Battle of....US vs UK sitcoms

[MK Shrimper]

The only thing that irritated me about Frasier was Daphne Moon's family. :angry:

 

[Uncle Leo]

Fraserburgh is very witty in parts but the farce bits really irritate me.

The lighthouse museum is lovely though.

 

[RHB]

Comedy is different things to different people. Some American series make me smile a bit and some leave me cold and switching off. British comedy series make me laugh out loud because they touch my sense of humour so it really does have to be the UK for me. How many successful UK comedy series have coverted to American clones? - quite a few, I think. As for American ones converting for the UK, I can't think of one off the top of my head.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

You're joking right? Half of it is almost farce in its direction. Check out the Ski Lodge for example or The Matchmaker, or the Botched Language of the Cranes or Daphne's Room etc etc.

Admittedly there is some slapstick but there is also a lot of humour you need to think about, lots of word play

 

[Napster]

Comedy is different things to different people. Some American series make me smile a bit and some leave me cold and switching off. British comedy series make me laugh out loud because they touch my sense of humour so it really does have to be the UK for me. How many successful UK comedy series have covered to American clones? - quite a few, I think. As for
American ones converting for the UK, I can't think of one of the top of my head.

I can only name the Office.

 

[Napster]

The only thing that irritated me about Frasier was Daphne Moon's family. :angry:

granted, that was a low point.

 

[MK Shrimper]

I can only name the Office.

Til Death do us Part became Archie Bunker.

 

[Ricky Otto]

I can only name the Office.

Theres are quite a few, Charlie Brooker did a piece on his screenwipe years ago. I can only remember a couple:

Steptoe and son - Sanford and son
Death us do part - All in the family

There was a theme that converting UK to US worked but the attempts the other way were all disasters, only example I remember was the golden girls becoming brighton belles? (exactly)

Personally the only US Sitcom I can say I love is flight of the conchords and that is written and acted by 2 kiwis. UK all the way.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Some here....though note sure Veep is a spin off of In The Thick Of It....

http://www.bbcamerica.com/shows//blog/2015/01/5-classic-american-sitcoms-british-first

 

[Napster]

Personally the only US Sitcom I can say I love is flight of the conchords and that is written and acted by 2 kiwis. UK all the way.

and was started on the BBC, so it was a UK comedy to start. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_of_the_Conchords

 

[RHB]

I can only name the Office.

Here's a few more, and I'm sure there are others:

Absolutely Fabulous
Da Ali G Show
Are You Being Served?
Birds of a Feather
Cold Feet
Dad's Army
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Fawlty Towers
Gavin & Stacey
George and Mildred
Little Britain
Love Thy Neighbour
Man About The House
Men Behaving Badly
Not the Nine O'Clock News
On the Buses
One Foot in the Grave
Outnumbered
Porridge
Red Dwarf
Robin's Nest
Spitting Image
Steptoe and Son
Till Death Us Do Part
The Vicar of Dibley
The Young Ones

 

[Napster]

Here's a few more, and I'm sure there are others:

Absolutely Fabulous
Da Ali G Show
Are You Being Served?
Birds of a Feather
Cold Feet
Dad's Army
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
Fawlty Towers
Gavin & Stacey
George and Mildred
Little Britain
Love Thy Neighbour
Man About The House
Men Behaving Badly
Not the Nine O'Clock News
On the Buses
One Foot in the Grave
Outnumbered
Porridge
Red Dwarf
Robin's Nest
Spitting Image
Steptoe and Son
Till Death Us Do Part
The Vicar of Dibley
The Young Ones

erm how many of those were successes? anyone can cut and paste a wikipedia list.

 

[RHB]

erm how many of those were successes? anyone can cut and paste a wikipedia list.

And I'm no exception to that. If they couldn't then there wouldn't be much in the way of lists on here. As to whether they were successes, you would have to ask the US Broadcasters, but that wasn't the point of my original post.

 

[Shrimpers are Magic]

The only thing that irritated me about Frasier was Daphne Moon's family. :angry:

It was long past it's sell by date by then.

 

[Shrimpers are Magic]

You would never get anything in the US like The League of Gentlemen or Phoenix Nights which are both works of genius in very different ways. I have already mentioned Seinfeld and Cheers which have stood the test of time - Seinfeld was a funny one in the way that the character the show is named after is by far the least funny of the lot - it's the others that make the show funny.
Can someone tell me what is funny about Everyone Loves Raymond or even worse, Two and a half Men which has the rather nauseating fat brat singing in the titles? Been to funnier funerals.

 

[OldBlueLady]

I detest modern American comedy shows which are all so much more concentrated on the "me, me, me" focus. go back in time to classics like "Soap" & "Cheers", and you will find pure genius. Stuff like "The Middle" is just bilge in comparison.

British comedy transcends time in the way it evolves. Look back to things like Dads Army, then progress through OFAH, Fawlty Towers, and The Liver Birds, to Hi-di-hi, Are you being served etc and on, again to dinnerladies, Vicar of Dibley etc. Even *shudder* The Office has a place in there.

 

[MK Shrimper]

I detest modern American comedy shows which are all so much more concentrated on the "me, me, me" focus.

Nonsense. Parks & Recreation, wonderful show that is all about warmth.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

How about Bluestone 42, great series with scripts and characters of real genius; the shame of it is that so many of these "modern" sitcoms are not on the main channels where as expensive USA stuff gets prime spots as it is un thought provoking and too often sickly sweet.

 

[EastStandBlue]

British comedy transcends time in the way it evolves.

Alright, wind it in Ebert.


There might've been a time that the UK was the chief producer of leading comedy, but sadly those days are long gone. I can't remember the last time a British comedy grabbed me anywhere near as much as Parks & Rec, Community, Master of None etc. Even the US Office ended up being superior to the UK original.

 

[RHB]

Alright, wind it in Ebert.


There might've been a time that the UK was the chief producer of leading comedy, but sadly those days are long gone. I can't remember the last time a British comedy grabbed me anywhere near as much as Parks & Rec, Community, Master of None etc. Even the US Office ended up being superior to the UK original.

You were doing ok(ish) until the last bit, where total and utter bollox swept into your post. The entire UK Office series and Christmas special were masterpieces of cringy, watch through your fingers, comedy.