The Top 10 Comedies of all Time

First topic message reminder :

I know lists can be subjective and debated.

But then again, other people are idiots and I am right - and so is this list!

I thought I would give a run down of my top 10 comedies of all time - I have also included a link to some classic scenes if you havent seen them.

I know that there are some great comedies that wont have made the list, but I thought I would go for those that have a body of work (ie had more than 2/3 seasons to them.)

So here we go - straight in at number 10.

10) Malcolm in the Middle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxp9BaH3BSw&feature=related

A tale of Hal and Lois facing everyday trials and tribulations with their 4 sons.. The series started off with the pair having 4 sons and continued all the way through to the birth of another one. Consistently funny due to some great performances from the leads (especially Brian Cranston as Hal) and some great secondary characters, such as Greg and Otto.

The show thankfully never jumped the shark and got out at the right time. It also featured the breaking of the fourth wall not seen since Saved By the Bell.

Very clever and very funny.


9) The Simpsons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zVCN6SFFzg&feature=related

The longest running sitcom on TV. And although the stories have got a little far fetched, and maybe not as funny anymore, when at its peak, the show had very few that could match it. Once again, a disfunctional family are the centre point of the laughter, with Homer getting the most laughs along the way. The show is made all the funnier by an amazing supporting cast of characters (ralf and chief Wiggum being my faves)

Some great cameos over the years have made this a witty, cutting edge satire that transcends the cartoon format. Best episode - Homer's Phobia

8.) Scrubs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl9ZZsUX00s

The story of John Dorian who starts to work at a hospital with his friends, Turk and Elliiot. The show once again benefited from a great supporting cast of characters such as the Janitor and Doctor Cox, who was never far away with a verbal tirade for JD (or Esther/Janice/ Julie etc).

The show followed the cast through their first years in the hospital all the way up to them getting married and having children together. Even the Janitor found happiness.

It may have been higher on the list were it not for the ill advised spin off, after one of the greatest finales in TV history.

7) Fawlty Towers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78b67l_yxUc

The only show that didnt have a long running backlog of episodes. A real trail blazer that set the way for shows like the Office to be made possible (ie the cringeworthy lead protagonist). John Cleese excelled as the Torquay hotel owner, who in just 12 episodes, changed the face of sitcom history.

6) Curb Your Enthusiasm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGjElvt4nP8

Larry David, the genius behind Seinfeld, creates an improvised show with some of his friends which takes the cringeworthyness of Basil Fawlty and puts a added realism to it. Larry manages to get himself into all kinds of unbelievable situations that always seem real and deeply disturbing. A true hero of tactlessness!

5) The Office: An american Workplace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRuaeK3R08k

The spin off from Ricky Gervais' UK comedy. Now into its 7th season in the US, the show has exceeded the original by giving the characters real depth, that the original only touched on. A truly great show with awesome characters that gets better and better.

4) Married With Children

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISfdjN1aTE4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ5HAts3yFc&feature=related

The original dysfunctional family. The Shoe salesman father who has a wife who does nothing, a daughter who sleeps around and a son who is a borderline sex pest. Way ahead of its time in that it took clever, smutty humour and made you genuinely feel sorry for Al Bundy. Once again, a great supporting cast and a series that got better as the seasons rolled on.

After a casting change half way through, the show went from strength to strength.

3) South Park

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYmnP7VOyo4

The tale of 4 friends (sort of) and the town of South Park. Always topical, and always lewd, this series has gone from quite an innocent show to one of the funniest, most vulgar shows on television. But it always does it with wit and intelligence. In the last series alone, topical stories such as The BP oil spill, Tiger Woods affair and the US's obsession with Jersey Shore were covered.

And unlike the Simpsons, this has maintained its cutting edge.

2) Seinfeld

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKsUlf20DF0

The sitcom about nothing. The characters were hollow, self indulgent rogues but that was the point. No learning. No character development, just a brilliantly woven tale of excrutiating situations. The four main leads were incredible (although Gerry Seinfeld himself was the mjost boring):

Elaine - a bit of a whore around town
George - angry and workshy with over bearing parents
Kramer - the loony next door neighbour
Gerry - stand up comic who was the moral centre of the show

Brilliantly cast and the only reason why it was kept off the top spot is that the 2 part finale was absolutely terrible.


1) Frazier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_saJankLNHc

Originally a spin off from Cheers, this followed the titular Dr Crane moving to Seattle to look after his widowed father who had just been shot in the hip. It introduced a great supporting cast in Daphne (the fathers psychic physiotherapist), his Brother Niles (who was as snobby as Frasier) and Roz, Frasiers radio producer.

The show built some fantastic running arcs (such as Frasiers quest to find the perfect woman, and Niles' attraction to Daphne). The show mixed very high brow comedy (amazing bearing in mind its American target audience) but was never afraid to employ pure slapstick, as seen in the great episode of the ski lodge.

The series dipped around season 8 but came back for 3 brilliant seasons before bowing out with a wholly satisfying finale.

The show ran longer than friends, unbelievably, but unlike that other American sitcom staple, this has aged brilliantly and still raises many a smile every episode.

So there you have it, my top 10. The top 10! If you have never had the opportunity to see any of these, please track them down.

Sitcoms, in no order

Community
Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Arrested Development
Parks and Rec
Peep Show
Red Dwarf
Friends
The Office (American one)
I'm Alan Partridge
The Simpsons

Of the old crowd, I'd have Porridge, Fawlty Towers and Open All Hours as good shouts.

DAVE667 wrote:"I have given you a red hot tip"

"I know...and there's nothing I can do about it now, is there?!"

Heh...one of many memorable moments. Think my favourite though has to be The Sprouts of Evil...

Perhaps too early for top 10 but I'm halfway through the second series of The Last Man on Earth and it's bloody funny.

P.s. The Big Bang Theory is utter bollix.

Tattie Scones RRN wrote:Perhaps too early for top 10 but I'm halfway through the second series of The Last Man on Earth and it's bloody funny.

P.s. The Big Bang Theory is utter bollix.

Thats because you're an unscientific Neanderthal and you've likely never suffered the trials and tribulations of being a nerd.

Big Bang Theory - attractive woman wears tight t-shirt, gets free food and wi-fi for life from neighbours.

Probably pretty realistic

It is rubbish though.

Big bang theory is about nerds, not for nerds...

It is rubbish though.

It is indeed

Currently enjoying "Man Down"...not a massive fan of Greg Davies but this show has had me in stitches for ages now. So sad that Rik Mayall died before the 2nd season but really nice to see they keep his memory alive in the thes how. there's a scene in this series where someone walks in with a cuppa. the mug has Rik's face on and the words "NUTTER" underneath.

I watched the first episode and thought it was awful.

As is most of the top 10 from the person who created the thread.

You forgot to put "FACT" at the end of that for added emphasis.

These are my least favourite comedies of all time (criterion being that they are popular with other, less discerning, people who have watched these stinking piles of sh*t in my presence, thus p*ssing me off).

red dwarf - crap
seinfeld - crap
frasier - he was funny in cheers but this is just crap
big bang theory - crap
fresh prince of bel air - crap
growing pains - f*cking preachy crap
cosby show - crap
it crowd - crap (have you turned it off and back on again? was as funny as it got)
miranda - crap
some mothers do 'ave 'em - crap

I've added "crap" next to each one in case someone glanced at my name and then the list and thought that these shows were my favourites.  I could've started a new thread but would probably only have received a snotty comment from Tino and no other contribution.

I agree about Miranda.

Not only is she not funny, but she's also a freaky giant annoying turd too.

Mr Bean
Two and a Half Men
Frasier
Allo allo
Red Dwarf
Steptoe and son
Some mothers do Ave em
Frasier
Father Ted
Only Fools and Horses


In all those choices I loved the characters. They were different types of comedies but all classics imo.


Only fools and horses would be my favourite easily and the best comedy I have seen. The characters, the daily struggles of life, getting themselves in awkward situations, misunderstandings, them always being at each others throats but yet were a very close family. The later episodes were not as good as the earlier ones and I didn't like the Damien character but theyre the only complaints.


Frasier was the best from the US. Himself and his father were a sort of odd couple. Two and a half men isn't the type of comedy I'd usually like but maybe it was the Charlie Sheen effect and also Alan the leeching brother. It was very funny. A bit too much sex talk which spoiled it a bit.


Mr Bean in there also. A bit one dimensional but it provided so many laughs for young and old.


Some comedy I don't get. The Vickor of Dibley being one. Just not funny at all for me and I was amazed to see it in a top 10 lately.


Mention to the Simpsons, last of the summer wine (late 80s early 90s), men behaving badly, the big bang theory and more.


I would recommend Bob's Burgers. Like the Simpsons but different in a good way.

God, I could do a serious Galted list on some of the choices above!  And I'm sure the feeling will be mutual with some of mine.

Not a great fan of sitcoms.  I've tried watching some of the above but I found myself not laughing so I'd bale out quick and never go back.

Anyway, my humble list of comedies that at least made me stick around for an episode or ten.  In no particular order.

Taxi: Danny DeVito, Andy Kaufman and Christopher Lloyd.  Could be claustrophobic but enough 70s wackiness to keep things going.

Cheer:  For a wonderful Woody Harrelson idiot but most especially for John Ratzenberger's brilliant Cliff Claven, the guy forever giving his ten cents worth of rubbish to any topic....................... hmmmm.

It ain't half hot, mum.  For me, better than any British sit-com of the period.  Irreverent, casual racial stereotypes, a very real sense of stifling Indian heat (that I loved as a child) and a great sense of camaraderie amongst the military Concert Group.

The Simpsons  In its heyday, the best written, sharpest satire on the human species probably ever put to paper.  The animation allowed the characters to inhabit a cinematic world too, which helped with the themes and sight gags along the way.  Wonderful stuff.

Rab C. Nesbitt:  Just for mad Rab himself, perfectly portrayed by Gregor Fisher.  You don't ever get enough of Rab's wise philosophy on life.

Family Guy:  Sometimes too self-smug but other times works a treat.  

Curb Your Enthusiasm:  Again, sometimes way too self-satisfied with the 'improv' angle - which doesn't always work.  But when you get an actor as good at free-form dialogue as J.B. Smoove (Leon), it's worth it.

The Royle Family  Not to everyone's taste but let nobody say they have never experienced those inane moments of family bliss as people sit around in homes and talk schidt.  The Royle Family had it down to a tee.  But my favourite character was occasional Joe Carroll (Peter Martin) - a quiet, soft, sad character who just made things sweeter.

The Phil Silvers Show:  Classic 50s Americana.  Stagey of course, but that was the style.  Rapid delivery and cartoon cut-out characters but a lot of fun; especially Sgt. Bilko himself and dumb sidekick Doberman.

The Honeymooners Another classic of the period.  Jackie Gleeson on turbo as loud mouth, ragingly aggressive husband to a woman who really wears the trousers in the relationship.

Honourable mention for a forgotten two!:  Only Fools and Horses.  Steptoe and Son.

Special mention must go out to Vicar of Dibley. Once you get past the 30% carp, most of it was brilliant.

Not seen a shout out to Porridge. Superb. Ronnie Barker at his best.

I have soft spots for Red Dwarf, Father Ted and Sgt. Bilko myself. All unique in their own ways.

I assume Not the Nine O'clock News doesn't get on here because it was a sketch show. Also like Who Dares Wins, mainly for the Pandas!!

Nice list. I like some of the shows you've pointed out but I would have expect Friends to be on there! However you listed Seinfeld and that's a similar show that began sooner - I never watched it but grew up on Friends so that is where my heart lies.