Best sitcoms of all-time thread:

[Deleted User] · 10/11/08 - 09:20

Thought this would make for good discussion. Obviously we'll all have our own specific faves and different order. I'll list my choices:

1. Black Adder
2. Fawlty Towers
3. Seinfeld
4. Porridge
5. Red Dwarf
6. Black Books
7. I'm Alan Partridge
8. Peep Show
9. Cheers
10. The Mighty Boosh

Nearly made it: Spaced, Dads Army, Only Fools and Horses, The Brittas Empire and IT Crowd.

In terms of American ones Seinfeld is the best by a fair way, whilst Friends is extremely overrated and not much cop at all.

fainéant · 10/11/08 - 09:30

Goodnight Sweetheart should be in there somewhere.

piranhafish · 10/11/08 - 09:32

Fawlty Towers for me

I particularly like Fawlty's face in "The Germans" when he sees the black doctor

So many gloriously politically incorrect moments

[Deleted User] · 10/11/08 - 09:37

Some of mine would be

Friends
Golden Girls
Soap
Just Good Friends
One Foot In The Grave
Fawlty Towers
Absolutely Fabulous

I'm sure there are more.. can't think right now

Biffo the Bear · 10/11/08 - 09:45

Can't disagree with any of the above; would Extras count as a sit-com? That has got some of the most excrutiatingly embarrassing moments in it that I've ever seen.

pegasus2 · 10/11/08 - 09:50

Rising Damp
Porridge
Early Doors
Peep Show

[Deleted User] · 10/11/08 - 09:59

1. Coupling
2. Blackadder
3. Seinfeld
4. Porridge
5. Red Dwarf
6. Fawlty Towers
7. Only Fools and Horses
8. One Foot in the Grave
9. Simpsons
10. Cheers

nelliek · 10/11/08 - 10:09

Open all hours
Ever decreasing circles
Just good friends
Porridge
Hi-de-hi
Soap

[Deleted User] · 10/11/08 - 10:16

I would add

Frasier
Dads Army
Home Improvement

wombat79 · 10/11/08 - 10:19

In no particular order:

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Seinfeld
The Office (UK)
The Royle Family
Father Ted
Blackadder
The Young Ones
Peep Show
Spaced
One Foot in the Grave

US humour has to be top notch to get on my list (but when it is it's fantastic) - I generally find British sitcoms much sharper.

RebelScum · 10/11/08 - 10:35

Frasier
Seinfeld
Father Ted
Fawlty Towers
The Office
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Blackadder
Max & Paddy’s Road to Nowhere
Police Squad
Peep Show

[Deleted User] · 10/11/08 - 10:40

I actually rate Adder and Fawlty about even as the 'best' with Seinfeld just behind. To me Fawlty is the quintessential sitcom and it's all great, but I love every single episode of Adder and there are more of them. For me II is the best Adder series with Goes Forth following closely behind: All-time fave episodes would prob be "Great Boo's up!" ("I sit on Nathaniel! Two spikes would be an extravagance!"), "Corporal Punishment" ("Deny everything, Baldrick!" ..."You are private Baldrick, are you not?" "NO!") and "Bells" from Series II ("...its a miracle, a boy without a winkle !"). Fave Fawlty episodes/quotes: "Gourmet Night" ("these eggs taste like you laid them"), "Waldorf Salad" ("Walnuts thats a laugh. It would be easier to find a packet of sliced Hippopotamus in suitcase sauce than a walnut in this bloody kitchen") and "Basil The Rat" ("Well, of course it's a rat! You have rats in Spain, don't you - or did Franco have them all shot?")

As for Seinfeld, I always prefered it to more lauded American ones like Friends and Frasier. George and Kramer are great. My fave all-time episode of Seinfeld is "The Seven". I love it when George suggests 'Soda' for a girl's name, as the couple are looking confused, he says: "I solve problems, that's what i do". "The Marine Biologist" is great too; "The Jimmy", "The Junior Mint", "The Helllllllooooo", "The Shrinkage", "The Big Salad" are other very notable episodes. My favourite seasons are 5, 8 and 9, though they're all very good.

I also like the "Andrea Doria" where George is talking to the old man about the ship that went down and he can't believe so few people died on it when he thought it would be thousands. "It took 10 hours to sink after it hit the iceberg, it was like an old man getting into a hot bath". All of it's great and George has (nearly) all the best lines.

At it's best, whilst I thought Fools and Horses was very good at times it was too much a case of flogging a dead horse from about series 4 or so onwards for the most part, with all the specials and it's share of sub-par episodes. I just think it turned into a bit of a soap opera towards the end. It was better when Grandpa was in it and it following their 'schemes' with more detail. Just a few too many overall better shows in terms of both quantity and quality for me to puts Fools and Horse in the top 10.

[Deleted User] · 10/11/08 - 10:45

... is it just me or is The Vicar Of Dibley the single most overrated British sitcom ever to hit the screens, never found anything really funny at all about that show*

*This is presuming that people don't rate lowest common demoninator trash like A pint of Lager... highly to begin with. What Purile nonsense.

5th Horseman · 10/11/08 - 11:49

In no particular order:

Dad's Army
Men Behaving Badly
The New Statesman
Coupling
Red Dwarf
The I.T. Crowd
Blackadder
Father Ted
Drop The Dead Donkey

My Hero (I'm probably the only one and it's only the ones with Ardal O'Hanlon).

[Deleted User] · 10/11/08 - 12:04

Father Ted nearly made my mearly made it list. Very good show, Dougal's vacant looks are priceless. I have to admit, though I've got a wee bit sick of it recently with the re-runs seemingly on all the time.

Sloopy · 10/11/08 - 12:05

Only Fools and Horses
The Royle Family
Goodnight Sweetheart
Porridge
Rising Damp

[Deleted User] · 10/11/08 - 12:08

Black Books definitely needs more love and respect.

gladiator18 · 10/11/08 - 12:12

friends

FunkmasterT · 10/11/08 - 12:22

My list will be mostly American, more recent, and not in any particular order...

Frasier
Cheers
3rd Rock from the Sun
Home Improvement
Fresh Prince
The Simpsons (not recently though:p)
Coach
The Cosby Show
Red Dwarf
Bewitched

spankyplugs · 10/11/08 - 12:25

Nobody mentioned Larry Sanders yet?

[Deleted User] · 10/11/08 - 12:34

dinnerladies.

I have watched every episode to death on Gold but I love it.

I don't find most American comedies funny but I did love Friends and The Golden Girls.

RebelScum · 10/11/08 - 12:42

RebelScum wrote: »

Frasier
Seinfeld
Father Ted
Fawlty Towers
The Office
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Blackadder
Max & Paddy’s Road to Nowhere
Police Squad
Peep Show

Forgot to also mention Darkplace.

[Deleted User] · 10/11/08 - 12:42

Rule of F

my friends and I have discovered to have a fantastic sitcom you need to have an F in the title, there are some notable exceptions

my list would be

1.Blackadder
2.Frasier
3. Fawlty Towers
4. Red Dwarf
5. Father Ted
6. Friends
7. The big bang theory
8. Men behaving badly

AGNUS_BROWN · 10/11/08 - 13:03

The Vicar of Dibley
Birds of a Feather
2 point 4 Children

[Deleted User] · 10/11/08 - 13:20

AGNUS_BROWN wrote: »

The Vicar of Dibley
Birds of a Feather
2 point 4 Children

Birds of a feather really ??? Oh my god

wombat79 · 10/11/08 - 13:38

HatfulOfHollow wrote: »

I actually rate Adder and Fawlty about even as the 'best' with Seinfeld just behind. To me Fawlty is the quintessential sitcom and it's all great, but I love every single episode of Adder and there are more of them. For me II is the best Adder series with Goes Forth following closely behind: All-time fave episodes would prob be "Great Boo's up!" ("I sit on Nathaniel! Two spikes would be an extravagance!"), "Corporal Punishment" ("Deny everything, Baldrick!" ..."You are private Baldrick, are you not?" "NO!") and "Bells" from Series II ("...its a miracle, a boy without a winkle !").

As for Seinfeld, I always prefered it to more lauded American ones like Friends and Frasier. George and Kramer are great. My fave all-time episode of Seinfeld is "The Seven". I love it when George suggests 'Soda' for a girl's name, as the couple are looking confused, he says: "I solve problems, that's what i do". "The Marine Biologist" is great too; "The Jimmy", "The Junior Mint", "The Helllllllooooo", "The Shrinkage", "The Big Salad" are other very notable episodes. My favourite seasons are 5, 8 and 9, though they're all very good.

I also like the "Andrea Doria" where George is talking to the old man about the ship that went down and he can't believe so few people died on it when he thought it would be thousands. "It took 10 hours to sink after it hit the iceberg, it was like an old man getting into a hot bath". All of it's great and George has (nearly) all the best lines.

Blackadder is an absolute classic - as well as those great quotes above I love Lord Flashheart 'Hey there Nursie, like the beard - gives me something to hang on to!'

As for Seinfeld - check out the Seinfeld thread in the cult forum for likeminded people. I love series 4 and 5 the best, but they're all quality really.

Hey there!

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