Are British sitcoms dead? Have panel shows truly taken over...

Are British sitcoms dead? Have panel shows truly taken over? I can't remember a single good sitcom in the last five years.

Also popular does not mean good. Mrs. Brown's Boys and Citizen Khan are popular, but they are not good.

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youtu.be/72zLHGCOm-0
youtube.com/watch?v=xCijk4qmu7I
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people just do nothng
phoneshop

Is Back any good or does it feel like Peep Show lite without the crude humour? I'll watch it one day but it really doesn't get me excited at all.

watched the first ep. won't be watching anymore
just not funny
although it does have the guy who played Garth Merenghi in it

How much PC or SJW shit was forced in? I think the last season of Peep Show really got ruined in quality because they hammed a bunch of that crap in without even needing.

Sitcoms have made way for bigger productions like drama series. They still want comedy on telly, but sitcoms are more expensive than panel shows. So we see less sitcoms, and the budget saved from that goes into bigger drama productions. Especially the BBC seem to have gone this route in recent years, focusing a lot more on creating a name for themselves as producers of GREAT BRITISH DRAMA as their slogan is.

The first two series of Uncle were good, same for Catastrophe. They went downhill in their latest series though (got too serious). Rev. is sort of recent and was great. Oh yeah and The Trip is an instant classic

Not him but I also only watched the first episode but don't remember any forced PC/SJW stuff. It really is worth a watch.

I'm going to watch the rest of it probably when all the episodes are out. It was actually pretty good, had some great laughs, interesting characters. Mitchell and Webb are just playing themselves as usual, but that's what I like so I don't mind.

It's not bad it's just meh

Fucking hell right wing people are a joke

I'm happy for them to cancel everything that isn't Would I Lie To You, Doctor Who and the occasional nature documentary for me to not-watch when I'm in that kinda mood.

And the news.

lol what sjw/pc stuff was in peep show?
and 'll probably binge the rest of back when it's finished but the first ep. was dissapointing

>Uncle
Is that the one with Nick Helm in it because I can't stand that guy.
>Catastrophe
I started watching that last week, only on series one atm. I like the comedy but don't dig the drama parts, and by what you're saying they start focusing more on drama later on which is a shame. Scottish guy is best character.
>Rev
That was good stuff, I should finish that some day.
>The Trip
This is such a great show, I love Brydon and Coogan together on that. It's a pretty marmite show though, you either love it to bits like I do, or you just don't get it.

That episode where Mark makes a friend and it turns out he's a Nazi, and the show dares to step into that oh-so-controversial Nazi's Are Bad shtick.

There were people who listened to the hate coming out of that guy's mouth and thought "yeah, that sounds reasonable"

what from the episode in series 2? though you said in the later series?
And also, you really triggered when a person being viewed as a nazi was deemed bad? hahahaha

I'm not the original guy, I'm clearly poking fun at people who are offended by stuff like that

Fuck off nazi

Bluestone 42 was pretty good.
Took a bit of a dip when Oliver Chris left, but still not bad.

the trip's great just for the michael caine bits
'she was only 15!'
'when it get loudly it gets very loud indeed!'

>Mrs. Brown's Boys
>Citizen Khan
complete fucking trash

I thought the joke was that he's not a bad person just because he's a bit of a Nazi.

All British comedy is just the same formulaic establishment crap for middle class tossers to chuckle at vapidly

Mrs Brown's Boys was somehow voted to be the best British sitcom of the 21st Century following a survey by the BFI & Radio Times.

Please explain how Celebrity Juice is anyway similar to Blackadder for example?

That's not a joke.
The joke is "Mark finally makes a friend, and he's a fucking Nazi, oh isn't it a hard life when you're Mark Corrigan"

>the good life
>last of the summer wine
>keeping up appearances
>one foot in the grave
>peep show
>my family
>the same formulaic crap

>tfw all we ask for is rights for whites

Except Mrs Brown's Boys. True comedy for the people, that

if you're looking for some oldskool sitcom kino one foot in the grave is brilliant. Basically curb your enthusiasm. Actually, what is Curb if not Alan partridge meets one foot in the grave?

It's a lot more subdued and darker than their other projects. I've enjoyed the first two episodes but it's certainly not laugh out loud funny.

None of those examples are currently airing, thank you for proving my point

>Have panel shows truly taken over?
But panel shows are worse than ever here. Have you seen Mock The Week or 8 Out Of 10 Cats nowadays? Good lord

Your point was that all British comedy was formulaic, not CURRENT British comedy.
Fucking retard.

Check out Doc Martin. Its set in Cornwall and is comfy kino.

Taskmaster is great though. New ep in 25 mins on Dave

imdb.com/title/tt0862614/

Not Going Out is pretty decent in my opinion

They're more prevalant than ever, I think his point is.
The reason for that is that they're about a quarter of the cost, if not less, and can practically go on indefinitely. Sadly they're not going anywhere for that reason.

>Back

>literally a sub plot about David Mitchell having to remind his ex-wife to have sex with her new black boyfriend so that they can have a kid
>guards a caravan whilst they fuck
>boyfriend apologises for her being loud, Mitchell replies "is she?"

what did he mean by this?

'Would I lie to You?' is still pretty good sometimes.

Broadcasters have always been risk averse, but the financial crisis in 2008 exacerbated this, and so now there are even more panel shows than ever because they're a tried and tested formula that works, and they're cheap to produce. Low risk, high reward.

>8/10 cats is now broadcast on more4 and headed by the teeth mong and the Irish slag
where did it all go wrong?

>the teeth mong

fucking DESPISE him

>no one has mentioned this kino

wew

>teeth mong and the Irish slag
Honestly you'll find better comedians down your local pub. Same with the cripple fucked up hands guy.

>it's a comedian celebrates getting a 4 letter word on 8 out of 10 cats does countdown episode

the pinnacle of comedy ladies and gentlemen

That was my point, user. They're popular, sitcoms but they're not good.

It's popularity is astonishing. They don't even make series anymore. It's the modern Morecombe and Wise, the whole nation tunes in on Christmas Day for the Mrs. Brown's Boys Christmas Special. The ratings are through the roof. And that is not a good thing.

>Literally reference the show

Your reddit is showing.

Stream link for non-brits? Or will it be uploaded online somewhere later tonight?

1999... Jesus.

Didn't that air ~20 years ago? Should I be mad no one mentioned The Young Ones?

>Spaced
>Reddit

Reddit wasn't around in the 90's you fucking spacker

t. Skinner Box Rat

Fuck off faggot.

>>>/ass/

Looks like it's already online - drive.google.com/file/d/0BwKe-IZybx1tcTc5T3N1N1pEUEk/view

OP said he can't remember a good sitcom in the last five years. Spaced was 18 years ago man.
It is fucking great though

To be fair, the letters and numbers rounds are the least interesting part of the show and they're obviously aware of it. That's why they spend the first 20 minutes on introducing everyone and the mascot skits. And then the dictionary corner guests do a bit, and then there's usually a bonus round completely unrelated to Countdown.
About 10 of the 45 minutes is actually them playing the game and giving the answers.

>where did it all go wrong?
The moment they focused on the Countdown spin-off because of the higher ratings. Regular 8/10 cats is shit now because Sean and Jon were replaced by two mediocre comedians, and the quality of the guests has plummeted enormously.
They used to get people like Uri Geller, Jerry Springer, the Fonz on as celebrity guests, and the comedians were better known as well. Now it's Cockney Teeth and Irish Feminazi, joined by four Z-lists literally nobody has heard of before.

Oh fine you got me I'm talking about current comedy. Congratulations on your technicality, don't let the glory go to youe head

Has anyone seen 'Lead Balloon' ? BBC 4 show with Jack Dee. On Netflix

I watch it when i'm cooking etc. just to pass time. It isn't great, but I think it would be popular now, given the lack of any quality sitcoms

That's the second episode, I found that online yesterday, must've leaked somehow. Thanks anyway user. Hopefully the third episode will leak soon

I used to catch a few episodes here and there when it was airing. Nothing really special, I thought. Just Jack Dee being his grumpy self.

>the good life
>keeping up appearances
>one foot in the grave
Man, I miss stuff like that. And everything David Croft did was spectacular and loved by the nation.
>Dad's Army
>'Allo 'Allo
>Are You Being Served?
>It Ain't Half Hot Mum
They don't make 'em like that anymore.

Does anybody actually watch 'Not Going Out'?
I've seen bits of bobs but it always seemed pretty bad.

PICKLE RICK HAHA

The Office, Extras and Peep Show are the best it was ever going to be so I think everybody with any sense stopped trying.

I've seen a bit.

Lee Mack is an odd one. His stand up is alright, 6-7/10, and his scripted TV show is pretty average/poor.

But he's a funny, charismatic man, and comes across as much funnier on the panel shows.

About two years ago I went on a massive binge and watched all the episodes. Once you get into it it's weirdly addictive. The comedy isn't that great and mainly relies on Lee Mack's innuendos, but it was entertaining enough for me to sit through all of it, and it was pretty comfy at times.
It should've ended after they got married though, perfect place to end a long-running "will-they-won't-they" sitcom. It was off-air for two years I think and now it's back and it's really shit. The entire dynamic has changed, they're now married, they have three children, it's completely different. But somehow it was commissioned for like three more series.

Lee Mack was on the Graham Norton Show once and apparently Not Going Out airs in over 80 different countries, so it's massively popular abroad for some reason. I just think it's alright.

any outnumbered man in

I liked it more before one of the kids became a super chad.

I quite liked it, but David Mitchell isn't even acting in it. At least Webb is playing some sort of character. Overall it's not lough-out-loud funny, just a sort of witty drama.

people just do nothing is an instant top 10

I think BBC is playing it very safe and trying to go for mass market crap. It makes sense to go broad with reduced audience numbers but it doesn't exactly end in amazing creations.

And British comedies were always a few gems hidden amongst tidal waves of shite

the smoking room
15 stories high

Any love for Mongrels?
youtu.be/zPIpdYl-98U
youtu.be/72zLHGCOm-0

cuckoo
flowers

Matt Berry is the British King of TV Comedy. Surprised that nobody mentions this dry, sad and hilarious masterwork.

Steven can you hear me, it's Clem Fandango.

I hear him all day at work doing the voiceover for absolute radio, granted some of the material may not be his but most of it is dire, sick of him now

I literally came here to post about Toast of London. It meets the OP's criteria because it aired in the last five years and it's comedy gold.
Also very surprised it didn't get a mention until now, are people just not aware of it? Also Matt Berry should do more stuff, he's hilarious and he has the best voice in the world.

Love him. I listened to an interview with him recently and it looks like he's focusing on his music career over comedy now though which is a shame. I listened to his album but it was just kinda weird, though I really like Take My Hand which is also the opening theme to Toast of London:
youtube.com/watch?v=xCijk4qmu7I

That used to be really good but then it stopped airing and they brought it back and the children were suddenly all teenagers and it made me realise how fucking fast time flies

Great choices.

Been watching Toast of London the past few days. It's alright
Totally read that as "hilarious masterwerrrrk"

Great argument. You just convinced me to be like you and cut off my genitals.

the episodes aren't leaking they're all being put on the UKtv play app a week early

Fleabag and Catastrophe have been the best British comedies in past five years.

Oh that explains it. I found it on a random streaming website. I expect the third episode will be on there tomorrow

It's surreal and weird, and randomly puts songs in the middle of episodes, but I like it. Part of it is Matt Berry's voice, part of it is the ridiculous character names, and then there's the random celebrity cameos they have once in a while.

Completely forgot I downloaded Toast Of London.
Completely forgot about that.
Nice one bruvva.

Third episode is already up.

Not on the streaming website I'm using. Only seems to be up on UKTV Play or something and I need to sign up. No google drive link circling about yet?

Enjoy it mate. I really hope they do another series, but it's been two years now and no news.

the reddit sub for panel shows should have a link

>91 posts
>no mention of Inside No. 9

This is the best sitcom currently airing, I can not stress enough how completely brilliant and original it is.

Lad it's just a joke

I'm British and I want them to be dead.

People just do nothing
and what's wrong with Back?

I sort of agree with you, I think we've had a good run with sitcoms. The best ones were decades ago and the stuff made now is either mediocre or plain shit. The stuff that's popular (Mrs Brown) is terrible, so maybe it's time to admit sitcoms are a thing of the past. There were maybe three good sitcoms in the last decade, and I'm happy with panel shows taking over. While sitcoms are either alright or downright terrible, panel shows regularly provide good entertainment.
I would choose Would I Lie To You and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown over another series of Mrs Brown, or Josh, or Catastrophe.

Brian fucking made Spaced.

He's also a hell of a songsman

youtube.com/watch?v=xCijk4qmu7I

The problem isn't just with Britain. American comedy's gone to shit, too. Feels like a global thing. Occasionally there's something genuinely funny, but not to the extent of 10 or 20 years ago.