Is Only Fools & Horses the greatest British sitcom?

During the war...

  • Total voters
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I vote yes.

I wouldn't put it in my personal top 30, but in terms of longevity, capturing the public imagination, those Christmas ratings and international reach, I would probably call it the greatest.
 
Dinnerladies, The Royle Family, The Vicar of Dibley, One Foot in the Grave, Ab Fab, Father Ted, Pulling and (no judgement) Two Pints of Lager are the sitcoms i much prefer to watch, but in terms of overall success and staying power, OFAH is unbeatable.
 
octophone said:
Waiting For God was another mid-evening BBC1 sitcom that could be a lot darker and indeed funnier than its timeslot suggested.
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God that's one I used to watch as a kid. Along with May to December and of course ON THE UP!

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On reflection, Ab Fab, Keeping Up Appearances and Fawlty Towers are the only sitcoms I've seen more than 3 episodes of :D
 
Kate said:
God that's one I used to watch as a kid. Along with May to December and of course ON THE UP!

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From memory, On The Up was legit excellent. But it would be interesting to watch again and perhaps focus both on the treatment of the shopaholic non-working spouse who books into Claridges whenever there's a row (the "gold-digging woman" stereotype) as well and on the portrayal of functioning alcoholism.
 
octophone said:
From memory, On The Up was legit excellent. But it would be interesting to watch again and perhaps focus both on the treatment of the shopaholic non-working spouse who books into Claridges whenever there's a row (the "gold-digging woman" stereotype) as well and on the portrayal of functioning alcoholism.
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True, true. I suspect I might get distracted though by remembering the massive crush I had on Maggie and wondering how the hell I didn't turn out lesbian. (shut up @funky)
 
I think it's hard to argue against OFAH, for the reasons Indie stated. And I do like it, although largely because it makes me think of my Dad, and because I always get a thrill watching things that were filmed here.

Personally I much prefer Hi-de-Hi, but I couldn't really argue it was better.
 
The main thing this thread has made me realise is that I much prefer stand-up and sketch comedy. :basil:
 
octophone said:
The main thing this thread has made me realise is that I much prefer stand-up and sketch comedy. :basil:
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I think it largely depends on what you want from comedy. Even in the edgiest sitcom there has to be a degree of familiarity and comfort for it to work. The best stand up IMO rarely has that.
 
lolly said:
I think it largely depends on what you want from comedy. Even in the edgiest sitcom there has to be a degree of familiarity and comfort for it to work. The best stand up IMO rarely has that.
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True. You have to care enough about the characters to find out what happens to them. That was the genius of One Foot In The Grave - Victor Meldrew may have been a curmudgeon but he wasn't an arsehole, otherwise the whole thing wouldn't have worked. The writing had to be spot on and it was.
 
Ellie said:
While stuff like Father Ted, Blackadder, The Young Ones, Fawlty Towers are great, they have a benefit of being extremely short. To be considered “greatest ever” surely it should be something that lasted more than 4 series.
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Kate said:
Oh I wholly disagree! Quitting while you're ahead is an artform in itself. (Though with Father Ted they had no choice of course :()
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As much as I agree with Kate about knowing when to quit, I do think Ellie is on to something with longevity. That OFAH was capable of remaining so popular for so long has to count for something. I wondered it helped OFAH that it was a lot less edgy/aimed at youth/critics etc than some of the others usually quoted.

And if I recall correctly, the first series of OFAH wasn't particularly successful. In today's climate it may well have been axed after the first season. Although the same is also true of Blackadder, at least.
 
Only Fools is SO MUCH better than Keeping Up Appearances. Patricia Routledge kept the latter afloat.
 
I actually used to love Waiting for God but I can’t seem to get into it when I catch a repeat

I adore ALLO ALLO . It’s just ridiculously stupid. And of course moopy idol and Cheadle Pis Olympic Legend Dane Carmen Silvera steals the show
 
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