[spireitematt]

I've been watching some old TV shows from the 80s some before I was born like Minder, Auf Wiedersehen Pet, The New Statesmen, Only Fools and Horses, Fawlty Towers, One Foot in the Grave, Porridge etc and they are so much better than TV today. TV today is crap its just reality TV shows where they make nobodies who are idiots into Celebrities and then they end up getting there own show and then there's idiots who watch these bloody reality shows and become engrossed in these people's lives, that's just sad.

My favourite TV show which finished a few years ago is The thick of it and I've got the boxset and watch them from time to time. I suppose the best show on TV which finished a week ago was Humans but other then that that's not much worth watching.

[St Charles Owl]

TV these days is too sanitized and far too PC!! Some of the humour you see in Fawlty Towers or BlackAdder or Men Behaving Badly would get slammed today by the PC brigade on social media!! Look at Top Gear, I understand Clarkson can be a big buffoon at times but he is very entertaining and produces very good tv, but it only takes a few complaints and he gets censored. Its the same over here, American TV sitcoms that are really funny and edgy are few and far between, but when one comes along like Modern Family, Big Bang Theory or Two and a Half Men (with Charlie Sheen), they get the best tv audiences but also the most complaints. We as a society have forgotten how to laugh at all aspects of life and how to do it without there being any malice behind it!! Rant over!!

Some of those series you mention are very good, have you watched Open All Hours with David Jason and Ronnie Barker, that is funny, as was Yes,Minister (later Yes, Prime Minister), or even dare I say it The Good Life, I loved that when it was on. Always liked Allo, Allo as well. If you haven't seen those they are worth looking at to see if they fit your taste.

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Just looked this up, this is a great list of shows that if they were before your time might be well worth watching:

http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/top/

When I look down that list it brings back some memories, series like Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em were so funny at the time.  So are a bit dated now but a lot will stand the test of time!!  The Young Ones was classic as well with the late Rik Mayall.

[spireitematt]

TV these days is too sanitized and far too PC!!  Some of the humour you see in Fawlty Towers or BlackAdder or Men Behaving Badly would get slammed today by the PC brigade on social media!!  Look at Top Gear, I understand Clarkson can be a big buffoon at times but he is very entertaining and produces very good tv, but it only takes a few complaints and he gets censored.  Its the same over here, American TV sitcoms that are really funny and edgy are few and far between, but when one comes along like Modern Family, Big Bang Theory or Two and a Half Men (with Charlie Sheen), they get the best tv audiences but also the most complaints.  We as a society have forgotten how to laugh at all aspects of life and how to do it without there being any malice behind it!!  Rant over!!

Some of those series you mention are very good, have you watched Open All Hours with David Jason and Ronnie Barker, that is funny, as was Yes,Minister (later Yes, Prime Minister), or even dare I say it The Good Life, I loved that when it was on.  Always liked Allo, Allo as well.  If you haven't seen those they are worth looking at to see if they fit your taste.

---

Just looked this up, this is a great list of shows that if they were before your time might be well worth watching:

http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/top/

When I look down that list it brings back some memories, series like Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em were so funny at the time.  So are a bit dated now but a lot will stand the test of time!!  The Young Ones was classic as well with the late Rik Mayall.

Yep watched Open All Hours, Yes Minister, Good Life (Didn't really like that though) Watched Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Allo Allo and The Young Ones as well. BBC 2 repeat Yes Minister, Are you being Served and Allo Allo in the daytime. I think they can't repeat a lot of certain 70s/80s TV because they would be worried of offending the public.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

I completely disagree that comedy is sanitised - I think 21st century shows like Peep Show, The Inbetweeners, Monkeydust, Phoenix Nights, 15 Storeys High, some of Ricky Gervais's stuff etc get away with jokes which would have been unbroadcastable in the 1980s or earlier. (I've also been watching the Greg Davies sitcom Man Down recently, in which he plays an immature middle-aged drama teacher who spends his classes calling the kids tw@ts and d!ckheads; well-crafted comedy which also featured Rik Mayall until his death). And that's the simple truth; it's not about what taboos you touch on or what standards you subvert, but how well the comedy is written and performed. "Safe" comedy can sometimes be very funny comedy, and "edgy" comedy can sometimes be absolute shite.

[St Charles Owl]

I completely disagree that comedy is sanitised - I think 21st century shows like Peep Show, The Inbetweeners, Monkeydust, Phoenix Nights, 15 Storeys High, some of Ricky Gervais's stuff etc get away with jokes which would have been unbroadcastable in the 1980s or earlier.  (I've also been watching the Greg Davies sitcom Man Down recently, in which he plays an immature middle-aged drama teacher who spends his classes calling the kids tw@ts and d!ckheads; well-crafted comedy which also featured Rik Mayall until his death).  And that's the simple truth; it's not about what taboos you touch on or what standards you subvert, but how well the comedy is written and performed.  "Safe" comedy can sometimes be very funny comedy, and "edgy" comedy can sometimes be absolute shite.

To be fair to me I haven't seen any of those shows you mention as they have been produced since I left the UK.  Maybe I am too immersed in the US comedy market where it has never been as "edgy" as the British version, at least certainly not on the regular channels.  You do get some good stuff on HBO or Starz but they get away with everything due to being "premium" cable networks.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Really? Can you access Channel 4 On Demand (4OD) on the internet in the States, or is it blocked outside the UK? If it's available, or you can get some kind of anonymous browser thingy (I'm a proper IT expert, me ) to bypass restrictions, then get yourself on there and watch all of Peep Show and The Inbetweeners for free!

In the meantime, a lot of Monkeydust sketches are up on YouTube. My favourites are the Shafiq & Abdul sketches - understandable, given they're about Albion fans! - and I don't think anyone can really say they're "sanitised" or "politically correct":

[spireitematt]

I completely disagree that comedy is sanitised - I think 21st century shows like Peep Show, The Inbetweeners, Monkeydust, Phoenix Nights, 15 Storeys High, some of Ricky Gervais's stuff etc get away with jokes which would have been unbroadcastable in the 1980s or earlier.  (I've also been watching the Greg Davies sitcom Man Down recently, in which he plays an immature middle-aged drama teacher who spends his classes calling the kids tw@ts and d!ckheads; well-crafted comedy which also featured Rik Mayall until his death).  And that's the simple truth; it's not about what taboos you touch on or what standards you subvert, but how well the comedy is written and performed.  "Safe" comedy can sometimes be very funny comedy, and "edgy" comedy can sometimes be absolute shite.

Peep Show, Inbetweeners and Phoenix Nights are good. I watched the first series of Man Down which was alright, didn't realise they made a 2nd series. You seen Greg Davies stand up DVD? that's hilarious. Comedy is about how well its written and performed and the timings as well of jokes and gags.

[St Charles Owl]

Can't even see a lot of BBC content over here due to copyright or geographical rights issues!!! I will take a look though.

[spireitematt]

Watched a documentary tonight on BBC 2 called Inside the Billionaire's Wardrobe and It was eye-opening but also very sickening about what goes on killing exotic, innocent, defenceless animals so there fur or skins can be used to make coats or hats and using Crocodile skin for bags, wallets, purses so the rich can buy them. It's no wonder certain animals are going extinct if there being used for this.

[WakeyTerrier]

Watched series 3 of the Bridge recently, it's weird but kind of gets you hooked even though I can't understand a word they say and have to read the subtitles