Poll: British Sitcoms vs American Sitcoms

[rtbailey]

Heres my view, not that its worth all that much and has almost certainly been said before me.
American sitcoms will appeal, more or less, to an american market and British sitcoms will appeal to the brits.
Personally, I prefer british. Thats not to say American sitcoms are bad, but Black Books and Red Dwarf win me over.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

The IT Crowd is a classic and timeless comedy?

So far I feel it's just done everything right.


What I will say from observation is this:

US comedy is consistently solid but rather formulaic. They show no shame in such a thing and it doesn't affect the quality.

UK comedy is either subtle or random. Sometimes both. I can't say I always know what's going to happen when I switch one on.

Regardless, UK for me. Pure quality.

 

[StBishop]

I'm Australian, I think that makes me non-biased.

I like a couple from both but in general I prefer English.

Is it just me or is there literally no one else in the world that thinks the office is a load of shit?

I have never laughed while watching it.

I guess I'm not the target audience? (20, Male, White, Christian, Uni student, Middle Class Parents, Australian)

Does anyone else find it stupid?

 

[Pariah87]

It's all a matter of personal taste really. Anything before the year 2000 I'd have to give the edge to Britain. Men Behaving Badly, Blackadder, Only Fools and Horses, Red Dwarf, The Brittas Empire, One foot in the Grave, Keeping up Appearances. I actually really dislike most British comedy now. My Family used to be ok...anything with Ricky Gervais in it, or with his name attached to it makes me turn over. The portly one from Mitchell and Webb with the funny voice annoys me, the IT Crowd was ok for a series maybe.

On the other hand I love Rules of Engagement, 30 Rock, Two and a Half Men, King of Queens, Fraiser, The Big Bang Theory. Hell, I even thought Blue Mountain State was funny.

Ultimately it's what appeals to the individual at any given time. Just because I can't abide Ricky Gervais doesn't mean I think everyone should hate him, he's just not my cup of tea because he's an arrogant prick with his head far too up his own arse.

 

[Wait...What]

Britain has Peep Show, that alone beats all American Sitcoms combined (not to say American sitcoms are bad just peep show is another level). We also have Father Ted, The IT Crowd and The Office.
America's best attempt IMO is 'How I Met Your Mother' and that can't even touch any of the above shows. RULE BRITTANIA

 

[icyneesan]

I haven't seen any British sitcoms (well none that I can think of) and the only american sitcoms i enjoyed were Friends and Two and a half men.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I don't really like sitcoms but there are a few from each country that really stand out.

I love some of the older sitcoms of the UK; I grew up on The Young Ones and Fawlty Towers. There are also only a couple of American sitcoms I really like: Seinfeld & Arrested Development.

The reason I usually can't make it to the end of a sitcom is because there's always some sort of dramatic interlude that always seems really contrived and tedious. With shows like Arrested Development (or even That 70s Show to a certain extent) even if there is some sort of dramatic tension, it's building up to a punchline.
American sitcoms have always been like that: mostly overly dramatic slop with a few outstanding shows. In the 50s we had I Love Lucy, in the 60s we had Dick Van Dyke. Then the British took over for us starting in the 70s.

I did always catch Who's the Boss but I just had a crush on Alyssa Milano.

 

[Hr Habberdasher]

One thing I notice as a Brit is that American networks basically churn out their sitcoms, they're not bad, but it's the sheer number of them, they have loads of writers but lack the charm of the British sitcoms. I mean IT Crowd has only one writer (Graham Lineham). British sitcoms try to go for quality over quantity, except for some of the sketch shows (Catherine Tate, Little Britiain (they get old quick though))or panel shows(mock the week, Have I got news for you) which are funny but are cheap so the poor BBC can afford them, most series last only 6 episodes in contrast to US which lasts 12+ episodes

American sitcoms are all about making money, while British, more specifically BBC sitcoms are to entertain you.

e.g. American and British 'The Office', the British Office had only 2 series but the quality is outstanding compared to the American version, you really feel it's a documentary and that the characters are real. While when I watch the American version, I find it funny but unbelievable, they've given up on basically any pretence of the fact it's a documentary and the characters aren't believable either, with the plots departing to silly excursions as opposed to good characters.

It's quite sad I end up watching more American comedies then British comedies just due to the ability the US networks can produce them

 

[Look-a-Hill]

My opinion on this is that British TV comedies are better overall. But when America does it right, its glorious. Arrested Development for example is better than anything Britain has ever done (with the exceptions of The Day Today, Brass Eye and perhaps Green Wing). And your Curbs and Seinfelds are fantastic too.

Even greats like Alan Partridge and The Office leave me frustrated with how short they are. Six 25 minute episodes for a couple of series is so disappointing compared with your American series of 12-24 episodes. There's an argument that this keeps them crammed packed with quality but have twice as many episodes never stopped Arrested Development being hilarious.

 

[mrwoo112]

NO ONE SUSPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION.

Montey phyton 'nuff said.

 

[FairlyFrightenedFeline]

It depends what your looking for. You got great American sitcoms like Scrubs and Big Bang Theory, and great British ones like IT Crowd and That Mitchell and Webb Look.

 

[VulakAerr]

I went with the US and I'm a Brit.

The quality of writing here is so dreadfully dire over this side of the pond. Sure we get the occasional miracle of things like Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses and The Office, but compared to the amount of utter tripe (I'll use Gavin and Stacy as a fine example of this) we have, it's a drop in the ocean.

I realise of course that there is a lot of shit in the US that we Brits never see but you guys also get quite a few quality comedy programmes, not least of all Seinfeld, Scrubs and Curb Your Enthusiasm. All show amazing writing quality and frankly, it's a quality out of reach of most British shows.

 

[Vek]

America gave the world Adult Swim.

 

[JWRosser]

I went with the US and I'm a Brit.

The quality of writing here is so dreadfully dire over this side of the pond. Sure we get the occasional miracle of things like Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses and The Office, but compared to the amount of utter tripe (I'll use Gavin and Stacy as a fine example of this) we have, it's a drop in the ocean.

I realise of course that there is a lot of shit in the US that we Brits never see but you guys also get quite a few quality comedy programmes, not least of all Seinfeld, Scrubs and Curb Your Enthusiasm. All show amazing writing quality and frankly, it's a quality out of reach of most British shows.

This is true. Gavin and Stacy is one of those shows where it is funny at first, but after it becomes really popular and everyone quotes it you realise how poor it really is.

 

[Tiny116]

No vs threads chap. But American Sitcoms are always funnier then brit ones. Like the Office for say...the british one was ok in laughs but the American Office...thats comedy gold.

You need to watch classic British comedy, like Only Fools and Horses, 'Allo 'Allo and My Family (The earlier seasons) Now THAT is comedy Gold

 

[Valkyrie101]

British, because American comedy, with a handful of very notable exceptions, is dreadful. I can, and have, sat through an episode of Friends without laughing. I only had to hold it in twice. Everything is too obvious and predictable.

 

[The Giggling Pin]

In the past it was British Sitcoms, Fawlty Towers, Open All Hours, Porridge, Men Behaving Badly, Red Dwarf, The Brittas Empire, Allo Allo, Only Fools And Horses, but in the past 10 years or so, 99% of it has been complete garbage IMO, i hate things like Green Wing, Little Britain, The Office, Extras, etc, so America has held the title for a little while now.

You sir, are a very wise man.

British comedy on the whole has been in decline for some time. The last truly good thing us brits done was probs Spaced which was, by all accounts, AWESOMENESS! The Office never really done anything for me and the IT Crowd is only amusing to me if i am drunk or stoned or both and even then its only mild laughter.

 

[Keepitclean]

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 *****!

2 and a half men is the most notoriously awful sitcom in america, where've you been?

Agreed. I'm not much of a fan of sitsoms in general but Two and a Half Men is bad, really really bad.

 

[technoted]

I love my British sitcoms, not just because I'm British but because they require thought, I mean America has some fantsstic ones like M*A*S*H and Police Squad but up against the likes of Father Ted, Blackadder, Black Books, Red Dwarf, Dad's Army, 'Allo 'Allo, The Young Ones and so many many more the American ones don't stand a chance. Then again most modern British sitcoms and American all seem like crap to me.

 

[LandoCristo]

British. But the old stuff, like Fawtly Towers.