The most underrated comedy of all time? Page 21

Aha! Some of 'How Do You Want Me' is on YT:

Saw a bit of 'Warren' and thought it was alright. Didn't exactly warm to it and thought to give it a proper go but it appears to have gorn down the iPlayer memory hole, unless I'm looking for it wrong.

On the Simon Nye front, I think Is It Legal? is underrated.

Quote: Chappers @ 18th July 2019, 11:00 PM

What about Warren?

I couldn't stand the character. Far too nasty. Thankfully not a Simon Nye!

Joking Apart is my pick, brilliant plotting (of course, it's Moffatt). Thank God for the fan who paid thousands for the rights!

Quote: chipolata @ 20th July 2019, 7:58 PM

On the Simon Nye front, I think Is It Legal? is underrated.

I remember enjoying Is It Legal?, Beast, An Actor's Life For Me and Oh Doctor Beeching! when they were on, back in the day, but, for some reason, they are all overlooked by the schedulers of the plethora of channels we now have at our disposal. So I had to invest in the respective DVDs. And, yes, they all hold up well.

Quote: James @ 6th March 2016, 10:35 PM

Really enjoyed reading your posts on this one - some great memories coming back to me, a few I'd forgotten!

I would go for: Colin's Sandwich, The New Statesman, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Ever Decreasing Circles, Wait Till Your Father Gets Home and Early Doors.

Yes good call on all of them although I've not yet seen Colin's Sandwich but it had Mel Smith so must be worth watching. Adrian Mole was very good but had a poor lead actor. TNS was very funny but down rated by snobs because it was cartoony. EDC genuinely under rated I'd say because it was a subtle sitcom and was broadcast in an era with so many major rivals including the 70s classic repeats that it just got overlooked. If aired now it would be a major hit I'd've thought. WTYFGH under rated like most cartoons pre The Simpsons. I loved it, pure sitcom.

I'll add some great comedy serials that haven't been aired in ages. Private Schultz, Tutti Frutti, Blott On The Landscape and my favourite one Porterhouse Blue.

And on the sitcoms not already mentioned, early C4s Fairly Secret Army and It Takes A Worried Man I thought were worthy of more showings than they've had.

The wonderful Nightingales deserves a shout. Two series of weird genius that never really found an audience or won the plaudits it deserved.

"The Walshes" - ran for only one series of three episodes. :( I thought it was great! Such a shame.

https://www.comedy.co.uk/forums/thread/29908/

Not an underrated sitcom but an unfairly overlooked episode from it is The Wedding Party. Never understood the low ranking it gets on the websites, it squeezes into the top half for me. Hilarious physical comedy with Basil at his barmiest and it clearly inspired the ultra classic Psychiatrist ep in series two.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 28th July 2019, 6:15 AM

Not an underrated sitcom but an unfairly overlooked episode from it is The Wedding Party. Never understood the low ranking it gets on the websites, it squeezes into the top half for me. Hilarious physical comedy with Basil at his barmiest and it clearly inspired the ultra classic Psychiatrist ep in series two.

I presume you're talking about Fawlty Towers as for a mo there you had me going trying to remember "The Wedding Party" in The Walshes. :P

Personally, I think every episode is a classic and wouldn't like to list them in any order.

My least favourite is the Americans / Waldorf Salad. It's relatively forced without the usual pressure-cooker escalation, and most of the ''''''''''supporting'''''''''' cast is sorely-missed. Interesting that the Anniversary Party (no one's favourite) and this one came towards the end, but then they rocked the world again with Basil The Rat.
It's not a sitcom, but I once heard that Chaplin's 'Great Dictator' is really about Hitler. I completely missed that - far too subtle. Better watch again.

Took me forever to pick it up - like the Christian imagery in Narnia.

This may sound like an odd comment, but The Young Ones. I know it was huge, but it always irked me that Python (whose TV show was notoriously hit 'n' miss) had tomes written about them, TYO bugger all. Ade Edmondson himself isn't a big fan, and even the box sets were meagre, while relative shite like Al Fresco and FilthyRichCatflap got loving releases. At least there was the doc last year, which I adored, and about bleedin' time.
And don't get me started on Happy Families. The best thing they did afterwards and no DVD at all, just some horrifically butchered UK Gold repeats.

Quote: Michael Monkhouse @ 9th August 2019, 10:45 AM

This may sound like an odd comment, but The Young Ones. I know it was huge, but it always irked me that Python (whose TV show was notoriously hit 'n' miss) had tomes written about them, TYO bugger all. Ade Edmondson himself isn't a big fan, and even the box sets were meagre, while relative shite like Al Fresco and FilthyRichCatflap got loving releases. At least there was the doc last year, which I adored, and about bleedin' time.
And don't get me started on Happy Families. The best thing they did afterwards and no DVD at all, just some horrifically butchered UK Gold repeats.

The Young Ones was brilliant but it appealed almost exclusively to those who were both young (either in body or at heart) and somewhat anarchic. To criticise it seriously in any way would, I think, be rather churlish and I'd go as far as to say it would be almost impossible to over-praise it. However, the majority of people in the world are not young and/or anarchic and so it's no surprise that this sitcom is something of a niche item in the history of comedy.

Monty Python was indeed hit 'n' miss and, in terms of breaking new comedy ground, was a trowel in comparison with The Young Ones' JCB.

As I've said before, however, I thoroughly enjoyed Filthy, Rich and Catflap and, although the flatulence-based jokes were superfluous and far too numerous, I'd rank it as a contender for the most underrated sitcom of all time.

I dug out my old Young Ones DVD recently and I was amazed how hilarious it remains. Catflap is extremely shoddy by comparison (that also works without the last two words), and even the cast weren't proud of it. And after one series of Bottom I lost interest. I could quote TYO (but I won't: that's the kind of thing Blackadder fans do); there are literally hours of Bottom I haven't seen once, and I'd rather watch Sick for the 687687576469th time.

Quote: Michael Monkhouse @ 9th August 2019, 11:38 AM

I dug out my old Young Ones DVD recently and I was amazed how hilarious it remains. Catflap is extremely shoddy by comparison

I wouldn't argue with that - but I still like Catflap! Angry