April 19, 2004

The Monkey Shelf. Comedies. Your favourite ones.

I've a soft spot for the Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister series. Of recent comedies, The Office is pretty good. The original Couplings is also worth a watch. (I'm not consciously a British elitist. It just turns out that way.) So, monkeys, what makes you giggle?

posted by Gyan 20 years ago
  • ATHF, South Park, Family Guy, SGCTC, Sealab 2021, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Chapelle's Show, Daily Show, Insomniac. That's what immediately comes to mind at least.
  • Black Books. And Father Ted. Oh, and Big Train. And, obviously, Brass Eye and [Blue] Jam. Note that Graham Linehan has written for all of these; on that basis, I can only assume that he is the funniest man who has ever lived.
  • i like ASDGG, UHGJBB, and OIHBU. seriously forks - what the hell are those acronyms? i can't place 'em. the daily show: awesome. family guy consistently cracks me up. too bad it's currently dead (although may be coming back, we'll see.) chapelle's show is also a winner. ditto south park, especially recently. the simpsons. seinfeld back in the day, although it sort of finished weak. last episode wasn't quite the be-all and end-all i expected. i think that scrubs is pretty damn funny too, but they keep moving it around - so i forget when it's on and don't watch it. dunno... aside from the big ones already mentioned, can't think of anything that i regularly try to catch. maybe US tv isn't stealing enough good british comedy these days - too much effort stealing reality shows and "make me an instant belly-button baring pop singer asswipe"-type shows.
  • oh forgot - "kids in the hall" was damn funny. and quirkily canadian. which is good. the red green show is another in that vein - canadian, i mean. enjoyed watching that quite a bit. oh yeah - SGCTC = space ghost coast to coast. i feel dumb now. that show does (did) rule. the brak show just wasn't what i expected, though. still don't know what ATHF is though.
  • Still in mourning after the end of The Fast Show which was nice I'd echo Gyan's vote for yes [prime] minister - classics
  • For me, Seinfeld has to be the best sitcom ever. A show about nothing. For some reason, though, I haven't been able to get any of the shows on DVD, over here in the UK.
  • It doesn't have to be currently on, or from TV. Movies will do, as well. Should make people laugh.
  • I watch the Simpsons pretty consistently. That's the only thing that's still on the air. Not having cable is a boon. Older stuff : The Young Ones, Red Dwarf, Monty Python. My favorite comedy? The League of Gentlemen. Deliciously dark and shocking.
  • I believeCurb Your Enthusiasm is better than Seinfeld ever was. It will never be as popular, though.
  • athf = aqua teen hunger force a2m = let carly explain
  • Fawlty Towers, for me, is perfection. Seinfeld I never really cared for. Will & Grace makes me laugh every time -- and the only sitcom I watch at all, now. Movies? Fish Called Wanda, Raising Arizona, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, Amelie, any and all Eddie Izzard dvds, His Girl Friday, Waiting for Guffman... off the top of my monkey brain.
  • Thing not mentioned yet for me include Blackadder (the Second and Third, for preference) and Red Dwarf.
  • holy crap forks that's exactly what i woulda said - except I was thinking movies. And Simpsons. "LIVE - Direct from Hell!! SPINAL TAP!!"
  • There's a sitcom called either The Industry or Made in Canada (depends on where you're watching it) that used to run on public television in the states. It was about backstabbing studio execs, except the location was Toronto (I think) instead of Hollywood. Somehow the Canadian setting increased the funny. I recently watched the 5th season of Absolutely Fabulous which was great. Even more offensive and crude that I remember previous seasons being. A heaping helping of hilarity, I say.
  • oh hey: reno 911 and (to a greater degree) the state that link is gold. Kiss your afternoon bye bye.
  • guh. Will & Grace will be this generation's Al Jolsen, wearing blackface and crying "Mammy! Mammy!"
  • A lot of great selections here. To add: Larry Sanders hit a perfect balance between being uncomfortable and riotously funny. Sports Night was also a great show, which never really picked up an audience. MST3K (Mystery Science Theatre 3000) always amused me.
  • Absolutely Fabulous, Kids in the Hall, Curb Your Enthusiasm, old Seinfeld episodes, Scrubs (whenever I catch it), definately the Young Ones, Will and Grace (most of the time), South Park, David Chapelle's Show, this is all I can think of right now. Movies, all Monty Python, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind....now, I'm just drawing blanks, but there's a good list somewhere in my head.
  • Totally forgot about Sports Night! That was a great one!
  • Oh yeah, Sports Night! I had forgotten about that one. Full of smart real characters. They moved it around so much on the schedule it was hard to keep up as a regular viewer. Wasn't there a battle over the use of a laugh track as well? Damn suits getting in the way of quality programming.
  • I am very fond of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's "Gospel Truth," aka, "Interview with a Shepherd." And Trinidad storyteller Paul Keanes-Douglas has reduced me to tears.
  • I love Futurama. Biting social satire, combined with robots. You can't beat it with a stick. Still comes on during the Adult Swim on Cartoon Network.
  • Most of what I like has been mentioned already: all the Christopher Guest mockumentaries (particularly This is Spinal Tap and Best in Show), The Princess Bride, Office Space and MST3K for movies, Scrubs (before it got formulaic like it is this season), British Coupling, Monty Python (especially the "Fliegender Zircus" German episode and Holy Grail), Blackadder but only seasons 2 and 3, The Office, and The Goodies for just completely odd British low-budget comedy goodness.
  • More: Withnail & I. Best comedy ever . I have seen it about 20 times and it keeps getting funnier. Oddly enough, I wasn't all that impressed the first time I saw it - it took repeated viewings for its brilliance to shine through. I recall the first season of Parker Lewis Can't Lose being surreal in all the right ways. Scrubs borrows heavily from it. It too became very dull very quickly in order to gain more market appeal.
  • Spaced and, from the same team, the recent film Shaun of the dead are well worth the effort
  • My fave is Trailer Park Boys... lowbrow at it's finest. Found on BBC America in the US. It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you're in, you're in.
  • *seconds flash's big up to Father Ted, raises him a Dr Strangelove*
  • Oh, forgot Father Ted. Current overused joke in this house: "How about a cup of tea, then? Cup of tea? Aw, go on."
  • Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on, go on. GO ON!
  • Holy Grail, Meaning of Life, Fish Called Wanda. Rowan Atkinson's Mr. Bean (but not the movie) and Blackadder. Dr. Strangelove (thanks for the reminder, Wolof!) Anything with Christopher Guest, such as Spinal Tap, Best in Show, Guffman, Mighty Wind, etc. Bedazzled, with Dudley Moore and Peter Cook. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio show (the TV version only if desparate). My daughter has a theory that good friends share a similar sense of humor, and that certain movies can serve as a litmus test for this. In our family circle, it's 'Holy Grail"; all our close friends are nuts about it, and can recite pages of dialogue.
  • Ah, ye will. Ye will. Ye'll have a cup of tea. Sure, just a cup in you're hand. Ah, go on. Go on. Go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on. Also forgot to give a shout out to Julia Davis' astonishing Nighty Night, which just finished this evening on t'BBC. (Expect it on BBC America sometime soon, I'd imagine.) The lead character is, without a doubt, the most vile human being ever portrayed, anywhere. Utterly wonderful, utterly horrific (there's a decent little article about the character in today's Franz Ferdinand edited section of the Grauniad). Just... wow. I see your Dr. Strangelove, and raise you a Philadelphia Story (or, indeed, any one of those comedies that those people did from that era.) Oh, and anything with Peter Cook. Why Bother? being especially the best thing in the world ever, as it has the man Morris in it too.
  • Dude, almost forgot to mention- The Big Lebowski
  • Thank you, dude. /PSH
  • Let me just say this: The Office is (was) the best tv comedy ever, bar none. Also, anybody remember the short-lived and horribly underrated Dabney Coleman vehicle: Buffalo Bill ? or am I just showing my age...
  • My inner 12-year-old shouts "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad,Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad. Mad World!" Best movie for a pre-teen on a rainy Saturday EVER.
  • Oh, and an old spoof favourite: Top Secret.
  • Get Smart
  • Anything with Buster Keaton in it except Beckett's Film. Which is great, but not that funny at all.
  • g : Never has the tender act of lovemaking been so exploited! Man, I need to pick up a copy of KFM.
  • tracicle: Top Secret, yes! "Listen to me Hillary. I'm not the first guy who fell in love with a woman that he met at a restaurant who turned out to be the daughter of a kidnapped scientist only to lose her to her childhood lover who she last saw on a deserted island who then turned out fifteen years later to be the leader of the French underground. "
  • "Our surgeons did what they could, but it took them two hours just to get the smile off his face."
  • "I know, it's all like some bad movie." *pauses, looks at audience*
  • Top 5 Comedy Movies: 5. Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back 4. This Is Spinal Tap 3. Uncle Buck 2. The Big Lebowski 1. Planes, Trains & Automobiles
  • Whenever a list like this comes up, I have to recommend Mission Hill, for the following reasons: 1. It was an animated show created by two former producers of The Simpsons and Futurama, and it was, as you would expect, brilliant. 2. It was seen by almost nobody; the WB canceled it after only 6 episodes, although all 13 episodes were eventually aired late at night on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. 3. You can apparently still download it off various p2p networks, where it has something of a cult following. 4. My brother was one of the show'ss creators. So I'm biased, but you should definitely watch it if you ever get the chance.
  • The Royale Family (esp. season 1) Ali G - (also esp. season 1) The Castle (Australian movie) And I chip in agreement over Simpsons, Futurama, Young Ones, Monty Python, Red Dwarf and the 1st season of the Office. Hmmm, is it like musicians with poor follow up albums that a lot of shows burn out rather swiftly, leaving 2nd rate later seasons?