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President
Further to MK's thread about the state of comedy, I thought it might be good to discuss which comedy show was your favourite from the last decade.
Many of the choices speak for themselves; The Office was a critical smash over here and developed the fly-on-wall feel of Ianucci / Morris' early work earning it a place in the nation's hearts. Some regard the US Office as even better from series 2 onwards.
Over the pond, they spoiled us with modern classics. Curb your enthusiasm is generally regarded as having some of the strongest characterisation and plotting in comedy; Arrested Development was so densely packed with in-jokes and gags-per-minute it required multiple viewings to take it all in; Flight of the Conchords managed to do that rarest of things and combine comedy and music to great effect and animated shows finally outclassed The Simpsons - South Park went from strength to strength, decimating every topic and person in it's path and Futurama allowed the makers of The Simpsons more fun and flexibility with adult humour.
But that's not to say this isle didn't produce it's fair share of notable shows too. Early on in the decade we got two wonderfully observant series of Phoenix Nights to belly laugh at; Peep Show grew from a cult sleeper hit to launching several careers and numbering 6 series (Number 7 is in the works as we speak). The Thick Of It rejuvenated high brow, political drama and spawned the cracking In the loop. Graham Linehan followed the breakthrough Father Ted with the bleaker Black Books and flippant IT Crowd. There was also innovation too in the zany Green Wing, essentially an hour hour sketch show centering around a core set of themes and storytelling.
We ought to include the big hitters too - the shows which transcended age and became lucrative exports; for all the stick it gets now due to our Aunts loving it, Little Britain started off as wonderful throwaway fun. Likewise The Inbetweeners was viewed by some as a juvenile version of Peep Show, and as others as the UK's answer to those college American teen dramas.
And whilst they're not sitcoms so should probably be viewed differently, a special mention go out to Harry Hill's TV Burp and Have I Got News For You as both were excellent last decade.
So where does your vote go? Did I forget anything that you adored?
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These were a bit niche to include in a list of 15, but deserve a mention: Nighty Night, I'm Alan Partridge / Spaced / League of Gentlemen (both first series were 1999 so only series 2 onwards count), Time Trumpet, Garth Merenghi's Darkplace, Nathan Barley, Saxondale, Kath & Kim, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, 30 Rock, Malcolm in the Middle, Early Doors, Monkey Dust, Smoking Room, Outnumbered
- - - - - - - - - -
PS. Poll open for 2 weeks. You can vote for multiple shows but I ask that you all just vote for 3 each to keep it to your very favourites. Cheers
Many of the choices speak for themselves; The Office was a critical smash over here and developed the fly-on-wall feel of Ianucci / Morris' early work earning it a place in the nation's hearts. Some regard the US Office as even better from series 2 onwards.
Over the pond, they spoiled us with modern classics. Curb your enthusiasm is generally regarded as having some of the strongest characterisation and plotting in comedy; Arrested Development was so densely packed with in-jokes and gags-per-minute it required multiple viewings to take it all in; Flight of the Conchords managed to do that rarest of things and combine comedy and music to great effect and animated shows finally outclassed The Simpsons - South Park went from strength to strength, decimating every topic and person in it's path and Futurama allowed the makers of The Simpsons more fun and flexibility with adult humour.
But that's not to say this isle didn't produce it's fair share of notable shows too. Early on in the decade we got two wonderfully observant series of Phoenix Nights to belly laugh at; Peep Show grew from a cult sleeper hit to launching several careers and numbering 6 series (Number 7 is in the works as we speak). The Thick Of It rejuvenated high brow, political drama and spawned the cracking In the loop. Graham Linehan followed the breakthrough Father Ted with the bleaker Black Books and flippant IT Crowd. There was also innovation too in the zany Green Wing, essentially an hour hour sketch show centering around a core set of themes and storytelling.
We ought to include the big hitters too - the shows which transcended age and became lucrative exports; for all the stick it gets now due to our Aunts loving it, Little Britain started off as wonderful throwaway fun. Likewise The Inbetweeners was viewed by some as a juvenile version of Peep Show, and as others as the UK's answer to those college American teen dramas.
And whilst they're not sitcoms so should probably be viewed differently, a special mention go out to Harry Hill's TV Burp and Have I Got News For You as both were excellent last decade.
So where does your vote go? Did I forget anything that you adored?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
These were a bit niche to include in a list of 15, but deserve a mention: Nighty Night, I'm Alan Partridge / Spaced / League of Gentlemen (both first series were 1999 so only series 2 onwards count), Time Trumpet, Garth Merenghi's Darkplace, Nathan Barley, Saxondale, Kath & Kim, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, 30 Rock, Malcolm in the Middle, Early Doors, Monkey Dust, Smoking Room, Outnumbered
- - - - - - - - - -
PS. Poll open for 2 weeks. You can vote for multiple shows but I ask that you all just vote for 3 each to keep it to your very favourites. Cheers
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