Good American sitcoms that aren't Seinfeld or Curb Page 4

Good American... show,
not a sitcom, (but there is no thread for US version on bcg)
of Impractical Jokers
S08e21 and 22 (1 & 2 in 2020)
very funny as ever website for e21 website for e22

I'm rediscovering Dharma and Greg website, s01, s02, half of s03 through, Vanity Cards (freeze msg @ the end) are new to me as they were impossible to read in broadcast TV.

Quote: rrr 969 @ 25th February 2020, 6:28 PM

I'm rediscovering Dharma and Greg website, s01, s02, half of s03 through, Vanity Cards (freeze msg @ the end) are new to me as they were impossible to read in broadcast TV.

I don't mind Dharma and Greg at all so far as I have seen it which is not a lot.

I'm currently watching my Barney Miller DVD. 1975 originally. It did have (probably brief, limited and late night) airplay in the UK but I was 12. It intrigued me a bit yet also eluded me for seeming rather adult. What I recalled was a vague "vibeyness" which appealed but it was mainly blokes at work and I had never been one. It transpires that the vibe aspect was right. A lot of references to extreme weather. You don't see much of the outside but heating and air conditioning regularly break down. They imply in dialogue a sense that we are in some early setting of the Coen Brothers. Fargo etc.

For its time, it is very rangy on ethnicity with diverse characters brought together in quite a claustrophobic scenario, ie the downtrodden police station. To describe it as an early Frasier would be overstating it but there is a not dissimilar subtlety and a dryness there, though that is inconsistent and it varies depending on the episode. I would call it liberal in its way and ahead of its time. For example, in the popular series All in the Family, Archie Bunker like Alf Garnett is the central character and the other characters react against his opinions. In contrast, in Barney Miller certain Archie types occasionally appear but they are set against the central character of the police station itself which is quite laid back about people's differences.

The themes are deliberately quite challenging for the era. To take one example, the flasher episode is an especially good one. The Courtesans is another. References to media hyping up bad news and the extent of crime in the city; Miller's wife (who might best have been played by someone else) longing to escape to the country; a fair amount about Latin/Polish people......much seems uncannily modern and reinforces the idea that who/what was in the US then is in the UK today.

9 out of 10.

I must admit that I used to enjoy Will and Grace, also had a bit of a 'thing' for the lady with the squeaky voice, she was in an episode of the ever amusing Frasier. Cheers was really good but I also have to say that a lot of 80's and 90's family sitcoms seemed a bit myaah, very similar, white, middle-class sorts in massive houses with glamorous lifestyles, probably why I enjoyed Everybody Hates Chris so much. Not seen the bloke who played Chris in much else apart from the Walking Dead and never felt they developed his character enough before he got eaten by zombies!

Has anyone mentioned" 3rd Rock from the Sun" that had it's moments.With the legend that is William Shatner as the Big Giant Head.

Quote: john tregorran @ 27th December 2020, 10:48 PM

Has anyone mentioned" 3rd Rock from the Sun" that had it's moments.With the legend that is William Shatner as the Big Giant Head.

Good series - have the box set in my mix. John Lithgow what a revelation!

Not seen Happy Days in years, used to love that show.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 28th December 2020, 5:47 AM

...John Lithgow what a revelation!

Wasn't he just. Clearly this thread needs an official top 5 :

1) Frasier
2) Cheers
3) The Larry Sanders Show
4) Bilko
5) Big Bang theory

Shock horror!!!
I would agree with that top 5.

I do remember one from my childhood which I liked but I haven't seen it for years.
The Adventures of Hiram Holliday with Wally Cox.

Big Bang
King of Queens
Malcolm in the middle
Bakersfield PD
Brooklyn 99
Bilko
Beverly Hillbillies if there is a better side combo than Mr Drysdale and Miss Hathaway I am yet to see them,. How they never had a spin off amazes me.

It's already been mentioned but seriously think It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is amazing. One of the only American comedy shows I can stand and it's very self aware.

Quote: jimbo22shark @ 14th January 2021, 12:55 PM

It's already been mentioned but seriously think It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is amazing. One of the only American comedy shows I can stand and it's very self aware.

(Kaitlin Olson in) "The Mick" - also is very good IMDB

I remember from all series mentioned above that I laughed the most from "The King of Queens", (revisiting it now may be not so funny...)

Quote: rrr 969 @ 14th January 2021, 1:14 PM

(Kaitlin Olson in) "The Mick" - also is very good IMDB

Ooh good shout, had been recommended to me before - will give that a watch.

What about The Trump Show?

Man Seeking Woman

(Thats not the Trump show btw it's a show in it's own right)