Historically, the BBC was THE home of comedy. It had all the classics - Steptoe & Son, Python, Fawlty, Blackadder, Perrin, Porridge, Dibley, Dad's Army, Yes Minister, One Foot In the Grave, Ab Fab, Royle Family etc, etc.
What did ITV have? Rising Damp, at a stretch.
As unscientific as any poll, and the first one a search found, but this top 50 produces a final score of BBC 1/2/3 = 46, Channel 4 = 3 and ITV = 1.
And yes, the ITV one is Rising Damp.
Perhaps it's unfair to lump all the BBCs together, but even if you split them apart I figure ITV will still be last.
(Originally I thought ITV had 2, for some reason I thought To The Manor Born was an ITV show but Wiki says otherwise)
I thought both 'The Job Lot & Vicious' were decent & enough to give them another try although both were up against weak opposition.
I think ITV should do more comedy drama as they have a good track record in that department but at least they are doing something other than soaps & crime dramas.
Nothing needs stretching where RD is concerned,
ITV also had Spitting Image and Man About the House. Whether we should mention the spin-off series is debatable, but since the bar has already been lowered to include Royle Family, then George & Mildred should be included, too.
And why were there so few ITV comedies in the poll? Being run by BBC2 might have something to do with it.
Also, it's not surprising that the BBC has lost the plot so far as comedy goes. A joke needs a target. That means someone or something gets to be the butt of the joke. You can't go having butts without that person, thing or group becoming the "victim". Since the BBC is scared of its own shadow, they'll never commission programmes that make fun of people (except for men and the elderly - always considered fair game). Hence all the unfunny comedy there is around these days.
BTW, if you want some really unfunny "comedy", look no further that Sky's home cooked rubbish.
And why were there so few ITV comedies in the poll? Being run by BBC2 might have something to do with it.
I did point out it was unscientific.
But given the tiny amount of ITV comedies being mentioned in this thread I don't think it's too far off.
Personally I liked early series of Watching, The New Statesmen and for something a little more up to date (but cancelled) No Heroics which I thought showed promise.
[Again my memory betrayed me as I was going to put Chance in a Million, but it turns out that was Channel 4]
I thought both Vicious and The Job Lot were appaling (although to be fair I fell asleep halfway through Vicious).
Did recently enjoy 'Not Going Out' on ITV but now they've axed that
ITV tended to do comedy/drams well like Minder and Aud Widershen. But of course BBC lead the way with Only Fools, Fawlty Towers, Porridge, Steptoe, Blackadder etc etc
I thought both 'The Job Lot & Vicious' were decent & enough to give them another try although both were up against weak opposition.
I think ITV should do more comedy drama as they have a good track record in that department but at least they are doing something other than soaps & crime dramas.
Never thought I'd say it but I really enjoyed The Job Lot, a few niggles but i will watch again. Much better than Benidorm which has been dire since the death of Geoffrey Hutchings.
The heyday of ITV sitcom (if not ITV in general) was the 1970s. Whatever people think of these old series now, ITV had a run of hit shows. Just some I remember:
All the various "Doctor" series
On The Buses
Tommy Cooper
Love Thy Neighbour
Not On Your Nellie
Please Sir
The Fenn Street Gang
George & Mildred
Man About The House
Get Some In
Carry On
Father Dear Father
Queenie's Castle
Bless This House
Yus My Dear
Nearest & Dearest
Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width
I'm sure there's more -- one about a foreign language school springs to mind.
It seems ITV began its long slow death in comedy, drama, telefantasy etc. in the 80s and never looked back. To be honest I rarely watch the channel. It's a pity their attempts to regain lost ground may very well leave them with a feeling of burned fingers.
Mrs Brown is funny, but I know a lot of people find that crude. Humour is very subjective after all.
I wouldn't say it is to do with being "crude", I love crude humour, especially when its got the potential to be really dark, like Nighty Night. Mrs Brown is just really lazy humour, I can see why people like it but I just can't abide it.
Miranda on the other hand, is something I feel I should hate but the fact it knows that its awful and a complete throwback to sitcoms of the 70s somehow makes it a bit more endearing.
The heyday of ITV sitcom (if not ITV in general) was the 1970s. Whatever people think of these old series now, ITV had a run of hit shows. Just some I remember:
All the various "Doctor" series
On The Buses
Tommy Cooper
Love Thy Neighbour
Not On Your Nellie
Please Sir
The Fenn Street Gang
George & Mildred
Man About The House
Get Some In
Carry On
Father Dear Father
Queenie's Castle
Bless This House
Yus My Dear
Nearest & Dearest
Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width
I'm sure there's more -- one about a foreign language school springs to mind.
It seems ITV began its long slow death in comedy, drama, telefantasy etc. in the 80s and never looked back. To be honest I rarely watch the channel. It's a pity their attempts to regain lost ground may very well leave them with a feeling of burned fingers.
some of these are the best sitcoms ever.in particular,love thy neighbour,on the buses,father dear father and the doctor series.i reckon that itv just edges the bbc with better sitcoms though the most famous ones are bbc.
Historically, the BBC was THE home of comedy. It had all the classics - Steptoe & Son, Python, Fawlty, Blackadder, Perrin, Porridge, Dibley, Dad's Army, Yes Minister, One Foot In the Grave, Ab Fab, Royle Family etc, etc.
What did ITV have? Rising Damp, at a stretch.
Of late the BBC has lost the plot completely. Part of this is down to independent production. Originally, it had such a vast comedy department (and would stick with shows that had a wobbly start), the minnow ITV companies could never compete. This advantage has been lost. The last half decent comedies it put out were both in house jobs (Thick of It and The Office).
It's current excuse for comedy output - Miranda, Not Going Out (dire), and various other small scale, inconsequential little shows is beyond pathetic. Post scandal BBC is a timid mouse in every regard - comedy included. C4 have actually made the most memorable comedy in recent years with Inbetweeners.
Terrible as Vicious was, The Job Lot was actually more amusing than anything the BBC can muster these days. And it has the delicious and gay Russell Tovey in it What a contrast with McKellen and Jacobi!
BIB: Everyone conveniently forgets, of course, that ITV Studios makes The Royle Familyfor the BBC. Buy, hey, don't let us allow facts to get in the way of a story, eh?
But if this thread proves anything, it's that tastes in comedy are so diverse. What one person finds funny, another will find dire. But no-one is right or wrong. Personally, once I'd adjusted to the deliberate theatricality of Vicious, I loved it and laughed all the way through. I didn't raise a smile once during The Job Lot.
The heyday of ITV sitcom (if not ITV in general) was the 1970s. Whatever people think of these old series now, ITV had a run of hit shows. Just some I remember:
All the various "Doctor" series
On The Buses
Tommy Cooper
Love Thy Neighbour
Not On Your Nellie
Please Sir
The Fenn Street Gang
George & Mildred
Man About The House
Get Some In
Carry On
Father Dear Father
Queenie's Castle
Bless This House
Yus My Dear
Nearest & Dearest
Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width
I'm sure there's more -- one about a foreign language school springs to mind.
It seems ITV began its long slow death in comedy, drama, telefantasy etc. in the 80s and never looked back. To be honest I rarely watch the channel. It's a pity their attempts to regain lost ground may very well leave them with a feeling of burned fingers.
My thoughts are that some of these are in my opinion comedies from hell that when watched now raise not so much a titter but a disbelieving cry of anguish. I think some of those maybe 60s comedies - certainly Never Mind The Quality is. The best of the 70s ITV comedies has been missed off that list - Rising Damp.
I enjoyed both of the new comedies. It s quite refreshing to see reasonably good comedies on the TV again. The BBC provided some good comedies in the dim and distant past - Dad's Army, Sykes, It Ain't Half Hot, Porridge, Are You Being Served and many more. Of those you list Miranda is dreadful, weak scripts bolstered up by loud canned laughter Yuk ! Not Going Out and Ab Fab are dreadful. Fawlty Towers is very good if a little eccentric. There hasn't been much good new comedy on the BBC for donkeys years
ITV many years ago gave us the brilliant Rising Damp, along with Nearest And Dearest, Brass, Home To Roost, Man About The House, George And Mildred and more but similarly haven't done much good comedy in years. That's why these two new ones are very welcome in my book.
No offence, but it sounds like comedy has moved to a different style (just compare Man About The House with Ab fab) and that you just don't like to change with it.
As a foreigner, I like most British comedies. From the older ones (Blackadder and even Man about the House) to the newer ones (Not Going Out, Outnumbered, The Office, The Thick of It and Peep Show). Even the little gems like Game On and Perfect World.
That said, I don't like many of the non-bbc comedies (The IT Crowd, Green Wing, The Inbetweeners; the last one probably goes over my head, as it is absolutely British and tough to get into as a foreigner).
The heyday of ITV sitcom (if not ITV in general) was the 1970s. Whatever people think of these old series now, ITV had a run of hit shows. Just some I remember:
All the various "Doctor" series
On The Buses
Love Thy Neighbour
Not On Your Nellie
Please Sir
The Fenn Street Gang
George & Mildred
Man About The House
Get Some In
Father Dear Father
Queenie's Castle
Bless This House
Yus My Dear
Nearest & Dearest
Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width
It seems ITV began its long slow death in comedy, drama, telefantasy etc. in the 80s and never looked back. To be honest I rarely watch the channel. It's a pity their attempts to regain lost ground may very well leave them with a feeling of burned fingers.
Most of these were made by Yorkshire, LWT and Thames, so (legendary) Entertainment executives like Paul Fox, Bryan Cowgill at Thames and Michael Grade at LWT were in charge of getting comedy on air.
Later on, Fox and Grade both joined the BBC in the 80's, and that was when the demise of ITV comedy began - with the nail in the coffin being the 1992 franchise round, and Carlton taking over.
In my opinion some of the best comedies of (Fairly!) recent years have been from Channel 4: Father Ted, IT Crowd, Spaced, Inbetweeners, Green Wing, and Black Books
In my opinion the best comedies of recent years tend to be on C4. The last great one being Friday Night Dinner which deserves to do so much better. BBC comedies are terrible for the most past. Having said that, I do love Mrs Brown.
Comments
And yes, the ITV one is Rising Damp.
Perhaps it's unfair to lump all the BBCs together, but even if you split them apart I figure ITV will still be last.
(Originally I thought ITV had 2, for some reason I thought To The Manor Born was an ITV show but Wiki says otherwise)
I think ITV should do more comedy drama as they have a good track record in that department but at least they are doing something other than soaps & crime dramas.
ITV also had Spitting Image and Man About the House. Whether we should mention the spin-off series is debatable, but since the bar has already been lowered to include Royle Family, then George & Mildred should be included, too.
And why were there so few ITV comedies in the poll? Being run by BBC2 might have something to do with it.
Also, it's not surprising that the BBC has lost the plot so far as comedy goes. A joke needs a target. That means someone or something gets to be the butt of the joke. You can't go having butts without that person, thing or group becoming the "victim". Since the BBC is scared of its own shadow, they'll never commission programmes that make fun of people (except for men and the elderly - always considered fair game). Hence all the unfunny comedy there is around these days.
BTW, if you want some really unfunny "comedy", look no further that Sky's home cooked rubbish.
But given the tiny amount of ITV comedies being mentioned in this thread I don't think it's too far off.
Personally I liked early series of Watching, The New Statesmen and for something a little more up to date (but cancelled) No Heroics which I thought showed promise.
[Again my memory betrayed me as I was going to put Chance in a Million, but it turns out that was Channel 4]
Not always consistent, but enough.
Did recently enjoy 'Not Going Out' on ITV but now they've axed that
ITV tended to do comedy/drams well like Minder and Aud Widershen. But of course BBC lead the way with Only Fools, Fawlty Towers, Porridge, Steptoe, Blackadder etc etc
Managed maybe one slight giggle when watching The Job Lot... that one was really bad..
Never thought I'd say it but I really enjoyed The Job Lot, a few niggles but i will watch again. Much better than Benidorm which has been dire since the death of Geoffrey Hutchings.
Is that the BBC1 series 6 continuing 9:30pm tomorrow night?
All the various "Doctor" series
On The Buses
Tommy Cooper
Love Thy Neighbour
Not On Your Nellie
Please Sir
The Fenn Street Gang
George & Mildred
Man About The House
Get Some In
Carry On
Father Dear Father
Queenie's Castle
Bless This House
Yus My Dear
Nearest & Dearest
Never Mind The Quality, Feel The Width
I'm sure there's more -- one about a foreign language school springs to mind.
It seems ITV began its long slow death in comedy, drama, telefantasy etc. in the 80s and never looked back. To be honest I rarely watch the channel. It's a pity their attempts to regain lost ground may very well leave them with a feeling of burned fingers.
I wouldn't say it is to do with being "crude", I love crude humour, especially when its got the potential to be really dark, like Nighty Night. Mrs Brown is just really lazy humour, I can see why people like it but I just can't abide it.
Miranda on the other hand, is something I feel I should hate but the fact it knows that its awful and a complete throwback to sitcoms of the 70s somehow makes it a bit more endearing.
some of these are the best sitcoms ever.in particular,love thy neighbour,on the buses,father dear father and the doctor series.i reckon that itv just edges the bbc with better sitcoms though the most famous ones are bbc.
BIB: Everyone conveniently forgets, of course, that ITV Studios makes The Royle Family for the BBC. Buy, hey, don't let us allow facts to get in the way of a story, eh?
But if this thread proves anything, it's that tastes in comedy are so diverse. What one person finds funny, another will find dire. But no-one is right or wrong. Personally, once I'd adjusted to the deliberate theatricality of Vicious, I loved it and laughed all the way through. I didn't raise a smile once during The Job Lot.
My thoughts are that some of these are in my opinion comedies from hell that when watched now raise not so much a titter but a disbelieving cry of anguish. I think some of those maybe 60s comedies - certainly Never Mind The Quality is. The best of the 70s ITV comedies has been missed off that list - Rising Damp.
No offence, but it sounds like comedy has moved to a different style (just compare Man About The House with Ab fab) and that you just don't like to change with it.
As a foreigner, I like most British comedies. From the older ones (Blackadder and even Man about the House) to the newer ones (Not Going Out, Outnumbered, The Office, The Thick of It and Peep Show). Even the little gems like Game On and Perfect World.
That said, I don't like many of the non-bbc comedies (The IT Crowd, Green Wing, The Inbetweeners; the last one probably goes over my head, as it is absolutely British and tough to get into as a foreigner).
Most of these were made by Yorkshire, LWT and Thames, so (legendary) Entertainment executives like Paul Fox, Bryan Cowgill at Thames and Michael Grade at LWT were in charge of getting comedy on air.
Later on, Fox and Grade both joined the BBC in the 80's, and that was when the demise of ITV comedy began - with the nail in the coffin being the 1992 franchise round, and Carlton taking over.
Originally, all the TV advertising budget went directly to the ITV companies and (for networked programming) supported just one channel.
Then they lost some revenue to C4.
Then they lost some revenue to C5.
Now they have to compete, not only with dozens of channels on TV but with the internet, as well.
No, the poster meant Great Night Out, obviously.
But to many others that list would be appalling too!