WatchMOJO has now become one of the worst channels to follow - except by Americans. It struggles to meet its daily quota of videos - often re-using many older lists - and so juggling the previous 'results' to produce a 'new' video with different answers... 😢 Don't believe ANY facts shown in ANY WatchMOJO filming - purely after click & views and nothing else. 😮
You could apply most of the scripts to the majority of UK governments. Even thatcher is reported to have said that they got very close to the reality of parliament and government.
RIP Ian Lavander who played Private Pike in Dads Army. He passed away just over a month ago and until then, was the only surviving member of the main cast
All these shows are fantastic Red Dwarf is an amazing comedy set in space, the difference between Uk and Us comedy i find is Us comedy is brash but Uk comedy is a lot more subtle with it’s jokes.
I used to love “Keeping up appearances” and also “one foot in the grave” not top 10 but still really funny pre 2000 sitcoms, my favourite of all time is “only fools and horses” and I grew up in Lewisham just down the road from Peckham, where it’s set
One Foot in the Grave goes unappreciated these days - unlike its huge popularity in the 1990s - I think because it was a lot darker than most sitcoms which might turn off new viewers, but personally it's one of my all-time favourites.
It's actually crazy that they actually pronounced it so badly given they're from the UK. Then again, I suddenly had the thought that maybe channels are starting to add deliberate mistakes into their videos as so many of us get irritated by it and comment on it. Which actually boosts the channel and makes it more popular.
NEVER trust a WatchMOJO video... They must meet a DAILY quota of uploaded videos and they don't care what is produced! A WMoMo video is SO often full of lazy 'facts' , it drives me mad... 😢 😅😅😊
@@LoulizabethA cunning plan if ever there was one. I had a lecturer called Mr Mainwaring at college and his name was pronounced Mannering by most as it's the common British way to pronounce the name.
Porridge is a slang word for prison. Reputedly Porridge, or oatmeal, was the staple breakfast meal, so being sent to prison was known as getting Porridge. All UK prisons are known as HMP (Her/His Majesty’s Prison), like HMP Slade and sentences were often announced by the Judge as X years at Her Majesty’s Pleasure. Criminals are tried as Joe Bloggs Versus His Majesty.
"The good life" was one I loved - a couple from a "good life" in London who decided to move to the country where the air was fresh and they could plant their vegetables - way before its time !
I don't know a single person, of any sex or age, who hasn't cried at the series finale of BA Goes Forth. It was sheer perfection & I don't think any other film, TV series or play has ever achieved such pathos. If anyone is not moved or manages to not cry when watching it, it simply means they either do not understand what happened in WW1 or they have no heart.
Some great series that weren't mentioned were "The Likely Lads", follow up "Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?", about 2 Geordie friends, 1 firmly working class and 1 upwardly mobile, and "Black Books" about an alcoholic book shop owner who hated his customers.
Maybe as this is pre-2000, that little nugget is OT for this video. Although he was also half of 'Fry and Laurie'.. I really wouldn't expect WatchMojo to know or care about either.
Yes Minister is a wonderful way to understand why the British are the way we are. Our Civil Service is our ultimate gate keeper pitted against our Politicians and their quest for change. It is well worth checking out some clips. I would add an honorable mention to another Classic called Allo Allo ( which is how Hello sounds with a French Accent), like Dad's Army this too is set in WW2 but this time rather than an English Seaside Town you are in a French Village full of Resistance Fighters.
When 'Allo, 'Allo started I hated it because it was a parody of 'Secret Army' - a serious drama about the resistance in France, which I'd loved - all of the characters were based on specific characters in the original series. But I kept watching and it took on a life of its own....and at its best it was brilliant!
@@almostyummymummy I am pretty sure that it was an entirely separate show and not a Spin Off though Richard Briers was in The Good Life, previously. "George and Mildred" was on ITV, unlike the other BBC Shows, and was one of 2 Spin-Offs,along with "Robins Nest" of "Man About The House".:)
@@almostyummymummyNeither. George & Mildred was a spin-off of Man About the House,in which George and Mildred Roper (played by Brian Murphy and the ill-fated Yootha Joyce) were the upstairs-dwelling landlords of the bright young things downstairs ruclips.net/video/lrLNBkd-ENI/видео.html. To the Manor Born was a spin-off of The Good Life,centred around the posh lifestyle of Audrey Forbes-Hamilton,played by Penny Keith who played Tom (Richard Briers) and Barbara (Felicity Kendal)'s neighbour Margo in The Good Life ruclips.net/video/8Y-mZaphP5U/видео.html.
Only fools and horses will always be number 1 for me. Infact its often repeated on TV in the 20th century every Christmas time almost traditional. Highly recommend Americans watch those only fools and horses series.
I approve of all ten choices for the list but there's such a wealth of contenders that must have been just outside the chosen top 10 and could easily have been in it,including Red Dwarf and others suggested in this comments section.
In the UK it's actually not so unsual for actors to also be the writers of their sitcoms. I can think of half a dozen great series off the top of my head where this was the case. Obviously, having separate writers is also common - but in the UK these tend to one individual or a pair of writers who write every episode, not a whole writers' roomful. Dad's Army. To understand it you have to know that the 'Home Guard' during WWII was a part of the Army made up of part time soldiers who for a variety of reasons were not called up for full time Military Service. Some were in 'Reserved Occupations' (too important to the running of the country to be depleted by call-ups), many were too old for full time service (often veterans from the first world war), and others too young. (btw 'Mainwaring' is pronounced 'Mannering') Blackadder is a worthy number 1 on this list. It does bear saying though that Series 1 was still finding its feet....the following series were honed to the level of masterpiece!
If you like your comedy with inteligence and wit, Yes Minister is top, and you really need to watch them, not just for the fun plots, but also for the absolutely stunning acting. And then you need to watch The New Statesman which was criminally overlooked by Mr Mojo
Any Englishman will tell you that Only fools and horses is head and shoulders above almost everything else,Blackadder,Fawlty towers,Porridge,Rising damp,John Thaws Morse, all brilliant too.Even stuff like Upstairs downstairs exuded a quality not seen nowadays.
There is a wealth of fantastic sitcoms, with favourites changing depending on when you grew up. No offence to Father Ted, but I also love Black Books, and The IT crowd!
I have to admit, it bugs me that most of the rest of the world know Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean or from the silly spy movies he did, and not from his awesome work as Blackadder.
The running joke in Steptoe and Son was that the son Harold called his father a “dirty old man” which is why, in A Hard Day’s Night, Paul keeps saying “he’s very clean!” True story.
Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Ministers are classic. The wordplay alone and acting are stellar. You should really react to it as I am sure you would like it.
It played in Canada and was extremely popular in Ottawa the capital. The politicians and the Civil servants could identify with the conflicts between the 2 leads
I came across "Are You Being Served" many years ago and have loved it ever since. The wackiness of the scripts, the fantastic comic genius of the actors and their chemistry together made for a great time 9 times out of every 10 shows.
You really should watch some of these sitcoms. I'd suggest Only Fools and Horses, Porridge, and Yes Minister/Prime Minister to start off with, and Steptoe and Son (the episode where they fall out and split the house the middle, including only having one half of the TV set is hilarious), that is assuming you've already seen Fawlty Towers and Blackadder. If not these need to be added to your homework!!! You won't be disappointed!!!
The reasons the copies bombed in the US is a very different sense of humour. British humour can be dark and uses a lot of word play. Programmes like Porridge & Yes Minsiter would go right over their heads.
@@agardener3621 They don't get the British version, they change these programmes so that they are no longer anything like the originals. Sure some changes do need to be made to suit the US market but not like happened. And some programmes I think wouldn't have needed that much tinkering.
@@mattpotter8725 Interesting that when we buy programs from the US, all the cultural references are left in. More think of the number of programs originated in the UK and sold all over the world, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, Strictly, taskmaster to name a few. Our comedies are good because, they are not predictable. Most of our comedians are well educated and often the originators of their work. We don't need canned laughter to tell us that was a joke.
A surprisingly excellent overview of excellent British comedy. Glad to see both Father Ted and Porridge there. Obviously you could have added a few more but pretty much on the ball with this one..
One of the funniest things on RUclips is a live stage version of "Bottom" where both characters go into an extended ad lib. Eye-wateringly funny. "Yes Minister" has some of the wittiest writing ever on television. A few more classic series that belong on the list: Black Books, Absolutely Fabulous, The Young Ones, Spaced, The IT Crowd, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Red Dwarf, and 'Allo 'Allo. PS- "PM Howard Wilson"? "Wallington on Sea"? "Main-Waring"?
Blackadder - the final episode. An absolute classic piece of TV. Set in the trenches of the first world war the last act of what was meant to be a comedy had millions in tears. If you don't watch any of the other pieces mentioned here, watch that.
Only fools and horses is the best comedy to ever come out of the UK. Whenever they did a Christmas special, it was hands down the ratings winner. When they did the final 3 episodes over one Christmas ( Modern man, Heroes and Villains and Time on our hands ) - the final episode broke the record for the most viewers of a regular tv programme. I think the only time more people watched a program was Charles and Diana's wedding. If you look at that last episode " Time on our hands ", excluding the small children that were in bed, the people working + others, about 80% of the available population that were able to watch it Live, watched it Live. When it was initially created, it had a tiny budget and the jokes were small toilet humour stuff and not many people watched the first series. In truth, it only got a few million viewers and was destined to end after just one series. However, during the end of the first season, in the UK, there was a writers strike and the BBC had nothing to put in its place in the schedule, so their hand was forced and they re-ran the whole first series - the had no choice. It was kinda forced on us. With only 4 terrestrial channels to choose from and no satellite tv yet, nobody in the UK had more than 4 channels. What happened is that the viewers could either watch BBC or ITV because BBC2 and Channel 4 were afterthoughts. I don't know what everyone else was showing but Only Fools And Horses first series was shown again. Many people had not even bothered to see it the first time, but the viewing figures for it increased by a few million and the BBC decided to do a second series. It's budget got a bit bigger, it was still a sitcom, but John Sullivan who wrote it made it more personal, to allow the audience to become invested in the characters lives outside of the actual comedy. He threw in real world issues like loss and grieving and then interwove that in amongst the comedy. It gained momentum, its budget kept increasing, they brought in more characters ( love interests etc ) and the show grew beyond just a regular sitcom. With every series, the viewers increased, so they kept it going. Every Christmas, they would do a feature length episode - and it was always a ratings winner. I know that people in the US will say Faulty Towers is our best comedy, but there were only 12 episodes of that. Trust me. Only Fools and Horses is the best bar none. The two main characters were two brothers selling dodgy stuff in the pursuit of becoming a millionaire. By the end, everyone in the country was rooting for them to succeed. After those final 3 episodes, they did do a few more Christmas specials, and although they filled in some gaps ( people wanted to know where their characters had gone to after those episodes ) whilst they were good, their story had pretty much been told. Well worth watching from start to finish. I recommend that you watch them all in the correct order to include the Christmas specials.
100% correct and excellently put. From series 2 & 3 the writing and the characters just got better and better. We grew up with them and it was absolutely must watch TV. An awesome compilation of the human condition. Definitely my favourite amongst all of these greats. Rising Damp should definitely have made the list also.
So many great British SitComs. The Young Ones was anarchic and starred the incredibly talented and the late Rik Mayall and Ade Edmonson, who then went on to create Bottom. It was a new type of comedy and I’d highly recommend you watch them. The Inbetweeners, Black Adder is just brilliant as was Absolutely Fabulous and the Vicar of Dibley, Porridge, Rising Damp, Fawlty Towers, Last of the Summer Wine, Only Fools & Horses, In Loving Memory and Steptoe & Son are just some of the best.
If you are going to watch any of these it would be well worth your time. Porridge, Only Fools, Dads Army and Fawlty Towers in particular are pure genius. I would avoid the first series of Blackadder ( not good ) but the rest are great, specially 2 and 4.
There was a successful series starring the man who played Rimmer called the Brittas Empire. He ran a recreation club and was extremely incompetent but thought he was brilliant. A showcase of how bad he was, was an organization dedicated to non-violence tried to kill him.
@@alisonsmith4801 Anglo Irish? I'm fine with that Alison, but my nights ruined as I'll have to inform the rest of the planet of the breaking news😂only joking btw💚
Your comment about it being unusual for the writers to also be the stars in sitcoms, see 'Ghosts' (UK). All six writers also star (as at least 2 characters each) and it's genius! (But far more recent than the ones in the video you're reacting to here of course.) If you haven't seen it, it's worth checking out. Lots of clips on RUclips, as I imagine you might not be able to access BBC iPlayer, where all full episodes from all 5 series are available.
Maybe I'm easily amused, but my all-time favourite joke from 'Bottom' remains the one in the episode where one of them tried to trick the other out of some money by sneaking into their room late at night dressed as The Grim Reaper, hoping to scare them. It went as follows: "AAAARRRGGHH!! Who are you?" "I'm DEATH!" "Oh, sorry - WHO ARE YOU?"
I first watched UK Sitcoms in 1961 and my Top Sitcom is "Yes Minister" with, in no order, Blackadder (4) Fawlty Towers, Alan Partridge(created in the 1990s) Not Going Out, The Office, Extras, The Thick Of Itm Derry Girls and Outnumbered. 50 other "Honourable Mentions" and everyone's list will be different. I was born near Peckham and grew up in The "Only Fools" era and it's not in my Top 20..."Barman, indeed!
As others have pointed out, the narrator got the pronunciation of Mainwaring wrong. However, he also got the name of the town wrong. What's difficult about Walmington-on-Sea?
Steptoe, Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, Father Ted, all great, but Only Fools and Horses is on another level. As has been said by others, Only Fools and Horses is the best show ever to come out of Britain, or anywhere else.
Being a fellow actor, I am surprised you didn't notice how many internationally famous actors were in these clips.. Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Bernard Cribbins for instance!
Shame it was only 10. I'd put Rising Damp in there, along with The Vicar of Dibley, Red Dwarf and Open All Hours. They're all worth looking up if you get the time
The only one on that list I never watched was Yes Minister, it just never appealed to me. A new episode of Only Fools and Horses was a real family event in our house, we would all sit down to watch it. Blackadder series 2 and 4 were genius. the ending of series 4 was so sad the only sitcom I've laughed at and cried as it was so sad. I wish The Royle Family had made the list, it was such a simple premise, but so very funny. Great reaction, wishing you well 😀
I first watched UK Sitcoms in 1961 and my Top Sitcom is "Yes Minister" with, in no order, Blackadder (4) Fawlty Towers, Alan Partridge(created in the 1990s) Not Going Out, The Office, Extras, The Thick Of Itm Derry Girls and Outnumbered. 50 other "Honourable Mentions" and everyone's list will be different. I was born near Peckham and grew up in The "Only Fools" era and it's not in my Top 20..."Barman, indeed!
My dad was the one in our house that loves that era of sitcom; Porriage, Dad's Army, Open All Hours (the original), The Good Life, Rumpole of the Bailey, Rising Damp (bit dated these days), Yes Minister/Prime Minister (which apparently was quite accurate according to Margaret Thatcher), he also watched The Office & The Young Ones. My mum liked The Vicar of Dibley and Victoria Wood. So a few rubbed of on me, The Vicar of Dibley, The Good Life & Porridge. The more recent sitcoms such as Ghosts and children's historical sketch show Horrible Histories (series 1-6 cause the cast/writers changed after that) are among my favs, I also watched Fresh Meat but I wouldn't say it was a favourite. My brother loved The Inbetweeners.
I loved Blackadder, Fawlty towers and father Ted. My favourite period for black Adder Is the queen Elizabeth period. If your not aware besides Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robert's, Two of the other Famous actors that were in all the series was Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie both incredibly good comedic actors themselves. They even did a show called A Bit of Fry and Laurie which I also recommend checking out. British humour is the best
Here's another one for you. In Sickness and in Health. Granted that the humour in that would NEVER be made today ( the homophobia and racism ) but it started in the Early 60's? It started out in Black n White. Alf Garnett would routinely slag off the " Blackies " or his black carer who he called " Marigold ". He always called him a " Poofter ". I know that his character was very set in his ways and couldn't be taught about changing his language, but it was pretty funny. But it would never be made today. I think the writers would be strung up.
hello. them performing in only fools and horses is not below them. only fools is regarded as one of the most loved series of all. love it or hate it, nobody can deny how big it got.
I don't think the guy narrating this montage was familiar with Dad's Army,if he pronounced Captain Manwaring as it was spelt,when it was pronounced as Mannering. And sadly,we lost our last link to this great sitcom as Ian Lavender,who played the youngest member of the troop,Private Pike, died only last month.
All losers and walking disasters pretty much - I LOVE it 😂. I'd guess none of these would translate well for the USA - they seem pretty much the opposite of us humour wise
There is a hint here about TV writing, its not done in the same way in British TV as in American. Shows do not gave teams of writers, shows are written by one person, or sometimes a pair of writers staying the same throughout the run, they are the key figure. That's true for all these, as such it's not unusual for a show to be written by an actor that is in it. Only Fools ran for 20 years and was all written by Andrew Sullivan, who also sang the theme song. It explains why there are fewer episodes, but also why they are less formulaic that American shows. David Croft wrote several other sitcoms with Jimmy Perry after Dad's Army, also he produced them and direct a lot of episodes. In addition with another writing partner he wrote more shows including. Are You Being Served.
Yes Minister/Priminister are a must watch, painfully funny and accurate, watch as a favour to yourself and sod the reaction, British comedy at its very best "except for Blackadder" but bloody close.
![Bethesda's Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card [Oblivion: The Warp in the West / The Dragon Break]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/KYOCHqMHYck/mqdefault.jpg)
How can the seemingly British narrator not know Mainwaring is pronounced 'Mannering'.
Because he's reading a script and has never actually watched it. Watchmojo is notorious for mispronouncing things.
Probably because he has never heard of dads army in his life
MoJo UK .....shit n shite even the Polar bear missed do try keep up .
WatchMOJO has now become one of the worst channels to follow - except by Americans. It struggles to meet its daily quota of videos - often re-using many older lists - and so juggling the previous 'results' to produce a 'new' video with different answers... 😢
Don't believe ANY facts shown in ANY WatchMOJO filming - purely after click & views and nothing else. 😮
The same narrator has butchered pronunciations in other Mojo videos.
"Yes Minister/Prime Minister" has to be some of the cleverest writing in comedy history - SO well done!
…and eerily prophetic too at times!
Didn't know it was Warmington on sea either.
I'm glad this was at the top. It saved me from posting.
It's far too close to reality for comfort
You could apply most of the scripts to the majority of UK governments. Even thatcher is reported to have said that they got very close to the reality of parliament and government.
RIP Ian Lavander who played Private Pike in Dads Army. He passed away just over a month ago and until then, was the only surviving member of the main cast
All these shows are fantastic Red Dwarf is an amazing comedy set in space, the difference between Uk and Us comedy i find is Us comedy is brash but Uk comedy is a lot more subtle with it’s jokes.
Mostly agree / although some Brit sitcoms are tortuously bad.
Lots of greats missed here. - BBC2 and C4 almost entirely ignored.
strange when the US tried to re-do the shows they ALL failed in pilot
i think fawlty towers did get a series made but was pulled
@@philiprice7875 I think the US attempted to a remake Fawlty towers 3 times none were very good.
The finale of Blackadder Goes Forth makes me tear up every time.
I still can't watch it...
I'm brimming just thinking of it. Incredibly poignant.
Yeh very poignant ending
He didn’t mention Red Dwarf!
cut off was 1980, RD late 80's
Love the paused image at 15:24. That's Hugh Laurie as the Prince Regent, who achieved some fame in the US, as Dr. House!
"some fame" like The Sun is "quite hot and most Americans assumed he was American due to his convincing accent.
I think the Prince Regent was famous for something other than a TV role . . .
I used to love “Keeping up appearances” and also “one foot in the grave” not top 10 but still really funny pre 2000 sitcoms, my favourite of all time is “only fools and horses” and I grew up in Lewisham just down the road from Peckham, where it’s set
One Foot in the Grave goes unappreciated these days - unlike its huge popularity in the 1990s - I think because it was a lot darker than most sitcoms which might turn off new viewers, but personally it's one of my all-time favourites.
‘ Yes Minister’ best political satire written
Brilliant scripts.
"Captain Mane warring" watch mojo 🤣
Moreover, it's set in Walmington-on-Sea not Wallington.
It's actually crazy that they actually pronounced it so badly given they're from the UK.
Then again, I suddenly had the thought that maybe channels are starting to add deliberate mistakes into their videos as so many of us get irritated by it and comment on it. Which actually boosts the channel and makes it more popular.
Unfortunately and unnecessarily they pronounce many words in an American way. Why, Ive no idea!
NEVER trust a WatchMOJO video...
They must meet a DAILY quota of uploaded videos and they don't care what is produced! A WMoMo video is SO often full of lazy 'facts' , it drives me mad... 😢 😅😅😊
@@LoulizabethA cunning plan if ever there was one. I had a lecturer called Mr Mainwaring at college and his name was pronounced Mannering by most as it's the common British way to pronounce the name.
The narrator obviously hasn't seen Dad's Army. If you know,you know!
Captain Mainwaring💀
How can someone pronounce it that wrong😂
@@saucerlfulofbuggery Wilful ignorance seems to be the norm for citizens of the United States!
Porridge is a slang word for prison. Reputedly Porridge, or oatmeal, was the staple breakfast meal, so being sent to prison was known as getting Porridge. All UK prisons are known as HMP (Her/His Majesty’s Prison), like HMP Slade and sentences were often announced by the Judge as X years at Her Majesty’s Pleasure. Criminals are tried as Joe Bloggs Versus His Majesty.
Almost... it's actually R (for Regina or Rex) v Joe Bloggs (US = John Doe).
@@titanium_di2402 OOPS. That's what happens when you don't have accurate legal experiences.
Also worth adding that Ronnie Barker’s cell mate, played by actor Richard Beckinsale, is Kate Beckinsale’s father.
"The good life" was one I loved - a couple from a "good life" in London who decided to move to the country where the air was fresh and they could plant their vegetables - way before its time !
They did not move to the country. They stayed at home and turned their back garden into a small farm
@@baylessnow Correct. It was set in Surbiton.
Thanks for correcting...
You're welcome.
The last episode of blackadder was the most moving tv ever. Everytime i watch it i cry. & this was a comedy. Dont bombard insults please.
I would call you a cry baby (joke) but I don't think anyone would disagree with you.
I don't know a single person, of any sex or age, who hasn't cried at the series finale of BA Goes Forth. It was sheer perfection & I don't think any other film, TV series or play has ever achieved such pathos. If anyone is not moved or manages to not cry when watching it, it simply means they either do not understand what happened in WW1 or they have no heart.
I think that most people would agree with you.
It was incredibly moving 😊
In the Porridge clip at the end with Ronnie Barker is Richard Beckinsale, Hollywood actress Kate Beckinsale’s father.
"Rising Damp" surely deserves a place in the top ten.
Absolutely right.
Some great series that weren't mentioned were "The Likely Lads", follow up "Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?", about 2 Geordie friends, 1 firmly working class and 1 upwardly mobile, and "Black Books" about an alcoholic book shop owner who hated his customers.
Ah, yes! Bernard and Manny! So funny! Loved Black Books! Rising Damp too!
The guy who played the feckless Prince in Blackadder later became the American Dr House
Maybe as this is pre-2000, that little nugget is OT for this video.
Although he was also half of 'Fry and Laurie'..
I really wouldn't expect WatchMojo to know or care about either.
@@Varksterableespecially when they’re not even pronouncing Mainwaring (Mannering) properly 😂
@@Varksterable Stephen Fry (the other half) was in the Blackadder series as well.
The list is incomplete without ‘Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em’. It was notable on so many levels!
Yes Minister is a wonderful way to understand why the British are the way we are. Our Civil Service is our ultimate gate keeper pitted against our Politicians and their quest for change. It is well worth checking out some clips. I would add an honorable mention to another Classic called Allo Allo ( which is how Hello sounds with a French Accent), like Dad's Army this too is set in WW2 but this time rather than an English Seaside Town you are in a French Village full of Resistance Fighters.
When 'Allo, 'Allo started I hated it because it was a parody of 'Secret Army' - a serious drama about the resistance in France, which I'd loved - all of the characters were based on specific characters in the original series. But I kept watching and it took on a life of its own....and at its best it was brilliant!
I loved this series too!@@carolineskipper6976
I can't believe The Good Life wasn't in this list!
When they make these lists, they back themselves into Ever Decreasing Circles..
That was a spinoff of To The Manor Born, wasn't it?
Or was it from George and Mildred?
@@almostyummymummy I am pretty sure that it was an entirely separate show and not a Spin Off though Richard Briers was in The Good Life, previously.
"George and Mildred" was on ITV, unlike the other BBC Shows, and was one of 2 Spin-Offs,along with "Robins Nest" of "Man About The House".:)
@@Isleofskye I miss the TV shows from back then. They were all staples of my Kiwi childhood/teen years. Great bonding times with Dad.
@@almostyummymummyNeither. George & Mildred was a spin-off of Man About the House,in which George and Mildred Roper (played by Brian Murphy and the ill-fated Yootha Joyce) were the upstairs-dwelling landlords of the bright young things downstairs ruclips.net/video/lrLNBkd-ENI/видео.html. To the Manor Born was a spin-off of The Good Life,centred around the posh lifestyle of Audrey Forbes-Hamilton,played by Penny Keith who played Tom (Richard Briers) and Barbara (Felicity Kendal)'s neighbour Margo in The Good Life ruclips.net/video/8Y-mZaphP5U/видео.html.
Would like to have seen Allo Allo on the list at the very least an honourable mention.
Bottom is fantastic, and father Ted is my favorite
Only fools and horses will always be number 1 for me. Infact its often repeated on TV in the 20th century every Christmas time almost traditional. Highly recommend Americans watch those only fools and horses series.
Wilfred Bramble was in Hard Day's Night and this programme was the reason everyone kept saying 'He's very clean' in that film.
Wasn't that the scene when he was having a bath in the sink, with all the crockery, and a woman spotted him, hilarious!
And we're still watching and enjoying the repeats 😊
I’m so disappointed Red Dwarf isn’t on this list. That and Bottom are my comfort shows.
I approve of all ten choices for the list but there's such a wealth of contenders that must have been just outside the chosen top 10 and could easily have been in it,including Red Dwarf and others suggested in this comments section.
In the UK it's actually not so unsual for actors to also be the writers of their sitcoms. I can think of half a dozen great series off the top of my head where this was the case. Obviously, having separate writers is also common - but in the UK these tend to one individual or a pair of writers who write every episode, not a whole writers' roomful.
Dad's Army. To understand it you have to know that the 'Home Guard' during WWII was a part of the Army made up of part time soldiers who for a variety of reasons were not called up for full time Military Service. Some were in 'Reserved Occupations' (too important to the running of the country to be depleted by call-ups), many were too old for full time service (often veterans from the first world war), and others too young.
(btw 'Mainwaring' is pronounced 'Mannering')
Blackadder is a worthy number 1 on this list. It does bear saying though that Series 1 was still finding its feet....the following series were honed to the level of masterpiece!
If you like your comedy with inteligence and wit, Yes Minister is top, and you really need to watch them, not just for the fun plots, but also for the absolutely stunning acting. And then you need to watch The New Statesman which was criminally overlooked by Mr Mojo
YES MINISTER=Number 1.
Alan Barstard! lol
@@margaretflounders8510B'stard, please
Any Englishman will tell you that Only fools and horses is head and shoulders above almost everything else,Blackadder,Fawlty towers,Porridge,Rising damp,John Thaws Morse, all brilliant too.Even stuff like Upstairs downstairs exuded a quality not seen nowadays.
Till Death Do Us Part should be on this list it's the inspiration for the US comedy All in the Family 😊
Fools and Horses number 5?!
Yeh right,have a word with yourselves Mojo,you get most things wrong.
I said the same thing. Number 5 my arse!
No 1 all day long
I'm pulling my hair out. Only Fools and Horses at number 5. 😄
The dark haired young man side on in Porridge is Kate Beckinsale`s father.
There is a wealth of fantastic sitcoms, with favourites changing depending on when you grew up. No offence to Father Ted, but I also love Black Books, and The IT crowd!
I have to admit, it bugs me that most of the rest of the world know Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean or from the silly spy movies he did, and not from his awesome work as Blackadder.
The running joke in Steptoe and Son was that the son Harold called his father a “dirty old man” which is why, in A Hard Day’s Night, Paul keeps saying “he’s very clean!” True story.
Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Ministers are classic. The wordplay alone and acting are stellar. You should really react to it as I am sure you would like it.
It played in Canada and was extremely popular in Ottawa the capital. The politicians and the Civil servants could identify with the conflicts between the 2 leads
I came across "Are You Being Served" many years ago and have loved it ever since. The wackiness of the scripts, the fantastic comic genius of the actors and their chemistry together made for a great time 9 times out of every 10 shows.
You really should watch some of these sitcoms. I'd suggest Only Fools and Horses, Porridge, and Yes Minister/Prime Minister to start off with, and Steptoe and Son (the episode where they fall out and split the house the middle, including only having one half of the TV set is hilarious), that is assuming you've already seen Fawlty Towers and Blackadder. If not these need to be added to your homework!!! You won't be disappointed!!!
The reasons the copies bombed in the US is a very different sense of humour. British humour can be dark and uses a lot of word play. Programmes like Porridge & Yes Minsiter would go right over their heads.
@@agardener3621 They don't get the British version, they change these programmes so that they are no longer anything like the originals. Sure some changes do need to be made to suit the US market but not like happened. And some programmes I think wouldn't have needed that much tinkering.
@@mattpotter8725 Interesting that when we buy programs from the US, all the cultural references are left in. More think of the number of programs originated in the UK and sold all over the world, Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, Strictly, taskmaster to name a few. Our comedies are good because, they are not predictable. Most of our comedians are well educated and often the originators of their work. We don't need canned laughter to tell us that was a joke.
Absolutely loved all of those growing up and there was more sitcoms made that weren't on here. Thanks for the memories JJLA.
A surprisingly excellent overview of excellent British comedy. Glad to see both Father Ted and Porridge there. Obviously you could have added a few more but pretty much on the ball with this one..
Only fools and horses and Dads army were both huge.
Yes minister/ prime minister is so accurate it's barely satire
Yes it's more like a documentary.
One of the funniest things on RUclips is a live stage version of "Bottom" where both characters go into an extended ad lib. Eye-wateringly funny. "Yes Minister" has some of the wittiest writing ever on television. A few more classic series that belong on the list: Black Books, Absolutely Fabulous, The Young Ones, Spaced, The IT Crowd, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Red Dwarf, and 'Allo 'Allo. PS- "PM Howard Wilson"? "Wallington on Sea"? "Main-Waring"?
Lovely-Jubley! Cheers!
Blackadder - the final episode. An absolute classic piece of TV. Set in the trenches of the first world war the last act of what was meant to be a comedy had millions in tears. If you don't watch any of the other pieces mentioned here, watch that.
Bottom and black adder are brilliant
Only fools and horses is the best comedy to ever come out of the UK. Whenever they did a Christmas special, it was hands down the ratings winner. When they did the final 3 episodes over one Christmas ( Modern man, Heroes and Villains and Time on our hands ) - the final episode broke the record for the most viewers of a regular tv programme. I think the only time more people watched a program was Charles and Diana's wedding. If you look at that last episode " Time on our hands ", excluding the small children that were in bed, the people working + others, about 80% of the available population that were able to watch it Live, watched it Live. When it was initially created, it had a tiny budget and the jokes were small toilet humour stuff and not many people watched the first series. In truth, it only got a few million viewers and was destined to end after just one series. However, during the end of the first season, in the UK, there was a writers strike and the BBC had nothing to put in its place in the schedule, so their hand was forced and they re-ran the whole first series - the had no choice. It was kinda forced on us. With only 4 terrestrial channels to choose from and no satellite tv yet, nobody in the UK had more than 4 channels. What happened is that the viewers could either watch BBC or ITV because BBC2 and Channel 4 were afterthoughts. I don't know what everyone else was showing but Only Fools And Horses first series was shown again. Many people had not even bothered to see it the first time, but the viewing figures for it increased by a few million and the BBC decided to do a second series. It's budget got a bit bigger, it was still a sitcom, but John Sullivan who wrote it made it more personal, to allow the audience to become invested in the characters lives outside of the actual comedy. He threw in real world issues like loss and grieving and then interwove that in amongst the comedy. It gained momentum, its budget kept increasing, they brought in more characters ( love interests etc ) and the show grew beyond just a regular sitcom. With every series, the viewers increased, so they kept it going. Every Christmas, they would do a feature length episode - and it was always a ratings winner. I know that people in the US will say Faulty Towers is our best comedy, but there were only 12 episodes of that. Trust me. Only Fools and Horses is the best bar none. The two main characters were two brothers selling dodgy stuff in the pursuit of becoming a millionaire. By the end, everyone in the country was rooting for them to succeed. After those final 3 episodes, they did do a few more Christmas specials, and although they filled in some gaps ( people wanted to know where their characters had gone to after those episodes ) whilst they were good, their story had pretty much been told. Well worth watching from start to finish. I recommend that you watch them all in the correct order to include the Christmas specials.
Damn right Mike, Blackadder is funny, but Only Fools and Horses is way better.
100% correct and excellently put.
From series 2 & 3 the writing and the characters just got better and better. We grew up with them and it was absolutely must watch TV.
An awesome compilation of the human condition.
Definitely my favourite amongst all of these greats.
Rising Damp should definitely have made the list also.
Another good one from Rick Mayall and Ade Edmonsen is “The Young Ones” , one of my personal favourites
Yes, Minister is maybe the best written sitcom ever.
And Bottom is just flat out hysterical.
Both still hold up today, too, definitely worth a try
totally agree. Fools and horses on the other hand, dreadful.
@@starsailor6716 yeah definitely hasn’t aged as well
You should definitely react to a few episodes of Bottom. RIP Rik Mayall. You should watch the whole of Fawlty Towers, I think you’ll love it
Still can't believe Rik is dead😢...(The people's poet is dead!!)
You have to watch bottom if you've never seen it. It should be far higher on the list. The live stage performances are brilliant.
It is Number 53 on my list spanning from "The Rag Trade" 1961.
Not keen on Bottom ..it's too depressing! But l love Ade and Rick !
Blackadder will never do the 1960 band season out of respect for the Legend of British Comedy Rik Mayall!
So many great British SitComs. The Young Ones was anarchic and starred the incredibly talented and the late Rik Mayall and Ade Edmonson, who then went on to create Bottom. It was a new type of comedy and I’d highly recommend you watch them. The Inbetweeners, Black Adder is just brilliant as was Absolutely Fabulous and the Vicar of Dibley, Porridge, Rising Damp, Fawlty Towers, Last of the Summer Wine, Only Fools & Horses, In Loving Memory and Steptoe & Son are just some of the best.
Blackadder also starred Hugh Laurie, who you may know from House
If you are going to watch any of these it would be well worth your time. Porridge, Only Fools, Dads Army and Fawlty Towers in particular are pure genius. I would avoid the first series of Blackadder ( not good ) but the rest are great, specially 2 and 4.
Last episode of Blackadder after all the previous series has me in tears every time I watch it.
Red Dwarf is my favourite sitcom. It should totally be on this list. It run (on and off) from 1988 till 2020, and there's rumours there'll be more!
There was a successful series starring the man who played Rimmer called the Brittas Empire. He ran a recreation club and was extremely incompetent but thought he was brilliant. A showcase of how bad he was, was an organization dedicated to non-violence tried to kill him.
Just started watching your channel. I really enjoyed your take on the British mate .
Cheers
Wait for the arguments about Father Ted not being British!!!
Came looking to see if there were any 😂
Still none, I'll keep my powder dry until it kicks off, then I'm losing my fekkin mind😂😂😂
Irish actor's, Irish script writers, British Production Company, British tv Studios and British TV station ..... let's say Anglo Irish...
@@alisonsmith4801 Anglo Irish? I'm fine with that Alison, but my nights ruined as I'll have to inform the rest of the planet of the breaking news😂only joking btw💚
@@alisonsmith4801 that's what I say virtually word for word & get folks arguing the toss about it for weeks 🤣
Your comment about it being unusual for the writers to also be the stars in sitcoms, see 'Ghosts' (UK). All six writers also star (as at least 2 characters each) and it's genius! (But far more recent than the ones in the video you're reacting to here of course.) If you haven't seen it, it's worth checking out. Lots of clips on RUclips, as I imagine you might not be able to access BBC iPlayer, where all full episodes from all 5 series are available.
I absolutely love Ghosts! It's one of our best sitcoms for a long time.
'Only fools and horses work' is an English proverb.
02:30 Most of Rik Mayall's characters were named some version of Richard, while Eddie was once asked "oh, any relation?" - "YES :)"
Maybe I'm easily amused, but my all-time favourite joke from 'Bottom' remains the one in the episode where one of them tried to trick the other out of some money by sneaking into their room late at night dressed as The Grim Reaper, hoping to scare them. It went as follows:
"AAAARRRGGHH!! Who are you?" "I'm DEATH!" "Oh, sorry - WHO ARE YOU?"
You need to check out "Keeping Up Appearances". "The Good Life", "Waiting for God", "One Foot in the Grave", "Open All Hours".
loved that David Jason was in 2 and the comments say "open all hours" would make it 3
I first watched UK Sitcoms in 1961 and my Top Sitcom is "Yes Minister" with, in no order, Blackadder (4) Fawlty Towers, Alan Partridge(created in the 1990s) Not Going Out, The Office, Extras, The Thick Of Itm Derry Girls and Outnumbered.
50 other "Honourable Mentions" and everyone's list will be different.
I was born near Peckham and grew up in The "Only Fools" era and it's not in my Top 20..."Barman, indeed!
As others have pointed out, the narrator got the pronunciation of Mainwaring wrong. However, he also got the name of the town wrong. What's difficult about Walmington-on-Sea?
'Only fools and horses is the best comedy of all time in my opinion, its very funny and has great stories, a very clever show.
I think it went on beyond it's use by date
Steptoe, by a mile
My favourite episode "Stage Fright"where Tony sings "Cwying" absolutely hilarious
Steptoe, Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, Father Ted, all great, but Only Fools and Horses is on another level. As has been said by others, Only Fools and Horses is the best show ever to come out of Britain, or anywhere else.
@@BertSmithLondon Disagree. Only Fools and Horses, for me, is not worth watching. Replace it with either Steptoe or Porridge.
You should find and react to the very last episode of the WW1 Blackadder. It's very moving.
Being a fellow actor, I am surprised you didn't notice how many internationally famous actors were in these clips.. Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Bernard Cribbins for instance!
Worth checking out actual clips of these and reacting. Dads army... a lot of the cast were veterans of ww1 and 2 also
JJ: Only fools and horses, Poridge, and Yes Minister , are great. Check them out!
If you don't know British Sit Com then you haven't seen comedy
Howard Wilson was prime minister of Britain? Was he by any chance Harold Wilson's younger brother ?
Shame it was only 10. I'd put Rising Damp in there, along with The Vicar of Dibley, Red Dwarf and Open All Hours. They're all worth looking up if you get the time
agreed ;-)
The best Dads Army film was the 1971 version!
For me "Yes Minister" is an absolute gem. I never realized how good it was until I became politicized. It is absolutely actual still in these days.
The only one on that list I never watched was Yes Minister, it just never appealed to me. A new episode of Only Fools and Horses was a real family event in our house, we would all sit down to watch it.
Blackadder series 2 and 4 were genius. the ending of series 4 was so sad the only sitcom I've laughed at and cried as it was so sad.
I wish The Royle Family had made the list, it was such a simple premise, but so very funny.
Great reaction, wishing you well 😀
I first watched UK Sitcoms in 1961 and my Top Sitcom is "Yes Minister" with, in no order, Blackadder (4) Fawlty Towers, Alan Partridge(created in the 1990s) Not Going Out, The Office, Extras, The Thick Of Itm Derry Girls and Outnumbered.
50 other "Honourable Mentions" and everyone's list will be different.
I was born near Peckham and grew up in The "Only Fools" era and it's not in my Top 20..."Barman, indeed!
You must watch The Young Ones,Classic comedy that would not get made in this day and age,Just dive straight into season 2 though because it’s better👍🏼
My dad was the one in our house that loves that era of sitcom; Porriage, Dad's Army, Open All Hours (the original), The Good Life, Rumpole of the Bailey, Rising Damp (bit dated these days), Yes Minister/Prime Minister (which apparently was quite accurate according to Margaret Thatcher), he also watched The Office & The Young Ones. My mum liked The Vicar of Dibley and Victoria Wood. So a few rubbed of on me, The Vicar of Dibley, The Good Life & Porridge. The more recent sitcoms such as Ghosts and children's historical sketch show Horrible Histories (series 1-6 cause the cast/writers changed after that) are among my favs, I also watched Fresh Meat but I wouldn't say it was a favourite. My brother loved The Inbetweeners.
The fall and rise of Reginald perrin is fantastic. Reginald Iolanthe perrin or R.i.p.
The IT crowd should be up there . The writing of Graham Linehan is top tier
had u listened lol he said these were pre 2000 so newer ones it crowd were on another vid
Graham Linehan also wrote Father Ted with another writer called Arthur Mathews.
@@arcturus8218 You were right to scold him for not paying attention.
The funnest quote from Dads Army was incorrect on that website … it was supposed to be ‘don’t tell him your name, Pike’
I loved Blackadder, Fawlty towers and father Ted. My favourite period for black Adder Is the queen Elizabeth period. If your not aware besides Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robert's, Two of the other Famous actors that were in all the series was Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie both incredibly good comedic actors themselves. They even did a show called A Bit of Fry and Laurie which I also recommend checking out. British humour is the best
Yes minister is probably one of the best written comedies ever .The episodes have more truth in today’s politics than ever before .
Only Fools and Horses *should* be number one!!
Rik Mayall wrote a remarkable sort-of autobiography called ‘Bigger Than Hitler, Better Than Christ’ which is well worth a read.
Oh lord! That grated! Mainwaring is pronounced 'Mannering'! Watch Mojo strikes again . . and veers off target like Corporal Jones bayonet!
There are a lot of good sitcoms missing from this list, but to be fair and do justice to British sitcoms, you'd need a list of at least 100.
Faves of the missus and me: Allo Allo, Fawlty Towers (best sitcom ever), To the Manor Born, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Butterflies.
Here's another one for you. In Sickness and in Health. Granted that the humour in that would NEVER be made today ( the homophobia and racism ) but it started in the Early 60's? It started out in Black n White. Alf Garnett would routinely slag off the " Blackies " or his black carer who he called " Marigold ". He always called him a " Poofter ". I know that his character was very set in his ways and couldn't be taught about changing his language, but it was pretty funny. But it would never be made today. I think the writers would be strung up.
hello.
them performing in only fools and horses is not below them. only fools is regarded as one of the most loved series of all.
love it or hate it, nobody can deny how big it got.
I really wished he’d realised that the freeze frame at 15:21 is Hugh Laurie (AKA House MD)
I don't think the guy narrating this montage was familiar with Dad's Army,if he pronounced Captain Manwaring as it was spelt,when it was pronounced as Mannering. And sadly,we lost our last link to this great sitcom as Ian Lavender,who played the youngest member of the troop,Private Pike, died only last month.
All losers and walking disasters pretty much - I LOVE it 😂. I'd guess none of these would translate well for the USA - they seem pretty much the opposite of us humour wise
There is a hint here about TV writing, its not done in the same way in British TV as in American. Shows do not gave teams of writers, shows are written by one person, or sometimes a pair of writers staying the same throughout the run, they are the key figure. That's true for all these, as such it's not unusual for a show to be written by an actor that is in it. Only Fools ran for 20 years and was all written by Andrew Sullivan, who also sang the theme song. It explains why there are fewer episodes, but also why they are less formulaic that American shows. David Croft wrote several other sitcoms with Jimmy Perry after Dad's Army, also he produced them and direct a lot of episodes. In addition with another writing partner he wrote more shows including. Are You Being Served.
Bottom is my favourite show of all time, it's pure slapstick and the violence is amazing. You should definitely watch some episodes
'Sanford & Son' was indeed based on 'Steptoe & Son'. Archie Bunker of 'All In The Family' was based on Alf Garnett in 'Til Death Us Do Part'.
I love open all hours ❤❤
Yes Minister/Priminister are a must watch, painfully funny and accurate, watch as a favour to yourself and sod the reaction, British comedy at its very best "except for Blackadder" but bloody close.
I've never understood why people misspell Prime Minister. They do it alot.
@@neuralwarpdyslexia and never really having a need to use the term, more than that I feel no need to defend myself.
@@neuralwarp it's like people who write alot when they mean a lot.