Recommend me some British comedies, new or old.

[limpyhobbler]

I'm running out of funny stuff to watch. please help . I have Netflix or I can watch on Hulu or another online service if it's available in the US.

[FSogol]

1. "The Goodies"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065296/

[limpyhobbler]

9. thanks! I added it to my netflix queue

It'll be a DVD, they don't have it for streaming right now.

[dem644555il]

57. this

[MaineDem]

2. "Doc Martin", "As Time Goes By" to name two

"Father Ted" is Irish but it's funny, too. Silly funny.

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. I can't seem to find Doc Martin Series five anywhere available to stream. Do you know if it is

available yet?

[MaineDem]

7. I haven't see it available yet either

I don't think the DVD has been released.

[dixiegrrrrl]

34. DVD thru Season 4 is on Netflix.

I recommend heartily.

[MaineDem]

44. New season comes out on DVD in March

I haven't seen when it'll be available at Netflix.

[limpyhobbler]

10. Father Ted...

I added to my queue on Hulu.

As Time Goes By was pleasantly funny. I used to watch it whenever it was on my local PBS station. Very nice thanks!

[Neoma]

3. The Young Ones

It's so stupid, it's funny.

[limpyhobbler]

11. I watched this a few times about 20 years ago.

I couldn't quite remember the details so I pulled it up again today and watched about 3 episodes. Thanks for reminding me

[Neoma]

15. As for new British shows...

I recommend, "Outnumbered." It is worth getting a free range DVD player for that jewel. The kids in it, actually improvise their lines! I can't praise that show enough...

&

[DrDan]

4. Good Neighbors, Keeping Up Appearances, Mr. Bean - and my all-time favorite - The Office (British

version)

[limpyhobbler]

12. Thanks for these suggestions! I'll keep an eye out for these.

I've heard of most of them but haven't quite got around to watching them yet.

[Tikki]

6. "The IT Crowd"....

"Fawlty Towers" "That Mitchell and Webb Look" "Red Dwarf"


Tikki

[limpyhobbler]

13. you have great taste is shows!

I love all those shows, some of my favorite shows ever, but I've watched them all the way through.

Thank you. I need more shows like this to watch

[NMDemDist2]

8. my favorite bbc sitcom isn't streaming, but is available on DVD

"To the Manor Born"

[limpyhobbler]

14. thanks for the recommendation

For me on netflix it gave me an option to "save to dvd queue".

So I saved it to my queue.

[catchnrelease]

21. Ah, I loved that one!

Also, The Irish RM starring Peter Bowles who was in To the Manor Born. It's Irish but a period comedy series.

[Bolo Boffin]

16. Black Books, UK Shameless n/t

[limpyhobbler]

42. I love Black Books.

Shameless is on my list...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. Waiting for God--about two rebellious residents of a seniors' residence

one of whom is Stephanie Cole, who played the aunt in Doc Martin.

My Hero--about a space alien with superpowers (but an extremely literal mind and no notion of Earthly sensibilities) who takes up with an Earthling (a nurse who works for an arrogant and egotistical celebrity doctor).

[limpyhobbler]

43. hmmm....

My Hero sounds funny.

I haven't seen it yet, but the description kind of reminds me of that show "Clone" .
It was on hulu for free, a while back, not sure if it still is free.

http://www.hulu.com/clone


It's about a clone. He kind of takes everything too literally.

[quispquake]

18. Dave Allen

Had a show during the 70's that was amazing...Mostly him sitting on a chair with a cig and drink, and telling jokes (many with a religious bent) with a bunch of weird funny skits between his jokes...Always loved this...Think the show was simply called "The Dave Allen Show".

[jannyk]

25. "Dave Allen At Large" '71-79

Was hysterical. Can they be got anywhere over here?

[quispquake]

27. No US DVD's are available that I'm aware of...

Just a bunch of PAL formatted ones from Britain...that being said, they do show up on some torrent sites at times...

[Graybeard]

19. The Man In The White Suit

This is just one of the great comedies made by Alec Guinness early in his career. They are all hilariously funny.

Besides White Suit you should check out:

Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Lavender Hill Mob
The Ladykillers

[Lydia Leftcoast]

23. Those are movies from the heyday of Ealing Studios

(1950s, early 1960s), but they're very funny.

Kind Hearts and Coronets: A man tries to murder the nine (?) relatives who stand in the way of an inheritance and a title.

The Lavender Hill Mob: A caper movie. See if you can spot Audrey Hepburn in a bit part.

The Ladykillers: Three crooks hide out in the home of an airheaded old lady.

One of my favorites (no longer considered "correct" because of current attitudes toward alcoholism) is called either "Whiskey Galore" or "Tight Little Island." It's about a Scottish island where the whole population goes into a deep depression because World War II shipping problems have made whiskey unavailable. Gordon Jackson (Hudson on "Upstairs Downstairs&quot plays a young man who is dominated by a real dragon of a mother.

Another favorite is

The Wrong Box (which has just recently been released on DVD! YAY!). It has an all-star cast, including Michael Caine, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, John Mills, Ralph Richardson, Peter Sellers, and a host of others. It's about a tontine in which the last survivor of a group of schoolboys inherits a fortune. As the story opens, only two ailing old men are left, and the greedy relatives of each old man try to ensure that their grandfather/uncle inherits.

A more recent British comedy is Clockwise, from the 1980s. I don't know why it never caught on in the U.S. I just happened to catch it in a theater when the movie I wanted to see was sold out. I later showed it to a group of friends, and they loved it. John Cleese plays (what else?) a pompous ass of a school headmaster whose whole life falls apart when he takes a wrong turn in a train station. (I think it's MUCH funnier than A Fish Called Wanda.)

[Still Blue in PDX]

20. I'm watching season 1 of Doc Martin

I'm watching it currently on PBS, and season 1 is quite different. I'm not sure you'd call it a comedy, but there are some awfully funny moments that have had me howling out loud.

[catchnrelease]

22. From the '50s

The old St Trinian's movies--The Belles of St Trinians, Blue Murder at St Trinians and about 4 more from that time. About a girls school where the inmates run the place and cause lots of chaos. Sort of dated and I haven't seen one for years but remember that they were fun.

[Graybeard]

24. And the "Carry On" film series.

I think there are over 25 films starting with "Carry On Sergeant", "Carry On Nurse" and "Carry On Teacher" made in the 50s. Great fun sprinkled with lots of British double-entendre humor.

[MaineDem]

26. How could I have forgotten "The Vicar of Dibley?"

I laugh so hard at that.

[limpyhobbler]

41. I just watched my first episode of this a couple days ago.

This is a really funny show.

[Son of Gob]

28. I'm about to start watching The Black Adder

It stars Rowan Atkinson and it's supposed to be really funny. It's streaming on Netflix.

Here's the IMDB description -

Set in England at the end of the War of the Roses, we soon find out that the history we know is a Tudor fiction. In fact, Henry VII did not actually win the battle of Bosworth Field; he lost and though Richard III died in the battle, his nephew King Richard IV (who certainly was not smothered while still a boy in the Tower of London) reigned on for some years. The story focuses on Richard IV's younger son Prince Edmund, a sniveling coward who calls himself the 'Black Adder'. Assisted by his grungy servant Baldrick and the moronic Lord Percy, Edmund plots his rise to greatness.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084988/

[dixiegrrrrl]

35. a classic.

Early Hugh Laurie in some of the sketches.

[limpyhobbler]

40. I started watching it once a long time ago

but couldn't get into it. I think maybe I owe it another try.

[Mac1949]

29. Vicar of Dibley, Thin Blue Line, Qi, Benny Hill (of course!), Clatterford, Jeeves & Wooster,

A Bit of Fry & Laurie, Mulberry (one of my personal favorites), Red Dwarf and Hyperdrive. Wow, I had no idea I had watched so much British television until I started this list! Don't get me started on movies!

[limpyhobbler]

39. A good list.

I've seen all the Red Dwarf and Hyperdrive.

Will keep an eye out for the others. thanks

[jannyk]

30. 'Worst Week of My Life' is currently on Netflix

This has some hysterical moments.
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/The_Worst_Week_of_My_Life/70187719?trkid=4213507



Most of the really good stuff hasn't made it over here. Classics include:

The Two Ronnies
Rising Damp
Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width
The Rag Trade
Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin
On the Buses
Hancock's Half Hour
The Liver Birds
Some Mother's Do Have 'em
Steptoe & Son
Dave Allen at Large

not so much Benny Hill.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

31. The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin and The Worst Week of My Life

have been shown on my local PBS station. They counterprogram Britcoms against our awful local newscasts.

[fizzgig]

32. peep show

my husband and i just started watching it on netflix and it is awkward, uncomfortable and hilarious

[limpyhobbler]

38. Seen all of them already!

It's the same two guys from That Mitchell and Webb Look, another great show.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

33. If you like Doc Martin, you'll like Kingdom

Stephen Fry plays a small town solicitor with a highly dysfunctional family and strange clients.

[GentryDixon]

59. I just finished Kingdom.

I especially liked Hermoine Norris, the crazy sister. I liked her in Wire in the Blood & Spooks (MI-5) as well. She has a great range of talent.

[dixiegrrrrl]

36. Almost British are some good Canadian shows.

Corner Gas, leaves me giggling, it is very droll..sort of like Seinfeld maybe,in humor.

And Red/Green Show. One of a kind, stays funny even in re-runs.

[limpyhobbler]

37. yeah, already seen all the Corner Gas.

Red/Green I don't think I've seen. I'll keep an eye out.
My favorite Canadian show is Trailer Park Boys. That show is crazy. Not a family show, but wickedly funny.

[dixiegrrrrl]

45. hmmmm..I will check that out, thanks.

Corner Gas really tickles my funny bone, for some reason.

[MaineDem]

46. I love Red Green

It's so quirky!

[cyberpj]

47. My faves and some recommends from others:

Here are what my housemate and I have seen (rattling off of top of my head)

We have watched and Loved:
Vicar of Dibley
Ballykissangel
Hamish Macbeth
Doc Martin
The original Life On Mars
As Time Goes By
and also an older one w/Ms. Dench and her husband - A Fine Romance
The IT Crowd
The New Batch of Dr. Who
Torchwood
Spaced

A neighbor has recommended
Jonathan Creek
Father Ted
Misfits

Hmmm... That's all I can think of without researchin....
WAIT! - My house-buddy just showed me this:

55 BEST BRITISH SHOWS EVER
(now I have to go check it out!)
http://www.couchslobs.com/2008/03/05/55-best-british-shows-ever/

[Lydia Leftcoast]

52. The first two seasons of Jonathan Creek with Alan Davies and Caroline Quentin

are wonderful. The constant bickering of the two characters is sometimes hilarious.
After Caroline Quentin left, she was replaced by Julia Sawalha who is (was?) Alan Davies real-life ladyfriend, but somehow, they didn't have much on-screen chemistry.

The premise is that Jonathan Creek makes his living designing tricks and illusions for magicians. He first meets Quentin's character, Maddie Magellan, a true crime writer, when she is puzzling over a seemingly impossible crime. With his ability to concoct tricks, Jonathan figures out how the crime--and a lot of others later--was committed.

[northoftheborder]

48. Lovejoy!

Don't think anyone has mentioned this one, one of my fav's. About an antique dealer/"detective", who gets in all sort of crazy predicaments. Also, very sexy & goodlooking guy (IMHO)! Don't know if it's available on Netflix.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

51. It's not available on streaming but it is on Netflix DVDs

The first three or four seasons are the best, but after Lady Jane leaves, it loses something.

The "sexy and goodlooking guy" (I agree!) is a young Ian McShane, who later starred in Deadwood.

[shcrane71]

49. Absolutely Fabulous

It's gotta be the funniest British sitcom ever.

[MaineDem]

50. Has anyone mentioned "Coupling?"

That can be hysterically funny.

[limpyhobbler]

55. ...

Yes that pretty funny.

They tried to make an American version of it, but I don't think it got too far.

[geardaddy]

53. Extras

if you like Ricky Gervais.

Side-splittingly funny and agonizing all at the same time.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445114/

[geardaddy]

54. Fawlty Towers

[limpyhobbler]

56. Yes

Watched all the Fawlty Towers during a PBS fundraising marathon many years ago. I would love to sit down and watch all of them again.

Since laughter heals the soul, this sounds like a highly useful and effective way to spend a weekend.

[eShirl]

58. "Misfits" on Hulu; been described as "Heroes" meets "Shaun of the Dead" meets "Skins (UK)"

http://www.hulu.com/misfits