h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Of the top 10 Sitcoms of all time (quite topical for us Brits since the BBC is running it's own version)

I'll Start off with mine

1. Blackadder goes forth. Exceedingly funny and the last episode is the most poignant one I have ever seen in a sitcom ( And I am incuding the other Series in this one)

2. Red Dwarf. (up to and including series 6, before the Grant/Naylor Split)

3. Frasier. A spin off that was better than the original

4. Cheers. Had to be done

5. Only Fools and Horses. I can never get enough of the BBC repeats of these

6. Men Behaving Badly. Can be painfully close to the mark at times

7. One Foot in the Grave (I don't belieeeeve it I hear you cry)

8. The Office. Very very close to where I used to work. My manager was David Brent.

9. Friends although it does seem to be dragging out the last few $$$$ now

10. Drop the dead Donkey. Really funny show that was never truly appreciated by the unwashed masses

Well that's my anyway. Debate and compare and contrast everyones favorites.

KJ

Oh my! Has Jodan seen this? He'll list Seinfeld at all 10 spots.

I've never seen some of those.

My favorite British comedies:

1. The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin

2. Good Neighbors

3. Butterflies

4. League of Gentlemen

5. The Office

My favorite American comedies:

1. The Honeymooners

2. All in the Family

3. Cheers

4. Seinfeld

5. Barney Miller

Hi KJ! Nice idea.

I've had this argument with Hypatia a few times, though I'm sure my list has changed. Anyway, here are mine. They're US-centric, I'm afraid, but I know my US sitcoms.

1- Seinfeld. TV's best TV show of all time. My favorite show of all time by far. The style and rhythm set it apart from other shows, not to mention that it's the funniest of all of them. Plus, George Costanza is the best character ever invented, next to Fonzie.
2- Cheers. The characters are original and brilliant. They work well with each other, and the theme song is unforgettable.
3- I Love Lucy. A lot of people hate Lucy now, but it was simple and original in its day, and I'm willing to enjoy it instead of holding it to the standards of today.
4- Roseanne. It was really the only prominent family comedy that didn't sex up the average person's life. I like it for this, as well as its humor.
5- All in the Family. In its day, it was the funniest thing ever put on TV, and it's still funny now. People aren't perfect, and this explores a person who proves that rule, I think.
6- Family Ties. Without Michael J Fox, it would be pretty awful, but there's something about the P in Alex P Keaton...
7- Everybody Loves Raymond. Most family comedies end up being preachy and corny - directly or not. This does not. Probably the best sitcom in the US still on the air.
8- Leave it to Beaver. Timeless. Except for the picture quality, timeless. Better than the Andy Griffith Show. Definitely.
9- The Cosby Show. It got really awful at the end, but it was pretty good before it got awful. Hell, it saved the sitcom, so it must get some credit.
10- Frasier. I like the dog!

My I've written EG entries on #1, #2, #3 and #9 by the way

Simulpost...

Seinfeld is great! It deserves all ten spots too!

I don't have time right now to do a whole top ten but one that really springs to mind is Waiting for God. I want to be that kind of old woman!

N

For me...
1. Fawlty Towers
out on it's own. After that, the order is not so clear. Maybe it's outstanding episodes or even scenes rather than whole series. But the other nine in the top ten might be :
Porridge
Till Death Us Do Part
Rising Damp
The Young Ones
Absolutely Fabulous
One Foot in the Grave
Blackadder
Red Dwarf
Phoenix Nights

(These are all somewhat edgy note - they all have a cruel side. The American examples others have given are (in most cases) good TV entertainment, but they lack that kind of raw reality.
It's starting to come through in other forms in US material (with the Simpsons in the vanguard, perhaps), but big network American TV is for me just too hubristic to be deeply funny).

How could I forget Fawlty Towers? It's truly brilliant. And I had forgotten about Rising Damp. It played briefly on PBS when I lived in Texas.

I not a big fan of Absolutely Fabulous. All of the episodes are too much alike. But Blackadder is fun. And I never really understood The Young Ones. Half of the dialog went right by me. I've never seen the others on Pin's list.

No one has mentioned Monty Python's Flying Circus. That's a bit of a surprise. But I suppose it isn't really a sitcom. Nor is Benny Hill, which was an enormously popular import. His shows were all alike, too.

Benny Hill was an enormously talented and funny man. What you will probably have seen of him is not his best. Word play was central to his comedy in his early career but the physical comedy translated into other languages better so that was what he went with (did you know he did his own French and German dubbing? so lizardy tells me). It is a shame that the popular image of him as a grubby man chasing bikini clad girls around a field is how he is remembered.


N

Here's my top ten in no particular order.

1. Porridge
2. Open All Hours
3. Fawlty Towers
4. Drop the Dead Donkey
5. Men Behaving Badly
6. Ab Fab
7. Black Adder Series II
8. Two Pints of Lager and A Packet of Crisps Please
9. Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (first 2 series)
10.Rising Damp

I think Ronnie Barker has brilliant timing and teamed up with David Jason makes a real comedy pair. Black Adder series II has always been my favourite and to me the funniest. Miranda Richardson is an hilarious Queenie. Two Pints is Friends type comedy but one that I can relate to. Leonard Rossiter was another funny man and what more would he have done it he hadn't died suddenly.