Best series and sitcoms

There are 16 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 4,078 times. The latest Post () was by Rice.

1st Official Post

    so tired of the word coronavirus......it's even beating the annoyance of the word Greta......


    Soooooo........

    New thread, words as corona, Greta, Trump, please avoid!!!!!


    I was thinking about how it seems like some of the best TV series and shows never really get repeated, (in the states I don't know)......in Europe there are many of the very best show and TV series that have nearly never been repeated or at least very seldom.......


    Here a few of the ones I love and really miss to watch again......:


    -Fawlty towers

    -Benny Hill

    -Cheers, (Sam's bar)

    -New York blues

    -little House on the prairie


    Even some of the mainstream, very predictable ones I even miss.....like Melrose place, Miami Vice etc.....


    Why are they not put on replay?

    Should be cheap to put on the net again.....

    Never seen any of them here and even in Europe, why?


    One sitcom I never get tired of and I'm a big fan of is two and a half men..........great entertainment! By luck that is on all the time.....but it's not one of the old ones.


    Which series or sitcoms do you miss????

    • Official Post

    Fawlty Towers is still hilarious today and in fact, I have entire series on DVD which I ripped last month so we can watch it on the TV via a pendrive.

    Benny Hill I never liked.

    I'm surprised we don't see more classics, like Monty Python, Taxi, LA Law to name just a few, on Netflix and other streaming services.

    Until last year, I'd never watched Friends and then got hooked, so I'll have to have a go at Two and a Half Men. Tried House, but couldn't latch onto it, mysteriously.

    forgot to mention "allo allo".....a classic!

    Also the English "coupling" I was watching a lot and really liked!

    And of course "little Britain".....which I remember people here did not like that much here on board.


    Two and a half men is a classic if u r a bachelor.......I have watched every episode minimum 10 times but still find it hilarious!

    Anyway my guess would be that women don't like it that much because it's quite macho.


    Some series that is just impossible for me to watch is all the csi crap.....


    I miss the good old series from the 80ties!!!!

  • Spin City

    Spin City

     (1996)

    Overview

    Workaholic Mike Flaherty is the Deputy Mayor of New York City, serving as Mayor Randall Winston's key strategist and much-needed handler. Mike runs the city with the help of his oddball staff: an anxious and insecure press secretary; a sexist, boorish chief of staff; an impeccably groomed gay activist running minority affairs; a sharp and efficient, man-crazy accountant; and an idealistic young speechwriter. Like Mike, they are all professionally capable but personally challenged. Read more

    Genres

    • Comedy
    Trailer

    I never watched Spin City, serafina . Is it on Sony or Warner Channel?


    @JAN , we love those old British ones too.

    REALLY SILLY Comedies:
    Keeping Up Appearsnces,

    Are You Being Served.

    Mysteries:

    Death in Paradise (Netflix)

    Midsomer Murders (Netflix)

    Prime Suspect (Netflix)

    Father Brown (Netflix)


    We must have seen every episode of Cheers, Friends, and Two and a Half Men, somewhere between 5 and 10 times.


    To your point, I loved 2.5 Men for about the first 4-5 seasons. Then there apparently was a change of writers, and the show changed from clever-funny to raunchy-funny only. After that, probably more enjoyable by an audience of single men.

    Rice .......all the ones u mention by Netflix I have never seen!!!


    The 2.5 men lost totally it's concept when Charley Sheen left.......the ones with Ashton Kutcher worse than worse!!!!! At that point it was like they wanted to make it more metrosexual and metro everything...... horrible....!

    Lost all of the essential parts that made it funny to start with!!!!!

    Beside that Ashton Kutcher is such an horrible comedian, except if u are a 13 year old nerd girl maybe!!!!


    The story of how Charley Sheen got fired from the series is just to hilarious......!

    From being a great success, they turned it into just another Muppet sitcom.


    serafina .....

    Spincity? Never ever heard of it.....

    U have watched that in Europe?

    Yes! We have both Sony and Warner Channel in BsAs with Cablevisión. (In Miradas guide, Warner is just called WC. Totally different meaning in English, so I still call it Warner.)


    We may need to look for DVDs, though these days they are as scarce as hen’s teeth.

  • The Big Bang Theory

    The Big Bang Theory

     (2007)

    Overview

    Physicists Leonard and Sheldon find their nerd-centric social circle with pals Howard and Raj expanding when aspiring actress Penny moves in next door. Read more

    Genres

    • Comedy
    Trailer
    • Official Post

    Oh, I didn't know they were channels. I though they were streaming platforms.

    We have TeleCentro and do not have a TV subscription, just Internet, so I am not current on those things.


    As others have said, very little sitcoms are available on streaming platform. which is a pity.

    One that is available on Amazon Prime is Big Bang Theory. Much more humorous if you have an education in science as many jokes are science-related. There are 10 or 11 seasons, but as usual the first 3 are the best ones.

    In general I prefer British sitcoms to American ones. Perhaps the main reason for this is the undercurrent of depression inherent in all the best British sitcoms, from Fawltey Towers to Only Fools and Horses in the old days to more mdoern classics like Extras and Peep Show. If you want comedy grounded in real life, I find the British style fits best. Even crazy shows like Bottom have this hint of depressed realism. British sitcoms could become bona fide dramas with just the slightest tweaks.


    That said, I am not a comedy snob and like broad comedy too. I think Americans are much better at this, which is why Friends, Seinfeld, and Big Bang Theory became so popular. I like all those shows to varying degrees. One of the other things I prefer in the British sitcoms is they don't outstay their welcome. They are short series more often than not. Even Only Fools and Horses that run for over 20 years only had around 70 episodes. That's 3 seasons of Friends.


    Shows like Friends and Big Bang Theory just get so stale the longer you watch. U.S. TV shows in general last too long and Flanderization just becomes so obvious.

    • Official Post

    I liked The Office (the original British one with Ricky Gervais) when it came out, but when I tried to watch it again a few years later I found it rather dull. American TV series are fake, I agree. European cinema is more realistic in general.



    I loved Rita (Danish TV series) but it’s not funny so it doesn’t fit the thread. It was available on Netflix a few months ago.
    I also like a Swedish series called Bonusfamiljen. Again, not funny but very realistic with modern issues being described.



    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

    You're correct about The Office, but I was not singing it's praises per se, just using it as an example of how depression and realism are always in British humor. A note on that particular show, a lot of what made it watchable was seeing this guy car crash his way through life. Once you see the car crash once, it gets less appealing to see it again. I am not a massive fan of Gervais, but I think Extra is much better than The Office. What's not up for debate is The Office is considered a classic.


    If you pick the best three seasons of American sitcoms, even the mainstream ones like Friends and Big Bang, you'll have a funny, well written, and tight comedy. Problem is both these shows dragged on for over 10 seasons and hundreds of episodes.Same with Fraiser, Seinfeld, and numerous others. Flanderization is impossible to avoid. I enjoy all those shows in small doses. It even happens in U.S. drama, like House. I think any show that goes over 100 episodes has outstayed its welcome.

    Must admit I don't like watching stuff I used to love years ago. It usually ends up not being as good as I remembered it to be.

    As time has gone on I've become very hard to please so I rarely watch TV. Father Brown is pleasant enough but only the episode I haven't seen before.

    We used to see the occasional Father Brown, but rarely enough that we didn’t pay too much attention to the supporting cast. I’ll admit that I found it a little “So What?”


    Then last year, we watched the whole series on Netflix, and after seeing the first season straight through, I started appreciating the characters, relationships, and personality traits as much as the plots and settings.


    One of the many outstanding features of the British series of a couple or a few decades ago is that they depict a simpler way of life, among good-hearted, non-self-centered people. Perhaps fictional even then, but nostalgically reassuring.

    Yes Father Brown is easy watching thanks to the scenic and tranquil location. The first and last five minutes are the most important bits.This means you can go make a pot of tea and return without missing anything.


    It's akin to the long running BBC radio show The Archers...''an everyday story of country folk''.