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Gem

Gem

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I've got the week off work and so this morning I've had a chance to sample the delights of morning television and was chuffed to see that Channel 4 offers Everybody Loves Raymond & Frasier! For me they're two of the best sitcoms ever and it's a crying shame that they don't make them like this anymore. Anything else that has come after these shows ended has been rubbish, how Two and a Half Men got 9 odd seasons or whatever it was is astonishing.

Obviously I've focused on American ones but what are your favourite older sitcoms? Frasier is mine, I just can't see it ever being dethroned.

 
Frasier is great, always watch it if it's ever on TV.

With the passing of Rik Mayall I've been re-watching Bottom on Netflix and it still holds up well. 

To be honest I'll watch most things like Friends, Scrubs and just mong out for half an hour. 

 
I wouldn't call this an OLD sitcom, but Green Wing is absolutely hilarious - in fact I don;t even think I would call it a sitcom. 

 
moi said:
I wouldn't call this an OLD sitcom, but Green Wing is absolutely hilarious - in fact I don;t even think I would call it a sitcom. 
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It certainly isn't old but it's bloody fantastic!

Friends will always be the greatest. I just never "got" Fraser, or that awful Seinfeld. Perhaps I'm just simple.

 
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moi said:
I wouldn't call this an OLD sitcom, but Green Wing is absolutely hilarious - in fact I don;t even think I would call it a sitcom.
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Green wing is absolutely brilliant, massively underrated. Only problem with it is there wasn't enough episodes. Oh and mark heap is great on it, as he is on everything he's in.
 
And how could I forget Spaced? Though I don't know if you could call it a Sitcom. Mark Heap was brilliant in that as well. Fear. Anger. Pain.

 
moi said:
I wouldn't call this an OLD sitcom, but Green Wing is absolutely hilarious - in fact I don;t even think I would call it a sitcom. 
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Green Wing is brilliant. Will have to watch the DVDs. A few more I like. Not sure if old or sitcoms.

Taxi

Ripping Yarns

Fawlty Towers

Yes Minister/ Yes Prime Minister.

Bilko

Working in a Government Dept, Yes Minister/ Yes Prime Minister is so accurate. The scripts and  cast were brilliant. A couple of years ago, I went to see the stage version of Yes Prime Minister. Brilliant. One of the funniest things I've ever seen.

A slight aside, a couple of  classic sitcoms on radio - Hancock's Half Hour; The Navy Lark

 
Allo Allo and Seinfeld would be up there for me as my two favourites.

Edit: Good call on Yes, Minister. The Young Ones also do alright considering their age.

 
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^ Agreed about Yes Minister. Very witty and perceptive, and it holds up well, probably because government hasn't changed much in 30 years. David Cameron said he thought it was a comedy until he became Prime Minister, then he realised it was a documentary!

Porridge

Only Fools and Horses

Blackadder

 
Forgot Allo Allo Jonty, what a show that was. Still watch the boxsets.

 
Englishman said:
^ Agreed about Yes Minister. Very witty and perceptive, and it holds up well, probably because government hasn't changed much in 30 years. David Cameron said he thought it was a comedy until he became Prime Minister, then he realised it was a documentary!

Porridge

Only Fools and Horses

Blackadder
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I like your taste. I would add to that Faulty Towers, Citizen Smith, Cheers, Taxi.
 
The mentioning of Yes minister and Yes Prime minister reminds me of The Powers that be, with David Hyde Pierce, Peter MacNicol and Joseph Gordon-Levitt among others in brilliantly funny roles.

 
David Hyde Pierce is fantastic! He made Frasier for me.

Vicar of Dibley?  No, sorry, ChelseaGirl, I never have been able even to crack a smile at that!

Yes, Minister etc really clever.

 
Loved 3rd Rock from The Sun too, John Lithgow is hilarious, fantastic actor.

Most of my favourites are American ones but then I think I grew up with them in the mid-to-late 90s when all the good English ones were earlier.

 
Vicar of Dibley was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me.  Certainly not as clever as Yes Minister, which I absolutely love, but nevertheless charming and funny in a more homely way.  It probably helps living in a village and being on a village hall committee (yes, I know, you didn't put me down as a law-abiding committee type person, to be honest I'm not sure quite how and when I got roped into it) and some of the meetings have been very like the ones Geraldine had to sit through!  It is certainly better than a lot of sit-coms out there.

But alongside Yes Minister, I think Red Dwarf is another favourite not mentioned yet.  Again very clever but also very simple at times.  I'm obviously talking about the earlier series, the later one were a bit pony.

 
Red Dwarf - terrific - I have most of it on DVD.

I also loved Drop the Dead Donkey.

 
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