Your top 3 Best/Worst sitcoms of all time

gmisk

El Tarangu wrote: »

How in the name of sweet suffering Jesus did that get commissioned for 6 seasons - it was the least funny thing I ever came across.



I was very young when this was on television - I remember googling it years later to be sure I hadn't imagined it; it was the strangest premise for a sitcom.

Well the BBC gave "my family" 11 seasons....11!

rubadub

gmisk wrote: »

Well the BBC gave "my family" 11 seasons....11!

A lot of these very tame family shows did well.

I remember having to watch "keeping up appearances" as the mother watched it, but it was pretty good! Onslow was brilliant. But it was probably not tame enough for some families.

While muck like Last of the summer wine would also be a family one that got good ratings, or Dads army.

Goodnight sweetheart was amazingly bad. I only had 2 channels in the bedroom but jaysus, I could not watch it. The real question is what sitcom would you not watch if stuck on a desert island with only it to watch.

pajosjunkbox

Best :
Curb .....pretty, pretty, pretty good
Peep show.... Crunchy nut cornflakes are just frosties for w**nkers !
The Royal family / Malcom in the middle ( Great kids show..reminds me of my childhood )

Worst :
Mrs Browns Boys
Any bland American rubbish

pajosjunkbox

While we are at it.....can we just take a minute to recognise the immense contribution these have made to what is normally a fairly bland offering on TV.....

Larry David

Jez, Superhands and Mark

Jim Royal and Dave, Denise, Barbara, Twiggy and Sheryl

Del boy, Rodney, Trigger

Malcolm's Mother Lois , father Hal and brothers Reece etc

Capt'n Midnight

Montage of Feck wrote: »

Old school bbc sitcoms where the best. One foot in the grave being my particular favourite.

One Foot was good because it wasn't old school. It was like the anti-Terry and June

There were lots of completely predictable and forgettable generic sit-coms back then.


Good
Yes Minister. doesn't really count as it's a documentary / training manual
Frasier
Red dwarf

Overrated. Way too many
Friends and The Big Bang Theory - basically they are the same show
Dads Army
The Vicar of Dibley

Lily_Aldrin7

Best:
How I met your mother
The Big Bang Theory
Friends

Worst:
Two and a half men
Married with children
Allo Allo

walshb

Best? 1st 4 seasons Friends, and mainly due to Chandler

Hale and Pace

Little Britain.

Royle Family.

Worst: Mrs. Browns Boys (actually the worst programme of any kind anywhere in history).

Mr. Bean: Utter Sh1t

Big Bang Theory....god save us...

Most overrated, Only fools and horses...

seanmaol

Best.
Mash
Auf Wiedersehen Pet
Rab C Nesbitt

Worst.
Full house
The big bang theory
IT Crowd

Tunsil

Frasier, Community, Parks & Rec for best. I don't have any that I think are terrible except for 2 & 1/2 men. How that garbage got popular is beyond me.

angel eyes 2012

Best: Ofah, US Office, Phoenix Nights

Also love Inbetweeners, South Park, Malcolm in the Middle, Bread and Bottom

Worst: all Irish efforts apart from Paths to Freedom. Friends after series 4 was terrible.

Mick McGraw

Best: Frasier, Simpsons, Only Fools and Horses , those are the 3 I can watch again and again and not get tired of.


Frasier and OFAH although well written (Frasier in particular) are examples that great performances and acting are extremely important in a sitcom, I know the jokes are coming from a mile off now so the surprise elements is well gone but the brilliant comedic acting in delivering the joke always gets you to laugh.

Morgans

Have watched Alan partridge to death ever since knowing me knowing you and the best series is mid morning matters. I won't hear of any dissent. Better and better every time you watch it.

Best conventional sitcom is parks and rec s2-4. The best written program ever might have been The Royal Family (everything as far as the queen of Sheba).

debok

Always sunny in Philadelphia
Early doors
Curb your enthusiasm

Worst
Basically anything that needs canned laughter to tell you when there was a joke .

Anesthetize

Best:
Black Books
Arrested Development
Fawlty Towers

Worst:
Mrs. Brown's Boys
Upwardly Mobile
The Big Bang Theory

Harry Palmr

Another three forgotten gems

Brass
Hot Metal
The New Statesman.

All from when ITV actually had some pedigree in commissioning sitcoms.

Joe_ Public

A couple of my favourites dont know if got a mention yet but should be up there imo.

Phil Silvers Show
Larry Sanders
Veep (love thick of it but veep is slicker, better plotted)

Also loved bob newhart as a kid but not sure how well it holds up now. And Selwyn Froggatt!

KathleenGrant

Best
1. Fawlty Towers
2. Only Fools and Horses
3. Friends

Worst
1. Mrs. Brown's Boys
THAT IS ALL

CastorTroy

Best:
Police Squad
Bottom
Father Ted

Worst: (based on only watching/attempting to watch one episode so guess I can't really judge)
Big Bang Theory
Two and a Half Men
Days Like These (For anyone who doesn't know, this was a British remake of That 70s Show)

bogmanfan

Best
Seinfeld
30 Rock
Only Fools & Horses

Worst
Last of the Summer Wine
Killinaskully
Derry Girls

Manic Moran

Yes, Minister, Prime Minister
Fawlty towers
Father Ted, why not?

Honorable Mention: My Big Fat Greek Life. Little-known follow-on from the movie, lasted half a season. I gave a copy of the series to my parents (My dad married a Greek woman) because the show's as much a documentary as Yes Minister is. Seriously, just like the movie. Dead nuts accurate.

Worst.
Dunno. They're bad so I don't watch 'em.
Though there has to be an honorable mention for "Heil Honey, I'm home"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heil_Honey_I%27m_Home!
Premise: The home life of a German couple in 1938, named Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, and their neighbours, Arny and Rosa Goldenstein.
In fairness, the show was actually taking aim at the sitcom industry, but still...

Exclamation Marc

Best: Scrubs, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Father Ted
Worst: Joey, Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement

Scrubs for me was just incredible and I still rewatch it (awkward disavowed last season aside).Brooklyn Nine Nine and Father Ted never disappoint. Modern Family has largely been brilliant throughout (with the odd meh episode here and there) and was close to my top ones as was Friends and Parks and Rec.

Joey was brutal, made worse by the expectations coming off Friends.. The Big Bang Theory I just find mind numbingly boring. I don't hate it, I just find it bewilderingly unfunny and even as someone somewhat nerdy, just found it so boring and pointless. Rules of Engagement just baffled me how it ran for so long. Wildly unlikeable characters and forgettable storylines.

smilerf

Best
Allo Allo
The Brittas Empire
Everybody Loves Raymond

Worst
Vicar Of Dibley
Watching
2 point 4 children

Sminkypinky

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Another three forgotten gems

Brass
Hot Metal
The New Statesman.

All from when ITV actually had some pedigree in commissioning sitcoms.

Yes, they were brilliant and I have them all on DVD.

As an aside, a lot of people are voting for 'Friends' as a top sitcom.

I found it about as funny as having the car break down on a wet day.

Edit: and Big Bang Theory was even worse. Arse-numbingly unfunny.

gmisk

I was tempted to put nighty night in my top 3....it is genuinely bonkers and insane but I found it hilarious. It went even more so in the second series. But I don't know if you can even classify it as a sitcom.

storker

Rodin wrote: »

Interesting that Scrubs isn't mentioned in either category

Scrubs could be in both. The first x seasons were excellent, then I remember a new season starting and the nosedive in the writing quality was really obvious.

KungPao

Scrubs is one that dropped down the charts for me. Quite enjoyed it at the time, but my god those constant cutaways were irritating and the sound effects that accompanied them made it worse. No interest in seeing an episode again. Awful theme tune too.

My tops judged on how I can rewatch and never tire of:

Only Fools and Horses
I’m Alan Partridge
Seinfeld.

Mentions for Curb, Blackadder, UK office, Fawlty Towers (Basil is my hero).

Cyrus

some great shouts here, personally my favourites are:

The office UK, Veep (anyone who hasnt seen this get on board), Life in pieces (Ditto) Dan Bakkeddahl is in both funny man, modern family, peep show and inbetweeners (honorable mention for Silicone Valley)

I dont like anything with cannned laughter generally and never got two and a half men or Big Bang

justshane

Best
Fr.Ted,
The Inbetweeners,
Curb your enthusiasm

Worst
Mrs Browns Boys,
Friends,
The Big Bang theory

El Tarangu

Anesthetize wrote: »

Worst:
Mrs. Brown's Boys
Upwardly Mobile
The Big Bang Theory

Point of note about this show: Robbie Doolin, the actor who played the tubby neighbour with the goatee, was a member of the Real IRA, and had paramilitary-style funeral when he died.

storker

Best:
Frasier
Yes Minister/Prime Minister
Fawlty Towers

Worst:
So Haunt Me
Mixed Blessings
Two and a Half Men