British sitcom tragedy?

A

Abyel47

New member
I think the last classic sitcom to me was One Foot In The Grave which finished in 2000.

However Outnumbered is a breath of fresh air and is easily the best sitcom in a decade in my opinion. I am hoping for series 4 and Xmas special.
 
I watched Dad's Army the other day. People loved to say how well-observed it was, how well it captured the British attitude to class, but in reality it was just a bunch of stereotypical characters uttering their catchphrases. That's not to say there weren't brilliant episodes of Dad's Army, but it relied heavily on the British love of broad caricatures and catchphrases, neither of which are particularly popular now.

Whereas a good, modern comedy requires strong writing and consistent originality. I've been watching 30 Rock on DVD from start to finish and every line matters. Each episode has two, three or more original plot lines and each episode has to earn the audience's approval. We don't sit waiting for the catchphrases because the humour is based on actual character development not two-dimensional caricatures.

There is good British comedy out there. Rev came very close to being a true modern sitcom, with characters who mattered more than the premise they inhabited. The IT Crowd is a work of genius and Not Going Out is a very good attempt at the stand-up who lives in a sitcom genre (though nowhere near as good as Seinfeld or Curb). But as you say, nostalgia is not the way forward.
 
why is there such a lack of new British sit coms?We were masters of the art of the sit com not so long ago but we seem to have lost our mojo?

All the main channels I feel should commit to revitalising this great british talent.:)
 
Slightly disagree here, Dad's Army was more about the situation these characters found themselves in and how they overcame (or not) adversity or a problem - and can be truly called a situation comedy if you like. IMHO - probably one of the best.

This was down to the excellent writing partnership of Croft and Perry, and the foundation for a lot of well loved comedies - Hi di Hi!, You Rang my Lord, et al.

Your catchphrases - are mainly confined to 'Little Britain' and The Fast Show and similar shows of that ilk. More shows around catchphrases than a situation.

Nostalgia is still relevant - even if for those to make up their minds about it and those of a younger generation , that have'nt seen comedies like The Good Life, Porridge etc etc.

I was lucky to have been watching three great shows in 1975 - Dad's Army, The Good Life and Fawlty Towers, so the idea that there was a sparse amount around back then does not stand up.

Fortunately - there are still good wrting partnerships around today, and some good comedies.

Juxtapose these with a dabble into yesteryear - and I think you have a great combination to fit all tastes.
 
Phoney laughter..cute situations galore..the "lessons", the safe plots, the political correctness, ...it's all so sickening, I'm glad sitcoms are gone.
 
I have to agree, there are really no sitcoms that suit my humour, I don't 'get' Outnumbered at all. I don't find My Family funny in the slightest.

I did watch a few episodes of Rev and Miranda and they both amused me in places, and I really enjoyed Green Wing, IT Crowd and Peep Show, but are they classed as a sitcom, I'm not sure.
 
I always saw Dad's Army as more of a classic British farce, but the interplay between the characters, notable Mainwering and Wilson and, at times, Jones and Fraser is sublime and lifts it to a new level.

For me it was by far the best thing Croft and Perry ever did. The likes of Hi de Hi and You Rang m'lord were poor, at best.

I didn't say good comedys were 'sparse'. They were just nowhere near as common as some people's memories think, just as there are more around now than they realise.
 
Yes it does.

In 1975 you would have had 6 episodes of Dad's Army and Fawlty Towers and 7 episodes of The Good Life.

That's nine and a half hours of quality sitcom in a year, it's hardly wall to wall is it? Even throwing in three hours of Porridge it still leaves you with 8,753.32 hours to fill.

Sounds sparse to me.

A similar score (12 1/2 hours) of comedy they have really enjoyed in the last year could no doubt be found by everyone.
 
I just don't see how expensive a sitcom can be, writing sappy tat can't cost that much. Esp with brit budgets, it only really gets expensive when you have huge ratings of past american sitcoms and the star salaries hit the stratosphere. Things like the wire should theoretically cost more, they go on location after all, a sitcom is just a cheaply shot "funny sappy" soap shot on the same set day after day.
 
To me, the ideal sit-com (in the 70's) was such as Bless This House, Man About The House, Doctor in charge etc.
OK all a bit naff now. But then we got One Foot In The Grave, Keeping Up Appearances, Vicar of Dibley, Dinnerladies etc... Still fun to watch nowadays TBH.
I enjoy the "old-fashioned" studio audience involved (not canned laughter though - that is gross!).
I missed out : Men Behaving Badly & My Family.

I enjoy some of todays output like Outnumbered... and I recently saw Miranda which was a laugh, but it was the last episode! (Think it's back soon:))
 
David Quantick and Jane Bussman wrote and filmed a pilot of a sitcom and it cost them about
 
Don't assume I'm talking about hours, or just the shows I have quoted.

In any event - 1975 just had three channels, not breakfast time TV (merely stuff for schools), and a switch off @ midnight with the exception of the O.U on Beeb2. So no bland fillers back then - just a test card.

Do the math - the hours you have assumed are way off for the era.

Add in other comedies and drama's and you will find that it is in no way sparse.

If you do the math for last year on current schedules - I bet you will find it's sparse. And until we actually get someone in the know to do this - we cannot definitively say one way or tother.

Plus you start adding in OTB (I know I know!) Bless this house, The Doctor in the ...etc, Man about the house, plus the drama's like Upstairs Downstairs, The Sweeney, Rumpole. Angels, space 1999 , Doctor Who, etc etc - your theory don't really stack up I'm afraid in the context of the era.
 
There has been a very successful PR campaingn to convince us that only US shows are funny and that a show needs a team of 20+ writers, loads of canned laughter, telegraghed and laboured gags etc. They have been sold to us as slick, fast paced and hilarious when in fact most are only funny to the under twelves and require no effort or intellect on the part of the viewer. Consequently we have either tried to emulate this or reverted to the rather old fashioned tried and tested formats of the past to get shows commissioned. Any that do slip through the net, such as Outnumbered, are woefully underpromoted and treated as fillers to accomodate various 'reality' shows and football matches. I believe the talent is still there but until the TV companies regain some balls and start to invest and take chances with new comedy nothing will change.
 
Which would be pointless because the topic is sitcoms.

Obviously as a percentage of hours on TV any show in 1975 would win because it's a percentagfe of 3 channels and not 300+. The same goes for arguing in terms of audience figures or share. The past is a different country as they almost say.

And I'm not putting forward any theory, just agreeing that when people look back then tend (as you did) to name three great shows and claim that proves that sitcoms were big business. It doesn't, all it proves there were three or four great sitcoms that year, just as there have probably been every year since. But there was no doubt rubbish too, which no one bothered to mention.

The same goes for American comedy, they mention Modern family or Big Bang Theory or 30 Rock and claim all American sitcoms are fantastic. They aren't, we just don't (generally) import the rubbish ones.
 
I just don't see where the money is going. After the original expenditure for the "home" set you are pretty much done for the most part. Perhaps the pilot costs more as they are getting the style down, but after that its pretty much coasting.
 
Well there has been quite a few new ones over the past couple of weeks, but they have been dire IMHO. I'm afraid to suggest any more to the OH as every one has been awful e.g. Simon Amstels, Dawn French & that nurse one with Jo Brand.

There's just more choice (some good & bad) from the US, so seem like more hits.

British sitcoms are still being made (The Old Guys, anyone?) they just lack quality (and humour!) ;)
 
I enjoyed Psychoville and Getting on but I dont know if they are considered to be sit coms?

I love The IT Crowd, they guy who wrote Father Ted (which was Brilliant) writes it and its one of the few comedies I laugh out loud to.
 
What about Dinnerladies?

That was beautifully written by Victoria Wood,with a selection of fine character actors in place (Julie Walters,Thelma Barlow,Andrew Dunn,Shobna Gulati,Celia Imrie,Maxine Peake,Duncan Preston,Anne Reid). However,after 2 series,Wood decided enough was enough..but it still plays out on Dave.

Even Not Going Out with Lee Mack shows some promise,and will be back later this year.
 
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