Sitcoms that ended on a high Page 5

I didn't know. Blimey. Thanks :D

No problemo. You may want to check out our 'Coming Up' page. :)

https://www.comedy.co.uk/schedule/coming_up/

Lead Balloon's coming back too. Two pieces of good news in one day, aren't I a lucky chap.

edit: And Outnumbered. Wow. What's with November?

Quote: Joseph @ November 3 2008, 2:49 AM GMT

The IT Crowd finished on a high too, and Father Ted. I think Lineham likes to move on (although, all his comedies have three major characters, at least one of them Irish).

The death of Dermot Morgan probably had a lot to do with Father Ted ending completely. I'm sure if he'd lived, Linehan and co would have given in to pressure to bring it back, at least for a one-off special.

Filthy, Rich, & Catflap
Bottom
The Young Ones

Blackadder 4 ended the same as all the others, but I get choked up everytime I see it. Even typing about it made me think about while I'm here at work... excuse me... I think I have something in my eye...

Most definitely Black Adder ended well, there isn't a single series I disliked and I don't want to taint that.

I would have argued Only Fools and Horses, had it ended on "Time On Our Hands" instead of the multiple Christmas specials that followed.

I'll say Bottom ended at the right time also. Times were changing and a series like that would be so heavily edited and censored these days it would be a pale form of itself (I'm not counting the live shows though ;) )

To add to the Fawlty Towers debate, I say it ended in a good place. It's my favourite comedy statistic as somebody who is very anti-Friends. Consider this, over 100 episodes of Friends...12 episodes of Fawlty Towers. I know which is the more memorable show.

Somebody earlier asked if it was brave or cowardly to end a series, I would say it was rather brave. Like Fawlty Towers, how Booth and Cleese determined that they should accept what they had and move on - would people still talk of Fawlty Towers in the same way if they made another forty-odd episodes, watching the cast physically decay in front of our eyes, finding more ways to keep the show fresh. Some programmes lend themselves to an infinite amount of shows, but I don't think Fawlty Towers was one of them...not without changing it all up!

Quote: TomCampbell @ November 15 2008, 4:42 PM GMT

Consider this, over 100 episodes of Friends...12 episodes of Fawlty Towers. I know which is the more memorable show.

I would say they're both extremely memorable! I think you're getting mixed up between like and dislike, because Friends is obviously memorable, to some degree. You obviously remember it. Friends is and will remain one of the giants of American sitcom, whether you happen to like the show or not. I like both shows, by the way.

Yeah, it was only a personal opinion regarding the 'more memorable'. In a way, I find the number of episodes of Friends made to be ridiculous! But that's because I'm not a fan, and I'm sure a Friends fan is overjoyed with the fact that there's soooo many episodes out there.

Quote: TomCampbell @ November 15 2008, 4:42 PM GMT

Consider this, over 100 episodes of Friends...12 episodes of Fawlty Towers. I know which is the more memorable show.

Going to have to agree with this.

I'll take Basil screaming in the faces of the hotel inspectors, assaulting his staff, insulting his wife, offending Germans, and generally freaking out, over the poorly observed superficial meanderings of Friends any day of the week.

Culturally Friends had more impact on both sides of the Atlantic though. You might not like it, but you can't deny it.

I doubt Ted would have returned - they'd decided to knock it on the head before Morgan passed away. The masterplan seemed to be (A bunch of) Hippies, but Linehan left that for some reason.

I don't buy the "end it on a high" stuff....if it's funny, make it. Friends was able to do stuff with the characters that was ONLY possible because of the number of episodes.

Perfect example right now is the US Office which does stuff with character quirks that the UK Office could never go near because we didn't know them well enough.....and so for me is a funnier show.

'Allo 'Allo! because it was the end of the war - wasn't it?

Quote: Seefacts @ November 25 2008, 11:45 PM GMT

Culturally Friends had more impact on both sides of the Atlantic though. You might not like it, but you can't deny it.

It depends on what you mean by "impact". Popular it may have been, having been broadcast in a time of superior global distribution, it may have higher ratings in world with more televisions in a planet that has more than doubled its population since the broadcast of Fawlty Towers but I don't think popularity is the game here. We're talking quality. Alright, so perhaps the majority of the world disagree with me, but then the same number of people think the Spice Girls were a better band than Killing Joke, so the opinion of the majority hold little credibility for me.

The fact that Arrested Development got cancelled just past half way through the third season while Friends endured is a testament to the poor taste of the ‘powers that be'.

So, if it's all the same, I might just reserve my right to not pay Friends any kudos whatsoever. They may have generated the odd laugh here or there, but so many shows got more laughs out of one episode than Friends did in over a hundred.

Quote: Seefacts @ November 25 2008, 11:45 PM GMT

Culturally Friends had more impact on both sides of the Atlantic though. You might not like it, but you can't deny it.

Culturally? And you're talking about something that's American?

Rolling eyes

Grandad's off again...