Any current good British Comedies?

[Dru Edwards]

Are there any good British comedies that are currently airing? I'm a big fan of Mr. Bean, Fawlty Towers, Allo Allo, and Father Ted. They're older shows though, 20 years and more since they last aired a new episode.

Anything similar that's current?

[srick]

Dru - not quite what you were asking, but if you want a good humorous read, I recommend Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series.

Thursday is a literary detective and is called in to investigate why some of the characters in world-renowned literature (notably, Jane Eyre), are missing and who is behind the ransom demands.

Fforde writes in the Douglas Adams style - full of puns and goofiness. I actually laugh out loud when reading his books. I have rediscovered reading in the past two years and find it so much more satisfying than other media.

best,

Rick

[Swamp Yankee]

IMO there are plenty of good American comedies, though most are pretty raunchy.

The days of good comedy on anything other than cable or streaming services, however, seem to have passed.

[Long Jon]

Not new, but “The I.T Crowd” (written by the Father ted guys) is brilliantly funny.
As is “The Inbetweeners” , again a few years old now.

I’m struggling to think of any great new sit coms, quite a few pop up, run for six half hour episodes, then sink without a trace.
I find most of the laughs are in the numerous panel shows like “Would I lie to You?” “Have I got news for you” and “Eight out of Ten Cats does Countdown”

[Silurian]

A Life of Rock: Brian Pern.

Mockumentary about aging rock star Pern, former vocalist of 70's prog rock band Thoth.

Detectorists.

Comedy drama about two metal detectorists dreaming of finding a Roman horde. Mackenzie Crook ( The Office and Orell in GOT)

W1A

Satire about the 'Head of Values' at the BBC .(Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey)

Man Down

A middle aged drama teacher who's life is falling apart around him.

Upstart Crow

The imagined domestic and professional life of Shakespeare.

Fleabag

The chaotic life of a young woman haunted by the death of her best friend (adult themes)

Mrs Browns Boys

The life of a Dublin matriarch and her family.

What we find funny is of course subjective, but you might find something in the list above.

[Silly Moustache]

Thank you Silurian - we agree.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Silurian

A Life of Rock: Brian Pern.

Mockumentary about aging rock star Pern, former vocalist of 70's prog rock band Thoth.

Detectorists.

Comedy drama about two metal detectorists dreaming of finding a Roman horde. Mackenzie Crook ( The Office and Orell in GOT)

W1A

Satire about the 'Head of Values' at the BBC .(Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey)

Man Down

A middle aged drama teacher who's life is falling apart around him.

Upstart Crow

The imagined domestic and professional life of Shakespeare.

Fleabag

The chaotic life of a young woman haunted by the death of her best friend (adult themes)

Mrs Browns Boys

The life of a Dublin matriarch and her family.

What we find funny is of course subjective, but you might find something in the list above.

I forgot about Mrs Browns Boys. I've heard great things about that show from my buddy. I've seen only 1/2 an episode but it does look promising.

[jpd]

I like, "As Time Goes By". Judi Dench, and a bunch of top line Brits. More of a series- public t.v. shows it out here. My wife tried to get me to watch it, but I always resisted until one day when I happened to connect with the character known as Lionel. I was hooked after that.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by jpd

I like, "As Time Goes By". Judi Dench, and a bunch of top line Brits. More of a series- public t.v. shows it out here. My wife tried to get me to watch it, but I always resisted until one day when I happened to connect with the character known as Lionel. I was hooked after that.

That is a favorite of my wife and I. We have the complete DVD series. Another we like is "Doc Martin". I have never cared for slapstick type comedy regardless of where it came from. There are several British TV series we have enjoyed over the years, but I can't say I am familiar with what is current.

Tony

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Swamp Yankee

IMO there are plenty of good American comedies, though most are pretty raunchy.

That's because Hollywood and the entertainment industry in general is exempt.
I thought everyone knew that

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by Long Jon

Not new, but “The I.T Crowd” (written by the Father ted guys) is brilliantly funny.

I'll second this suggestion - I have the DVD sets.

Ricky Gervais 'Extras' has a different famous actor cameo in each episode - great watching them make fun of themselves.

[Kerbie]

Come on, guys... we can certainly discuss British comedy and stay within the rules.

[FrankHudson]

As already mentioned, different folks find different things funny. There's a widespread belief that US and English senses of humor are different, but if there's a generalization with some validity in that, I suspect individual senses of humor in each country can still overrule that generalization.

I'll second "Upstart Crow" which I'd guess would work well with anyone with any interest in Shakespeare anywhere.

"W1A" may be more of an acquired taste. Beautiful observational comic writing. I've not worked directly with the BBC, but I've worked in a fairly large broadcasting network in the US, and parts of this absolutely split my gut. Sure, the accents are different, but I swear some of the meetings could be taken from ones I've attended in the US.

Some other stuff "everyone likes" are a mixed bag with me. Python has always been greatly funny to me, Fawalty Towers, completely misses my funny bone. I'm a milder fan of Douglas Adams than my 13 year old son. I've tried to like "Black Adder" in the various series and it only works for me some of the time.

[Ozzy the dog]

Not Going Out with Lee Mack is quite funny at times.

If you want to stray into comedy drama then Death in Paradise is very good.

Also, there have been a couple of series so far of a thing called 'No Offence'. This is set around a Manchester Police station but is quite dark. It centres around a serious back story but includes the sort of thing you laugh at but know you perhaps shouldn't.

[FOG01]

At the risk of dating myself, I was a big fan of the Young Ones, a British comedy that aired on MTV back in the 80's. Some funny stuff.