NinaB said:

Ain't seen none of u UK bods mention the dearly loved 'No Problem'... [Edited 1/29/16 23:34pm]

Don't think any of those shows you mention aired where I lived. But for shows from the UK I did like Benny Hill and Monty Python's flying Circus. Absolutely Fabulous was ok. Not comedies but I really like Dr. Who and Merlin.

EmmaMcG said:

kpowers said:

And you are showing your age as well. Don't foget that the "Oldies" also have the best TV themes songs as well.

I don't consider myself to be young or old. I'll be 26 in April. Yeah, shows from the 70's and 80's have great theme songs.

Yes you are showing your age

NinaB said:

...'Delbert Wilkins'

That was certainly the most sponditious sitcom.

I did wonder whether Lenny had got the catchphrase "crucial" from a Prince boot, since he was apparently a big fan, but I think that song only started circulating a little later.

kpowers said:

EmmaMcG said:

kpowers said:

Yes you are showing your age

:'(

I remember Delbert Wilkins, it was a Lenny Henry sketch from his show in the 1980s, which became a spin off in 1987/1988 as Wilkins tries to make it in music, comedy and radio fame.The program was not that funny though and relied heavily on racist stereotypes of Black people.

.

The Lenny Henry show had 3 or 4 seasons - 1984, 85 and 87 I think, some jokes were funny, but we had an opening showing them wearing tracksuits, colourful zamboanga style lettering and a beatbox playing loud rap music, also a lot of dancing, and a skit raging aorund a pirate DJ who had a studio called Clapham community radio (A ghetto part of London full of West Indians and Nigerians), they either did the rasta marijuana thing and another time they were all eating KFC and got raided by the cops. Some of his jokes were funny like his send up of Purple Rain, but yeah watching it now it is very cringeworthy. Even the name Delbert was a stereotype, British comic hero Buster had a black friend called Delbert in the 1980s.

.

Lenny Henry came into his own with the much better Chef (1992 - 1996) which had him as a Michellin star restaurant owner and a one of the best chefs dealing with a staff of incompetent people including the long suffering Everton (A stereotype with his very thick lips and dopey incompetent behaviour). It also had his successful wife, but she was portrayed as selfish and a nymphomaniac. Still compared to the 1980s coonfest (I don't blame Henry, I blame the BBC at the time, whose understanding of Black Britons was limited at best) this show was light years ahead and I did not list as I consider Chef to be a comedy rather than drama or a sitcom.

.

The other thing that separates Black people in the UK from Americans, is that they generally sound the same as white Britons, if Lenny Henry or Gina Yashere try to sound AA or do ebonics, it is a send up. Most Carribean immigrants assimilated fast and their British children were entirely British acting and sounding. You do not see many weaves there either, Black Britons like the natural look. The other thing is that names like Errol and Tyrone were common because they watched these movies in the Islands and saw those names, hence why you get lots of Desmonds, Winstons, Tyrones and Errols.

.

Even now I am sure if Lenny Henry watched some of those 1980s shows, he would be cringing at them, his later sketches on the 2000s Lenny Henry show which featured Nigerian/Jamaican comedian Gina Yashere are funnier, but she plays a ghetto character in some of them too, with a best friend called Misheika. He also did some very funny standup on Live at the Apollo (Not to be confused with the theatre in Harlem, the Apollo is a London comedy club).

The Best in recent Years......if you like Father Ted then you'll love this, if you don't like Fater Ted then you are sick and poorly, have a cup of tea.

Moone Boy

[Edited 1/30/16 15:12pm]

Lianachan said:

kpowers said:

deebee said:

Adorecream said:

kpowers said:

NinaB said:

Ain't seen none of u UK bods mention the dearly loved 'No Problem'... [Edited 1/29/16 23:34pm]

Don't think any of those shows you mention aired where I lived. But for shows from the UK I did like Benny Hill and Monty Python's flying Circus. Absolutely Fabulous was ok. Not comedies but I really like Dr. Who and Merlin.

Don't forget Fawlty Towers!

dJJ said:

Is The Wire a sitcom?

Because I sure love it.


As a kid I loved Matthew Star, A-team and that car Kit.

I loved Friends because it fitted my age. I watched it with my friends from university.

And I watch detectives to fall asleep. I love Murder, she wrote; Midsommer Murder; Poirot; Commisar Rex etcetera.

I like the Big Bang Theory and Seindfeld, Never bores me.


And of course the Law & Order (all of them)

I'm not sure this is a serious question, but sitcom is short for "situation comedy" so hour-long dramas like The Wire and Law & Order are definitely not sitcoms.

Going back to the Desmonds & Delbert Wilkins mentions - yea I remember both of those. Desmonds was very good and Delbert is from the Lenny Henry Show. Len played a pirate radio DJ, first episode on YT here

Don't think they've ever re-shown it or put it out on DVD, they should as it's a really good show. At the time I didn't think of it in racial terms but some of the things that has been described could be misinterpreted which could be why it hasn't been shown since because of the racist overtones. Both Lenny Henry Show & Desmonds are among my fave shows. If we're talking overtly racist UK shows look no further than Love Thy Neighbour even shows like Rising Damp have racist overtones as one of the lead characters Phillip is an African tribal chief, so you often get Rigsby make racist jokes & such because of Phillips skin color and his background. But the real joke is on Rigsby because Phillip is well spoken, intelligent, debonair and I actually think in that instance the racism is supposed to be ironic and to show how small-minded racism actually is.

As for favorite sitcoms, Red Dwarf would have to be my favorite and is tied with Only Fools & Horses. Steptoe and Son is a very close second which of course is what Sanford & Son is based on. Also Bottom, The Young Ones, Rising Damp, Father Ted, Blackadder (series 2 & 4 are the better ones IMO), Porridge, Absolutely Fabulous, The Royle Family, Some Mothers Do 'Ave Em, Till Death Us Do Part/In Sickness & in Health, Birds of a Feather (even the remake now is very good), Just Good Friends (another written by OF&H writer John Sullivan), Rab C Nesbitt & Goodnight Sweetheart.

As for US sitcoms - has to be Martin - the Halloween episode is absolutely hilarious, Fresh Prince of Bel Air too.

NinaB said:

kpowers said:

Don't think any of those shows you mention aired where I lived. But for shows from the UK I did like Benny Hill and Monty Python's flying Circus. Absolutely Fabulous was ok. Not comedies but I really like Dr. Who and Merlin.

Yeah, all good shows, I was never big on Hill but he was massive here & in the US. When it comes 2 Merlin tho sorry but there's only one Merlin in my book - Nicol Williamson!

Not familiar with Nicol Williamson as Merlin. Was that a tv series or movies. Well I really do like Camelot/King Arthur/Merlin so I'm wlling to check it out.

EmmaMcG said:

kpowers said:

And you are showing your age as well. Don't foget that the "Oldies" also have the best TV themes songs as well.

I don't consider myself to be young or old. I'll be 26 in April. Yeah, shows from the 70's and 80's have great theme songs.

Over here, in org years, 26 is young, darling.

[Edited 1/31/16 5:14am]

deebee said:

NinaB said:

...'Delbert Wilkins'

That was certainly the most sponditious sitcom.

I did wonder whether Lenny had got the catchphrase "crucial" from a Prince boot, since he was apparently a big fan, but I think that song only started circulating a little later.

Can't find sponditious in any dictionary.

What does it mean?

dJJ said:

deebee said:

That was certainly the most sponditious sitcom.

I did wonder whether Lenny had got the catchphrase "crucial" from a Prince boot, since he was apparently a big fan, but I think that song only started circulating a little later.

Can't find sponditious in any dictionary.

What does it mean?

It's just a made-up word that the main character in the show used to use. I guess it's supposed to be an ultra-hip version of "cool" or something, as he imagines himself to be so ahead of the curve in terms of style, he's using slang no-one else has even heard of yet.

kpowers said:

EmmaMcG said:

Wow, some people are really showing their age, Nah, I'm just teasing. The oldies were the best. Also, I notice the American orgers are choosing American shows. Which is fair enough, it's what you would know and love the most. BUT, I would advise that anyone, American or otherwise, who has never watched or heard of Only Fools And Horses to check it out. My ex, who is American, had never heard of it but watched it based off my recommendation. Now, he had trouble understanding everything that was being said, didnt know a lot of the slang, but he now regards it as the funniest show he's ever seen. Its one of those shows that started off good and get better and better as it went on. That's why I like these types of threads. So I can hear of shows and movies I would never hear of otherwise.

Most of us Americans aren't directly familiar with UK sitcoms, though over recent years we have "borrowed"a lot of British sitcoms and incorporated them in Americanized versions. (E.g., The Office.) I remember mostly seeing Monthy Python's Flying Circus, Benny Hill, The Young Ones, Fawlty Towers, and Absolutely Fabulous, though I did remember seeing a couple episodes of Coupling and the UK version of The Office with Ricky Gervais which were quite good. However, we tried our own version of Coupling and it was a disaster.

Anyway, here's my top ten sitcoms of all time in America.

1. The Simpsons
2. I Love Lucy
3. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
4. All In The Family
5. Leave It To Beaver
6. The Cosby Show
7. M*A*S*H
8. Cheers

9. Seinfeld

10. The Brady Bunch

3 pages deep in THIS thread and no one said a damn thing about Gunsmoke, THE longest running non-animated TV sitcom of all times?!?

Screw all of you!

Anyway, here is my list in no specific order:

The Honeymooners

Gunsmoke

All In The Family

Happy Days

Good Times

The Jeffersons

One Day At A Time

The A*Team

The Dukes Of Hazards

Knight Rider

Diff'rent Stokes

The Facts Of Life

The Cosby Show

Family Ties

227

The Golden Girls

Amen

Hunter

Married With Children

New York Undercover

Living Single

Law & Order

Law & Order SVU

[Edited 2/1/16 14:13pm]

^ and there doesn't seem to be many 'Friends' fans either

CharismaDove said:

CharismaDove said:

^ and there doesn't seem to be many 'Friends' fans either

Friends is a lot like The Big Bang Theory today, while enjoyable it in no ways deserves the huge popularity that it has. Neither will be considered "Best" as time wears on.

EmmaMcG said:

CharismaDove said:

^ and there doesn't seem to be many 'Friends' fans either

I used to love it but it's on ALL THE TIME. It's got to the point now that I'm sick of it. The theme song (which I always hated) makes me wish I was deaf and Phoebe is possibly the most annoying character ever to appear in anything.

Didn't you say that you liked Jar Jar Binks????

TonyVanDam said:

Anyway, he is my list in no specific order:

The Honeymooners

Gunsmoke

All In The Family

Happy Days

Good Times

The Jeffersons

One Day At A Time

The A*Team

The Dukes Of Hazards

Knight Rider

Diff'rent Stokes

The Facts Of Life

The Cosby Show

Family Ties

227

The Golden Girls

Amen

Hunter

Married With Children

New York Undercover

Living Single

Law & Order

Law & Order SVU

Umm, Gunsmoke isn't considered to be a sitcom, and New York Undercover isn't one either; they're both dramas. And so are The A*Team, Knight Rider and Hunter, thiough they both had their comic moments. And none of the Law & Order franchise are sitcoms.

The Dukes of Hazzard could be listed as a comedy, as it was a loose knockoff of the Smokey & the Bandit movies.

[Edited 1/31/16 18:44pm]

I wasn't able to finish my Friends marathon because season 8 was so boring, but I loved 1 through 6 especially. I'd still put it as my number 4 sitcom.


Unrelated, I almost popped an eyeball out laughing so hard at this scene today.

this is so hilarious. from the carol burnett show. vicki lawrence's portrayal of prissy is so funny imo.

and no i did not find this offensive. seeing that carol burnett poked fun at many characters during her run.