And the award for best sitcom of the 21st Century goes to

[ckn]

Mrs Brown's Boys.

 

Really.  How very 2016 of the public to decide to make a farcical decision.

 

2016 really is just a big year-long April Fool joke.

[JohnM]

Mrs Brown’s Boys has failed to wow critics and has been described as the worst sitcom ever made

 

I know, I know....people just don't know what's good for them, what they should like and what they shouldn't like. 

 

Mind you, don't know what the great unwashed will make of this: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/aug/05/fleabag-a-hilarious-sitcom-about-terrible-people-and-broken-lives

[Phil]

Mrs Brown’s Boys has failed to wow critics and has been described as the worst sitcom ever made

I know, I know....people just don't know what's good for them, what they should like and what they shouldn't like.

Mind you, don't know what the great unwashed will make of this: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/aug/05/fleabag-a-hilarious-sitcom-about-terrible-people-and-broken-lives

I for one like Mrs Browns Boys

[chuffer]

 

Mind you, don't know what the great unwashed will make of this: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/aug/05/fleabag-a-hilarious-sitcom-about-terrible-people-and-broken-lives

 

Are they only just starting to broadcast it now in Wigan then? Been on for a few wks apparently

[getdownmonkeyman]

Black Books twelfth! What a crock.

[Bedford Roughyed]

[JohnM]

Are they only just starting to broadcast it now in Wigan then? Been on for a few wks apparently

Best ask that question of someone in Wigan.

[heartofGold]

Cannot abide Mrs Browns Boys.  I have tried but really dont get it.  I have only watched three others from the list.  Gavin & Stacey (mildly amused), The Office (quite liked that but not in a laugh out loud way) and Car Share which I really enjoyed but for more than just the humour itself, loved the poignancy of it.  So that's the girly response out of the way

[C H Calthrop]

Life's too short is bloody good. An interesting an innovative situation comedy and not on the list.

[JohnM]

I for one like Mrs Browns Boys

Me too. Tears of laughter!

Our local am-dram group gave several performances last Christmas and not only did Brendan give permission, he made a financial contribution to the production.

[getdownmonkeyman]

Regardless of what you think about the list, none of them can hold a candle to the likes of Porridge, Open all Hours and Only Fools and Horses.

[Dave T]

Regardless of what you think about the list, none of them can hold a candle to the likes of Porridge, Open all Hours and Only Fools and Horses.

im not so sure. I suspect some of those shows would be dismissed via snobby attitudes if they were around nowadays. When i watch some of the so called classics the humour is similar to the likes of Mrs Brown and Benidorm.

I enjoy a wide range of comedy, Mrs Brown has its place and as a heartwarming silly Christmas day watch it is a suitable replacement for Only Fools or similar. People love Del Boy falling through the bar but it is just slapstick like we see in loads of shows.

The Thick of It had the sharpest writing of anything I have seen for years and can certainly hold it's head high in comparison with the 'classics' imho.

[Hornetto]

Mrs Brown’s Boys has failed to wow critics and has been described as the worst sitcom ever made

 

I know, I know....people just don't know what's good for them, what they should like and what they shouldn't like. 

 

Mind you, don't know what the great unwashed will make of this: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/aug/05/fleabag-a-hilarious-sitcom-about-terrible-people-and-broken-lives

 

Fleabag is brilliant. Barely comedy - deep pathos - but compelling.

 

Mrs Brown's Boys - just dreck.

[Futtocks]

Regardless of what you think about the list, none of them can hold a candle to the likes of Porridge, Open all Hours and Only Fools and Horses.

The dialogue in Porridge was fantastic, as was the cast. It could rescue the occasional humdrum plot.

 

Open all Hours is a show I've barely seen, for some reason, while OFAH was good until the later years, when it got too self-indulgent. 

 

Mrs Brown's Boys isn't for me, I'm afraid.

[Bleep1673]

OK, My Opinion.

 

Mrs Brown's Boys is by far the most hilarious of the lot, the live episode was so full of tension, it was surely amazing.

The Office is over rated and Ricky Gervais should give his fees back to the BBC

Car Share? Anywhere near the best 500? Rubbish. Peter Kay is useless, even in Phoenix Nights.

Gavin & Stacey is borderline rascist against the Welsh.

Peep Show and 2012/W1A are huge hits because they play on Londons ability to have no qualmes about the idiots who run major companies, a bit like Yes Minister/Prime Minister.

Benidorm was embarrassing, a bunch of broke northern comedians trying hard to push their pension pot.

 

The rest I haven't seen.

 

People have mentioned Porridge or OFAH, Likely Lads, Father Ted & Open All Hours (Although Yorkshire might still seem like 19th C.), they are all made in the 20th C.

[Trojan]

If we're talking British Sitcoms, for me The Office wins hands down.   I used to work with a bloke like Brent, he didn't think the Office was funny. TBH I didn't watch when it was first on because I thought it was a genuine documentary. It was only when I heard these lines:

 

Brent "Well it's good news and bad news"

Staff  "What's the bad news?"

Brent "There'll be some redundancies"

Staff "What's the good news?"

Brent "I've been promoted!"

 

That I realised it was a spoof.

[Futtocks]

Black Books is wonderful, in the worst possible way.

 

From the rest of the list, I enjoyed:

Outnumbered. Not all the time, but the good episodes were great.

 

Peter Kay's Car Share was a gentle, very minutely-observed comedy that rewards at least a second viewing.

 

Miranda. Maybe it's because I have met a few Miranda-type characters and, more particularly, one woman who makes Miranda's mother look like a watered-down version of the appalling reality. "Such fun!"

 

The Inbetweeners. For some reason, I never saw many episodes of this, but it did make me laugh an especially filthy laugh.

 

W1A was a beautiful skewering of a Beeb, paralysed by the relentless Murdoch/Rothermere/Sullivan/etc. assaults and determined not to commit to anything. Every executive starts every response with "Yes, no...".

 

Detectorists was a wonderfully downbeat, laconic and low-key comedy, although the Christmas special was pants.

[Phil]

I'd forgotten the inbetweeners, fantastic

[GeordieSaint]

I'd forgotten the inbetweeners, fantastic

My second choice behind Pheonix Nights.

[JohnM]

And the winner is.......

The Labour Party Leadership Election...

[Wiltshire Rhino]

The Royle Family up to and including The Queen of Sheba.

[Dave T]

The Royle Family up to and including The Queen of Sheba.

the Queen of Sheba, despite getting very slightly silly was one of the finest comedy episodes i have seen, and not for being particularly funny. Poor Nanna.

[Derwent]

I see the BBC are making a one-off special of Are You Being Served. What's the point ? In today's BBC they will sanitise it down to the point of being unrecognisable, I don't see how it can possibly work without somebody getting offended on behalf of others.

[Derwent]

I think you're right but the cast at least look pretty good (visually at least)

Not sure if there'll be any 'woofter' type jokes though. (Probably a good thing)

 

That's the point, there shouldn't be any "woofter" jokes but without them then what's the point of Mr Humphreys ? It was a sitcom based around the character traits of the staff, and if you can't reprise those traits for fear of causing offence then it seems pointless. A bit like the Dads Army film, which was utter rubbish.

[Griff9of13]

The BBC are not just reviving Are you Being Served but also Porridge, Till Death Us Do Part, Goodnight Sweetheart, Hancock’s Half Hour and Steptoe and Son. The latter two are remakes of original shows that have been lost from the archives I believe.

 

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