watched the box set of Peep Show and it really was as good as I remembered it back in the day.
Married with children
I have fond memories if big train, although maybe just for a couple of sketches.
I still love the vid of Bottom live where they go off piste
I was never quite sure whether that was genuinely ad-libbed or actually scripted. Genius either way though.
I watched Bottom Hooligan's Island and one of the off piste did look scripted but a couple did seem genuine especially when a missed timed hit by Adrian Edmondson caught Rik Mayall around the head.
I'm amazed only one person has mentioned Early Doors. Such an excellent parody of a backstreet pub and it's clientele. Phil & Nice, the 2 coppers were genius, especially the the skit about the forged tenners.
Just had a skip through Armstrong & Miller on YouTube. The Russian football club owner still makes my skin crawl 🤣
And these boys:
It doesn't get any better.
Police squad
Is this on any of the streaming services? I’ve been itching to see it again for a while.
For those interested, only way I can find the Police Squad episodes is on YouTube. Quality is poor, but gags remain as good as ever.
The amount of brilliant satire that no longer seems funny because reality has become far more absurd is slightly unnerving:
Veep
Day Today
Yes Minister
I’ve recently revisited some of the Dave Allen skits on you tube . His humour has really stood the test of time. Favourites including “Teaching your kid the time “ and “Religion “.
Armstrong and Miller were very good. For some reason the “Kill them !” sketches stick in the mind. I often imagine scenarios at work now where I’d happily press an intercom and utter those words…..
I can't think of Dave Allen without thinking about his sketch about teenagers.
An Audience with Billy Connolly was the first sweary bit of comedy my parents let me watch in 1986 (yes, it came out in 85 pedants) I remember almost peeing myself on the sofa through not just one but most of his stories. Fast forward to 2020 and I introduced my 14yr old to it, same reaction, the guy was, and is, a genius
I have fond memories if big train, although maybe just for a couple of sketches.
Rats, was hoping I could be the first to mention Big Train. Memory is hazy but feel it fell off a bit of a cliff/took a nastier turn once Catherine Tate got involved, and yes, there were some sketches that just never worked, but my dad said exactly the same thing about Monty Python.
Not the Nine O'Clock News
This should have aged terribly but since the Tories are never far from power most of it still works brilliantly, and Gerald the Gorilla has one of my favourite 'dad jokes' ever "When I caught you you were absolutely wild" - 2Wild? I was absolutely livid!"
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6bbb2l
edit: apologies for Daily Motion link, fight through the ads, it's worth it!
