British sitcom tragedy?

Don't lump the Fast Show in with Little Britain. It's wrongly remembered for it's catchphrases, but there were not as big a part of it as people think. Things like 'Rowley Birkin' and 'The Offroaders' always had a solid sketch written around them. They didn't just pop up and parrot a catchphrase.

Little Britain, though, you are spot on. The absolute epitome of lazy comedy.
 
The sitcoms that are still popular - either with critics or audiences- seem to be a lot more nichethan in years past. Outnumbered, Gavin and Stacey and Benidorm are the main examples.

Audiences shy away multicsm comedies these days - unless they're American. I dont blame the execs for that (or "all this reality TV") but audience tastes. Someone mentioned 'Not Going Out' which is rather good - yes it'll now be tucked away at 10.35, but thats cause it spent 3 yrs pulling poor audiencesst 9pm. I dunno that there's audience appetite for these shows anymore.
 
Over the last few years for me the better sitcoms have been Peep Show, IT Crowd, Not Going Out, How Not To Live Your Life, and more recently Rev. The Old Guys isn't too bad either.

There is some good competition from the US though with the likes of Better Off Ted and Big Bang Theory.
 
Was never a Dinnerladies fan, but like Not Going Out.

I've been watching Pete Vs Life which has been quite good, IT Crowd as always and Ideal started back this week (although not as good as it used to be)

Even at a strech I enjoy Benidorm, and (for force of habbit) My Family!! :rolleyes:

I must admit tho, that OPs point may be that British sitcoms don't alway get the prime time slot they deserve and that some are stuck BBC3, or a late time slot, so are missed by the GBP. "Comedy" panel show are given more prominence these days.
 
A very good post. Its often hard to judge what sitcoms would still have become so popular if they were starting out today but some would have been torn to pieces as you say.

Something like Birds of a Feather would probably have only been around for one series if made today, yet something like The Old Guys or Life of Riley would probably have been lauded as brilliant if made back in the 70s or 80s.

There's plenty of good sitcoms around but you have to look for them on BBC3, E4 or other smaller channels like that.
 
Although My Family gets a lot of criticism for being dated and mundane, it's far more popular than cutting-edge comedies.

It's always been the way. Back in the eighties critics were damning Terry and June for being a tired old stereotypical suburban sitcom, and at the same time heaping praise on Ben Elton's The Young Ones for being daring and innovative. But even Elton conceded at the time that Terry and June was still far more popular.

Zoe Wanamaker and Robert Lindsay both reportedly think a lot of writing in my family is now very bad, but even if My Family does end, the public should not be deprived of the genre of the suburban, middle-class, generation-conflict sitcom with laugh track. People enjoy it.
 
Most of the channels just wont invest the time or money in them and everything these days is judged on its first few episodes and if it doesnt rake in huge figures is axed, whereas in years gone past most of the sitcoms didnt fair that well in their first series but were given a chance and became a household favourites, Only Fools and Birds of a Feather to name but two of them. These days faceless accountants at the likes of ITV wont allow chances they just want immediate financial results for the shareholders. The BBC and Channel 4 are the better two channels for giving shows an airing and a chance.
 
Surely we still have sitcoms, the word is short for situation comedy. I think a few people think laughter track and double entendre when they think sitcom, but we have great shows like peep show and the inbetweeners. Or if your the traditional type then there's always My Family and Miranda (the later two are not to my liking tho).
 
I think people tend to see past TV glories through rose tinted glasses; at the time people have the same whinges, but it is only on reflection that you see that there were actually a fair few decent programmes out there. More television channels do seem to have had an adverse effect though.

I liked Roger and Val and I also thought Getting on was fantastic. We have recently been spoiled with Peepshow, IT crowd, Miranda, Rev, amongst others, and that has only been in the past few months.

We have also had to suffer Pete Vs Life, My Family and Old Guys.
 
Did any of you listen to Little Britain or the League of Gentlemen when they were on the radio, before they were adapted for TV?

They were actually very good. The really great thing about Radio 4 is its censorship. That might not seem like a good idea, but it means that if you want a laugh on a comedy show, you have to do something funny, whereas on TV you can suddenly whip out a vibrating but plug and provoke a shock laugh from the audience.
 
There does appear to be a distcinct lack of the family style sitcom, as in the ones that used to be on pre-watershed and everyone could sit down and watch.
 
I would hardly say that we are being spoiled. Rev, Miranda and IT Crowd, are amongst the most unfunny "comedies" that have been foisted on the viewing public in a long while.

The only part of "sitcom" that is acurate in any description of those three, is the "sit" part, and that has a letter missing!.
 
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