Well, there's Python, and I also find 'Allo 'Allo rather enjoyable. Both left behind substantial legacies of material to watch. Blackadder falls short in that regard.
I respect the fact that quality vs quantity is a bit of a zero sum game, and I'm not a big fan of the extreme output requirements for American comedies where they have to produce 22-24 episodes per season. It necessitates bringing in dozens of writers who will not always be on the same page, and there will sometimes be filler episodes or even clip shows.
Then there's a nice middle ground where American cable shows like Curb or Veep (with 10 or so episodes per season) meet more productive British shows like Monty Python. They made 50 episodes and a bunch of movies, enough for people to get a great mileage out of it for decades.
But on the other far end of the scale you've got shows like Blackadder (24+2), Fawlty Towers (12), Little Britain (18+2), The Office UK (12+2) and The Young Ones (12), all with such painfully minuscule output that it will be worn out eventually. I love Fawlty Towers but I can't watch it anymore, it's about as entertaining as staring at wallpaper when you know every frame by heart.
I think it's a senseless waste of opportunity and talent to produce so little. You've got a great premise, a great ensemble, great characters, great writers and mad creativity flowing, surely it's not all milked dry after a measly 12 half-hours? The opportunity will never return again.
IMO, Blackadder would've been perfect if the "Cavalier Years" and "Christmas Carol" specials had been full series. Then you'd have had one series for each century from the 14th to the 20th, 36 episodes in all. I don't buy the idea that quality would've suffered, the show and the team had a lot more left in them. It's not like they suddenly ran out of sarcastic one-liners when the series 4 finale was written.
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worldleaderpretend
10 years ago
To put Allo Allo in with Python and Blackadder is strange in the extreme. Not even in the same stratosphere. And besides Python was not a sitcom.
Top 3 in my book Are Black Adder, Only Fools and Yes Minister
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Quarantino_II
10 years ago
Right, to put a British sitcom rated 8.2 on iMDb alongside two other British sitcoms rated 8.8 and 8.9, respectively, is "strange in the extreme".
I could've listed Downton Abbey as a sitcom. That would've been quite strange.
As for Only Fools and Horses, I noticed that this was voted best British sitcom ever (BBC, 2004), so I gave it a shot. I'd never seen it or even heard of it. Swedish TV has aired just about every single one there is (AbFab, F&S, Young Ones, AYBS, Keeping Up Appearances, FT, MPFC, Yes Minister, Vicar of Dibley, NTNOCN, To the Manor Born etc), but never Only Fools. I soon understood why. It must have some special brand of humor that only works on British people. So I'm supposed to laugh till my pancreas explode every time someone says "plonker"? Mkay.
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rolling-stoner
10 years ago
Allo Allo was and is a great British sitcom. Python was a sketch show, not a sitcom, but was often brilliant. It was also the final part of a revolution in comedy.
Only Fools And Horses took a couple/few years to really take off so I understand you not immediately taking to it, but part of the appeal was that you "knew" the characters over a long period of time and the story, unlike most sitcoms, didn't reset at the end of each episode [ok, Allo, Allo did that but if you've seen three episodes you've seen them all!]. Only Fools progressed to the point where it was more of a comedy-drama than an out-and-out comedy.
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