i'll try hard not to turn this into a chris morris/armando iannucci fest. sorry about direct links, i have

the thick of it
i'll start with the big guns. you've probably heard of this, so this is for the uninformed. armando iannucci's part scripted, part improvised political satire focusing around the offices of DoSAC (department of social affairs and citizenship), with huge emphasis on how civil servants deal with the media, and includes the scariest scottish man alive: malcolm tucker, the primeminister's enforcer, who keeps the different offices all running in check whilst constantly battling the media, and just about everyone else really. although there's a lot about british government, what's great about this show is the inventive use of swearing, often involving bizarre metaphors, and the well developed characters and how they interact.

15 storeys high
sean lock, famous british panel show comedian, wrote and starred in this incredibly bleak comedy series about living in a flat. as trivial as that sounds, it works well, as the character sean plays is an angry, misanthropic middle aged recluse that spends a lot of his time watching his neighbours judgmentally. he is forced to take on a flatmate to his disgust, who happens to be a bizarre, slightly dim character with a number of odd traits and beliefs. there's the odd cutaway segment too, focusing on the lives of the other members of the block of flats. the show is shot very uniquely, and suits the show completely.

the armando iannucci shows
possibly my favourite comedy show. i'm not going to say anything about this, because it'll just come out in a jumble of synonyms of 'incredible'. all the episodes are available on youtube. i implore you to check it out.

big train
big train takes the format of a typical sketch show, and features three brilliant actors: simon pegg, kevin eldon and mark heap, and was co-written by graham linehan of father ted/black books/it crowd fame. i've posted this because it's a clear head and shoulders above most sketch shows around today, and has some really great sketches, especially in the clip below.

reggie perrin
a modern revival of a classic sitcom starring martin clunes of men behaving badly fame. he plays reggie perrin, a misanthropic, disillusioned character who is head of the 'disposable razor' department at groomtech, a male grooming product company. his world is filled with flamboyant and completely contrasting personalities. though slightly hit and miss, when it hits, it's hilariously funny.

i was going to include more but it's getting late. special mentions to: the day today, black books, jam, nathan barley, green wing, smack the pony etc.

haven't watched the videos but even without watching british comedies seem to have like more interesting concepts than like 99% of american stuff. Are there any tropes of british comedy like every other american sitcom is some family where the dad's a fat fuck and is dumb too and the mom is bitchy but keeps the family functioning and the kids are brats

hi i am a british comedy: bunch of people in suits having long winded conversations that test the suspension of disbelief while spouting one liners with a straight face

hi i am a british comedy: bunch of people in suits having long winded conversations that test the suspension of disbelief while spouting one liners with a straight face

sounds about right

I know The Thick Of It and panda linked me to some Big Train sketches that were pretty good. I'm gonna have to check out the Armando Ianucci Show though because I really like most of his other stuff! Also yeah definitely seconding The Day Today. It's news parody but not so much in the sense of some dumb ripped from the headlines! stuff but more the tropes of news shows themselves, like incomprehensible 3D graphs and bizarre language etc. Basically if you remember that bit from the american 2008 elections where one of the news channels inexplicably broadcasted the results via hologram you know what I mean but it's pretty good anyway. There are full episodes on youtube I think.



Brass Eye is more about awful sensationalist current affairs shows and Sky One shit and is also great! it's all on youtube also i think

i just saw black books over christmas break, it was so damn good


that's all i have to say about it really!  it was just fantastic

Can't have a British comedy thread without the greatest of all time, Red Dwarf.

i was hoping we could

i'm not sure how red dwarf is a series anyone missed

solobuttons posted an Australian version of the day today/brass eye  that was really good what was it called

here are two more fantastic british shows:

peep show

[youtube]this show is really really good[youtube]

the inbetweeners

[youtube]this is really pretty good but not as good as peep show, peep show is the best.[youtube]

Are there any tropes of british comedy like every other american sitcom is some family where the dad's a fat fuck and is dumb too and the mom is bitchy but keeps the family functioning and the kids are brats

misanthropy

i think all the programmes mentioned here plus heaps of others have at least one misanthropic central character

here are two more fantastic british shows:

peep show

[youtube]this show is really really good[youtube]

the inbetweeners

[youtube]this is really pretty good but not as good as peep show, peep show is the best.[youtube]

yes, peep show is innovative and brilliant, and the writers of peep show have joined chris morris to write his new film four lions. which is cool.