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 MY TOP 50 RETRO SITCOMS OF ALL TIME, Totally biased utterly personal rundown - top 10 beckons |
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 24th February 2018, 03:36 PM
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#61
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 BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
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24. RISING DAMP (1974-78)
Maybe a little flattered here in rankings, and somewhat dated these days, but this was the very rare beast back in the day: a great British ITV sitcom. They were as rare as unicorns in a hurricane. Eric Chappell was the creator and writer and takes the most credit: by 2004 it was still the highest-rated ITV sitcom of all time in the BBC's Top 100 all-time list. What makes it work is the setting, a crummy series of bedsits and flats in a house run by a tight-fisted, bored, interfering, letching, right-wing landlord - as played to perfection by Leonard Rossiter - Rigsby could have become unlikeable, as the main antagonist in each episode as he forces himself on his lodgers Alan (played by the already-loveable Richard Beckinsale ex of decent sitcom The Lovers with Paula Wilcox, and father of actress Kate) and Philip (played by Don Warrington to smooth perfection). Both shared a bedsit, Alan as a poor medical student, a bit naive, and Philip more worldly and second generation black - chased by Miss Jones (the wonderful Frances De La Tour, more recently of Hogwarts) the single, sophisticated lady on hard times in the flat below. Philip has some fun pretending to be the son of an African Chief getting a British education, and Rigsby has the hots for Miss Jones (and every other woman). The chemistry between the actors and the characters is a delight, and the scripts sharp. Maybe students don't have such crummy digs anymore, but it was pretty common back in the day (see The Young Ones for a comic-strip version), and the setting allows more than a touch of farce, and some social commentary - Rigsby is politically-incorrect and outspoken and rude (when he's not creeping to Miss Jones) but he's not a bigot, which is a bit of a saving grace compared to other sitcoms at the time featuring mixed casts - the godawful Love Thy Neighbour springs to mind as a cast trying to rise above a terrible premise. The guest actors were also fabulous and the plots whimsical - the episode where Rigsby thinks he's run over his beloved cat Vienna is a goodie (It's a fur-stole related to his social-climbing aspirations), as is the one where he tries to woo Miss Jones with waving in front of her nose some burning wood from an African Love-Tree (Philip's wardrobe bottom, actually), guaranteed to make her fall for him (it doesn't). Richard Beckinsale alternated between Porridge and Rising Damp, 2 giants of 70's sitcom, until his very early death in 1979 the year after both series had finished. Leonard Rossiter had further success with The Rise & Fall Of Reggie Perrin in the 70's, also working on 2 sitcoms, and he too died far too soon in 1984. Influence: Rossiter/Rigsby's vocal style, I would suggest, not unlike Eddie Izzard... |
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24th February 2018, 03:52 PM
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#62
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 BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 13 April 2007
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I never really got into Rising Damp. That said, it is lauded by a lot of people whose opinion I respect, so maybe it's just something about me!
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24th February 2018, 07:38 PM
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#63
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,861 User: 17,376
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QUOTE(Suedehead2 @ Feb 24 2018, 03:52 PM)  I never really got into Rising Damp. That said, it is lauded by a lot of people whose opinion I respect, so maybe it's just something about me! There's always the boxed set to catch up  That said, I totally do not in any way get the universal love and acclaim for Only Fools And Horses, it's sort of slightly annoyingly amiable, but the Del-Boy character in particular just grates and it's never raised a smile from me. I realise I'm totally alone in this.... So I wouldnt worry about not getting Rising Damp... 
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24th February 2018, 09:29 PM
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#64
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 13 April 2007
Posts: 36,680 User: 3,272
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I've never got the hype for Only Fools either. It used to be a programme I'd watch if I had nothing better to do, but not one I'd record if I was out.
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4th March 2018, 07:38 AM
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#65
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 Is anyone here a marine biologist?
Joined: 23 January 2010
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Only Fools and Horses is genius. Brilliantly written and a fantastic cast. So many classic moments!
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5th March 2018, 04:04 PM
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#66
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,861 User: 17,376
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Thanks for the Only Fools clips, Jerry (
)I've seen them many times, and mum watches the Gold episodes currently being shown - so I'm catching them here and there, but I still cant get over Del-Boy being annoying in his lubbly-jubbly conniving and gullibility and which tends to form the backbone of the plots  I can understand how others find it warm and loveable though, and David Jason is fine in his other roles
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5th March 2018, 04:50 PM
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#67
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,861 User: 17,376
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23. THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW (AKA YOU'LL NEVER GET RICH AKA BILKO) (1955-59)
The greatest sitcom of the late 50's no contest, nothing else comes close, and a perennial re-run right through to the 90's, this black & white show has been absent for too long, probably thanks to being in b&w which does the heads of younger TV viewers in - so they say. Poor things, so sensitive. Filmed live in front of an audience, mistakes and all, it was more of a stage show set in a backwards quiet Fort Baxter army motor pool in Kansas. In some ways the show is very 1950's and of-its-time, a bit quaint, optimistic, nothing too demanding or dark but it works for 2 reasons: Creator & main writer Nat Hiken (who went on to write other hits like Car 54 Where Are You?) had snappy dialogue, and great characters, with an eye for comic actors (not necessarily skilled, just "right" for the role) and included early spots for future greats like Alan Alda and Dick Van Dyke; the other reason is Phil Silvers. The man was a force of nature with his break-neck delivery of dialogue, and his scheming, money-obsessed, gambling, lazy, but big-hearted and loyal Sgt Bilko was one of the great TV characters. Bilko was smart, inventive, and could pull the wool over the Jet Set socialites, and the army brass led by his adorably gullible Colonel Hall, and it made Phil Silvers a star - albeit typecast (even in Mad Mad Mad Mad World and Carry On...Follow That Camel he's still brilliantly Bilko). The back-up cast were equally endearing, and for the 50's relatively ethnically mixed - as is only right for conscription representing the whole of the USA as it was comprised at the time. In one episode they even aped Elvis' induction into the army, keeping it sitcom-"real". Favourite characters for me are Colonel Hall as played scattily by Paul Ford, the sluggish Pvt Doberman (Maurice Gosfield, later Benny The Ball in the Bilko-based animated 60's gem Top Cat), and Joe E. Ross as hopeless gambling Army Camp cook Sgt Ritzik and his nagging wife played by Beatrice Pons. So good they ended up starring in Nat Hiken's next show Car 54 Where Are You in essentially the same roles, albeit police-based not army. The show won loads of awards, inspired later greats, and was beloved of many for decades. Quite right too. |
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16th March 2018, 08:02 PM
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#68
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,861 User: 17,376
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22. PARKER LEWIS CAN'T LOSE (1990-93)
Probably the sitcom I most want on DVD, it's hard to get hold of being as it was a Fox show only shown on SKY in the UK, which meant hardly anyone saw it. A real tragedy as it was very much a precursor to later fast-paced format-breaking, pop-culture-referencing, cool shows like Malcolm In The Middle. Parker Lewis went further though, breaking the barriers between audience and show in a way first seen in the 60's on Green Acres, and it took use of camera-techniques into the realm of art. Smart, sassy and likeable, the show was basically a good vs evil fun look at High School, starring the cool Parker Lewis (Corin Nemec, later of Stargate) and his cool wannaberockstar mate Mikey, as they deal with plotlines involving the bratty short little sister, girlfriends, schoolwork, loud shirts, a prefect/vampire-like snitch of the Principal, and a huge bully/dim gentle giant obsessed with "eat now". And what a Principal Grace Musso is. Far and away the highlight of the series is her loud, plotting, sneering character as played brilliantly by Melanie Chartoff - she shouts and the glass on her door smashes into pieces in every episode. If you like surreal, want to get the vibes of the early 90's US in a wholesome non-school-shooting world, a bit tongue-in-cheek, and engaging inventiveness, then you may wish to check out the show. it grows on you and deserves to be better known... |
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23rd March 2018, 05:26 PM
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#69
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,861 User: 17,376
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21. THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1964-66)
Written in part and originated by Marx Brothers scriptwriter Nat Perrin, the fantasy b&w show was based on a series of cartoons by Charles Addams, and ran opposite rival The Munsters. The Munsters won the ratings war, but The Addams Family was COOL. Siouxsie modelled her look on Morticia, the wife and mother of the Gothic household containing a bizarre extended well-off family of misfits and creatures that viewed themselves as normal and the rest of the world as distasteful and bizarre, but had hearts of gold in amongst the death-macabre-obsessions and lack of concern with shuffling off the mortal coil. The characters and the cast are sheer brilliance, no less, and the scripts mildly amusing mickey-takes and distorted views of 1960's America's pop culture and values, and the black and white actually helps the monster mood of the show - colour would have been awful! It still comes over as charmingly classy, a bit dated, but the performances of Carolyn Jones as Morticia and John Astin as Gomez, deeply-in-love parents to Wednesday and Pugsley, are still just fabulously skilfull while the key mad-cap former child actor Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester, together with lesser faves like Lurch the Butler, Thing (a hand in a box), Grandmama, and Cousin It (a short mass of hair and nothing else much) give great support. They even had Morticia's mother played by the terrific Margaret Hamilton, the immortal Wicked Witch Of The West in Wizard Of Oz. Spawning remake TV series, TV movies, 2 fab feature films with an equally great cast, which made the fab Vic Mizzy finger-snapping theme tune a 90's hit (albeit in remake), and cartoon TV series have all helped keep The Addams Family alive in pop culture as The Munsters have dropped out of favour. The episodes are those which give the stars a chance to shine, like Gomez driven by passion when Morticia speaks French. "Cara Mia!" "You Rang", blowing up toy trains, chalking an x on Morticia's sleeve to note where Gomez had got to kissing her hand and arm, and general anarchy fits totally in with the groundbreaking style of The Marx Brothers and is the 2nd-rated sitcom of the 60's by me. So, at last, only 20 to go... 1 from the 60's 2 from the 70s 5 from the 80s 6 from the 90's 5 from the 00's 1 from the 10's |
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30th March 2018, 07:24 PM
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#70
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,861 User: 17,376
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20. FRASIER (1993-2004)
Spin-off of the long-running Cheers, Frasier also ran for 11 years and was record-award-winning, giving Kelsey Grammer the unique record of playing the same character for a record-breaking 20 years for a sitcom character. A huge fave of critics, the scriptwriting was sharp, smart and full of great one-liners. The cast was superb, now moved from Boston to Seattle, divorced from Lilith, a radio Shrink, and newly-reacquainted with his family, Frasier had a great supporting cast of characters in his pernickity pyschiatrist brother Niles, his ex-cop disabled no-nonsense dad Martin, and his dog, his radio producer Man-eating Roz, and Martin's live-in carer from Manchester the blunt Daphne. All beautifully acted, and invariably the cast either were nominated or won Emmys each year of it's run. Millicent Martin played Daphne's mum, which was a nice bit of 60's UK TV nostalgia for older viewers, and one of my fave characters was Frasier's ruthless Manager, Bebe. One of the fun bits were the celebrity cameo voice-overs popping in as radio phone-in's with issues for Frasier to advise on: Christopher Reeve, Daryl Hannah, John Lithgow, Ben Stiller, and oodles of others. The relationships between the main characters provided the backbone to the show, but the most-popular was probably married-man Niles falling secretly in love with Daphne, and the show ran with it for years - peaking with Daphne finding out, Niles being divorced from his never-seen-much-talked-about-wife Maris by then, and them eloping to get married on impulse. Thereafter the show lost it's sparkle, which is generally a huge no-no in TV's: once you lose the flirting and longing, you get cosy and boring as the replacement, or else tedious melodrama. One of my fave spin-offs were Frasier and Niles essentially morphing into Sideshow Bob and his brother Cecil in the Simpsons. Both poised and dignified, the loss of dignity and murderous intent for Bart Simpson in the show is hilarious. |
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30th March 2018, 08:54 PM
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#71
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 13 April 2007
Posts: 36,680 User: 3,272
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Peter Sallis played Norman Clegg for 37 years starting in 1973 so he leaves Kelsey Grammer standing.
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31st March 2018, 07:06 AM
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#72
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,861 User: 17,376
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QUOTE(Suedehead2 @ Mar 30 2018, 09:54 PM) Peter Sallis played Norman Clegg for 37 years starting in 1973 so he leaves Kelsey Grammer standing. True, I should have stated US Prime Time - though Homer Simpson & co are now on 30 years and catching up. if we go to provincial non-sitcom TV I suspect Ken Barlow might have it...
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9th April 2018, 10:21 AM
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#73
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,861 User: 17,376
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19. RED DWARF (1988-2018)
The show that never dies, and an unlikely long-runner (sporadically) being as it’s a cast of 4 or 5 set in the distant future on a mining space ship Red Dwarf after the end of the rest of the human race bar one - Dave Lister, beer-swilling laddy Scouser inspiring a whole TV channel in his name, and latterly paying for 2 great revival series (with one more to go). Rob Grant & Doug Naylor started, executive-produced and scripted the early episodes and series, and following the partnership split, Doug Naylor carried on alone from series 7. As I’m a sci-fi nerd you’d expect I’d get into the show right off the bat - not so. Sci-fi comedy had always been crap, so I expected this to be the same, especially with the premise: former street-poet Craig Charles as Dave, a descendant of a cat (Cat - Danny John-Jules), and an obnoxious dead now-hologram Arnold Rimmer (impressionist comic actor Chris Barrie) together with sarcastic seemingly-simple Norman Lovett as a computer. My mum enjoyed it though, and I gradually started watching it series 2 and 3 and it just got better as it went on with the addition of android Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) and computer Holly replaced by Hilly (stand-up Hattie Hayridge). Peaking around series 5 or 6, the next two series went onto film and the whole mood changed, it needed the studio audience. Plus the whole banter and interplay changed for the worse with the addition of Kochanski (Lister’s long-crush, originally an occasional welcome guest played by pop star Claire Grogan) - played by Chloe Annett, which waters down the basic concept of the last human and his frustrations, kept sane by his non-human mates and escapades. A total lads show. The BBC run ended in 1999 and it took channel Dave to commission a 2008 filmed 3-episode special to boost it back to life, as the cast became available in between other work, like Coronation Street (Craig Charles). It didn’t quite work, but did let Dave bring the show back proper, studio audience and cast of 4, in 2012 for series 10, then series 11 and 12 2016 and 2017, all of which caught the classic mood of the early 90’s. Great one-liners, great sci-fi homages, great characters, fun plotting and a very warm unsentimental ensemble make for a show that is still good fun. I hope they do more! |
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9th April 2018, 11:38 AM
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#74
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 13 April 2007
Posts: 36,680 User: 3,272
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Red Dwarf remains responsible for one of the best JFK assassination theories.
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16th April 2018, 01:10 PM
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#75
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Is anyone here a marine biologist?
Joined: 23 January 2010
Posts: 2,504 User: 10,505
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I'm intrigued to see if you have Cheers in your rundown. I've only seen some episodes here and there but I've never really found it that funny. Frasier is hilarious though!
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16th April 2018, 07:15 PM
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#76
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,861 User: 17,376
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QUOTE(Suedehead2 @ Apr 9 2018, 12:38 PM) Red Dwarf remains responsible for one of the best JFK assassination theories. yes that was a goodie!
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16th April 2018, 07:22 PM
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#77
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,861 User: 17,376
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QUOTE(Seinfeld @ Apr 16 2018, 02:10 PM) I'm intrigued to see if you have Cheers in your rundown. I've only seen some episodes here and there but I've never really found it that funny. Frasier is hilarious though! Well I can't say, but...I preferred the characters in Cheers, the setting, and the cast The early series were really great, but as with Frasier the later ones not quite so good. I don't think there has ever been a sitcom that lasted well beyond season 7 or 8, except the animated ones, try the Diane period shows or early Rebecca. Like Frasier, Friends & co it works better when viewed chronologically as the ongoing plotlines dont make sense randomly, one season Sam & Diane taking swipes at each other, then they are a couple, then they split |
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16th April 2018, 08:20 PM
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#78
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Is anyone here a marine biologist?
Joined: 23 January 2010
Posts: 2,504 User: 10,505
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QUOTE(Popchartfreak @ Apr 16 2018, 08:22 PM) Well I can't say, but...I preferred the characters in Cheers, the setting, and the cast The early series were really great, but as with Frasier the later ones not quite so good. I don't think there has ever been a sitcom that lasted well beyond season 7 or 8, except the animated ones, try the Diane period shows or early Rebecca. Like Frasier, Friends & co it works better when viewed chronologically as the ongoing plotlines dont make sense randomly, one season Sam & Diane taking swipes at each other, then they are a couple, then they split Seinfeld  I probably should give Cheers more of a chance tbh. I do like the cast and the setting, it just didn't make me belly laugh that much. From what I've seen of it, I prefer Rebecca to Diane. I find Diane quite annoying (she even pissed me off in that Frasier episode!).
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17th April 2018, 07:51 PM
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#79
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,861 User: 17,376
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QUOTE(Seinfeld @ Apr 16 2018, 09:20 PM) Seinfeld I probably should give Cheers more of a chance tbh. I do like the cast and the setting, it just didn't make me belly laugh that much. From what I've seen of it, I prefer Rebecca to Diane. I find Diane quite annoying (she even pissed me off in that Frasier episode!). I mean a drop in standard compared to previous seasons, though Yes Seinfeld was largely even throughout but peaked in the middle. I must rewatch it again before long.... Diane is very annoying, pretentious, self-centered, but makes a great adversary in the pseudo-intellectual vs plain Baseball player verbal sparring, and the one-liner putdowns are terrific. Rebecca is more likeable, but deteriorates into a self-pitying parody in later series (still funny though!). |
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26th May 2018, 06:27 PM
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#80
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BuzzJack Legend
Joined: 18 July 2012
Posts: 22,861 User: 17,376
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18. THE BIG BANG THEORY (2007-2019?)
Still running, though not quite as sharp and geeky as it’s earlier seasons, The Big bang Theory is a sci-fi nerd’s wet dream: so many pop culture, science and sci-fi/fantasy references run through the show that you would imagine it would be a minority interest sitcom. Not so. It’s huge worldwide. The premise, 4 geeky scientists/engineers in their 20’s, is a sort of nerdy version of Friends, minus the women - the only regular female cast mate is neighbour Penny to flat-sharing Sheldon & Leonard (named after sitcom legend Sheldon Leonard), a not at-all nerd, hot and popular and self-assured. Over the seasons Leonard and Penny get together and marry, and she gets 2 scientist girlfriends to hang out with (Bernadette, Howard’s future wife, and Amy, Sheldon’s future wife) leaving poor old Raj unhitched to date). With more female cast members the balance of the show got less nerdy and more soap, but still maintained it’s sci-fi credentials, notably the number of Star Trek actors passing through, not least semi-regular former child actor and Next Gen star Will Wheaton playing himself. Overall I prefer it to it’s obvious ancestor Friends, not just for the sci-fi/pop culture elements that I can relate to, but because the characters aren’t as annoying - more lovable than irritating, as Ross, Chandler, Monica and co could be at times. There’s also a sort of spiritual Roseanne going on (only not as tedious, and thank goodness no Roseanne Barr) with 3 cast members featuring, 2 as semi-regulars, and Johnny Galecki as star. The break-out star though is Jim Parsons as award-winning super-ego-super-nerd-super-IQ scientist Sheldon, complete with all his many many hang-ups, quirks and foibles. My introduction to the show came through my niece who said I should watch it (3 seasons in I’d not heard much of it really) as it was so Me. Apparently I’m a bit like Sheldon. Well, not in my universe am I anything remotely like Sheldon! (Except in the less annoying ways). I did love it though, right from the Barenaked Ladies theme song down to the endless guest stars from the sci-fi genre that I admire, and the long-running worship of Stephen Hawking, and the lads-together comics-fans camaraderie. The Comic Shop is a world I know every well. Currently I’m one and a half seasons behind so can’t comment on recent quality, but it remains enjoyable if no longer my fave live-acted sitcom - that baton has been passed on to another still to come. There is at least one more season (the 12th) to go, after that probably renogotiating all the contracts will become too expensive and onerous I’m guessing... |
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