World, Writing, Wealth discussion

Which ones are your favourite sitcoms ?
I've enjoyed many,though Friends tops the list for me and Seinfeld is a firm favourite as well.

There haven't been a lot of recent ones I've enjoyed, I have to say.

Some of my old favourites: Mr Bean, Fawlty Towers, The Vicar of Dibley.

Yes,I also like the older ones more.Fawlty Towers was great,as was the British series,Yes Minister which later became Yes Prime Minister.

Oh this was a great idea W! I can really put up a list here! I have way more than two! :) Nothing recent - most of them from years ago. :)

Top 10 Favorites in no particular order are as follows:

Cheers
Home Improvement
Golden Girls
Three's Company
Happy Days
Gilligan's Island
Dick Van Dyke Show
I Love Lucy
Gomer Pyle, USMC
Bewitched

Nice list,I also have way more than two,that was just to start things off.Fond memories of Lucy from my childhood.

W wrote: "Nice list, I also have way more than two, that was just to start things off. Fond memories of Lucy from my childhood."

Thank you, W. I have lots more than 10 too! LOL :) I could probably list a bunch! :)

Please do.

Okay just for you W, I will list another 10 for now! :) Some more blast from the past! lol :)

Fraiser
Alice
Newhart
Night Court
Perfect Strangers
Mama's Family
Gimme a Break
The Cosby Show
Too Close for Comfort
Who's the Boss?

Yes,Frasier was a very good one.Great cast of characters,very watchable.

Also remember Perfect Strangers,though I thought it wasn't in the top tier.Not a fan of Cosby Show.
Not familiar with the rest.

Maude

Everybody Loves Raymond. In addition to Ray Romano,especially liked Peter Boyle's performance as Raymond's dad.

I watched Keeping Up Appearances over and over as long as it was on our PBS station. No longer available here, unfortunately.

Scout wrote: "I watched Keeping Up Appearances over and over as long as it was on our PBS station. No longer available here, unfortunately."

'Lady of the House Speaking!'
🤣🤣🤣🤣

:-)

Glad to see some British classics already mentioned ... Fawlty Towers, Vicar of Dibley, Keeping up Appearances, Yes Minister.

I'm sure there are loads more than I can think of off the top of my head, but here goes:
Porridge,
Open All Hours,
Waiting for God,
The Good Life,
Coupling,
Absolutely Fabulous,
May to December,
Men Behaving Badly,
Two Point Four Children,
Blackadder,
'Allo 'Allo,
Father Ted,
Last of the Summer Wine,
Only Fools and Horses,
Red Dwarf,
To the Manor Born ...

Ok, run out of breath :)

My Name is Earl
Big Bang
How I Met Your Mother
The Nanny
Good Neighbours

Some of these come to mind from my young adult years and others from my kids telling me to watch this, despite having reached the age of more than one TV in the house and availability of video tapes. In no particular order -

That 70s Show
Three's Company
Growing Pains
Welcome Back Kotter
All in the Family
Family Ties
Laverne and Shirley
MASH
Taxi
Malcolm in the Middle
Wonder Years
Boy Meets World
Full House

I don't really have a favorite sit com. Living by myself, I don't watch them at all. I am more the drama type, especially medical and law.

Ooh, MASH! :)

I do watch Full House every now and then.It's good fun.
That 70s Show was rather mediocre.
Two and a Half Men
Started Modern Family.Season 1 didn't start too well,but then got better.
Didn't like The Office (US version) all that much.

That 70s show was popular at my house. We had just moved to WI at the time so that probably added to our laughter.

I started watching MASH from the beginning a few months ago. A few episodes at a time, here and there, usually when I want to watch something before bed that won't engross me into a binge. I am surprised by how many of them I remember.

Anyone ever watch old episodes of All in the Family? Outdated in some ways, but still entertaining. Cool how they juxtaposed the conservative and progressive points of view.

Haven't seen it.Also remember Different Strokes and the tragic fate of one of its actors,Dana Plato,who died young of a drug overdose.Gary Coleman had a troubled life too,and died at 42.

Great thread! Brings back some memories. My wife and I were just discussing this because we were struggling to find good comedies to watch on TV. We started rewatching some of the old sitcoms and it was interesting to me that some of the ones I loved when I was a young adult didn't seem as funny anymore but others still held their humor.

As an adult:
The Simpsons (does this count as a sitcom?)
Parks and Rec (one of my overall favorites)
The Office
Seinfeld
The Middle
Modern Family (at least, the early years)
Keeping Up Appearances (an absolute classic!)
M*A*S*H

As a child:
Gilligan's Island
Happy Days
The Munsters
Addams Family
I Dream of Jeanie
I Love Lucy
Abbott and Costello

Watching season 8 of Two and a Half Men.Crude humour,but this time I'm enjoying it.

Scout wrote: "Anyone ever watch old episodes of All in the Family? Outdated in some ways, but still entertaining. Cool how they juxtaposed the conservative and progressive points of view."

We watched it when it was released. I haven't rewatched it. Die the reboot happen? I know Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei were supposed to be Archie and Edith.

It was based on a British TV show called Until Death Do Us Part. Did anyone see that show?

Lizzie wrote: "Scout wrote: "Anyone ever watch old episodes of All in the Family? Outdated in some ways, but still entertaining. Cool how they juxtaposed the conservative and progressive points of view."

We watc..."

I remember it, but it was a little bit before my time.

But then I remembered Robin's Nest! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OiUX...

^Significant political correctness warning!

Till Death Us Do Part - yes - very political and not a good watch - Alf Garnett is an out and out racist and was exposed as such the comedy but the language may not sit modern ears.

Saw Bewitched up there and loved that show when it was broadcast in UK

To add a modern classic Flea Bag. Yes Minister/Prime Minister should be compulsory watching for any aspiring politician. The Thick of It had moments but ruined by the foul language for me. i don't mind odd bits of swearing but not that level.

Yes Minister/Prime Minister is the finest British show I've seen.Would be binge watching it again.In addition to politics,the way it looks at how bureaucrats work and manipulate things is wonderful.

Two and a Half Men is crude, but the ones with Charlie Sheen were funny. The ones with Ashton Kutcher - not so much. How do you replace Sheen with him?

Some years back I tried my hand at writing sitcoms and despite several meetings with the BBC and independent production companys, nothing made the cut. My favourite rejection was when the BBC told me 'No one wants to watch a sitcom set in an office. Go away and re-write it in a family setting.' Their loss!?

I am always interested in how writers do the set-up in the very first episode, which is a real skill. I recently watched the first episode of Seinfeld. Absolute genius. Just watch the first 5 minute scene of dialogue between Jerry and Costanza! Perfection in timing.

In some more modern sitcoms the writers get carried away and every character ends up spouting witty rejoinders faster than the human brain can actually process. 'The Big Bang' is an example of this. I still enjoy it, but the dialogue is just not natural.

One of the interesting things I learned on a Sitcom writing course is that all successful British sitcoms are about failures aspiring to better themselves (Basil Fawlty, Frank Spencer, Tony Hancock etc), whereas successful US sitcoms are about people who are at least coping, or perhaps doing quite well (Frazier, Cosby Show, Friends). The exception being Rozanne.

Here's an interesting question for you. As someone who obviously likes on screen humor, do you read humorous books? (American spelling, apologies, but spellcheck is biased!).

Personally, I find books in the 'humour' section tend to fall into two camps - outrageously silly (but can still be funny), or books that readers designate 'laugh out loud' but to me are not humorous at all. I may make some enemies here, but I would put Bill Bryson in that latter category. Whereas Garison Keillor, yes.

So here's the thing. I am an author with two voices. One is as a thriller writer and I have had some modest success with my debut novel. The other voice is humour, which I find can gain an audience for short chunks of non-fiction. But where is the market for humorous novels that are truly funny, intelligent, and not slapstick stupid?

Answers on a postcard please....

Many years before I began writing novels, I spent five years writing TV scripts and submitting them. Had some great letters back from the BBC and TV companies regarding scripts I'd sent in, but all with regret that they could not fit them into their schedules. And then one day I received a more personal letter from the head of broadcasting at Anglia TV, which included the following: "We are the smallest TV company in the UK, and we receive over 500 unsolicited scripts per month, but only put on one half-hour play per month. We would love to put on one of your plays, which we have all immensely enjoyed reading, but unfortunately cannot do so. Now, aside from the odds - the BBC receives over 3000 plays per month, ask yourself this question: 'Are we going to put on a brilliantly written play by an unknown author, or a mediocre one by an author with an established name?'
I stopped writing scripts immediately. I had wasted five years. I hope this helps some of you in the same position I was.

Interesting story, Tony, and thanks for sharing.

I've found Tom Bodett on NPR pretty funny. Today my friend and I watched a Halloween episode of Frasier that had us laughing until we cried. You may remember it. Characters dress as their heroes, and Niles comes as his dad. Frasier is Freud (of course), Martin is Joe DiMaggio, Daphne is Elton John, and Roz comes as Wonder Woman. If you need a laugh, this will give you one :-)

Started Fuller House.Was curious to see how the Full House girls looked,having grown up.Off to a rather disappointing start,and has too many characters.

Seinfeld is the 90s show "about nothing". I never tire of watching it.

Best UK sitcom was Only fools and horses. In the USA I adored the King of Queens.

I don't think anyone's mentioned The Andy Griffith Show, which is great. I still watch it, although I've seen all episodes numerous times. The ones with Barney are the best.

I watched Shameless (American version) and thought it was both funny and serious. I don't know what it's classified under. I tried watching the original British show, but it didn't do anything for me on the acting or amusement factors.

Started Big Bang Theory.Awkward characters,but it's all on Netflix,so will give it a shot.

Also remember the British show,Mind Your Language.Not among my favourite shows,didn't like the way the representatives of certain nationalities were presented.

1. Only Fools and Horses
2. Porridge
3. Some Mothers Do Ave Em

Oh, Rising Damp right up there too.

Re American ones, Different Strokes and Everybody Loves Raymond.

You can probably guess my age range, but some of my favorites are:

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Family Matters
Smart Guy
Big Bang Theory
New Girl

Tyler wrote: "You can probably guess my age range, but some of my favorites are:

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Family Matters
Smart Guy
Big Bang Theory
New Girl"

Hello Tyler, I'm ashamed to say that I haven't seen any of those programmes but have heard of Fresh Prince and Big Bang Theory.

Re The Fresh Prince, I really like Will Smith. He's a talented and versatile actor.

Oh, I recall many of the shows mentioned here among the Sitcoms I grew up watching and have discovered over the years.

Does anyone recall the show, The Torkelsons? It aired way back in 1991 and lasted for only two seasons. My brother watched the show, and I saw reruns while growing up.

We just discovered the show, Call Me Kat (the American version of the British television sitcom, Miranda). Never seen Miranda, but we're really liking Call Me Kat.

Here's my quickly compiled list of suggestions:

The Middle
Yes, Dear
Mixed Blessings (Canada)
Double Trouble (Australia)
One Day At A Time (the reboot)

Another new one we just discovered, Call Your Mother.

Ann, I haven't heard of any of the shows you listed but I have seen Miranda and really enjoyed it.

She's talented, funny and there were plenty of lol moments on all the episodes I watched. If Call Me Kat is similar then I'm not surprised you're enjoying it.

Beau wrote: "Ann, I haven't heard of any of the shows you listed but I have seen Miranda and really enjoyed it.

She's talented, funny and there were plenty of lol moments on all the episodes I watched. If Call..."

Thanks Beau, I was wondering about the show Miranda. Call Me Kat is one of our new favorite shows, I'm glad my U.S.A. brought a version of it here. Hope to one day watch the British version and see how it compares.

I think if you wanted the sitcom that produced the most memorable episodes, you probably can't beat "I Love Lucy." Maybe "Seinfeld."
But an underrated sitcom that only lasted for a season was on a few years ago. It was called "The Grinder." Rob Lowe played an actor who was TV show lawyer, gets nudged out of his series and goes home to his dad and brother who run a small law firm, and thinks he can help them out since "he played a lawyer on tV." It was hilarious, especially the episodes with Timothy Oliphant. I saw that it got really high reviews on IMDB. A shame it was cancelled after a season.

I think Seinfeld has many memorable episodes: "close talkers," "man hands," "worlds colliding," "shrinkage," "no soup for you," "sponge worthy," "do the opposite," to mention a few. Anyone who's watched the show immediately can recall the episodes from a few words.

Because libraries are dear to my heart, I thought the "library cop" episode of Seinfeld was hilarious. I wonder if there's anywhere you can see outtakes because a few times it looked like Jerry was having a hard time keeping it together.