Britain's Best Loved Sitcoms


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A two part programme starts tonight (Saturday October 3rd) at 8pm on Channel 4 about our best loved sitcoms including Likely Lads, Dad's Army, Steptoe & Son etc.

Will no doubt bring back some memories.

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I liked Take Three Girls, I Didn't Know You Cared, Dinner Ladies, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Faulty Towers and many more.

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Porridge was brilliant, but so was Open All Hours... Hilarious.

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Rising Damp, just remembered that.

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Some of them don't age well. Take for instance 'Love Thy Neighbour', 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum' and 'Mind your Language'.

Whilst not particularly offensive, there are others that I simply don't find funny nowadays (can't remember what I thought first time around): 'On the Buses' (let's all shout) and 'Last of the Summer Wine' (let's say the same word over and over).

Then there was the abysmal attempt to revive 'Open all Hours' (another of Roy Clarke's).

I still enjoy Fool and Horses, Father Ted, Blackadder, Red Dwarf and Porridge among others. An old favourite is Ripping Yarns.

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Faulty Towers is my number one favourite particularly the one where he beats the Morris 1100 with a branch. I used to have a car like that.

Steptoe and Son episodes: the one about the coffins where they end up sleeping with the horse; the central heating system and the one where the lead is stolen from the roof and sold to them.

I enjoy Last of the summer wine because is very funny and it makes me think of my maternal grandfather. He was from West Yorkshire and after he retired he was a member of a "veterans" club in the village where they lived. The group of old men used to go out walking and meet at the pubs. Mum said that they would dig up a Christmas tree from down in the woods, take it home and decorate it for Christmas. After Christmas they would then take it back and re-plant it. When grandma died and he moved to live with us he made local friends, had drinks at the Pelican and walks up Strelley lane. I still have grandfather's "veterans club" badge.

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I doubt there has ever been a TV comedy show anywhere in the world at any time that has had a script as clever, as erudite, as perfect as those for Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. Characters and acting A1 also.

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I think it is so difficult to say which is the all time best comedy series I agree that YesMinister and Prime Minister were real classic and so well acted but then you think of iothers

Dad's Army - Not Going Out - One foot in the grave - Fawlty Towers - the list is endless.

I do think that some of the older ones though would not be allowed to back due to the PC brigade - Can you imagine Alf Garnet?

Best wishes

Peter

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Definitly Fools and Horses, Steptoe & Son, One foot in the grave, Mrs Bucket' - aka Keeping up Appearances, League of Gentleman, Faulty Towers.

So much quality tv comedy came and still does from the UK.

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My mother used to hurt with laughter at the sitcom ' Last of the summer wine' - she was a typical Nora Batty...........bless her

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Not all from the past were to my taste....Father Dear Father,Terry and June,On the Buses,Sorry,George and Mildred,

poorly written with much canned laughter.

I never rated the Two Ronnies either,mostly Skegness end of the pier stuff and not sitcoms I know...and yet Ronnie Barkers Porridge and Open all Hours absolutely hilarious.

I agree most British Sitcoms can't be beaten but the American Golden Girls and Cheers came a close second.

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American sit-coms are slickly produced, but that is about all you can say about them. Their problem is that they have no edge; they cannot do anything that that might offend. The last thing the sponsors want is someone complaining about smut, knocking religion or other taboos.

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American stuff is predominantly sugary crap, but I still watch re runs of Frasier on CH4. Brilliantly written and acted and so true to reality which a lot of US stuff isn't .

In the past, I liked Cheers, Roseanne, Taxi, and The Golden Girls.

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There have been some dreadful British sitcoms too; for example: Mind Your Language, Please Sir and Sorry - to name but a few.

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Anybody remember the "Army Game." Original cast was Bernard Bresslaw, Alfie Bass, charles Hawtrey etc. it sort of morphed into "Bootsie and Snudge". Probably wouldn't find it so funny today.

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