[mikeh]

paulg, on 2012-November-21, 17:49, said:

Traditionally British sitcoms have a very small team of writers, normally one or two. This is the limiting factor.

In addition to the effect that the breakup of the Cleese - Booth relationship had, I remember either reading or watching an interview with Cleese in which he explained the extraordinary level of attention to detail that went into every script and every performance. The series was written, iirc, entirely by Cleese and Booth, whereas most (all?) US sitcoms have teams of writers.

I almost forgot, and this may be off-topic, but one of the truly greatest 'sitcoms' of all time wasn't a television programme at all.

BBC did a radio show back, I think, in the late 1970s by a then young man who had tried to follow in the footsteps of the Pythons, and had in fact been a writing partner of Graham Chapman during one of the Python dry spells. It was called The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The later attempts to make it a book (very successful), a television programme (not as good) and a movie (dreadful) should not obscure the utter brilliance of the original radio broadcasts, that can still be found if one is diligent. I had it on vinyl but then found the complete set of all episodes and a long interview with Douglas Adams on an 8 cd set.

I think the imagination can be a wonderful source of entertainment, and radio can involve the listener far more intensively than can television if done properly, and HHGTTG was and remains in my opinion the best ever. I'd rather listen the adventures of Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect than watch any of the listed sitcoms.

[Vampyr]

mikeh, on 2012-November-21, 18:48, said:

In addition to the effect that the breakup of the Cleese - Booth relationship had, I remember either reading or watching an interview with Cleese in which he explained the extraordinary level of attention to detail that went into every script and every performance. The series was written, iirc, entirely by Cleese and Booth, whereas most (all?) US sitcoms have teams of writers.

Similarly, The Office was written entirely by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. With, I believe, the same kind of attention to detail.

[paua]

billw55, on 2012-November-21, 14:13, said:

This is something that makes no sense to me about British television. If it is wildly popular, why not make more episodes? Fans enjoy, producers and broadcasters profit, what's not to like? This would never happen in the US, unless perhaps a critical performer left the show.

Beacause the British know when to stop. Americans just drag an idea out for as long as it is marketable.

[Vampyr]

paua, on 2012-November-22, 01:38, said:

Beacause the British know when to stop. Americans just drag an idea out for as long as it is marketable.

A good example of this is The Office. The Tim/Donna story ended with their first kiss; it was perfect. I was bawling like a baby while I watched that. In The Office: An American Workplace, their counterparts have got married, bought a house, and were expecting a child, who has probably been born. The thrill, at least from the viewers' perspective, is gone. Also, I heard that the David Brent character has left -- yet they are carrying on. It seems the show would be pointless without him.

[kenberg]

paua, on 2012-November-22, 01:38, said:

Beacause the British know when to stop. Americans just drag an idea out for as long as it is marketable.

I completely agree with this. A five year old does something and his parents laugh. So he does it again. And again. And again. This is much the way I see American tv. If the Brits don't do this, I congratulate them.

[mike777]

kenberg, on 2012-November-22, 05:53, said:

I completely agree with this. A five year old does something and his parents laugh. So he does it again. And again. And again. This is much the way I see American tv. If the Brits don't do this, I congratulate them.

Darn those Americans for trying to maximize profits...why oh why cant we be more like the Brits.

[kenberg]

mike777, on 2012-November-22, 07:49, said:

Darn those Americans for trying to maximize profits...why oh why cant we be more like the Brits.

Oh, I know. You can't blame a guy, or a network, for going after the buck. But it is not a very good way to go after mine.The current laff line seems to be "boobs". Someone says boobs, the audience laughs, the ratings go up, and so it's boobs, boobs, and more boobs. If it makes a buck, it makes a buck.

Which reminds me:

How much does it cost for a pirate to get his ears pierced?

Answer: A buc an eer

That's at least as funny as boobs.

[Cyberyeti]

mike777, on 2012-November-22, 07:49, said:

Darn those Americans for trying to maximize profits...why oh why cant we be more like the Brits.

On a more serious note, there is more truth than I'd like in that being the difference between the US and UK in the past.

US - does it make money ? yes, let's do it
UK - does it make money ? yes, is it the right thing to do ? no - OK, let's not do it

Unfortunately the UK is now going the way of the US and hence a lot of scandal with people exploiting laws that were not tightly enough drafted, but where everybody understood what their intent was and kept to the spirit of them in the past.

[mike777]

Cyberyeti, on 2012-November-22, 08:22, said:

On a more serious note, there is more truth than I'd like in that being the difference between the US and UK in the past.

US - does it make money ? yes, let's do it
UK - does it make money ? yes, is it the right thing to do ? no - OK, let's not do it

Unfortunately the UK is now going the way of the US and hence a lot of scandal with people exploiting laws that were not tightly enough drafted, but where everybody understood what their intent was and kept to the spirit of them in the past.

Ya where manners and good taste mattered...now we can joke and sing about rape and laugh... and in some cases make a boatload of money..spirit of the law?


As Ken put it boobs and more boobs.....heck with sexual assualt...

[Zelandakh]

mike777, on 2012-November-21, 13:28, said:

Guys if you are going to make a list called the greatest ever sitcoms

I would think you would at least watch all the major contenders or simply not make a list.

Have you watched every sitcom ever made? Naturally lists are centered around the taste of the person making it. Noone has seen everything. Perhaps some Brazilian sitcom should be on the list - I have no idea. And neither do you.

On other topics, perhaps we should define exactly what is meant by sitcom (and no, I do not mean in the ILL sense suggested earlier). I would not have considered HHG a sitcom personally. And Dr Who? Really? I know some of the older episodes look pretty funny now but honestly, how to insult a large proportion of British science fiction fans in a single swoop!

As for the list in the link, I looked through it, considered it a joke and moved on. It was clearly just cobbled together in a few minutes in an attempt to get visitors to the website. Let's at least start from a sensible basepoint if we are going to have this discussion.

[mike777]

Zelandakh, on 2012-November-22, 09:29, said:

Have you watched every sitcom ever made? Naturally lists are centered around the taste of the person making it. Noone has seen everything. Perhaps some Brazilian sitcom should be on the list - I have no idea. And neither do you.

On other topics, perhaps we should define exactly what is meant by sitcom (and no, I do not mean in the ILL sense suggested earlier). I would not have considered HHG a sitcom personally. And Dr Who? Really? I know some of the older episodes look pretty funny now but honestly, how to insult a large proportion of British science fiction fans in a single swoop!

As for the list in the link, I looked through it, considered it a joke and moved on. It was clearly just cobbled together in a few minutes in an attempt to get visitors to the website. Let's at least start from a sensible basepoint if we are going to have this discussion.

actually I have watched all the major contenders....pretty much a strawman about all shows....only you raised that issue.

And no, personal taste should not be the only issue/factor, would expect there to be many many factors

agree Dr. Who and Hitchhiker are not sitcoms..but they do have humor and are great shows.

agree with your main and last point

[Cyberyeti]

mike777, on 2012-November-22, 08:28, said:

Ya where manners and good taste mattered...now we can joke and sing about rape and laugh... and in some cases make a boatload of money..spirit of the law?

Don't get this reference

Quote

As Ken put it boobs and more boobs.....heck with sexual assualt...

Boobs and female nudity are everywhere, some of the worst offences are in computer games (check out TERA, particularly the Elin race video and Blade and Soul for particularly egregious examples), both of these are Korean.

[VMars]

Why is no one mentioning Mary Tyler Moore? (Or the Dick van Dyke show if you prefer?) I second the mentions of Married with Children, Keeping Up Appearances, and Are You Being Served? Roseanne was hilarious for much of its run, but the last season (or two) was pretty bad, and kind of drags the whole show down.

Big Bang Theory is awful.

Anyway, I also agree with those that said that this list is a joke, put on by a no-name website. It probably is one of those sites made just to draw clicks and get ad dollars.

[blackshoe]

I had the impression that the site belongs to the people that own hulu, so it would be an attempt to draw in people to spend money on hulu.

[Vampyr]

VMars, on 2012-November-22, 14:27, said:

Why is no one mentioning Mary Tyler Moore?

Yes, I was about to bring up MTM (which I found funnier than DvD). Also I would like to add my voice to those who have mentioned I Love Lucy. There have been a lot of decent sitcoms, but in my opinion Lucy is the only one that made you laugh until you pissed yourself.

By the way, some people have mentioned Blackadder (which would be on ANY list that included British shows) and Jeeves and Wooster (which I don't feel is, strictly speaking, a sitcom.) Am I the only one who is disappointed that Stephen Fry never appeared on House?

Here are my two favourite skits from A Bit of Fry and Laurie.

[EricK]

The Phil Silvers Show (Sgt Bilko) would make my top ten.

[blackshoe]

Gomer Pyle? Perhaps not top ten, but close.

[kenberg]

There are a number of series that I liked but maybe at times in my life when I just wasn't watching all that much tv. One of those was Taxi, and my favorite character, Jim, was played by the guy (Chris Lloyd) who is listed as one of the creators of Modern Family. (Which I also like but don't always get around to watching.) Anyway, in Taxi, one of the other characters crashes into Jim and tells him to get out of the way. Jim has his usual dazed look and says "What? Am I here?". I feel a sort of kinship with him.

[Winstonm]

kenberg, on 2012-November-23, 22:15, said:

There are a number of series that I liked but maybe at times in my life when I just wasn't watching all that much tv. One of those was Taxi, and my favorite character, Jim, was played by the guy (Chris Lloyd) who is listed as one of the creators of Modern Family. (Which I also like but don't always get around to watching.) Anyway, in Taxi, one of the other characters crashes into Jim and tells him to get out of the way. Jim has his usual dazed look and says "What? Am I here?". I feel a sort of kinship with him.

My favorite Taxi moment came when Jim (Chris Lloyd) had to take his written driver's test and and asked Tony Danza, "What does a yellow light mean?", to which Tony replied, "Slow down," so Jim continued, "W-h-a-t d-o-e-s a y-e-l-l-o-w l-i-g-h-t m-e-a-n?"

[barmar]

kenberg, on 2012-November-23, 22:15, said:

One of those was Taxi, and my favorite character, Jim, was played by the guy (Chris Lloyd) who is listed as one of the creators of Modern Family.

They're not the same person.

Christopher Lloyd actor = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000502/
Christopher Lloyd writer/producer = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0515941/