Overrated/Underrated Sitcoms and the science of comedy

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On an almost constant loop in our household.

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Derry Girls is far king hilarious. Love it.

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23

Yes Minister is probably the best ever, though.
The plays on words and the twisting of political situations into all sorts of imaginative outcomes was brilliant.

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24

Bullpit?

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25

Party Down is one of the best US comedies ever that flies under the radar I believe.

The Golden Girls is outstanding also.

26

For consistency of writing , and then perfect casting, easily my favourite comedy. Brilliant.

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27

Friends . Excruciatingly over rated.

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28

The last truly ‘politically incorrect’ movie was Tropic Thunder. It’s amazing they got away with some of the stuff they did. There are also subtle jokes in it that would be a death sentence now.

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No mention of Black Books yet? Underrated and brilliant.

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30

Yes, that’s another gem.

Dylan Moran and Bill Bailey are such a brilliant pairing.

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31

I find it weird that people have an issue with comedy that you “wouldn’t get away with now” being a thing.

Just write better. The stuff that is problematic was problematic then too. Racist, sexist, whatever comedy isn’t actually funny, so it’s not “can’t get away with it”, it’s just that people won’t laugh because they understand better what the impacts are on people, including people that they care about who never said anything.

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32

No chance you could have Tropic Thunder now. Nothing to do with writing.

There are lots of people who would laugh. Studios just won’t make them.

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33

I have not seen it, so not a comment on that in particular.

34

Maybe watch it first.

35

I absolutely loved Galavant. Only got two seasons but absolutely brilliant. For those that haven’t seen it, it is a musical medieval series.

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36

My comment was clearly about the broad lament of “was great but couldn’t get away with it now”, and the linking that to the “death of comedy” because you can’t write what you used to.

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There is a link. It’s why you see less and less good comedies. It is what it is.

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My argument would be that you don’t need to punch down on minorities or the disadvantaged to make good comedy.

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39

At its best, South Park is hugely underated. It can be inconsistent, not surprising given its methods , lol.

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40

Hasn’t been mentioned yet so underrated.
The first two seasons are perfect.
Brilliant writing, but the casting was the key. Could anyone else have been Buster, George Senior, George Michael, Gob, Tobias, Lucille…guessing this has spawned from the Celeb Deaths debate about Friends. One of the sadder ones for me in recent times was Jessica Walter.

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Then the cameos: Henry Winkler, Liza Minnelli, Carl Weathers…

Show just makes me happy. Didn’t take itself too seriously and, from appearances, had total buy in from all involved.

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