Top 10 Britcoms in America According To Magazine. - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

JethroSimpson · 08-05-2002, 05:20 PM

There was an article in this weeks British TV guide about British Sitcoms and how succesfull they are abroad and it said that these are the top 10 most succesfull in America in terms of video sales.

1. Fawlty Towers
2. Absaloutly Fabulous
3. Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy
4. Blackadder
5. Keeping Up Appearences
6. The Young Ones
7. Are You Being Served?
8. The Benny Hill Show
9. Red Dwarf
10. The Vicar Of Dibley

Central Perk · 08-05-2002, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JethroSimpson
There was an article in this weeks British TV guide about British Sitcoms and how succesfull they are abroad and it said that these are the top 10 most succesfull in America in terms of video sales.

1. Fawlty Towers
2. Absaloutly Fabulous
3. Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy
4. Blackadder
5. Keeping Up Appearences
6. The Young Ones
7. Are You Being Served?
8. The Benny Hill Show
9. Red Dwarf
10. The Vicar Of Dibley

I've never heard of Hitch Hikes Guide To The Galaxy...

JethroSimpson · 08-05-2002, 08:40 PM

It's a kind of Sci-Fi comedy, I think they only ever did 6 episodes back in the late 70's.

Marvo301 · 08-09-2002, 07:07 PM

I'm shocked that Mr. Bean is not on the list! However I must agree with most of the other entries.

Winnie · 08-10-2002, 09:59 PM

Well, if you wanna get technical (and I do, if I may), Mr. Bean is actually a sketch comedy show and not a sitcom. Am I right or am I right? Or do I just have too much time on my hands and should be focussing on more important things?

japfles · 08-11-2002, 06:13 PM

No, Mr Bean is most definitely a sitcom.

The Benny Hill Show, however, was a sketch show and shouldn't be in the list, no matter how good it was!

17Mar59 · 08-11-2002, 09:49 PM

Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy was one of the many versions of
the series that included the books and radio series as well.Each
of them was just slightly different from the rest.Don't know about
the radio but the cassette tape version had the same cast has the tv version.

Did they come over here and take a poll to get the results?

JethroSimpson · 08-13-2002, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 17Mar59
Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy was one of the many versions of
the series that included the books and radio series as well.Each
of them was just slightly different from the rest.Don't know about
the radio but the cassette tape version had the same cast has the tv version.

Did they come over here and take a poll to get the results?

The magazine is actually published by BBC so I think they would have had access to the sales records.

jerry allen · 10-14-2002, 05:17 AM

if i had made up that list i wouldn't have been so technical and i would've ranked "Are You Being Served?" at #1 and "Benny Hill" at #2. the rest would include "Good Neighbors", "Yes, Prime Minister", "Mr. Bean","Blackadder", "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "Keeping Up Appearances", "Allo-Allo", and "Fawlty Towers". i base my list on shows that made an impact on the PBS/local networks here in America. here in the USA we have a thing called political correctness that basically means that comedy shouldn't be offensive or laced with double-entendres. this is why none of the commercial networks over here air British programs. Cable-TV rarely airs stuff from the BBC and so we have to either depend on independent networks like PBS or if you've got a satellite dish you can pick up a BBC network that mostly programs Parkinson or British Men Behaving Badly, or other contemporary comedies. "Benny Hill" is a perfect example of our awful politically correct society. his show aired over here from 1979-1989 late at nights on commercial television...a rare feat in itself. anyway, when the criers and the way too sensitive people started complaining about Benny's "sexism" or "dirty" sketches, networks got scared and dropped the show. a while later, i read, that England had adopted the same such sensitive attitudes and Thames dumped him the same year...1989! here in America we're held hostage by political correctness and anyone who might have a different view or want to express themselves slightly different is mauled and attacked by society!

JethroSimpson · 10-14-2002, 12:53 PM

We do have political corectness here too, I don't think many British comedies too ofensive, especially not recent ones.

I do agree that I think Benny Hill was sexist. He went to Thames TV and he thought he was haing his contract renewed but instead they said his humoar was dated.

There is a lot of difference in attitude between British and American comedy. Some things wouldn't translate well, like I heard when they were translating Men Behaving Badly to American they had to change a lot of the jokes because they thought they were too rude to featurre in a sitcom.
Some British sicoms seem to be a little closer to reality- people don't always have a lot of money where as some American sitcoms make out that everyone is rich.

jerry allen · 10-14-2002, 06:33 PM

well, in a Capitalistic society where the stereotype that everyone has money or are living comfortable is what sells over here. nobody wants to see "reality" anymore. we have a show over here called "Survivor:Thailand" that is promoted as reality but it's not. the whole "Survivior" series is called reality but it's not! what's real about people getting voted off an island? i've never done such a thing! i have the Benny Hill videos that have been distributed by the different sources and i don't think that Thames TV should've treated it's biggest export that way. who cares if his humor was "dated"? he was our late-night "secret" for a decade because his comedy was so different than what America was used to. in other words, he was a cult legend in America and we loved his bold comedy and anti-establishment quips.

emlsitcomfan · 03-02-2010, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerry allen

if i had made up that list i wouldn't have been so technical and i would've ranked "Are You Being Served?" at #1 and "Benny Hill" at #2. the rest would include "Good Neighbors", "Yes, Prime Minister", "Mr. Bean","Blackadder", "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "Keeping Up Appearances", "Allo-Allo", and "Fawlty Towers". i base my list on shows that made an impact on the PBS/local networks here in America. here in the USA we have a thing called political correctness that basically means that comedy shouldn't be offensive or laced with double-entendres. this is why none of the commercial networks over here air British programs. Cable-TV rarely airs stuff from the BBC and so we have to either depend on independent networks like PBS or if you've got a satellite dish you can pick up a BBC network that mostly programs Parkinson or British Men Behaving Badly, or other contemporary comedies. "Benny Hill" is a perfect example of our awful politically correct society. his show aired over here from 1979-1989 late at nights on commercial television...a rare feat in itself. anyway, when the criers and the way too sensitive people started complaining about Benny's "sexism" or "dirty" sketches, networks got scared and dropped the show. a while later, i read, that England had adopted the same such sensitive attitudes and Thames dumped him the same year...1989! here in America we're held hostage by political correctness and anyone who might have a different view or want to express themselves slightly different is mauled and attacked by society!

I agree with #1 and #2 listing like you stated since those are my top 2 favs as well!

Marlies

pkripper001 · 01-13-2015, 10:06 AM

In my market, we had Benny Hill in the 1980's, with the sign on in 1981 of commercial independent station,the time the show aired was at 7:30 pm eastern.They even had a commercial to promote it,or maybe it was The Paul Hogan Show, with a person reading there complaint letter during the promo for the shows air time of 7:30 pm,and then saying,''Aren't you glad you wrote''.That station also aired Paul Hogan in that time slot when not airing Benny Hill,so I get them confused,since both were bold for there time.Fox Broadcasting Company launched and they went with Fox,so we lost Black Belt Theater at 9PM on Saturday night.Back to the subject,I think AB Fabulous is the worst BRITCOM I have seen,so can not understand its number 2 ranking.

08-05-2002, 05:20 PM	#1
JethroSimpson Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 01, 2001 Location: England,UK Posts: 1,080	Top 10 Britcoms in America According To Magazine. There was an article in this weeks British TV guide about British Sitcoms and how succesfull they are abroad and it said that these are the top 10 most succesfull in America in terms of video sales. 1. Fawlty Towers 2. Absaloutly Fabulous 3. Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy 4. Blackadder 5. Keeping Up Appearences 6. The Young Ones 7. Are You Being Served? 8. The Benny Hill Show 9. Red Dwarf 10. The Vicar Of Dibley
	__________________ My Brand New Diff'rent Strokes site is now at- http://chrisdoyle0.tripod.com/ ________________ _______________ Chris D.

08-05-2002, 08:40 PM	#3
JethroSimpson Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 01, 2001 Location: England,UK Posts: 1,080	It's a kind of Sci-Fi comedy, I think they only ever did 6 episodes back in the late 70's.

08-09-2002, 07:07 PM	#4
Marvo301 I'm NOT a Blockhead! Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 17, 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 21,453	I'm shocked that Mr. Bean is not on the list! However I must agree with most of the other entries.

08-10-2002, 09:59 PM	#5
Winnie Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Dec 09, 2001 Location: Canada Posts: 77	Well, if you wanna get technical (and I do, if I may), Mr. Bean is actually a sketch comedy show and not a sitcom. Am I right or am I right? Or do I just have too much time on my hands and should be focussing on more important things?

08-11-2002, 06:13 PM	#6
japfles The Japster Frequent Poster Join Date: May 10, 2001 Location: Durham, UK Posts: 145	No, Mr Bean is most definitely a sitcom. The Benny Hill Show, however, was a sketch show and shouldn't be in the list, no matter how good it was!

08-11-2002, 09:49 PM	#7
17Mar59 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jan 03, 2002 Location: washington state Posts: 475	Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy was one of the many versions of the series that included the books and radio series as well.Each of them was just slightly different from the rest.Don't know about the radio but the cassette tape version had the same cast has the tv version. Did they come over here and take a poll to get the results?

10-14-2002, 05:17 AM	#9
jerry allen Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 01, 2002 Location: State Route 72/ Ohio Posts: 148	if i had made up that list i wouldn't have been so technical and i would've ranked "Are You Being Served?" at #1 and "Benny Hill" at #2. the rest would include "Good Neighbors", "Yes, Prime Minister", "Mr. Bean","Blackadder", "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "Keeping Up Appearances", "Allo-Allo", and "Fawlty Towers". i base my list on shows that made an impact on the PBS/local networks here in America. here in the USA we have a thing called political correctness that basically means that comedy shouldn't be offensive or laced with double-entendres. this is why none of the commercial networks over here air British programs. Cable-TV rarely airs stuff from the BBC and so we have to either depend on independent networks like PBS or if you've got a satellite dish you can pick up a BBC network that mostly programs Parkinson or British Men Behaving Badly, or other contemporary comedies. "Benny Hill" is a perfect example of our awful politically correct society. his show aired over here from 1979-1989 late at nights on commercial television...a rare feat in itself. anyway, when the criers and the way too sensitive people started complaining about Benny's "sexism" or "dirty" sketches, networks got scared and dropped the show. a while later, i read, that England had adopted the same such sensitive attitudes and Thames dumped him the same year...1989! here in America we're held hostage by political correctness and anyone who might have a different view or want to express themselves slightly different is mauled and attacked by society!

10-14-2002, 12:53 PM	#10
JethroSimpson Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 01, 2001 Location: England,UK Posts: 1,080	We do have political corectness here too, I don't think many British comedies too ofensive, especially not recent ones. I do agree that I think Benny Hill was sexist. He went to Thames TV and he thought he was haing his contract renewed but instead they said his humoar was dated. There is a lot of difference in attitude between British and American comedy. Some things wouldn't translate well, like I heard when they were translating Men Behaving Badly to American they had to change a lot of the jokes because they thought they were too rude to featurre in a sitcom. Some British sicoms seem to be a little closer to reality- people don't always have a lot of money where as some American sitcoms make out that everyone is rich.

10-14-2002, 06:33 PM	#11
jerry allen Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Oct 01, 2002 Location: State Route 72/ Ohio Posts: 148	well, in a Capitalistic society where the stereotype that everyone has money or are living comfortable is what sells over here. nobody wants to see "reality" anymore. we have a show over here called "Survivor:Thailand" that is promoted as reality but it's not. the whole "Survivior" series is called reality but it's not! what's real about people getting voted off an island? i've never done such a thing! i have the Benny Hill videos that have been distributed by the different sources and i don't think that Thames TV should've treated it's biggest export that way. who cares if his humor was "dated"? he was our late-night "secret" for a decade because his comedy was so different than what America was used to. in other words, he was a cult legend in America and we loved his bold comedy and anti-establishment quips.

01-13-2015, 10:06 AM	#13
pkripper001 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Aug 12, 2014 Location: Florida Posts: 401	In my market, we had Benny Hill in the 1980's, with the sign on in 1981 of commercial independent station,the time the show aired was at 7:30 pm eastern.They even had a commercial to promote it,or maybe it was The Paul Hogan Show, with a person reading there complaint letter during the promo for the shows air time of 7:30 pm,and then saying,''Aren't you glad you wrote''.That station also aired Paul Hogan in that time slot when not airing Benny Hill,so I get them confused,since both were bold for there time.Fox Broadcasting Company launched and they went with Fox,so we lost Black Belt Theater at 9PM on Saturday night.Back to the subject,I think AB Fabulous is the worst BRITCOM I have seen,so can not understand its number 2 ranking.