Please help me. I'm an Australian. We've been cut off from British comedy by our useless TV programming.

In the past we have always had heaps of British comedy on our TV, but in the last 10 years it's been quiet! It seems like the only British TV we've imported recently is Celebrity Splash. F**k! If any Comedy makes the TV it's American rubbish UGH!!! I mean other than Seinfeld, The Simpsons, oh and Sarah Silverman, they're f**king talentless!

One major difference I have noticed about the two nations is that British comedy is full of daft, self loathing characters. Anyone with high self esteem is the arsehole of the show. Whereas, American comedy if full of people with high self esteem, and anyone with low self esteem is the loser. Makes me sick!

Unfortunately our TV is largely American. No-one here has heard of Steve Coogan, Charlie Brooker, or Armando Iannucci, because they've never been on TV here! The only British comedies that have made it big over here in the past 15 years are Little Brittan, Black Books, the IT Crowd, Mrs Brown's Boys, The Sketch Show, and the Mighty Boosh... So it's a pretty long wait for anything to come out here.

We've got some great comedians here in Aus, but unfortunately they also find it hard to get on TV. It seems like every Australian comedian that is on TV is gay. Straight comedians that make it here are a minority! It's political correctness gone mad!!!! The obvious reason for this is Adam Hills hosts a variety show here, and he seems to only invite gay comedians on the show. It's weird. Not a bad show, but it's bland.

Anyway! Guys! I need to know: radio shows; sketch comedy; Sit coms; satire; movies. I want your top 5 from the past 15 years.

As a side note, we've had some good comedy here in the past. The absolute gold standard of radio comedy was a show called Get This. Which you can find here: http://www.purehumbug.com/ It starts out OK, but really picks up after the first few months. It was axed in 2007, but you should believe there are still devoted fans. There were protests out the front of the radio station when it was axed. I've even seen YouTube footage of people protesting in England over the axing.

I agree with you about the TV here been ,mostly American and you are been kinda generous with the UK comedies you list as been big over here.

Really not sure what you mean about every Australian comedian been gay. Granted I really don't follow their private lives but can think of only 2 or 3 who are openly gay and really don't see what that has to do with it.

If there are three things I don't do, it's lists and pedantry.

Chop, I sympathise, but suggest it's the Australian public yourselves who're to blame. Whenever I've encountered them in groups and in discussion, they have a near pathological dislike of anything British now. It's much worse than it used to be. I think it has a lot to do with your desire for independence from us that's been continually raked up by your lefty republicans in recent years (although all have been incompetent MPs). I think the thinking is 'Well if we're not going to have their Queen and flag anymore how can we justify having all their TV.'

And some of it I think is just a clear snub, because you're right, film and TV wise you've gone far more US than UK now. You used to lap up a lot of our mainstream comedies, so maybe the younger generation are forcing their taste in comedy to change because of politics, and many like yourselves actually don't want it to?

Blueys...chunder...utes..possum...poms...

They may be better as they are...

Neighbors
Home and Away
Cell block H
The Sullivans
Sons and Daughters......

Payback time.

Quote: Chop In A Toaster @ July 17 2013, 10:30 AM BST

The only British comedies that have made it big over here in the past 15 years are Little Brittan, Black Books, the IT Crowd, Mrs Brown's Boys, The Sketch Show, and the Mighty Boosh...

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I had been hoping this would be a thread about the Ashes.

I recall watching Peep Show on SBS when I was in Australia a few years ago. And an Office-esque sitcom about some hassled geezer at a film production company or something. There was also Ade Edmondson's family sitcom, which I watched about 15 minutes of. And loads more - though most of it was crap. I would also classify New Tricks and QI as 'comedies'.

The ABC has lost its first dibs on BBC shows. I think you need to subscribe to Foxtel now to get most of the best of the newest Britcoms.

All irrelevant, anyway. We now live in an age where clever people can find and download whatever they want online - and Joe Average will go on watching the lowest-common-denominator shit and the commercials broadcast by the commercial networks.

Quote: Chop In A Toaster @ July 17 2013, 10:30 AM BST

No-one here has heard of Steve Coogan, Charlie Brooker, or Armando Iannucci, because they've never been on TV here!

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No Coogan is no loss. Brass Eye should have been on and repeated every year though. Probably the best to come out of the UK since whenever it did.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ July 17 2013, 3:47 PM BST

Chop, I sympathise, but suggest it's the Australian public yourselves who're to blame. Whenever I've encountered them in groups and in discussion, they have a near pathological dislike of anything British now. It's much worse than it used to be. I think it has a lot to do with your desire for independence from us that's been continually raked up by your lefty republicans in recent years (although all have been incompetent MPs). I think the thinking is 'Well if we're not going to have their Queen and flag anymore how can we justify having all their TV.'

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Fair crack of the whip, sport! This is one of the dumbest things I've read on this site in the past 15 minutes. Where do you encounter these groups of Aussies for discussions? In England? In which case, I cannot imagine they hate all things British if they're over there. Plenty of Australians are f**kwits but we oughtn't generalize. I don't know any Australians who think: "We must get rid of the monarchy and become a republic - and therefore give the finger to Britcoms." No one gives a shit. And old Britcoms were being repeated all the time on Aussie TV when I was there a few years back.

Quote: Chop In A Toaster @ July 17 2013, 10:30 AM BST

... American rubbish UGH!!! I mean other than Seinfeld, The Simpsons, oh and Sarah Silverman, they're f**king talentless!

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You should watch a couple of American TV shows called South Park and Family Guy.

Quote: Chop In A Toaster @ July 17 2013, 10:30 AM BST

We've got some great comedians here in Aus, but unfortunately they also find it hard to get on TV. It seems like every Australian comedian that is on TV is gay. Straight comedians that make it here are a minority! It's political correctness gone mad!!!! The obvious reason for this is Adam Hills hosts a variety show here, and he seems to only invite gay comedians on the show. It's weird. Not a bad show, but it's bland.

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Wtf?

Quote: lofthouse @ July 20 2013, 7:34 PM BST

Neighbors
Home and Away
Cell block H
The Sullivans
Sons and Daughters......

Payback time.

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They've actually re-made/re-vamped Prisoner Cell Block H and called it Wentworth. Looks more like a BBC/ITV drama now.

Quote: Chop In A Toaster @ July 17 2013, 10:30 AM BST

Please help me. I'm an Australian. We've been cut off from British comedy by our useless TV programming.

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Don't you produce and export your own Aussie comedy?? I thought US sitcom 'Wilfred' was originally Australian. Isn't there anything else? Last thing I saw was the Micaleff Programme on Paramount. They don't show anything else really.

Yes we've had some really good comedy here. I guess I was trying to put emphasis on those two shows.

The Michallef Program was excellent sketch comedy, he the went on to do an excellent short lived Michallef Tonight - was axed quite prematurely, I guess that was our fault for not watching.
Wilfred - good show.
Problems - Sam Simmons new show came out this year. Excellent.
Warehouse Comedy - showcases some excellent Australian stand up. Oddly all the up and coming comedians they pick are gay! I'm not saying they're not funny, it's just an odd thing.

As far as Australians impression of becoming a republic, no-one here could care less. It's more symbolic than anything else.

Of course more British comedy makes our TV but not as much as you'd expect, not as much as there used to be! I guess you're right, since Foxtel (cable TV) came out, there's been a lot less on TV.

And of course it's our fault comedy isn't on TV. I don't want to believe that we're so humourless that comedy never rates in the top 10, and that we can't ever bump sport, news, current affairs, and reality TV shows and put comedy up there.

Quote: Chop In A Toaster @ July 21 2013, 1:44 AM BST

Wilfred - good show.
Problems - Sam Simmons new show came out this year. Excellent.
Warehouse Comedy - showcases some excellent Australian stand up. Oddly all the up and coming comedians they pick are gay! I'm not saying they're not funny, it's just an odd thing.

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You are really exagerating. Not all of them are gay and even if they were I really don't see why it would be a odd thing. A large number could also prefer to drink coffee over tea or vice versa. Most of them proberly also live Melbourne.

As Kenneth mentioned Brit Comedies are repeated all the time here. As someone else mentioned if you look hard enough online you can find things. If you really want to go JB Hi-Fi and have look in their BBC/Comedy sections. They have a huge range of British comedies including things that didn't air here or only got one showing.

Quote: Chop In A Toaster @ July 21 2013, 2:11 AM BST

And of course it's our fault comedy isn't on TV. I don't want to believe that we're so humourless that comedy never rates in the top 10, and that we can't ever bump sport, news, current affairs, and reality TV shows and put comedy up there.

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Between the way politics are reported here, Today Tonight and A Current Affair - I think our news and current affairs shows are fit into their own special catagory of comedy.

Quote: Kenneth @ July 20 2013, 8:17 PM BST

You should watch a couple of American TV shows called South Park and Family Guy.

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And 30 Rock

I know I'm exaggerating. To be honest I was quite smashed and home alone the night I wrote that. Still trying to dig myself out.

And yes they are a special category of comedy. I just can't get over how much I hate the Project! I only see the ads because I watch the Simpsons. I think the topic on discussion on Friday night was "Would you prefer to give up mobile phones or coffee?" - Hard hitting issues.

Rex Hunt is his own special category of comedy. Listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjFZys4SV2E&feature=youtu.be&ref=nf

a hilarious new show just started recently actually

its called The Ashes

its hilarious!!!!

I understand that the Kiwis as being culturally superior to you are willing to help.