What makes a good comedy?

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• angustay Posts: 2,141

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  08/06/10 - 05:16 #2

  I kinda like sitcoms although I have not seen a decent one in many years on BBC and since the 80s on ITV (ITV have not bothered with them since 92s The Upper Hand)
  
  ITV's last good sitcom was Men behaving badly and they axed it and the BBC got hold of it. Personally I liked Harry Enfields Dermott just a bit more than Neil Morrissey's Tony.:D

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• Andy Birkenhead Posts: 13,450

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  08/06/10 - 05:47 #3

  For me, it's likeable characters, good actors playing the parts and, of course, a good scriptwriter / writers.
  As for "Men Behaving Badly", it is still a briliant show (I have them all on DVD), but I think the first series is the worst thing Harry Enfield has ever done !

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• [Deleted User] Posts: 244

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  08/06/10 - 06:08 #4

  angustay wrote: »

  I kinda like sitcoms although I have not seen a decent one in many years on BBC and since the 80s on ITV (ITV have not bothered with them since 92s The Upper Hand)
  
  ITV's last good sitcom was Men behaving badly and they axed it and the BBC got hold of it. Personally I liked Harry Enfields Dermott just a bit more than Neil Morrissey's Tony.:D

  
  I still try to catch the good comedies of the good old days when I can.....And I can still laugh....;)
  
  Aitch,

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• [Deleted User] Posts: 275

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  08/06/10 - 10:07 #5

  BBC have a massive collection of sitcoms, but I think in terms of succes and quality, the 1990s were golden years for comedy. Indeed, Men Behaving Badly was just one of the many successes back then. Nowadays, I hardly laugh at anything produced by the BBC or ITV. And to me, ironically, the only sitcom that stands out is Father Ted, which is actually a Channel 4 production...

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• Andy Birkenhead Posts: 13,450

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  08/06/10 - 14:36 #6

  I think "The I.T. Crowd" is a brilliant sitcom. Series four starts later this month on Channel 4, with a fifth series just been commissioned :D

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• Red+Blooded Posts: 4,676

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  08/06/10 - 15:11 #7

  good actors and good writers, My family is a great comedy, yet some epiodes of te later series have been shit,purely because of new writing.

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• [Deleted User] Posts: 2,984

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  08/06/10 - 22:30 #8

  I know this sounds really weird, but my favourite comedies (Green Wing, Arrested Development, the Book Group) are the ones which I don't find funny, the first time I watch them. I have to like the characters first and there needs to be a brilliant storyline before I can start laughing. Also, all the characters need to have chemistry between each other and they have to be likeable, especially the characters that are supposed to be unlikeable (Steven Mangan's character in Green Wing).
  
  Also, I do like it when the comedy is sometimes improvised and a bit more natural rather than it being forced, which as a viewer you can immediately recognise when you watch the show.

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• JoHo Posts: 1,442

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  08/06/10 - 23:56 #9

  prefer sketch shows.
  
  Allo Allo was shit.
  
  'Good moaning'....
  
  Give over

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• Andy Birkenhead Posts: 13,450

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  09/06/10 - 05:25 #10

  JoHo wrote: »

  prefer sketch shows.
  
  Allo Allo was shit.
  
  'Good moaning'....
  
  Give over

  
  I agree completely.
  Also shit -
  Hi De Hi
  Are You Being Served
  Green Green Grass
  Royle Family

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• richard cranium Posts: 4,388

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  09/06/10 - 06:24 #11

  A lot of British Comedy is about losers, characters who think big but are essentially failures, the comedy is based on their attempts to rise above the shit, but never can.
  
  Hancock, Steptoe and Son, Rigsby, Alf Garnett, Reggie Perrin, even Fawlty, his ambitions thwarted by the awful Sybil.

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• [Deleted User] Posts: 244

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  09/06/10 - 08:36 #12

  I like simple comedy like ''Terry and June''......easy...
  
  Aitch,

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