Best TV comedy show of all time?

[Jamison]

If you have something different in mind, post up. These are just my 5 favorite.

[ghostsofgiants]

1. Monty Python's Flying Circus

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. This is why

I'm staying with your campaign. :thumbsup:




'Course, Heidi hasn't voted yet...

[KitchenWitch]

82. Yes!

and now for something completely different!

[fishwax]

2. the simpsons

real original response, i know :)

[LSdemocrat]

83. Same here.

[long_green]

111. me too

even more original

[DanCa]

3. Dick Van Dyke Show ?(nt)

[Common Sense Party]

75. Dick Van Dyke was classic. I loved that show.

Andy Griffith.

I Love Lucy.

Carol Burnett Show.

They don't make 'em like that anymore.

[DanCa]

78. They should have called I love lucy Mertz World.

Fred should have divorced Ethel, and kicked Ricky and Lucy outta his apartment building. Than I would retitle it Mertz World. But no one asked me. :D

[lakemonster11]

103. That's what I was thinking.

[Left Is Write]

108. I was going to say that very same thing.

I LOVE the Dick Van Dyke Show.

[Spider Jerusalem]

4. Fawlty Towers.

Only twelve episodes, but all of them brilliant.

Runner-up: Blackadder.

[ForrestGump]

12. Yes, "Fawlty Towers"

Though there are some other excellent contenders.

[CanuckAmok]

34. Agreed. The true test of a "classic sitcom" is if it can still make you...

...laugh after repeated viewing. "Flowery Twats" does that.

Runners up would include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Family Guy, The Simpsons, WKRP, Blackadder.

[Beware the Beast Man]

51. I love Fawlty Towers.

That is "laugh until you can't breathe anymore" style comedy.

[Jamastiene]

6. I need TP for my bungholioioioioio, aaaahahhhahahaa.

The great Cornholio needs TP for my bunghole. I guess this tells what my vote was... Huhuhuh, you said, "hole." :evilgrin:

[TheBaldyMan]

7. Phoenix Nights or ...

Chewin' the Fat
Blackadder
Gimme Gimme Gimme (believe it or not it's the Will and Grace original)
Not Only But Also
Porridge

[HEyHEY]

8. Kids in the hall

[jonnyblitz]

92. yup. nt

[long_green]

110. Your bias is easy to spot

nm

[Theres-a]

119. YES!

[SeattleGirl]

9. M*A*S*H

Always has been, always will be, my fav!

[MiwSher]

11. Mine, too!

I'd rather watch reruns of M*A*S*H* than almost anything on TV today.

MiwSher

[SeattleGirl]

14. 'xactly!

I have all the episodes on tape, so I can watch them whenever I want

[dr.strangelove]

100. I've been getting the DVDs

They are great. I only need the last season to complete my collection. I watch them all the time.

Also, meant to catch up with you after the poor showing the Ducks made (actually the whole Pac-10 did pretty bad). Another bad ending for the Ducks. Tough to lose the starting QB like that, but I hoped for a better showing.

[dr.strangelove]

95. No question, M*A*S*H

I have every season but the last on DVD. I watch them religiously. Hawkeye is my "priest" and I attend the church of MASH whenever I need to laugh, cry or just zone out for a while. I have episodes I watch when I need to cry and those when I need to laugh. It was the best overall show, not just comedy, in my mind.

[momophile]

98. count me in, too! nt

[Borgnine]

10. Arrested Development.

I've never been more fanatically devoted to a show. It's the one one I can watch dozens and dozens of times over and never get bored with.

[fizzgig]

13. the state

that was such a rad show

kids in the hall is damn good too

[NewHampshireDem]

27. Have you tried ... pants?

One of the funniest bits, IMHO, ever on television ... and probably the only truly cool thing ever on MTV.

Oh yeah, and Captain Monterey Jack, too! :roflol:

[hobo_baggins]

104. $240.00 worth of pudding

aww yeah

[sarge43]

15. WKRP in Cincinnati

Flightless turkeys, phone cops and "Boooger, fellow babies"

[CanuckAmok]

37. "I just paid five dollars to find out I'm 'rounded at the free end'."

n/t

[Oeditpus Rex]

59. 'He's such a cute little Nazi'

Great recall, dood. :thumbsup: I hadn't thought of that line in years.

*bugle echoes*

[CanuckAmok]

86. that line, and the scene with Herb and the Pig in the pay toilet.....

That's just... transcendent.

Also, "Real Families". That's in turn creepy and hilarious.

"Herb Tarlek is a hard worker, a loyal husband, and an all-around fine human being".

[kick-ass-bob]

89. "Real Families" ... "where are we going?"

"church, like we do every week."

driving around, trying to lose the camera crew, stops in front of (I can't remember what)
"Herb, they're closed. It's a _____ " (somewhere that worships on Saturday or some such thing)

:rofl:

[Oeditpus Rex]

106. 'It's a synagogue!'

Prior to that, as they got in the car: "Woohoo, we're going to pray!"

:rofl:

I loved that one. It has the definitive Lucille Tarlek line, when Peter Marshall asked her what kind of teevee shows they watch. (You'll have to add her Midwestern twang yourself.):

"Oh... well, there's the Little House on the Prairie. That's a fine, wholesome show. It's about blind children out West. And every week there's a fire or someone gets a terrible disease. Oh, we enjoy it very much!"

Edie McClurg was a very underrated actor, IMHO. In "Bill," the first of two teevee movies with Mickey Rooney as a mentally challenged man, she played a mentally challenged woman very convincingly — and that ain't an easy role.

[CanuckAmok]

112. yeah....

and when they leave the synagogue parking-lot, Herb tries to lose the camera team in a high-speed car chase around suburbia.

Edie McClurg is awesome. I though she was great in Natural Born Killers, playing Mallory's mom with her unique brand of comedy infused with low-level misery. I'll rent a movie if I see her in the credits.

She used to do a "housemaker hints" piece on David Letterman's afternoon show. "Hello, girls, today we're going to learn how to make a three bean salad with only one bean and a magic marker..."

[kick-ass-bob]

117. I need to find the reruns on TV somewhere!

I have gone too long without seeing that show - and I agree, she is a very talented actress.

[CanuckAmok]

124. they were airing on the Comedy Network here in Canada.

Back-to-back with old SCTV episodes.

I have a few on tape, but not the ones with Real Families, the WPIG pig or Little Big Guy.

I think they're out on DVD... everything else is!

[Oeditpus Rex]

125. The complete series isn't out

Only in like "best of" bits.

And anyway, they didn't re-negotiate the rights to the original music. I'm sorry, but not having "Tiny Dancer" playing at the end of the episode with Michael Pataki as the Russian hog expert who wants to defect is just wrong — or Les getting all duded up for his date with Jennifer to anything but "Hot Blooded."

Nick at Nite had a KRP marathon a few years ago and I taped as much of it as I had tapes for (about 30 episodes). The canned music wrecked it for me.

(Oddly, in the... I think it's the second episode, when Mr. Carlson walks into the booth and Johnny's half asleep while Pink Floyd's "Dogs" is playing, you actually hear "Dogs." Wonder how they managed to keep that one.)

[CanuckAmok]

126. Do you hear dogs?

No.

Neither do I.

[Oeditpus Rex]

127. I thought it was

"What's the name of that orchestra?"

"Pink Floyd."

"Oh, is that Pink Floyd? Do I hear... dogs barking?"

"I do."

I forget Carlson's next line.

[CanuckAmok]

132. You're right!

I was thinking of:

"Do you see anyone crouching in that corner?"

"No."

"(long pause) Neither do I."

[Oeditpus Rex]

133. I don't even remember that one

Johnny's acid flashback? :shrug:

[CanuckAmok]

137. yeah.

it's the 'B' plot of the ep where Jennifer decides to call Herb's bluff, but Les overhears Jennifer's plan with his "Sneaky Snooper" (a mason jar with a steel antenna taped to it).

[CanuckAmok]

128. See, the ones broadcast here recently have the original soundtracks.,

I suspect the renegotiated distribution deal for WKRP didn't include foreign markets.

[Oeditpus Rex]

129. That does it

I am so moving to Vancouver. :grr:

[noonwitch]

143. Defintely the funniest-I still laugh about the turkey episode

All I have to do is think about it.

[AtomicKitten]

16. Seinfeld - Kids in the Hall - Monty Python

Just about every day something that happens correlates to a Seinfeld episode.

[TheProphetess]

32. Seinfeld for sure!

Damn that show is great! :thumbsup:

[Arugula Latte]

68. Yes -- Seinfeld.

It holds up, and, like you said, Seinfeldian situations present themselves routinely in life.

[pokerfan]

107. SEINFELD

Runner ups include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Cheers, Fawlty Towers, WKRP in Cincinnati, Taxi, Monty Python.

But Seinfeld lasted nine years (last one was a little weak, IMO) and was, for the most part, the most laugh out loud TV comedy I've ever seen.

[DanCa]

17. No time for sargents - Don Rickels at his uh finest?

[A-Schwarzenegger]

18. Sid Caesar (Your Show of Shows)

You have to be at least 90 years old to have seen it though.
You whippersnappers.

[Bridget Burke]

87. Wasn't "My Favorite Year" based on the Sid Caesar show(s)

He did a couple more shows after "Your Show of Shows." I remember them pretty well. (& that movie is one of my favorites.)

Then, there was Ernie Kovacks...

[A-Schwarzenegger]

94. Yeah, I dug Ernie, too. He was darker, more absurd.

[DanCa]

19. Hogan's Heroes? :D

[richmwill]

20. The Honeymooners

Classics. Gleason and Carney were AMAZING. Meadows and Randolph were fantastic.

[TX-RAT]

Yep, it has no equal

Takes bow for his 4000th post.:woohoo:

[DanCa]

21. Mchale's Navy.

[Archae]

22. You'll Never Get Rich with Phil Silvers

Classic.

[Tsiyu]

23. Don't know. Haven't seen them all

But I love old Steve Allen and Monty Python and I'm sure I would like South Park or Beavis and Butthead if I ever saw them.

[yellowdogintexas]

49. another lover of old Steve Allen and his crazy Crew.

Taxi, WKRP, MTM show, Carol Burnett, MASH, Barney Miller, NightCourt..all were in sort of the same era and drop dead funny. CBS pretty much owned comedy then. Of course BArney Miller was an ABC product, I realize that.

British Comedies are in their own category of excellence and should not be compared to ours. They are way too much funnier in most cases.

[Tsiyu]

65. the BritCom I love best is "Vicar of Dibley"

At least, I think that's what it's called - about a female vicar in a small town somewhere in the UK.

"Keeping Up Appearances" is great, too. I don't get to watch these old shows now but I used to enjoy that dry Brit humour (spelled their way - LOL)

[RevCheesehead]

134. Bless You for watching.

[DanCa]

24. Harper Valley PTA? :D

[Fox Mulder]

25. Family Guy

Yeah, I said it.

Simpsons comes in close second...

[channa18]

26. Taxi. n.t

[mikeargo]

28. All good choices...

But for my money, it's The Odd Couple. Tony Randall and Jack Klugman were perfect together,

[sarge43]

48. Rev. Jim getting his hack licence

"What does yellow mean?"

"Slow down!"

"Whhhaaaat doooeeesss yellllooooowwwwww meeeeeeeaaaaan?"

:rofl:

[DanCa]

79. I loved the Tony Danza Boxing jokes

"Size has nothing to do with ability. I was beatten by guys much smaller."

[Rhiannon12866]

29. I Love Lucy. This groundbreaking show set the precedent for all

the great sitcoms that followed...:-)

[Jade Fox]

54. Few people realize how ground-breaking it was...

with a Latino man treated as an equal with the other three main characters. In fact, of the four (Lucy, Fred, Ethel) Ricky was the most grown-up and rational. Yet the show was not afraid to make fun of Ricky's accent, etc. in a good-natured way.

[Oeditpus Rex]

61. Lucille Ball had to fight like hell to get her real-life husband

to play her teevee husband. CBS wanted Richard Denning, who'd co-starred with her in "My Favorite Husband," the radio precedent to "I Love Lucy."

She was just trying to keep their marriage together. As it turned out, Desi Arnaz was a creative and business genius.

Ay yi yi yi yi!

[joeybee12]

62. Yup..amd it's still funny...most shows ar a product of their times...

...I Love Lucy transcends that.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

69. I agree

I would have posted it if you hadn't. If we're talking "all time" comedy, then 'I Love Lucy' is the single funniest show ever. What other comedy shows can stand the test of time and still be funny, decade-after-decade?

[2bfree]

113. How can there even be a poll with I Love Lucy on it?

Still funny today. :)

[Clintmax]

118. Ding, ding, ding...we have our Winner!

I Love Lucy was the greatest comedy EVER! It's too bad that some kids today think; "Lucy who?"

[u4ic]

30. Blackadder

[Swamp Rat]

141. "Baldrick, does it have to be this way?"

"Our valued friendship ending with me cutting you into long strips & telling the Prince that you walked across a very sharp cattle grid in an extremely heavy hat?" :D

[mitchum]

31. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" followed closely by "Seinfeld"...

Larry David is the true King of the Jews

[peekaloo]

55. CYE has more belly laughs per 1/2 hour than most shows do in an

entire season. :thumbsup:

[TheProphetess]

33. Dr. Katz

I miss that show. It was a gem.

[justabob]

35. MASH and Fawlty Towers but I have to throw in the Carol Burnett show

because I loved it so much when I was a kid.

[Archae]

38. To watch Harvey Korman crack up laughing at Tim Conway, right?

Like the time Tim Conway played a dentist wannabe who was having trouble with the needle... :rofl:

[justabob]

44. yep, live tv at its best :) nt

[sarge43]

46. Carol as Scarlett dressed in the curtains - what a moment. n/t

[justabob]

47. Just saw it in the window and had to have it hahaha nt

[sarge43]

64. Duckman

When the hell is that coming to DVD?

[lpbk2713]

36. Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

It was a ground breaker. There never had been anything quite like it when it first aired. It had comedy, satire, and political commentary. It was such an influential hit that Nixon, Goldwater and other political luminaries were compelled to appear on segments.

[auntAgonist]

39. not the funniest ALL time but funny .. Mr Bean!

[robbedvoter]

40. Monty Python, Futurama, Kids in the Hall, Colbert Report

Arrested Development, Soap, selected episodes of the Simpsons. Edited to add SCTV

[Kingofalldems]

41. SCTV

Great cast.

[elehhhhna]

42. BY FAR!

Ever see the episode where they overdubbed an old Zorro TV program?

me & hubs teacher at Second City, Don DePolo, wrote it!

[robbedvoter]

43. yes! Added it on my list too.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

96. Yay for SCTV!

[Deja Q]

45. Are You Being Served?

By the 6th series, it got too predictable and started running out of steam... and then it lasted for 7 more... :scared:

But series 1-5 were top-notch...

[ghostsofgiants]

50. Oh, another really good one: Black Books

[Jade Fox]

52. Simpsons, Roseanne, Mary Tyler Moore

[jobycom]

53. Scott McClellan's daily press briefings. nt

[evlbstrd]

56. Hard to pick one.

But I'd like to add "The Smothers Brothers" to all of the above.

[Radical Activist]

57. Chappelle's Show. Then Simpsons, The Daily Show.

[Va Lefty]

58. News Radio

Before Phil Hartman died.

[bigwillq]

60. Roseanne (nt)

[Cats Against Frist]

63. Sifl & Olly

That show on MTV with the sock puppets.

[Taverner]

66. Toss up between Beavis and Butthead, and Arrested Development

[NYdemocrat089]

67. The Simpsons n/t

[DanCa]

70. Sherriff Lobo???????

Still trying to figure out if it was a comedy or a drama.

[Giant Robot]

71. MST3K

Nuff said.

[Common Sense Party]

76. That show was pretty hilarious. nt

[LeftyMom]

80. absolutely. nt

[GalleryGod]

72. Probably, "My Mother the Car"

[Catchawave]

73. Other: Tie: Lucy v. Seinfeld

For Best, that is :hi:

[flvegan]

74. Nobody has said "The Young Ones" yet, so I'll throw that out there.

That, Monty Python, Served, Good Neighbors...all British, all classic.

[MrSlayer]

77. The Honeymooners.

[PittPoliSci]

81. Seinfeld

[JanMichael]

84. Worst. List. Ever.

Really. It. Sucks. It. Lacks. Imagination. and. Taste.

[hfojvt]

122. It just says

"I was born after 1980"

but my vote goes to "That's so Raven"

[Elidor]

85. In case no one has said it: the Andy Griffith Show

I loved Mayberry so much I wanted to fucking live there. Thank god I don't, but I still have my moments.

[Ladyhawk]

88. There are too many good ones.

The ones you chose are all good. I love South Park and In Living Color. Family Guy is right up there and I Love Lucy still makes me laugh. {i]The Simpsons is a classic and probably one of the top contenders simply because it has managed to stay on the air for so long. I really enjoyed Frasier, but Kelsey Grammer's politics piss me off nowadays. :D

I never liked Seinfeld. I'm not sure why. I just couldn't get into the characters. They all annoyed me.

[RebelOne]

90. My three choices are:

Married With Children, All In The Family and the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.

[rurallib]

91. "married with children" and "burns and allen"

I'm kind of a sucker for the ditzy comedies. Loved the three stooges. Have a feeling "desperate housewives" will sonn be considered a classic.
O and honorable mention to "mary hartman, mary hartman" and "fernwood 2night"

[graywarrior]

93. Seinfeld

It's funnier when you haven't seen it for awhile.

[grace0418]

97. Arrested Development.

There are other greats too (including some in the poll) but for sheer brilliance I just can't say enough about AD.

[momophile]

99. I LMAO to That 70s Show...

not as good as MASH, but pretty damn funny!

[Montauk6]

101. SOAP!!!

Followed by

Barney Miller
The Odd Couple
All In The Family
Monty Python's Flying Circus

[SmileyBoy]

102. Ren and Stimpy

beavis and Butthead and KITH come close.

[LSK]

105. Seinfeld and Cheers

[sendero]

109. For plain laughs..

... (ignoring other qualities)

Fawlty Towers
Married With Children
Seinfeld
That 70s Show

[devilgrrl]

114. The Larry Sanders Show

Had me in stiches :rofl:

[peekaloo]

121. Hank's sex tape is my favorite episode!

the snake!

[Kali]

115. can't believe nobody said Gilligan's Island!

although I wouldn't.

Too many good ones - MASH, Married With Children, Sienfeld, Simpsons, Roseanne, Monty Python, All In the Family, several Newhart shows, Get Smart .... so many over the years

[Hardrada]

116. The Jack Benny Show had some hilarious moments.

You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx was fun and zany and unpredictable!!

[hiaasenrocks]

120. 1- Seinfeld, 2- Cheers

3- Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. (Johnny was funnier than any of them, past and present)

[hfojvt]

123. Heeeeeeeere's Johnny

Okay some of the shows and monologues were lame, but if you put together a "best of" (which, of course, they have) it would probably beat SNL since Johnny was on 5 days a week.

[Wetzelbill]

130. Walker, Texas Ranger

:)

[MrScorpio]

131. TV Funhouse

The funniest trainwreck of a show EVAH!

[RevCheesehead]

135. The original Bob Newhart Show.

It never fails to make me laugh.
Best ensemble cast in TV history.

Understatement is the key.

[DarienComp]

136. i'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Carol Burnett Show

[Dr Fate]

138. Shit- no love for The Munsters?

???

[AmericanErrorist]

139. The Spendiferous Trio of The Tick (animated), Invader Zim & Daria

Though I could name many others....

[Swamp Rat]

140. Black Adder, Monty Python, The Young Ones, Fawlty Towers.

"A man may fight for many things: his country, his principles, his friends, the glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child. But personally, I'd mudwrestle my own mother for a ton of cash, an amusing clock & a stack of French porn." :D

[IntravenousDemilo]

142. Something nobody else has probably heard of...

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, with the incomparable Leonard Rossiter. One man having an extended midlife crisis. It was odd in that it was one long story rather than particularly episodic.

Or how about AAAAGH! It's the Mr Hell Show! -- I don't know if it's been on US television yet, and it's not yet available on DVD, but I'm waiting patiently...

Right now, about the funniest one I see is Corner Gas, but that could be because I was raised in Saskatchewan and understand the characters. I hope some US network picks it up soon; you'll be in for a treat.