The under-ratedness that is BRITISH SITCOMS

[Phoenix]

This isn't a bitching thread, but I am finding some of the voting of the Sitcom Tournament to be a real sham! Nothing against IC, Tdigs for their efforts to give the tournie a go, you've all been fantastic with the way you ran it. My main complaint is with the American fans (outside of NSL, Lariat Doc, jmt and X who give legit votes - sorry if I miss anyone) but most of what I see is "It's British it can't be as good as the US sitcom here", "I haven't seen it, so voting against it", to name a few.

This thread is to end doubters and also to stop people from having to vote because they haven't seen it. Now this thread is mostly dedicated to the fallen shows already, but naturally those still in the hunt, support them here too.

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Now I'm starting with a personal favourite of mine RED DWARF

Red Dwarf is a show that started off in 1988 and has recently been revived due to popular viewing figures on the British Channel Dave. Their 10th Season Scripts has been commissioned after a one off special called 'Back to Earth' which was released earlier in 2009.

Between the period of 1988 and 1999, there has been 8 seasons (why 10th with the revived? The one off special was branded as Season 9). And while there has been a lot of actor and writer drops, backstage politics and funding issues (mainly with a nixed movie project), Red Dwarf has remained a consistant show, with the comedy evolving to suit the needs. I will get onto the Seasons in particular, but here's the backstory to it.

The main setting of the series is the eponymous mining spaceship Red Dwarf. In the first episode set sometime in the late 22nd century, an on-board radiation leak of cadmium II kills everyone except for low-ranking technician Dave Lister, who is in suspended animation at the time, and his pregnant cat, Frankenstein, who is safely sealed in the cargo hold. Following the accident, the ship's computer Holly keeps Lister in stasis until the background radiation dies down—a process that takes three million years. Lister therefore emerges as the last human being in the universe—but not the only life form on-board the ship. His former bunkmate and immediate superior Arnold Judas Rimmer is resurrected by Holly as a hologram to keep Lister sane. At the same time, a creature known only as Cat is the last member on board of Felis sapiens, a race of humanoid felines that evolved in the ship's hold from Lister's cat, Frankenstein, and her kittens during the 3 million years that Lister was in stasis.

The main dramatic thrust of the early series is Lister's desire to return home to Earth. As their journey begins, the not-so-intrepid crew encounters such phenomena as time distortions, faster-than-light travel, mutant diseases and strange lifeforms that had developed in the intervening millions of years. From series two/three onwards they encounter Kryten, a service mechanoid who joins them as part of the crew.

That's the main outline, so to the characters, you have:

Dave Lister - The last human being alive, stranded on the Red Dwarf after being 3 million years in status due to a radiation leak and looking to head back to Earth.

Arnold Rimmer - A hologram of his dead bunkmate, brought back by Holly to keep Lister's sanity.

The Cat - A creature who evolved from Lister's pet cat who was safe from the radiation leak.

Holly - The ship's computer with an IQ of 6000, the equivelent of 6000 postal workers.

Kryten (appeared in Season 2, joined fully in Season 3) - A mechanoid service droid that was stranded in another craft and was rescued by the crew. Joined them after crashing a space bike and was re-built by Lister.

Kochanski (Appeared numerous in different seasons but became a regular in Season 7) - She was Lister's romance, that he never had. She died from the radiation leak but was eventually "brought back" when she appeared from an alternate universe and was eventually left stuck with the Dwarfers, becoming part of the crew.

This is the main cast we know and grow to love throughout the years and this is how the seasons evolved as the comedy style varied:

Seasons 1 & 2: Odd Couple style comedy involving Lister and Rimmer, the Cat as an additional character.

Seasons 3-5: Kryten added to the main cast, Holly (computer) updated, more physical means and presence outside of the ship.

Seasons 6-7: Lost in Space situation, with Rimmer eventually leaving and being replaced by Kochanski (Lister's long lost love).

Season 8: Ship and crew revived, back to Square One with extra cast with the ship fully revived.

Episodes worth watching:
Confidence and Paranoia (S1 E4)
Better Than Life (S2 E2)
Queeg (S2 E5)
Polymorph (S3 E3)
White Hole (S4 E4)
Dimension Jump (S4 E5)
Quarantine (S5 E4)
Gunmen of the Apocalypse (S6 E3 - Won an Emmy)
Blue (S7 E5)
Pete: Part One and Two (S8 E6/7)

Naturally the whole series is worth a watch, but you might find the quality drops a bit come Season 6, but the whole season is always worth a watch!

Now as an added treat, here's the first ever episode of the series called The End, courtesy of Youtube. If you like to see more, just go into youtube via the video and the whole series is available to work, there's about 6-8 episodes per season.

[YOUTUBE]/v/R1QtyMi33eE&hl=en_GB&fs=1[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]/v/BBLBqHGCzQU&hl=en_GB&fs=1&[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]/v/wnMcE0UoR2o&hl=en_GB&fs=1&[/YOUTUBE]

That is Red Dwarf, I hope this introduction gets you into this series and you find it worthy to watch. The next one I will do next is another personal fav: COUPLING.

Feel free to add your own British Sitcoms as well for all the British posters here, this is an open discussion on under-rated British Sitcoms.

 

[Loveless]

I'm going to try and avoid going on a rant here and it's not going to be easy because some of the voting has been nothing short of disgraceful.

The Office (UK)
Fawlty Towers
Only Fools & Horses lost to The Simpsons

I love how people cited The Simpsons running for 20 years as proof that it's better, seeing as OF&H ran for 26. This one should have been very close but I would have voted for The Simpsons if it wasn't for the ignorance.

Blackadder lost to Cheers

I weep. A brilliant original satire loses to the most ordinary, stereotypcal US show I could think of.

The Inbetweeners lost to 8 Simple Rules

8 Simple Rules is typical US shit, who was who voted for this because they liked Couco's lovely tits? Because I'm going to bring this way of voting up later on.

Father Ted lost to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Fucking travesty. Fresh Prince was OK, it was a nice simple programme, no reason to hate it. Father Ted is genius on a par with Fawlty Towers and Blackadder.

The Vicar of Dibley lost to The Drew Carey Show

They're both shit

Steptoe & Son lost to The Honeymooners

"In a 2004 BBC poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom of all time, Steptoe and Son was voted 15th.[1] It was remade in the US as Sanford and Son." And it lost to The Fucking Honeymooners?

Black Books lost to Two and a Half Men

Considering Black Books was written by the same guy as Father Ted, it never really got me. On the other hand, Two and a Half Men has Charlie Sheen, a fucking annoying kid and a poor ripoff of Niles Crane. I'd vote with Black Books just to get rid of that abomination.

Still Game lost to The Inbetweeners

Still Game is shit, I can't work out how it got into this tournament.

Spaced lost to Malcolm In The Middle

I'm 50/50, they're about even.

The Young Ones lost to Blackadder

Shame about this draw but the right show won.

Red Dwarf lost to The Wonder Years

I don't like Red Dwarf and The Wonder Years is one of the greatest shows I've ever seen. Glad to vote against the UK here

Rab C Nesbitt lost to Martin

I understand why Martin won, I do. That doesn't make it right though. Martin Lawrence is awful, seriously.

Yes Minister lost to Only Fools and Horses

Topical political comedy? GTFO

Last of the Summer Wine lost to The Jeffersons

I couldn't care less

The Good Life lost to Happy Days

Felicity Kendall (and her tits) > Anything Happy Days ever did. Seriously, she was foxy witch.

Porridge lost to The Bob Newhart Show

I don't know, all I can say is that Porridge was brilliant. How do you create a comedy in prison that the entire family can watch? You create your own language and do the Pixar thing of including jokes for every age.

Are You Being Served? lost to The Mary Tyler Moore Show

I hate Are You Being Served, despise it. Mary Tyler Moore also has nice tits, seeing as that's a justifiable reason for voting.

Rising Damp lost to Laverne & Shirley

Meh, I know Rising Damp is massively respected over here, I never got it. I do know that Laverne & Shirley was crap though

Open All Hours lost to Welcome Back, Kotter

What the fuck is Kotter? I mean we get tonnes of US shit broadcast over here but I've never heard of it. Open All Hours? * Shrugs *

The Likely Lads lost to All in the Family

Both Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother have blatantly ripped off The Likely Lads, that's more than enough reason for me to vote for it. I've just read that Family was based on our show Til Death Do Us Part (now there's a bloody show that should have been included here)

The Prisoner lost to Steptoe and Son

Don't care about The Prisoner

 

[CardiffCam]

I think British sitcoms are great, and are much more long-lasting than american sitcoms. Six epsidoes a series is the norm in Britain, which means youll get the quality of most of an amrican series in one episode.

Some modern sitcoms from the BBC I think were missed out, was first off Gavin and Stacey. Sure, it might not be that funny to people not with the Welsh or London perspective, but it was incredibly popular and I would go into school and everyone would be quoting it, and it was beautifully and simply funny, with some intriguing characters.

And a sitcom I understand that was left out- How Not To Live Your Life, which is on BBC Three, and is a great but inderrated sitcom. The thing honestly leaves me in stitches, but guess it loses out from essentially being a one man show. I'd advise anyone to watch it though.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

This isn't a bitching thread, but I am finding some of the voting of the Sitcom Tournament to be a real sham! Nothing against IC, Tdigs for their efforts to give the tournie a go, you've all been fantastic with the way you ran it. My main complaint is with the American fans (outside of NSL, Lariat Doc, jmt and X who give legit votes - sorry if I miss anyone) but most of what I see is "It's British it can't be as good as the US sitcom here", "I haven't seen it, so voting against it", to name a few.

This thread is to end doubters and also to stop people from having to vote because they haven't seen it. Now this thread is mostly dedicated to the fallen shows already, but naturally those still in the hunt, support them here too.

I think this dribble is great original satire, Phoenix. Especially because the most outspoken supporter of Fawlty Towers - which, by the way, made a regional final - HAS BEEN ME! Odd, though, that the above comments still took place.

I also love it how the really good, in depth threads get made AFTER the voting is over. Damn right American fans don't know alot about British comedy. So if you want the votes to reflect what you view as a proper contest, its your job to educate us.

The Likely Lads lost to All in the Family

Both Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother have blatantly ripped off The Likely Lads, that's more than enough reason for me to vote for it. I've just read that Family was based on our show Til Death Do Us Part (now there's a bloody show that should have been included here)

Then you should have nominated it.

Incidentally, Likely Lads lost to All in the Family 12-0! So Loveless is now complaining, though not only did he not post, he didn't even vote, either!!!