Top 5 funniest shows of all time.

[SlowwHand]

Language barrier.
I didn't "get" Benny Hill, nor Monty Python, for that matter.

[Kropotkin]

That's a sign of mental health slowwy, nothing to worry about.

[Inverse Icarus]

Originally posted by rah
Top FUNNY shows....Stargate?????

stargate has some humor in it

i just really like the show / concept. plus, all the made up physics gives me something to talk about in an engineering school

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by Kropotkin
That's a sign of mental health slowwy, nothing to worry about.

I need to write down this date.
One of the few time at ACS that my mental health has been referred to in a positive light.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Language barrier.
I didn't "get" Benny Hill, nor Monty Python, for that matter.

You don't get irony either. There was nothing to 'get' in Benny Hill - what you see is what there is.


Monty Python was just surrealist humour. It was funny for its absurdity.

[Edan]

In no particular order:

Fraiser
I Love Lucy
Yes, (Prime) Minister
Joking Apart
Futurama

(Other noteworthy shows off the top of my head include: Burns and Allen, Three's Company, Are You Being Served, League of Gentlemen, Mr. Bean, Keeping Up Appearances, One Foot in the Grave.)

[Agathon]

It's not a language barrier. While Brits find things like the Simpsons funny (and All in the Family was funnier than the British show it was copied from) British humour tends to be dirtier have a keener sense of the ridiculous and is often more political than American and Canadian humour.

Now the "Cosby Show" just wasn't funny, except for that one episode where his sister made Theo the world's worst shirt.

[rah]

Originally posted by Big Crunch
I find it amusing that Benny Hill was big in the US and other British comedies faired badly. Benny Hill appears to be the only kind of British humour they can collectively 'get'.

Get off your high horse.
Monty Python was the orginal British comedy hit. It was shown on PBS which helped give it a touch of class with all those snobs that looked down their noses at the traditional broadcast stations. Us lowlifes found it and embraced the humor. This accounted for a big viewership increase in PBS. They were so delighted that they thought they could continue to cash in by getting another British Comedy, hence Benny Hill. At first it was watched by all the MP fans because it was there. But when the show kept relying on the same ole dirty dumb humor without the broad variety that they had come to expect from MP, Benny Hill's popularity crashed and burned. It is now only used as a spoof of bad boring BRITISH comedy. Now with cable, and more niche programming, US viewers have more of an opportunity to appreciate many other British Comedies.

[Edan]

Originally posted by Kropotkin
As a side note it might be worth it to point out that "step by step" ran for something like eight years and "family matters" for nine. Never trust other peoples opinion on what's funny unless they're right.

Yeah. I watched a few episodes of Last of the Summer Wine, which has been running for 30(!) years (and still running?), and couldn't figure out how it had lasted out a season. Just could't find the humor funny.

[rah]

Originally posted by UberKruX
stargate has some humor in it
i just really like the show / concept. plus, all the made up physics gives me something to talk about in an engineering school

Yes it has SOME humor in it, but not enough to justify being nominated as one of the top 5 funniest shows. (except by you, of course)

[CerberusIV]

Originally posted by Edan


Yeah. I watched a few episodes of Last of the Summer Wine, which has been running for 30(!) years (and still running?), and couldn't figure out how it had lasted out a season. Just could't find the humor funny.

Unfortunately this is now a prime example of a comedy programme that didn't know when to stop. It ceased to be funny several years ago, partly because the key cast members died off and couldn't really be replaced and partly because they were reduced to recycling the same jokes and storylines. The earlier series were much, much better.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by rah


Get off your high horse.
Monty Python was the orginal British comedy hit. It was shown on PBS which helped give it a touch of class with all those snobs that looked down their noses at the traditional broadcast stations. Us lowlifes found it and embraced the humor. This accounted for a big viewership increase in PBS. They were so delighted that they thought they could continue to cash in by getting another British Comedy, hence Benny Hill. At first it was watched by all the MP fans because it was there. But when the show kept relying on the same ole dirty dumb humor without the broad variety that they had come to expect from MP, Benny Hill's popularity crashed and burned. It is now only used as a spoof of bad boring BRITISH comedy. Now with cable, and more niche programming, US viewers have more of an opportunity to appreciate many other British Comedies.

That's interesting to know. Still scary that Benny Hill, one of the worst British comedians ever, managed to make a dent in the American psyche. Just like the Spice Girls in that respect.

[Japher]

1. Welcome Back Kotter (Up your nose with a rubber hose)
2. Seinfeld
3. SNL
4. All in the Family
5. Kids in the Hall

[Sava]

1. Seinfeld
2. South Park
3. Simpsons
4. SNL
5. Scrubs

EDIT: Holy CRAP! ALL BEGINNING WITH S... COINCIDENCE?

[Locutus]

In no particular order:

1. Frasier
2. Red Dwarf
3. South Park
4. Blackadder
5. Have I got news for you (both Dutch and British versions)

I generally prefer British humour above American, but American sit-coms can certainly be entertaining as well...

Shows like Monty Python, Men Behaving Badly, The Young Ones, Only Fools and Horses, Yes Minister, Fawlty Towers, Thin Blue Line, all deserve an honourable mention, as well as Friends, Seinfeld, Simpons, MASH, 3rd Rock from the Sun...