As a British man born, I spent my whole life watching British TV, so I knew for myself how good our comedy could be. It goes beyond John Cleese's cliché, hits his car on the branches of Fawlty Towers, or provides a starting point for the office version of the US version: British comedy has attracted the hearts of generations of TV viewers and is filled with the country's houses, especially my own, and especially my own.
Of course, I like comedy from outside the UK. I have encyclopedia knowledge about friends, I admire scrubs (except for the terrible series), but I still like to re-watch the Gilmore Girls, the Modern Family and the Congus flights frequently. That's my recent shows like what we do in Shadows, Parks and Entertainment and all of these shows I love.
But British TV comedy will always be the place where my heart is truly lies, and if any of my above choices are in your own TV favorites, then I urge you to try any or all of my British TV comedy.
Father Ted
The show is a parish on a remote and rugged island following the dysfunctional life of three Irish Catholic priests and their tea-obsessed housekeepers. From films trying to protest against the blasphemy movies, to cheering for the alleged anxious sheep, or having to kick a troubled bishop “Up the Ass”, the show's plotlines fell between surreal and ridiculous in all 25 episodes.
This is a show that doesn't take yourself seriously at all, and neither should you. Its charm is its entertainingness, its rich professional actors and sublime written characters (repetition and contingency), and knowing that whatever the MadCap program plays, the TED will eventually be humiliated, and Father Dougle doesn't know what happened.
Watch: Tubi, Plex, Pluto TV, Roku Channel (all free). Peacock (Paid subscription).
A beautiful life
On his 40th birthday, Tom Good quit his job as a plastics company and, with the help of his long-time wife, Barbara, traded office life as a kind of self-sufficiency. They grew their own vegetables and placed pigs, chickens and goats in the back garden of Sedgeton, a wealthy London suburb.
On the garden fence are shot put, Marg and Jerry. In many ways, the opposite of Tom and Barbara, Leadbetters live in relatively luxurious, and their friendship is often tested by the literal pigs created next door.
It's a work-at-time, sustainable life story that's as important today as it was when it aired in the 1970s. Despite his age, most plots and jokes still stand the test of time. Well, maybe not in the joke that the telephone engineer joked that “there were a lot of calls that I had to carry around”, the audience didn’t laugh that much, which felt more like museum shots these days.
But it's a show that offers endless laughter, cozy atmosphere and huge inner help as Tom and Barbara handle everything from bad backs and fleas to sick piglets and rusty cast iron ovens. It was aired on the BBC in the 1970s and was a famous favorite of the late Queen Elizabeth II – so it is no surprise that you don't find bad language here or any bad language that can actually be described as “Bawdy”. I grew up watching shows as a kid (my mom is a fan), so I can definitely watch it with the kids.
Watch: Britbox.
Peeping performance
Living in a small apartment in a tower in south London, it's not always clear why office drone markings and jobs are bad DJ Wannabe Jez is a friend. Most of the time, it seems not they, especially when Mark wants a quiet night, his office love interest is a quiet night, and Jaz would rather take his friends to Magic Mushroom for the night.
However, this unexpected pairing works well throughout the series, as the duo drives everything from unexpected pregnancy and horny jam mother-in-law to what to do when the boss asks you to “give him a hand.”
Despite the frequent adult themes, the show somehow lacks any real disgusting, and while they are both truly terrifying people in their own unique way, you always end up taking root for Mark and Jez. It's been fun, endlessly quoted (“Is that normal stool you're doing?”), played for nine seasons, and there's a lot to get your teeth stuck.
Watch: Tubi, Pluto TV, Roku Channel (all free); Hu Lu,,,,, Disney Plus (Paid subscription).
Task Manager
“Oh my god, you are so A few of my friends heard me finally let them watch the Task Admin Season, and the sentence I heard was a few of my friends.
For beginners, this is a celebrity game show. Each series sees five comedians taking part in various strange missions to perform in “Task Supervisor.” The video is then watched in the studio and judged by the comedian and mission director himself along with his assistant (and series creator) “Little” Alex Horne.
Some series have one or two big names from British comedy (such as Noel Fielding, Bob Mortimer or Sarah Millican), and for others, being on Taskmaster is probably the biggest thing in their career so far. What’s unique about the show is that the same five contestants appear in all episodes in each series, so you can get to know them as the plot develops. Finally, even someone you’ve never heard of before is like an old friend.
Tasks range from simple requests, such as “the most watermelon” to more vague things like “the cheered up traffic guardian” or “find the shoes Alex is thinking”. The show’s talent comes from watching the hilarious people dealing with Bunkers missions in various confusing ways—sometimes it’s about subverting the rules from the way they see a genius. It's also a great show to watch with someone so you can have a conversation like “How will you do this?”
It's still one of the TV shows I absolutely love, and some of my friends initially passed it on to me with “Just Another Celebrity Group Show”, but I'm happy to report that these guys are now determined fans and are keen to talk to me about which contestant is their favorite. Although this is easy. Apparently Bob Mortimer.
Oh, please don't confuse it with our attempts to adapt the show. It ran for a season and was widely considered totally bad. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Watch: Pluto TV, many full episodes on the official YouTube channel
Red Dwarf
From the next 3 million years, suspended animation brought work, Layabout Dave Lister found himself still on the mining ship Red Dwarf, until now all the crew members were dead and the ship was lost in deep space. His companions are the boat's computer, Holly, the cat (a man who evolved from Lister's pet cat), a robot named Kryten and a hologram of the former double-layer couple (Arnold Rimmer).
Few sci-fi comedy works well. The show addresses important topics like why quarrel in the backward world is a good thing if you turn into chicken, and what happens if you love your alternative version of the universe.
The show manages to be ridiculously absurd on the one hand, while on the other, blends together with deeper sci-fi themes, such as in the plot Inquisitor, a time-traveling robot erases those who he thinks are not worthy of existence-the dwarf’s eyes are on the dwarf. Or in the Legion, the crew encounters a group of their collective consciousnesses that effectively prevent their prisoners, so it can continue to exist.
Like Taskmaster, (terrible) tried the American version of the show, but fortunately, they never surpassed the pilot stage. Actually, Ditto Peep shows, but I'm sure Johnny Galecki would rather we forget this, and I'm far from happy to do it.
Watch: Britbox, Peacock.
