You know those crazy people out there who marathon TV shows and research the actors and writers and characters and any other interesting facts learned in the programs? Yeah, that's me. Give me a rainy day and my Northern Exposure DVDs any day... I love a dramatic/quirky miniseries, a good mystery, or any period series. But if I had to pick just one favorite "type" of television program, the answer is quite clear: British Comedy. I am mad for the BBC.
In fact, I'm so mad for comedies and laughter and British humor that I originally intended to study it for my masters degree. (I opted instead for dramatic coming-of-age foreign dramas)
I first saw British Comedy when I was little, basically whatever was shown on PBS in the evening- Keeping Up Appearances, Are You Being Served, Fawlty Towers, and others. I remember seeing Monty Python's Flying Circus when I was 11 or 12 and wondering what it all meant. At that point, I knew it was funny but I just didn't know why. That same year (6th grade) I discovered a program created by John Cleese and Michael Palin that came before Monty Python called How To Irritate People. My dad bought the VHS tape and I watched that thing obsessively.
You can watch a favorite clip from the program here.
After that, I could not get enough. I started religiously watching The Red Green Show (Canadian, I know, but this is just my history) and soon after I entered the BBC void of no return by discovering Red Dwarf.
To me, Red Dwarf is the ultimate comedy show. It combines brilliant banter-style humor, hilarious and believable characters, science fiction fantasy narratives, the sitcom setup, and even some spoof and satire thrown in. If you haven't watched an episode, watch one right now.
Click here for a little taste.
Over the years I've come to enjoy countless other great BBC comedies. I've grouped my favorites by main humor style:
If you like humor that makes you cringe, where characters are social misfits with awkward behavior and get themselves into truly embarrassing situations:
If you like crude, insulting, and potentially offensive humor, sketch comedy style, not afraid to hold anything back jokes and situations:
If you like the familiarity of the sitcom and/or observational comedy format- humor that is witty, silly, a clear narrative plot (with subplots), subtle jokes and timing:
If you like Improv/Panel Shows- humor that is completely unplanned, created by interaction and train-of-thought:
If you like Sketch Comedy:
Kids In The Hall (Canadian again, I know, but it's worth putting here)
If you like Surreal/Absurd Comedy- format that has narrative but takes a while to fully grasp, a world unto itself, ridiculous, satirical, pop culture, cult-like:
If you like spoof, satire, and mockumentary format- humor that is dark and intentionally poor quality:
This list has something for everyone. Naturally, there are hundreds more -including, The Office, Jeeves and Wooster, Mr. Bean, the great dramedy, Doc Martin- but these are the ones I put on my shelf or "marathoned" after classes or during blizzards.
Now, go laugh.
