Poll: British Sitcoms vs American Sitcoms

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Well, if you want a genuine wit and a biting satire, look no further than Britain; the crowning examples of the genre (in my opinion) being Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister.

However, if the Americans know one thing, its a good slapstick. Seriously, any British slapstick outside the Python crew has fell pretty flat, but the Yanks can make the old Pie in the face gag a screamer every time.


Both nations can and have created comedies that will stand the test of time. And both of them have created abominations that are best left forgotten.

 

[Naheal]

American, prefer British humor.

 

[DazBurger]

2 and half men is the most consistently awful show I've ever seen. Like I find that show insultingly bad.

O_O tell me he di...did he just?

Ooh hell no *****!

Episode 1: Intro.

Episode 2: Something awkward happens - Things go bad - Then back to status quo.

Episode 3: Something awkward happens - Things go bad - Then back to status quo.

Episode 4: Something awkward happens - Things go bad - Then back to status quo.

...
...
...
...
...
Episode 56: Something awkward happens - Things go bad - Then back to status quo.


-

I begin to see a pattern...

 

[zxcxczczx]

America gave us Seinfeld and for that, America wins.

Usually every summer I find at least one TV show I love, Scrubs, Arrested Development, That 70s Show, Spaced, Etc. But This summer I found Always Sunny in Philidelphia and Seinfeld.

So America wins.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

British comedy is better in-general. However, my three favorite comedy series (Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and Futurama) are all American. And if you insist on only discussing sitcoms then my top three of those would be, in order, Seinfeld, The Office (US version), and Blackadder. Also, the American version of Whose Line is it Anyway? is much better than the British version.

So what's more important, quantity (lots of good shows) or quality (the few best shows)?

 

[TheTim]

hmm, Big Bang Theory, King of Queens, How i met your Mother.

America for sure.

 

[jdbuck]

Sit coms come in all shapes and sizes. You have your generic stuff like Friends, My Family, Roseanne and Frasier. Personally i'm surprised no one has mentioned Community. This was a great series! I'm from Britain and watch a a variety of comedy. I own several dvd box sets of sitcoms some US made some US. I dont think you can say who make better stuff as everyone finds different things funny.

 

[tomtom94]

Britain gave the world Red Dwarf, Lab Rats, Krod Mandoon and Peep Show.
America gave the world Friends among others.

They're different styles of humour - America goes for absolute laugh-a-minute, Britain tries to make the good jokes really good., I think.

 

[Mister Eff]

I'm a brit, but I have to vote America. It's a tough one, I love IT Crowd, Peep Show (I fucking love Peep Show)etc but the US has/had Scrubs, Seinfeld, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, How I Met Your Mother, Cheers, 30 Rock, Community etc. No brainer. Plus we have Ricky Gervais' Office which I cannot fucking stand. I hate that man.

 

[Phoenix09215]

Older British sticoms are way better than the American ones, eg. Only Fools and Horses, Men Behaving Badly, Red Dwarf, Father Ted etc. However, Aemrica gave us Friends, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory so in the modern era of the sitcom, I think America wins. But when it comes to old school, Britain will always win

 

[imnot]

Black book's, Red dwarf, blackadder and Monty Python(kinda).
'nuff said

I love all of those, I always found American ones to be really cheesy and annoying.

 

[Fetzenfisch]

Black book's, Red dwarf, blackadder and Monty Python(kinda).
'nuff said

and IT Crowd. We have a winner!
there are quite a few very good american ones, but i prefer the british humour the most of the time

 

[DonMartin]

I would say british, just for monty python...

BUT CALLING MONTY PYTHON JUST A SITCOM WOULD BE A SIN. IT'S A SIN!

It's more than that. It's just.. It's so much more than just a show.

 

[Egitor]

I'd guess in general, British ones have my preference. American comedy shows I enjoy watching generally draw my attention because there's one or two brilliant actors in them keeping the thing afloat, rather than having brilliant and genuinely funny writing like Peepshow

 

[Red Right Hand]

American sitcoms keep me entertained, but I rarely actually laugh at them. British sitcoms on the other hand, I generally find hilarious. Except for "'Only Fools and Horses" I really, really cannot stand that show.

 

[Okuu_Fusion]

I don't really watch sitcoms... but I guess I'd go with American... Even though they haven't really made any good sitcoms since the 90's... and because I haven't really bothered to watch any British sitcoms...

 

[MardukGKoB]

I'm an American, and in general I would say that the British sitcoms are better. There are of course exceptions, and my favorite comedies are from the US (Barney Miller, for example). But it may be that we all tend to be prejudiced against ourselves in this regard since in our own countries we get all the shows regardless of quality (dragging the average down) while shows from other countries are filtered through at least some kind of selection process (pulling the average up). So the bad shows from other countries won't make it to our televisions - in theory, anyway.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

America has Scrubs.

America wins!

FLAWLESS VICTORY!

 

[Liberaliter]

Being British, I can't stand American comedy shows. Sorry guys, just not my thing. I do think Britain has a knack for comedy.

 

[Axolotl]

America has Scrubs.

America wins!

FLAWLESS VICTORY!

Season 9? Surely that undoes all that came before.

Anyway I'd have to go with British overall. Now I do like American sitcoms, to many to list. But none I've seen can compete with things like Blackadder or Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

However I'm not really in a position to judge. When I went to America I noticed on TV they never put on any of the truly great British sitcoms. They put on some like the Office but only the fairly mediocre ones. I guess it's the same with British TV I probably won't have seen the best America has to offer and thus can't make an informed judgement.