Funny how?

[The Curmudgeon]

Let's talk sitcoms.

It's strange that, given the time I've spent on this site and the amount of things we've all talked about, the world of comedy has very rarely (if ever) reared its head. We've talked horror movies, action movies, superhero movies - but never the genre that makes us laugh (intentionally).

Well, you know what? We're not going to talk about comedy movies today either. That's another topic for another day. Today's topic, boys and girls? Sitcoms.

I don't know why, but when the word sitcom pops up, I immediatly think of crass, unfunny, laboured garbage where, if its British, someone's trousers fall down just as their boss walks through the door, or if its American, the audience whoops and cheers as the star of the show enters the room. Either of which is not acceptable comedic fare in The Fortress Of Solitude.

Saying that, I've watched sitcoms for as long as I can remember. From old British standards like Dads Army amd Fawlty Towers to the more age-appropriate classics like Red Dwarf and Blackadder, to American powerhouses like Frasier and Friends. Sitcoms are good. Sitcoms are fun. Sitcoms are a world where problems arise and are solved in 30 minutes, with glib remarks and punchlines every two minutes, all met with the riotous applause from the studio audience (or good ol' canned laughter).

A few years ago, however, I couldn't name a decent sitcom if someone put a gun to my head. Blackadder was long gone, Red Dwarf had become as funny as being tied to a chair while someone swings a big rope at your genitals (thank YOU, Casino Royale) and all we had, from the UK, was dross like My Family and Two Packets Of Crisps and from the US screeching, loathsome garbage like Will And Grace, with only The Simpsons saving me from putting my foot through the television altogether.

Then something changed. Suddenly the word "sitcom" didn't neccesarily have an "h" as its second letter. Suddenly both the UK and the US were producing some high quality, laugh a minute stuff, with brilliant writing, superb acting and loveable, realistic characters. And seeminlgy the key to all of this? No laughing.

That's right - the cosy "set up, set up, punchline - laugh" world was gone, embraced by the likes of The Office, Scrubs, Arrested Development and (for the third series) The League Of Gentlemen. This wasn't your family friendly 8pm stuff though - some of the comedy coming out now was near the knuckle (Curb Your Enthusiam being a prime example). Put simply - sitcoms are cool again.

So here's my question for you all:

Favourite sitcom of all time AND favourite current sitcom.

The Curmudgeon's would have to be... hmmm.. Blackadder and Arrested Development. I've only seen the first season of it and I loved every minute of it.

Others....?

[Norman Bates]

I think Friends gets a bad rap. Sure, its warm and fuzzy and theres no real "meaning" to it - but its so well written and the pace and timing of every show is near flawless. Is there a better way to spend thirty minutes than watching Friends?

Well, apart from the obvious. Obviously.

I also love a show called Spaced (with the guy from Shawn Of The Dead) but I think thats finished now. The others that you mentioned Curmudgeon are all good too (I've never seen Curb Your Enthusiam though, I've heard its great).

So favourite of all time? Tough call. I'd say Cheers, I kinda grew up with that and I loved it (and it surely spawned the best spin-off ever with Frasier?).

At the moment? Hmmmmmm. Scrubs. I dread the day Zach Braff gets too big for that show....

[trashcanman]

Seinfeld, Seinfeld, SEINFELD!!! I loved every episode of it; even the much-maligned finale. God, Curmudgeon, if you could only see the full amount of complete sitcom crap we get in America. "Will and Grace", like "Ellen", was a damned funny show until the day they decided to make it into a big political statement. "Hey, look everyone, they're totally gay and all they ever talk about is how gay they are and they clean up at all of the awards shows and stay on the air for years after everyone who isn't gay stops watching! Aren't we striking a big blow for gay rights by shoving it down everyone's throats?" Maybe so, but it doesn't make for a very good sitcom premise. Furthermore, every half-assed comedian, rapper, or niche celebrity gets their own sitcom these days. Redman and Method Man, Jeff Foxworthy, George Lopez, Queen Latifa, Reba McEntire, and that's just a few off the top of my head. Laugh tracks have become so bad that I'll often turn a show off the instant I hear one. As if I need fake laughter dubbed over the (usually) horribly unfunny jokes so that I know it's okay for me to laugh, too. "Arrested Development" is the only recent non-animated sitcom I've watched lately. That episode with the magician who comes onstage to the epic strains of "The Final Countdown" is as classic as they come.

[The Curmudgeon]

You know, I've yet to actually SEE an episode of Seinfeld (the knuckleheaded TV bosses in the UK probably didn't think it would be a hit), but the reaction people have who have seen it is pretty much the same as yours. Man, I'm gonna have to hunt that show down on DVD.

I love the fact that if you say you don't like Will And Grace, people AUTOMATICALLY assume its because the main characters are gay, and that you must be some knee-jerk reactionary homophobe because you don't sit and guffaw at how funny all those wacky homosexuals are.

I don't care WHO the people are. I don't care WHAT the people do to each other. It just has to be funny. And, for me, Will & Grace was anything but.

A Redman and Method Man sitcom? Jesus, how bad must that be??

[hackersanonymous]

Hello, all..

Right, that's this fine establishment and my DVD Review magazine both saying the same thing - namely that it's almost criminal how few people have heard of, let alone watched, Arrested Development..

I feel I must investigate.. And yet, it seems I can't unless I buy it on DVD.. Surely there must be space for it somewhere on the 1000001 channels on Satellite TV here in the UK?

Anyhoo...

You know - I was just having this discussion with my fiancee the other day where several of our TV channels broadcast brand new "home-made" (as in, not US imported) sitcoms... And - shock - they didn't make me want to eat my own vomit in preference to watching them again..

Whether this frightening new trend continues is up for debate. After all, we all need our reality TV shows right?

But I digress..

Favourite sitcom? Lawks, that's a tricky one... Can I cheat slightly, and just list some of my favourites ? (Oh, go on then. Ed)..


* Fawlty Towers
* Red Dwarf (1-6, natch).
* The Office
* BlackAdder (all series)
* The Young Ones
* Dad's Army
* Scrubs
* Cheers
* Frasier (up until the point where every episode was a French Farce. Oh, and where the inevitable happened).
* Spaced
* Will and Grace.. Ahem - just kidding. A genuinely wretched, WRETCHED show. And, yes, Curmudgeon - I go with the "if you don't laugh at this, you must be a bigot" garbage hurled at anyone who had the neck to point out that it wasn't funny. Ditto for a TV show called Goodness Gracious Me, where if you didn't find it funny, you were a racist (no, I just happened to be discerning enough to know that this show just wasn't funny)


That'll do for now, I think. Bed is calling.

Toodles!

[Ben]

I have to agree with Trashcanman. SEINFELD!!! Curmudgeon, track down a season of that one fast.

As for current favorites, I really don't watch enough TV to know of any good sitcoms. I've heard Friends is good but I've really only seen a few episodes. And I will watch the occasional According to Jim episode, but that show has gone sour as of late.

Oh, and if The Simpsons counts as a sitcom, I'm all over that one.

[The Curmudgeon]

Thanks for the votes, guys. Another big nod for Seinfeld I see. It's getting closer and closer to my "Essentials" list..

Hacker - Oh man, "Goodness Gracious Me". Look - they're ethnics! Saying things that WE say ethnics say! Acting the way WE say ethnics act! How brave and post-modern and knowing and ironic. And deeply, darkly shit.

The Simpson's is a tough show to call. In recent polls its topped best sitcom AND best cartoon. So what is it?

I'd be happy to give it its real title: Best TV Show - Ever.

[Norman Bates]

Hackersanonymous - that happens to me all the time. A TV show (not nec. a sitcom) will be in all the magazines and will be that month's red hot water cooler discussion show, and I'll still be asking "so....... what about that Niles and Daphne?"

[The Curmudgeon]

Same here, man. I think I miss the boat on most things, and it means having to catch up on something through DVD whilst ignoring the internet 'cos I don't want to find out what happens later on.

Happened with 24, House, Arrested Development, Curb.. the list goes on. And yet the shows I DO watch from the start tend to be dogshit that gets cancelled after one series. Such is life.

[trashcanman]

So freakin' true. I skip out on shows all the time assuming they won't make it or won't be good("Battlestar Galactica" for one) only to find myself left behind three seasons later. However, I can proudly proclaim myself a Simpsons fan since episode one so score one for me.

[The Curmudgeon]

Cool. I got into the Simpson's in (I think) Season three. My friend had them all on video so far and I just sat and watched them all in a row. They weren't in any order though so it was always weird hearing Homer's dodgy voice in the first episodes, not to mention the crappy animation.

Still, Season 18(!) and still going strong. Roll on THAT movie.