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Some of my favorite sitcoms of all time are British. Obviously there are also many great ones here in the U.S., but a series in the U.K. tended to run just 6 or 8 shows per season, and were often written by the same person, so when you run across a great one, they tend to be very consistent episode to episode. Here are a handful of my favorites, the nearly perfect Britcoms. They are in alphabetical order, because I would not want to try to rank them!
A list by Peter McGinn
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إجمالي الإيرادات1
A Fine Romance
A Fine Romance — This is a gentle romantic comedy series, following a middle-age romance between Mike and Laura. Laura is an assertive woman. Played by Judi Dench, younger than you might be used to seeing since she became Dame Judi Dench. Her romantic interest Is played by Michael Williams. He plays a quiet unassuming character. If you feel any chemistry between the two leads, it might be because they were married for 30 years. Judi Dench’s reputation rests greatly on her serious career in live theater, but I expect she enjoyed comedy, as she was in another successful series on this list. Of course she was also “M” in a few 007 films.
مسلسل
نوفمبر 1, 1981
2
As Time Goes By
This long-running show also stars Dame Judi Dench. This time she is paired with Geoffrey Palmer, an excellent actor we first noticed in yet another nearly perfect Britcom: Butterflies. In this series the two main characters were involved when they were much younger, but the Korean War and a misplaced letter caused their separation. Now decades later they meet by chance. Dench’s character has two daughters who, along with a boyfriend played by Philip Breatherton, carry the show. However, like most British shows, there are a plethora of strong character actors to form this wonderful ensemble cast. To mention only a couple: Joan Sims and Frank Middlemass. This show ran 20: years ago, but it still enjoys a strong following, and for good reason.
مسلسل
يناير 12, 1992
3
Butterflies
Butterflies — I don’t know if this is the very first British sitcom my wife and I saw, but for years it was our very favorite. Wendy Craig shines as housewife Ria, who loves her husband and nearly grown sons, but feels that life is passing her by. She can’t cook and doesn’t make any bones about it. Geoffrey Palmer plays her dentist husband, who collects butterflies and only wants a simple life where wife and children show him respect by allowing him a quiet home life. Nope, that isn’t happening. She is tempted to have an affair with an attentive gentleman she meets in a cafe. If this ever gets remade, they might have them fall right into bed, but in this show they linger on the edge, making viewers choose sides: should she or shouldn’t she? This isn’t one of those rowdy comedies where people repeat catchy lines, but my wife and I often say the line their glum maid Rudy comes out with when it is raining: “It is really peeing down out there.” Another long-term effect of this show involved the two sons’ old Mini Cooper with the British flag on the roof. 25 years later, when they introduced the redesigned Minis in the U.S., my wife and I bought the only brand new car of our marriage: a MINI Cooper with the British flag on the roof. It is over 15 years old now and going strong. So is this show, as far as we are concerned.
مسلسل
نوفمبر 10, 1978
4
Dinnerladies
This show was a big hit in England, and rightly so, but I don’t know if it even crossed over here to the U.S. It is a gentle series, following a group of coworkers who genuinely like each other and spend the day dealing with little problems and commenting (gossiping) on life.
Four members of the cast I know well from Coronation Street, which I loved until it turned into a violent, scandal-obsessed version of itself in the late 90s. It was great to see Anne Read and Thelma Barlow again after they left Corrie. I read that many more actors and actresses from the Street played on this show, so I will have to look for them when I watch it again.
Lead actress Victoria Wood also wrote it. It is well-written and features a wonderful ensemble cast. Ms. Wood ended the show after two seasons, apparently, because she worried about the quality slipping. If only more shows did that.
مسلسل
نوفمبر 12, 1998
5
Fawlty Towers
It is hard to believe just 12 episodes of this show were produced. It is practically legendary, for good reason. It was written by two of the stars: John Cleese, from Monty Python of course, and Connie Booth, who were also married at the time. I seem to recall Cleese saying the show was based on an actual hotel they had stayed at, but I can’t be sure. It couldn’t have been as bad as Fawlty Towers, though, with its lousy And rude service, and everything always going wrong, even with the hotel’s outdoor sign, with the letters always getting switched around. The jokes, misunderstandings and sight gags come a mile a minute, with so many memorable scenes you won’t believe there were just 12 episodes.
مسلسل
سبتمبر 19, 1975
6
Gavin & Stacey
I get it that not everyone loved this show as much as my wife and I did. Some people don’t like the Welsh accents, or the diverse cast, or James Corden, or other silly stuff. But we loved every episode: the humor, the romance between the main characters, the turning of social norms on its head and the ensemble cast, which is so deep I can’t even think of listing the goods ones without reciting the entire cast list. I will highlight one or two of the superb veteran comedy actors here: Alison Steadman. Larry Lamb, Rob Bryson, Adrian Scarborough - whoa, there I go, listing them all. The show was written by two of the stars — James Corden and Ruth Jones. You owe it to yourself to watch this Britcom.
مسلسل
مايو 13, 2007
7
One Foot In the Grave
I just wrote a review on this show, so I won’t go on and on here. The ensemble cast is impeccable and the writing unmatched. Sight gags, social rants and commentary, complex plots that build to surprising endings to each episode, all come together to make this one of the three best British shows even per, in my humble opinion, as the saying defies.
مسلسل
يناير 4, 1990
8
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin
The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. Sometimes this show lapses into completely silly stuff, but I found it to be original and unique. Reginald Perrin is tired of his corporate job and and fakes his suicide so he can be free and re-enter his life and start over (he seemed to still love his wife, though not the routine of their lives). It is slapstick humor and must be taken as such. I think this show is the reason I didn’t like The Office: it raised the bar too high for an office show (I love everything else Ricky Gervais has done). It features Sue Nichols, who many of us know as Audrey Roberts in Coronation Street, as well as Geoffrey Palmer, who has made in into this list of Britcom shows more than anyone else. This show was done again years later by the same writer starring Martin Clunes. It was entertaining and risky as a lot of people dislike remakes on the grounds that they aren’t the original. Sadly, Leonard Rossiter, Star of this original series, died fairly young at 58, robbing fans everywhere of more of his work.
مسلسل
سبتمبر 8, 1976
9
The Good Life
This show is a product of the 70s. A suburban couple decide to drop out and go back to the land. They will grow their own food, barter or sell what they produce to make their living, whatever they need to do to drop out of the rat race. Their slightly stodgy friends next door remain in the rat race, providing a foil and a counterpoint for their shenanigans. If you had shown me a summary of the plot, I would have rolled my eyes, but they made it work. I especially like what they did with Margo. She is snooty, privileged and against what their neighbors are attempting. As a result, she is joked about and made fun of, but there is depth and warmth to her that comes out at various times during the show’s run. I am not a big fan of Richard Briar and I don’t know why, but he does a credible job. Penelope Keith owns her roles as Margo. This is not at the top of this list of favorites for me, but it turned out much better than it had any right to do. In the U.S. it was known as Good Neighbors (Good is the couple’s last name.)
مسلسل
أبريل 4, 1975