It depends what your looking for. You got great American sitcoms like Scrubs and Big Bang Theory, and great British ones like IT Crowd and That Mitchell and Webb Look.
Poll: British Sitcoms vs American Sitcoms
- Thread starter JWRosser
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I went with the US and I'm a Brit.
The quality of writing here is so dreadfully dire over this side of the pond. Sure we get the occasional miracle of things like Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses and The Office, but compared to the amount of utter tripe (I'll use Gavin and Stacy as a fine example of this) we have, it's a drop in the ocean.
I realise of course that there is a lot of shit in the US that we Brits never see but you guys also get quite a few quality comedy programmes, not least of all Seinfeld, Scrubs and Curb Your Enthusiasm. All show amazing writing quality and frankly, it's a quality out of reach of most British shows.
The quality of writing here is so dreadfully dire over this side of the pond. Sure we get the occasional miracle of things like Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses and The Office, but compared to the amount of utter tripe (I'll use Gavin and Stacy as a fine example of this) we have, it's a drop in the ocean.
I realise of course that there is a lot of shit in the US that we Brits never see but you guys also get quite a few quality comedy programmes, not least of all Seinfeld, Scrubs and Curb Your Enthusiasm. All show amazing writing quality and frankly, it's a quality out of reach of most British shows.
British, because American comedy, with a handful of very notable exceptions, is dreadful. I can, and have, sat through an episode of Friends without laughing. I only had to hold it in twice. Everything is too obvious and predictable.
You sir, are a very wise man.Jace1709 said:
British comedy on the whole has been in decline for some time. The last truly good thing us brits done was probs Spaced which was, by all accounts, AWESOMENESS! The Office never really done anything for me and the IT Crowd is only amusing to me if i am drunk or stoned or both and even then its only mild laughter.
Agreed. I'm not much of a fan of sitsoms in general but Two and a Half Men is bad, really really bad.Jonesy911 said:arc1991 said:Outright Villainy said:
O_O tell me he di...did he just?
Ooh hell no *****!
2 and a half men is the most notoriously awful sitcom in america, where've you been?
I love my British sitcoms, not just because I'm British but because they require thought, I mean America has some fantsstic ones like M*A*S*H and Police Squad but up against the likes of Father Ted, Blackadder, Black Books, Red Dwarf, Dad's Army, 'Allo 'Allo, The Young Ones and so many many more the American ones don't stand a chance. Then again most modern British sitcoms and American all seem like crap to me.
i agree. i once watched a couple episodes of 2 1/2 XY Chromosomes and found it to be thus:Outright Villainy said:
-canned laughter bought from joke shop in crates
-[boy] is corrupted by bad role model.
-[guy] has sex with women
-[other guy] doesnt have sex with women
-[other guy] meets [woman] he wants to have sex with
-[guy] has sex with [woman]
-[other guy] pissed
-[woman] leaves
-huggy touchy feely time
-apologies
-[guy] is unrepentant/makes a joke about [other guy]
-end
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This is not a random hitting of keys
Don't forget:The Cheezy One said:
-[maid] makes wisecracks all the time, when in any other situation in real life she'd be fired years ago.
God, I hate that show...
Great topic. I'm an American and I can say that I'm a pretty serious aficionado of good comedy television. I also have to say that I can't pick between UK and US sitcoms. They both have different characteristics. British wit tends to be more dry and engages in more clever wordplay than American sitcoms. I generally enjoy a lot of the storylines that US writers manage to create. I think the bottom line is that I'm VERY grateful to have the Mother Tongue as my native language. There is no other language on earth that allows for the kind of multi-layered wordplay afforded by our English language. If I may be permitted, here's a breakdown of my favorite US and UK sitcoms:
US.
-Frasier
-Everybody Loves Raymond
-Seinfeld
-Cheers (the first four seasons)
-The Simpsons
-South Park (very regional, but some excellent satire!)
-The Office (US)
UK,
-Top Gear (ok, it's not a sitcom, but it's hilarious, I'm a gearhead, and it may be the best thing on tv)
-The IT Crowd
-Saxondale (I'm a 50ish musician. It's funny and it hurts.)
-Little Britain
-That Mitchell and Webb Look
-Peep Show
-Black Adder
Again, thanks from across the pond for giving us this infinitely rich language and such brilliant programmes (had to do it) to showcase it.
US.
-Frasier
-Everybody Loves Raymond
-Seinfeld
-Cheers (the first four seasons)
-The Simpsons
-South Park (very regional, but some excellent satire!)
-The Office (US)
UK,
-Top Gear (ok, it's not a sitcom, but it's hilarious, I'm a gearhead, and it may be the best thing on tv)
-The IT Crowd
-Saxondale (I'm a 50ish musician. It's funny and it hurts.)
-Little Britain
-That Mitchell and Webb Look
-Peep Show
-Black Adder
Again, thanks from across the pond for giving us this infinitely rich language and such brilliant programmes (had to do it) to showcase it.
That ^captaincabbage said:
Stop it. Like what you like and dislike what you dislike. What's with all the American vs British sitcoms anyway? Both have great ones and horrible ones.