Rolling UK Comedy Thread - "Ricky Don't Lose Larry David's Number

mother's day episode of motherland felt like the first fully realized program and a payoff for the investment of time put in

Lady Parts was amazing and the first British comedy I want to recommend to people in ages

yes it's great.

Been meaning to watch that.

Disappointing lineup for the next Taskmaster. Khan and maaaybe Burch are the only ones I'm looking forward to. Hate Davies.

By that I mean Alan, not Greg.

Though Greg's relationship with Liz Kendall does raise suspicions that he's actually a dickhead...

I'd seen the Lady Parts pilot but was still worth seeing the actual first ep - loved the reiwrite of "Man Of Constant Sorrow".

finished off s3 of motherland, that show really found its stride this go-round

Yeah, Lady Parts was great, have been doing some recommending.

Bit of a wasted opportunity on Partridge, an actual tory band would be playing polite folk rock not 80's synth pop. "Cottswold Commuters" is admitidely a jam.

Yeah that segment felt like it was gonna be total ilx bait when it started but it didn’t really come off

I am loving it in general tho. The Ruth Duggan bit is a joke I’ll never tire of, also fair play for getting in lines about “things that don’t fly at the bbc anymore, like criticising the government”

i don't know how many other americans read this thread but i was recently informed that Stath Lets Flats is on HBOMax now. i know there are several UK ILXors who loved it but i hadn't found an easy way to watch it before this. it is very funny.

Glad Americans can dig it too, it's quite culturally specific.

there's probably cultural stuff of which i'm not getting the nuances but there's also destroying three TVs while trying to catch a pigeon with a small plastic bag

Stath is kinda perfect.

I knocked out the first season of Friday Night Dinner, which is basically the same set of jokes rearranged for each episode and consistently told well. i liked it well enough to keep going i think.

UK ilxors: what other britcoms from the 00's/10's that are commonly known to be good over there but are unknown in the US should I be looking for? I need good acting, decent writing, no laughtrack and am otherwise willing to take a shot.

Pulling?

watched all of it at the start of this year!

from upthread:

if you want a general guide as to how dark Pulling is, right around the fourth episode of the first season, there's a sequence where they beat a cat to death with a brick. And it's funny! But it is very much there.
― That's not really my scene (I'm 41) (forksclovetofu), Saturday, January 30, 2021 12:19 AM

Count Arthur Strong is, I think, massively underrated. Laughtrack though, if that's a deal-breaker.

unfortunately it is. But i'll try the pilot!

i tried 8 out of 10 cats/countdown and it's not watchable

I’ve no idea what’s well-known in the US. Inbetweeners? Spaced? Detectorists? Mighty Boosh? Royle Family? All good, for different values (and types) of good. Some of them may have laugh tracks for all I know. Black Books has one for sure.

i tried 8 out of 10 cats/countdown and it's not watchable

― Draymond is "Mr Dumpy" (forksclovetofu)

It's appalling. If you want a cosily undemanding yet entertaining comedy panel show try Would I Lie to You (or better yet Taskmaster).

Inbetweeners? Watched all of this so long ago that i have completely forgotten it existed! I think it was fine?
Spaced? heard of this, never watched it, will try it. i like edgar wright well enough so this is a good recommendation. i get it confused with red dwarf which i am thinking you might find funny.
Detectorists? Watched this, its decidedly okay!
Mighty Boosh? dated a girl who was really into this and i don't know if i can ever watch it again.
Royle Family? Never heard of this. Will give it a try!

Tried taskmaster, mostly unwatchable but to be fair i don't think I am into panel shows of any variety. I love Only Connect tho!

here's a list of some stuff that exists that I don't know anything about:
how to stay married
not going out
spicks and specks
rob and romesh versus
murder they hope
enterprice
housos
two weeks to live

here's a list of some uk/au stuff i watched and like:
adult material, aftertaste, brass eye, Cunk on, Day Today, Damned, Dead Pixels, Fisk, Fleabag, Getting On, Ghosts, Anything/Everything Alan Partridge, Look Around You, Mandy, Motherland, Mum, The Other Guy, Serafinowicz show, Plebs, Pulling, Rosehaven, Saxondale, Slings and Arrows, Staged, Stath Lets Flats, Why Are You Like This

I'd say you have watched far more British comedy than most people in the UK. I've seen about 4 of those and haven't heard of most of the rest.

The only one I've seen out of that is Not Going Out and I suggest Not Watching It

(xxp) Have you never seen The League Of Gentlemen?

15 Storeys High is kind of weird but good? Errol shows up in really random movies, always fun to spot.
I assume you've seen Peep Show

And IT Crowd I assume? Laughtracked to death though it is.

Peep Show is great and foundational, yes. IT Crowd's laughtrack means I can't watch it.
I think League of Gentlemen got US play years ago... that's also laughtracked I think.
I have never heard of 15 Storeys, grabbing that now. Cult comedies are of particular interest, sketch comedy is not.

i'm also gonna try enterprice and two weeks to live, both look promising.

It's appalling. If you want a cosily undemanding yet entertaining comedy panel show try Would I Lie to You (or better yet Taskmaster).

outside of covid times, these shows usually have audiences, which forks doesn't like - probably not worth the recs

oh lol xp

here's a list of some stuff that exists that I don't know anything about:
how to stay married
not going out
spicks and specks
rob and romesh versus
murder they hope
enterprice
housos
two weeks to live

fFs

laughtrack/live studio audience with a "LAUGH NOW" sign just takes me right out of the picture for some reason. Too many years of it as a kid.

explain your derision at spicks/specks and housos? I don't know anything about them.

they are from a different country, continent and hemisphere

Spicks and Specks is a music-quiz game show with an audience btw

I can't imagine you liking Housos, which is a very aggressively LCD sitcom about residents of public housing. (the creator/writer/producer/director/star dumbed it down from his previous sitcoms about working-class reprobates, Pizza, Fat Pizza, Fat Pizza: Back In Business, Pizza: Special Deliveries, World Record Pizza and Swift & Shift Couriers. There is also a Fat Pizza feature film, a Housos feature film, and a Fat Pizza Vs. Housos feature film. So if you do try it and like it, there's plenty of distraction to be getting on with.)

I love 15 Storeys High, it makes me wish that Shaun Locke had done more stuff in that vein, but I guess he's happy doing panel shows and stand-up.

co-created and co-written by Martin Trenaman who was also in PhoneShop, which should be also included in any list of underrated 21st century cult UK comedies of the

the other co-creator and co-writer was Mark Lamarr of all people - I don't think 15 Storeys High is what I would have expected from a sitcom created by Shaun Locke and Mark Lamarr if I'd only seen their other work.

does anyone else remember Simon Day's 2003 sitcom Grass featuring his Billy Bleach character from the Fast Show?

I am aware of but have not seen any of the Fast Show spin-offs. Can’t imagine any of them being 1/19th as great as Down The Line, the radio call-in show done by most of the same folks.

the swiss tony sitcom was ghastly.

i vaguely remember grass and how there was another spin-off show with a very similar premise - the green green grass, boycey and marlene move to the country to avoid the driscoll brothers.

yes, and there was another bbc 3 sitcom a few years ago with Russel Howard's sister called Witless that had the exact same premise again

Grass was pretty good iirc, not quite as good as Down The Line (there was a one series tv adaptation of the latter called 'Bellamy's People' which was great as well)

there was a show called Help which featuring Chris Langham as a psychiatrist and Paul Whitehouse playing various different patients, but afaict it's never been repeated or released on dvd because Langham was arrested a few months after its broadcast for child pornography

good call on phoneshop, though the accents are occasionally bamboozling. good writing!

Two recommendations for forks would be Catastrophe and Chewing Gum.

Chewing Gum is ace.

Two Weeks To Live is pretty decent xps
Stars Maisie Williams and the always reliable Sian Clifford and absolutely no laughter track

Anything/Everything Alan Partridge

btw forkdogg if this does mean that you do audio and prose, Down The Line is a auper-strong recommendations

People Like Us was Chris Langham as well, wasn't it? meant to recommend that last night but it might be hard to find.
Nighty Night was another one but I often found it too horrible to watch, and s2 was dreadful.

Limmy's Show

Lovesick (aka Scrotal Recall) is slight but amusing.

I'm a big fan of the two sitcoms Roisin Conaty stars in: Man Down and Gameface. Man Down is created by and stars Greg Davies. If you don't like Taskmaster, you may not enjoy his persona in it, although I thoroughly enjoyed it. Gameface is created by Roisin herself and is just great. Honestly, the first couple of times I watched Taskmaster I didn't really get the fuss either, but something just clicked for me one day and there it was.

Not Going Out was occasionally funny but frantic when Tim Vine was in it, but it got completely retooled to be a family comedy and now it's unwatchable.

I've also just come to Friday Night Dinner recently, and am really enjoying it. Although obviously it's very sad now because of Paul Ritter.

Another vote for Lovesick/Scrotal Recall. Especially if you want to see the guy who wrote the Detectorists theme tune and starred in the terrible David Bowie biopic actually be watchable.

Brand new Channel 4 comedy We Are Ladyparts was SO GOOD. We tried very hard to parcel it out, knowing there were only six episodes, but ended up watching the last three episodes all in a rush because we loved it so much.

If you like British quizzes or games, you could try Richard Osman's House of Games? It can often be very funny, but is a proper test of knowledge, not a load of tedious dicking about like Eight Out of Ten Cats or that fucking awful film thing that Alan Carr does on Sky, Jesus wept it's terrible.

Man Down seconded. Doesn't always land, but when it does it's hilarious.

Has Inside no 9 been mentioned? Two of the League of Gentlemen, no laugh track.

And their two season Psychoville was very good as well, somewhat forgotten now (featuring an early Daniel Kaluuya performance).