In the interest of occasionally blogging about something other than Doctor Who, I present my first blog in a mini-series of posts about my favourite elements of different areas of popular culture. Here is my first entry, a little breakdown of some of my favourite sitcoms. It is by no means a definitive list as to list all the shows I enjoy would take up pages and pages. It is just a small selection of the shows that are still making me laugh today. Let me know what you think.
Black Books
Specifically the first series of the Channel 4 comedy show. That’s not to say that the final two series are bad because they are anything but. Series one though is absolutely sensational before comedy genius Graham Linehan’s (much more of him coming soon) involvement in the show lessened. The writing is superb, Dylan Moran is wonderfully bleak and Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig are equally outstanding as Manny and Fran. My highlight of the first series is Episode 4 ‘The Blackout’, chiefly for Bailey’s performance as after spending all night drinking Expresso and watching The Sweeney, Manny ends up chasing a thief and being mistaken by the police for a real detective.
Father Ted
The aforementioned Graham Linehan’s breakthrough show alongside writing partner Arthur Mathews. I have seen every Father Ted episode so many times that I can quote almost all of it and yet it makes me laugh every single time. Christmas isn’t christmas without seeing the priests stuck in the lingerie section of a department store and there are so many brilliant moments, not least the first episode of the final series when Ted accidentally insults a chinese family and is labelled a racist. The wonderful comedian Stewart Lee described the moment in that particular episode when Ted is stood gesticulating to the family, with an unfortunately placed black mark on the window in front of him as his ‘Del Boy falling through the bar moment’ and it’s easy to understand why. The performances are all wonderful, including that of Dermot Morgan as Ted, who’s tragically early death prevented any more than three series being made.
Peep Show
Peep Show is now a hefty eight series into its run and is still one of the most consistently funny shows on TV. The writing is incredibly clever, mixing some fairly high-culture jokes (During an attempt to sell some taps Mark’s attempts to think of a celebrity who might use them in their bathroom was Werner Herzog) with healthy doses of pure filth. David Mitchell and Robert Webb are brilliant in the lead roles and they are wonderfully supported by a terrific supporting cast that has included Olivia Colman, Matt King and Isy Suttie. Picking a favourite episode is incredibly hard, but I will choose the final two episodes of Series 4, ‘Holiday’ and ‘Marriage’ in which Jez takes Mark on a barge holiday for his stag do and they have a little mishap with a dog and then Mark’s wedding day doesn’t quite go according to plan.
Ripping Yarns
Ripping Yarns was the post-Python project of Michael Palin and Terry Jones. Each episode was loosely themed around a different boys-own style adventure with Palin playing the lead in each individual story. They are simply fantastic and of all my choices Ripping Yarns is the show that is currently least accessible if you don’t have the DVD, with only sporadic showings on Gold, usually in the very early morning. The strength of the show comes obviously from the writing, and the performance of Palin, but also from the sheer quality of the guest performers they were able to attract. Ian Ogilvy, Denholm Elliot and Bill Fraser are amongst the actors who give stand-out performances, as is Roy Kinnear in my favourite episode ‘Escape From Stalag Luft 112B’. Each episode is a gem though and its a great shame that only nine were made.
The Big Bang Theory
A very recent addition to my favourite’s list thanks to E4’s policy of showing it on an almost constant loop in the new year. The show is lifted above a lot of its competitors by the fact that the script isn’t afraid to be clever. The cast spark off each other incredibly well and there’s an increasingly impressive array of guest appearances to enjoy too. Let’s be honest it is also a science-fiction fan’s dream sitcom being packed full of little in-jokes. It’s also the only sitcom that I’m currently aware of to regularly reference Doctor Who (Look how far I got without mentioning it) and it wins points for that alone.
The IT Crowd
It’s that man Graham Linehan again. His most recent sitcom maintains a lot of that off-beat humour of Father Ted and Black Books while maintaining the traditional sitcom format. A one-off special is planned in the near future, but such has been the success of the show that both Chris O’Dowd and Richard Ayoade have been busy in Hollywood developing movie careers. Ayoade is a particular joy here as Moss, but my highlight is O’Dowd’s performance in episode 4, ‘Italian for Beginners’ in series 4, as Roy grapples with the knowledge that his girlfriend became an orphan when her parents were somehow killed in a fire at Sea Parks during a sea lion show.
Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister
It’s incredible that a show that must have seemed so topical at the time can still be so relevant today. Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn’s scripts are nothing short of remarkable and the cast of Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds are as good as you’ll find in any comedy show. Yes Minister set such a high watermark in it’s three series that it was always going to be difficult for it’s follow-up Yes Prime Minister to match it, and yet it could be argued that it was even funnier. It’s mildly depressing that a show featuring political scandal and incompetence written in the 1980’s can still be so relevant, but fortunately it’s still funny enough to be a welcome relief from the real thing.
sportswhofan 