Great UK Comedies for Americans
Excellent UK tv comedies that American audiences will love.
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- CreatorConnie BoothJohn CleeseStarsJohn CleesePrunella ScalesAndrew SachsHotel owner Basil Fawlty's incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away.Probably the greatest UK tv comedy, with John Cleese as the perpetually angry and put upon Basil Fawlty. Brilliant writing and wonderful supporting cast. The German episode alone makes it a classic.
- CreatorJeremy LloydDavid CroftStarsMollie SugdenJohn InmanFrank ThorntonThe misadventures of the staff of a retail floor of a major department store.A favorite of PBS stations everywhere. The jokes are endlessly recycled and it is hardly politically correct, but the cast is outstanding and the characters fun.
- CreatorRichard CurtisStarsRowan AtkinsonBrian BlessedElspet GrayIn the Middle Ages, Prince Edmund the Black Adder constantly schemes and endeavors to seize the crown from his father and brother.The weaker of the four series, but it gets better as it goes along. Brian Blessed is especially loud here.
- StarsRowan AtkinsonTony RobinsonTim McInnernyIn the Tudor court of Elizabeth I, Lord Edmund Blackadder strives to win Her Majesty's favour while attempting to avoid a grisly fate should he offend her.Probably the best of the 4 series. Stephen Fry and Miranda Richardson enhance the cast and Ben Elton helps push Richard Curtis into much richer comedy territory.
- StarsRowan AtkinsonTony RobinsonHugh LaurieIn the Regency era, Mr E. Blackadder serves as butler to the foppish numskull Prince George amidst the fads and crazes of the time.Hugh Laurie adds a new dimension as a rather dim Prince Regent. Stephen Fry and Miranda Richardson only manage guest appearances here, but make the most of them.
- StarsRowan AtkinsonTony RobinsonStephen FryStuck in the middle of World War I, Captain Edmund Blackadder does his best to escape the banality of the war.This one is a bit more serious, given the WW I setting. The laughs still come and Stephen Fry is back in a regular role. The ending is very poignant.
- StarsPaul EddingtonNigel HawthorneDerek FowldsThe Right Honorable James Hacker has landed the plum job of Cabinet Minister to the Department of Administration. At last he is in a position of power and can carry out some long-needed reforms, or so he thinks.The ministerial will meets the administrative won't! Excellent political comedy, with brilliant wordplay from Anthony Jay and Johnathan Lynn, plus outstanding performances from Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne, and Derek Fowlds.
- StarsPaul EddingtonNigel HawthorneDerek FowldsJames Hacker was propelled along the corridors of power to the very pinnacle of politics - Number 10.Jim Hacker bumbles his way into Number 10, thanks to Sir Humphrey's scheming. This one ups the stakes a bit, with international crises, as well as domestic politics. Hacker gets to win more here and even sides with Sir Humphrey on a couple of occasions. Things run their course a bit quicker here.
- StarsDawn FrenchJames FleetTrevor PeacockA boisterous female minister comes to serve in an eccentrically conservative village's church.Delightfully oddball cast and a nice bit of heart make for a winning combination. Dawn French gets to shine on her own.
- StarsRik MayallAdrian EdmondsonNigel PlanerThe crazy and sometimes surreal comedic adventures of four very different students in Thatcher's Britain.Not for the easily offended, but wonderfully anarchic. This groundbreaking series was a two-fingered salute to Thatcher's Britain. Showcase for the alternative comedy world.
- CreatorRob GrantDoug NaylorStarsChris BarrieCraig CharlesDanny John-JulesThe adventures of the last human alive and his friends, stranded three million years into deep space on the mining ship Red Dwarf.The show that proved sci-fi could be funny (though Douglas Adams paved the way), as well as thought provoking. It has decidedly different periods, with early seasons more joke driven, while later ones explored more sci-fi concepts. A nice mix of verbal and visual humor. Later series vary in quality, though every season has memorable episodes.
- StarsRichard BriersFelicity KendalPenelope KeithTom Good quits the rat race, and with wife Barbara turns the garden of their Surbiton house into a smallholding. Their neighbours, snobbish Margo Leadbetter and her conventional husband Jerry, feel variously amused, offended and impressed.Titled The Good Life in the UK, a charming tale of a couple that decides to be self sufficient, to the horror of their class conscious neighbor. Carried well by the outstanding cast. A favorite of Queen Elizabeth.
- CreatorPeter SpenceStarsPenelope KeithPeter BowlesAngela ThorneFollowing her husband's passing, Audrey fforbes-Hamilton is forced to sell her stately home. While she comes to terms with her downward mobility, she decides to show the new owner a thing or two about "nobility".Penelope Keith gets her own series, as the economically fallen but always aristocratic Audrey fforbes Hamilton. A delightful romance slowly builds across the series, with the eternal snob Audrey made likeable by Keith's wonderful performance. Peter Bowles holds his own as the nouveau riche object of Audrey's attention.
- StarsPatricia RoutledgeClive SwiftGeoffrey HughesA snobbish housewife is determined to climb the social ladder, in spite of her family's working class connections and the constant chagrin of her long suffering husband.Patricia Rutledge is the ultimate social climber. This is the perfect revenge upon every ettiquette guide ever created.
- StarsArthur LoweDaniel AbineriGabrielle Daye"Bless Me Father" is a 21-episode British sitcom that ran from 1978 to 1981. A gentle and impish look at Catholic life in post-war suburban Britain, the series follows the adventures and misadventures of the practical-minded veteran Irish priest Fr. Father Duddleswell (Arthur Lowe) as he tries to break in his inexperienced and idealistic young curate Father Boyd (Daniel Abineri). The priests' lives at St. Jude's Parish in London are hilariously complicated by an unflappable and tart housekeeper (Gabrielle Daye), a stern and imperious Mother Superior (Sheila Keith), and a flippant worldling neighbor, Billy Buzzle (David Ryall). Plots revolve around crises that make Catholic parish life both charming and frustrating, e.g., fund-raising and parish bazaars, the seal of confession, complications over funerals, etc.Not quite as rollicking, but it has some great character moments. Well acted by all involved.
- StarsLeonard RossiterDon WarringtonFrances de la TourPopular sitcom set in a seedy bedsit lorded over by the mean, vain, boastful, cowardly, racist landlord Rigsby. In each episode, his conceits are debunked by his long-suffering tenants.Leonard Rossiter is the ever disapproving landlord Rigsby, who also is ever lusting after Miss Jones. Don Warrick and Richard Beckinsale (father of Kate) are the two students who are usually at the receiving end of Rigsby's disapproval.
- CreatorDavid CroftJeremy LloydStarsGorden KayeCarmen SilveraVicki MichelleIn France during World War II, René Artois runs a small café where Resistance fighters, Gestapo men, German Army officers and escaped Allied POWs interact daily, ignorant of one another's true identity or presence, exasperating René.Listen to me very carefully, I shall say this only once..... Hilarious farce by the creators of Are You Being Served? The jokes are repetitive, but the characters are fun and the situations absurd. Probably should have ended a series or two sooner than it did.
- StarsGraham CrowdenStephanie ColeDaniel HillAn unusual alliance develops between Diana Trent, a cynical retired photojournalist and Tom Ballard, a former accountant, while staying at the Bayview Retirement Home.Excellent series, featuring Stephanie Cole and Graham Crowden as residents in a retirement home. Very sharp tongued, but also with an odd, but sweet romance. Definitely strikes a blow at ageism and corporate greed.
- StarsJudi DenchGeoffrey PalmerMoira BrookerThe Korean War, and a long lost letter, separate the lives of young lovers Jean Pargetter and Lionel Hardcastle, whose paths cross again by happenstance.Wonderful romantic comedy about two lovers seperated by the Korean War, who meet again in their autumn years. Unparalleled acting by Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer and a great romance. Frank Middlemass steals every scen he's in as Rocky, Lionel Hardcastle's (Palmer) free spirited father.
- StarsJennifer SaundersJoanna LumleyJulia SawalhaThe wild misadventures of Edina "Eddy" Monsoon and her best friend Patsy Stone, who live in a nearly constant haze of drugged, drunken selfishness.Jennifer Saunders' solo series, alongside Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, and Jane Horrocks. Delightfully unlikeable Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone create chaos wherever they go, while always staying fabulous.
- CreatorBen EltonStarsRowan AtkinsonMina AnwarJames DreyfusVarious mishaps at a police station in an English town. The main character is the anachronistic, yet charming and funny Inspector Fowler. CID foil to Fowler, Inspector Grim is a bumbling, seething idiot.Rowan Atkinson stars in this updating of Dad's Army, where he leads a rather dim group of uniformed police constables (apart from WPC Habib). David Haig is the even dimmer head of CID (the detectives). Loads of fun.
- StarsDermot MorganArdal O'HanlonFrank KellyThree misfit priests and their housekeeper live on Craggy Island, not the peaceful and quiet part of Ireland that it seems to be.Anarchic fun on Craggy Island, a place of exile for three priests, off the coast of Ireland. Brilliantly funny.
- CreatorDylan MoranStarsDylan MoranBill BaileyTamsin GreigBernard Black runs a book shop, though his customer service skills leave something to be desired. He hires Manny as an employee. Fran runs the shop next door. Between the three of them many adventures ensue.Dylan Moran, Tamsin Greig, and Bill Bailey star in this tale of a bookshop owner who is the worst person to be in a service industry. Excellent cast and writing.
- StarsChris O'DowdRichard AyoadeKatherine ParkinsonThe comedic misadventures of Roy, Moss and their grifting supervisor Jen, a rag-tag team of IT support workers at a large corporation headed by a hotheaded yuppie.From Graham Linehan comes this workplace comedy. featuring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson and Matt Berry; it sends up corporate environments, geek culture, movies, and more.
- StarsSimon PeggJessica HynesJulia DeakinFriends Tim and Daisy, 20-something North Londoners with uncertain futures, must pretend to be a couple to live in the only apartment they can afford.From the people who gave us Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, this tale of roommates and their friends and extended family delights. There are pop culture references galore and brilliant fun.
