British sitcom tragedy?

Outnumbered is the best family comedy on TV. No need for canned laughter, just a good cast well acted but has that air of reality about it.

Pity though Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkins couldn't bring back Drop The Dead Donkey, especially with the comedy potential now we have with the Con Dems running the country.
 
Well I thought Rev was excellent - if a little slow burn to start. IT Crowd was ok - but not a patch on Series 2 or 3.

Old Guys is watchable. Miranda was amusing

My family - I have started watching again after only seeing the first series, and it's not bad. Although I would not set my planner to record it.

Think we have been spoilt as one previous poster has mentioned with the golden 70's 80's & 90's comedies. Also those writers are all getting older or have moved to writing film screenplays or drama. Renwick, Sullivan, Croft, Perry (retired), Andrew Marshall (2.4 C)

Maybe the broadcasters should encourage the older writers to work with the current crop. Linehan and Renwick would be a good combination! Armstrong / Bain with Marshall perhaps.
 
It's called 'The Old Guys', I think :)

My Family really has gone downhill. It used to be funny, nice light entertainment- but now it's a bit cringy. The Michael being gay storyline isn't really that funny- they've run out of ideas.
 
The person I specifically replied to indicated that the laughing is needed so the audience will know when to laugh, otherwise: "...the audience at home thinks -- well, do I laugh at this bit?"
 
Another problem these days is when a British sitcom is successful they drag it out for too long - My Family being a prime example, it has been on for about 11 series now, and is getting less and less funny each time.

Absolutely Fabulous was about 3 series too long as well.

Fawlty Towers was and is hugely popular still but only about 12 episodes were ever made.

Sitcoms have a certain shelf life before they become unfunny and a shadow of themselves.

I loved Dinnerlades and still do - Victoria Wood wrote a great ensemble piece there that was not only funny but also poignant and could be sad too. It had two series and finished - that was enough. If it was still on now it would be on about series 12 and probably wouldn't be anywhere as good as the original run was.

A compromise has to be made - a sitcom needs to be allowed to bed in, and not be axed because episode 1 was not a ratings winner, but at the same time it needs to be recognised when something has hit it's peak and let it end before the quality dips.
 
Reality shows are easier to write, cheaper to make and the ratings are the same so why make sitcoms and dramas?

We the public need to stop watching reality shows and then we'll get some decent sitcoms and dramas again.
 
Another thread proving that nostalgia is badly flawed.

The great - even the good - sitcoms in previous decades were well spaced out. You rarely had 2 great ones showing in the same year.

And some that get mentioned as 'great' would have been torn apart as the rubbish they are if the internet had been around then.

I mean, "Birds of a Feather", "On the Buses", "The Vicar of Dibley".

Execrable:(

In the last couple of years I have discovered "Gavin & Stacey", "The Flight of the Conchords" (started on BBC radio so I definetly count it as British), "The Inbetweeners" and "Mongrels" (which I count as a sitcom). Four superb productions. Probably stands up well with any 2 year period I can recall - beating the hell out of most of them.

I recall the same comments re "the death of British sitcoms" in the 90s and 80s - bet they happened in the 70s as well.
 
I so agree with you there!... i think they just don't want to pay out for actors and actress's.... the Reality shows are all they want to keep pushing out,

The best two comedies we have had over the last year or two have got to be Gavin and Stacey and Benidorm... they are both hilarious and what do they do!... finish one and the other we only get about 6 episodes and its off again for another year!......

It's true what you say, 'we need to stop tuning into all the reality shows' or!... even better, STOP ringing the phone in numbers that pay for the shows..
and maybe they might start getting the message.....:(
 
Me neither - the episodes they show on the Comedy Channel are obviously the American originals with the added laughter track, not the shows that the BBC bought without the laughter. It just feels wrong, especially regarding the subject matter.

As for The Fast Show - love it, but it's not a sitcom is it? I've always thought about it as a comedy sketch show.
 
I disagree with one point there, I don't think the ratings are there anymore, not when compared to the "golden era".

Since TV de-regulation there have been more channels to choose from so audiences get more stretched out and ratings drop. So companies like ITV don't get the ratings they used to so advertising revenue drops so they don't put as much investment into expensive projects like original sitcoms etc when the can just churn out reality TV or talent shows for less money.

It's all Thatcher's fault you see
 
I have got to give this another go, as so many people I know loved this show.

Maybe I simply didnt give it the chance to grow on me?.
 
ok, perhaps I worded it slightly wrong, haven't you ever worded something slightly wrong?

my point was a lot of comedy's flop - without a laughing audience - the latest installment of Harry and Paul being a good example.
 
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