US Comedy question

[Tarheels.]

I hate King Of Queens, and I quite enjoyed 8 Simple Rules until Ritter died, it kind of seemed like they were just bringing names in to fill the spot, but it was never the same.

[GoGo Yubari]

Naturally, the US have given us quite a lot of good comedies over the year (Cheers, Friends, Frasier, Scrubs). However, I wanted to ask what the general US consensus was about some of the other comedies we get over here....since ABC1 (a digital channel we get) and some of the stuff on Channel 4 is some of the most diabolically bad comedy I've seen.

I just was interested if it was stuff we got because no-one liked it in America, or if this is American "cream of comedy", yet it just isn't very good.

We get stuff such as:

King Of Queens

Rodney

8 Simple Rules (which was ok until John Ritter died)

Everybody Loves Raymond (utteryly horrible)

Hope And Faith

Just Shoot Me

There are more, I can't remember them all.

Like you said, the only reason to watch 8 Simple Rules was John Ritter. And then he died. I liked Just Shoot Me, actually, but everything else on that list is pretty awful. And I've never even heard of Rodney.

[Guest mAXi]

That list of sitcoms is a list you should avoid for the most part. I really enjoyed Raymond however, i consider it among the Top 10 Greatest Comedies i have ever watched.

My Favourite Comedies are mostly character based, like Scrubs, Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm which are my overall favourite comedies i have ever watched. Ever. I also recommend the Newsroom. And all of these comedies are from the last 5 years, the only comedy i have liked from the 90's was Seinfeld and Raymond and in the first 4 seasons, Friends.

[Toe]

After seeing Arrested Development, no show can stand in comparison and it has ruined my TV watching experience.

Thanks for making the greatest show ever, assholes!

[C-MIL]

King Of Queens is all right, or at least was anyway. The more recent episodes I've seen feature second-string characters (the dogwalker, the guy's friends, etc.) in plots that have little or nothing to do with the three major characters. Oh, and the wife got heavy.

I too have never heard of Rodney, even in passing.

Eight Simple Rules pretty much died with John Ritter, but some of the episodes that limped on after that were good, though not all that funny. It really stopped being a comedy and became something else at that point. They could've probably kept it lighter with a "hey, Dad got a new job in Malaysia" or something, but most Ritter fans would piss all over it anyway. My over-mourning his death, they got to stretch on a bit longer.

Everybody Loves Raymond I personally hate but it was hugely popular in America, easily the #1 sitcom. In fact, I think before American Idol started, it might have been the #1 show. I attribute it fully to old people falling asleep with their televisions on while watching the evening news.

Hope & Faith totally sucked. I've never met a person who liked it and very few (myself included) would publicly admit having seen it. Again, I think old people and Regis & Kelly fans make up it's entire fanbase.

Just Shoot Me really got fucked around by whatever network it used to be on. They changed it's time slot so many times that it never really had a chance to become a very popular show. I remember liking the episodes I've seen well enough, but I wouldn't consider it a top show.

Everything in America is a game/reality show now. They're quick, easy and relatively cheap to make and people can't seem to get enough of them. The only sitcom I watch now is Scrubs re-runs on Comedy Central, which are really only new to me.

[K]

I like Eight Simple Rules post Ritter. I don't know why.

[alldaws1]

I much prefer any of those US comedies listed than our stuff. The Office for example, I've never got the appeal to that. It's lame.

Edited November 11, 2006 by Ocho Cinco

[Nerf]

I like Eight Simple Rules post Ritter. I don't know why.

[YI]

Am I the only one who thinks Arrested Development is TOTALLY overrated?

[Lord Nibbler]

King Of Queens is all right, or at least was anyway. The more recent episodes I've seen feature second-string characters (the dogwalker, the guy's friends, etc.) in plots that have little or nothing to do with the three major characters. Oh, and the wife got heavy.

[Liam]

I much prefer any of those US comedies listed than our stuff. The Office for example, I've never got the appeal to that. It's lame.

I'd prefer most GOOD US comedies to our stuff, but as Mudda pointed out, these all follow a similar, bland and boring format in my eyes.

UK stuff isn't great, but some of our better stuff (though you either love them or hate them for the style) like The Office, Garth Merenghi, etc etc generally aren't that formulaic, as with the best stuff from the US (Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm...which I believe is from the US)

[Farmer Reil]

I liked King of Queens, but the rest of the stuff C4 shows in those kind of slots is crap. Like Roseanne >.< But my opinion doesn't count because I still think Two Guys And A Girl was awesome.

[therockbox]

Two Guys And A Girl was awesome.

[Number of the Breast]

Am I the only one who thinks Arrested Development is TOTALLY overrated?

[-A-]

When I first watched a random episode on the BBC late at night, I just didn't get into it at all. Then I watched the first episode and just couldn't stop. Now it is DEFINITELY the best comedy series ever, for me.

I also can't stand Everybody Loves Raymond. My sister was obsessed with it and it almost drove me to suicide I can't think of any sitcom-style comedy that I actually enjoy. Friends was redeemed only by its good characters. I hate Frasier with a passion, and Curb Your Enthusiasm likewise, for the overflow of astonishingly unperceptive characters. I love The Office, the British version. The American version is good too, but it's also tarred by 'improbably stupid characters in a realistic environment' factor.

[Liam]

The problem with Arrested Development is that you probably have to watch it from the start to "get it" as much as anything. Grabbing a couple of episodes here and there doesn't necessarily work as it is quite self-referential, so a lot of the jokes are built upon stuff that has happened in other episodes.

[SeanDMan]

Everybody Loves Raymond is AWFUL. So predictable and obvious. Only stupid people can enjoy it (which explains it's success in America).

Curb Your Enthusiasm is fantastic, though. Better then Seinfeld.

[Your Mom]

We got into a horrible place for awhile where the thing was Fat Comedians getting sitcoms where they were with women they couldn't possibly get in real life (King of Queens, Drew Carey, Still Standing). Thankfully thats over but still most comedy sucks anymore.

[Lord Nibbler]

I've been getting into Two and a Half Men recently too.

Edited November 11, 2006 by Hipster Doofus

[GoGo Yubari]

The problem with Arrested Development is that you probably have to watch it from the start to "get it" as much as anything. Grabbing a couple of episodes here and there doesn't necessarily work as it is quite self-referential, so a lot of the jokes are built upon stuff that has happened in other episodes.

Pretty much. I love Arrested Development and think it's one of the five best American sitcoms in the past decade (along with Scrubs, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and the first few seasons of That 70s Show before it got really bad), but it's a show heavily built upon running gags and rewarding longtime viewers.