The random musical acts in The Young Ones had a behind the scenes reason because it classified the show as light entertainment which gave them an increased budget and an extra day of studio time per episode.
As a teenager in the 90's, Red Dwarf was my favourite, so funny! Robert Llewellyn who played Kryten has a great UA-cam channel called Fully Charged (all about EVs).
A great suggestion, with only two minor draw backs sir. 1. Red dwarf is an incredible show - and 2, this one being quite important, Red Dwarf is an incredible show. Now I realise that's the same thing but I thought it was so important that I should say it twice.
1984 the first episode of red dwarf. The original kryton was david Ross who went onto become the voice of the toaster, I have every single episode the books and the magazines you could say I liked it lol
The guy with the red hair in The Young Ones is Ade Edmondson who's married to Jennifer Saunders who wrote and starred in Absolutely Fabulous . They were part of a troupe in the early eighties called the comic strip comprising of Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Ade Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Robbie Coltrane, Keith Allen,Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Alexi Sayle.
In order to understand The Young Ones you would have have to have lived through the Punk Rock Era, the Sex Pistols at least, and into Margaret Thatchers early years as the Prime Minister of the UK. The 'punk' Ade Edmonson has a pet hamster called SPG - which stood for Special Patrol Group - the SPG were a specially set up by M. Thatchers government police unit who were to smash the coalmining unions were were striking and causing major disruption to daily life and the economy in the UK in the early 1980's. It was the same era as Spiting Image. The show always featured a guest musical artist who would perform the popular hit of the day, it was a nice change to music chart type shows. If you google "music artists who performed on The Young Ones tv show' they had the most famous musical artists of the time in the UK. The difference was, the actors behaved as though the band or singer was actually in the show.
I’m an Aussie and this is my favourite show of all time!! I have converted 3 boyfriends, a husband and my son to this brilliant show. My son has a huge collection of Red Dwarf now himself. There are not enough superlatives to describe the amazing writing, the build team (such as it was) and to whoever cast these 4 guys together to make brilliance!!!
The books are also outstanding! By the duel entity that was Grant Naylor (Rob and Doug respectively) then the two sequels by each author) Just hilarious! 😆
The Young Ones was groundbreaking at the time, it was the first proper sitcom by comedians who had made a name for themselves at a comedy club in London called the Comedy Store and showcased a new style of comedy which was labelled 'Alternative Comedy', this show was the catalyst for more comics from the Comedy Store to make names for themselves, they all went on to collaborate for the next few decades making a series of feature length one-off comedy featurettes and films under the banner of 'The Comic Strips Presents.....' This was a very important period in UK comedy and The Young Ones and the The Comic Strips Presents were amazing!
@@paulf1157 Bottom was actually 7 years after TYO's, Filthy Rich & Catflap came inbteween plus loads of episodes of 'The Comic Strip Presents....' French and Saunders and Alexei Sayle's Stuff were all before Bottom started.
Red Dwarf shaped who I am as a human being. You have no idea the impact that show had on dorky scifi nerds. And that's not to say I dislike the others, many of these shows were universally loved. Glad they put the Mighty Boosh in, that was incredible.
Some episodes of red dwarf were so unbeleivably funny, was one of those series that improved with age as the cast became more comfortably imbeded in their roles and the scripts just got better and better...
One of my friends knew The League of Gentlemen’s Mark Gatiss and Steve Pemberton at university and said they had some strange parties where they dressed up as various characters often in drag.
Jennifer Saunders from Ab fab is married to Ade Edmondson, who was the punk in The young ones, both of whom were key players in The Comic Strip Presents... series of films in the 80's & 90's.
Craig Charles has had a varied career, acting in Red Dwarf, then as a regular cast member in the soap, Coronation Street (which is HUGE). He is now a radio presenter/DJ in his favourite genres, funk and soul.
The young ones is chaotic anarchic and exactly what teenagers wanted back in the 80s. Theres an episode featuring The Good Life and vyvyan (the punk) goes crazy saying he didnt want to be in anything “sickly sweet” like the good life. They play university students so was aimed at the pre adult/first time leaving home audience. Each episode had a theme and different bands played each episode. My fave episode is Bambi, and the 4 get picked to go on university challenge (quiz show pitting unis against each other). Theres lots of cameo performances by actors/comedians such as ben elton (who co wrote it), robbie coltrane, emme thompson, hugh laurie, griff rhys jones, mel smith, dawn french, jennifer saunders etc etc. Rik is a die hard cliff richard fan and throughout the series they make fun of sir cliff, so cliff himself invited them to release a version of cliffs song “living doll” which was used to raise money for comic relief. Its a great show. Lots of cultural refences (which i didnt get when i was back hime in nz, but since living in england i finally get).
Green wing is a must watch very funny. But red dwarf is class I've been watching it since I was very young I think I was just about to hit 10 when it started and I've loved it ever since.
Simon Pegg had had bit parts in a few shows and was in the hilarious show Big Train so even though still a newcomer when Spaced came out he was known, I'd say Big Train was his first big break really, but Spaced was the catalyst for the Cornetto Trilogy as you say, one of the episodes has him playing Resident Evil on PS1 which is often cited as the inspiration for making Shaun of the Dead.
My son is only 32 but he LOVES The Young Ones! In late 82, I was nine months and three days pregnant with my second son and wondering if he would ever arrive. I watched the show and laughed really hard. About an hour later my labour started!
Thank you.. I disagree with JJ about only being funny in the 80s but not now..but then he has probably only watched snippets and so not got into it. My son loves it too and he was born in the 80s.
My daughter is 34 she still watches Red Dwarf and The Young Ones. I wouldn't let her watch The Simpsons ( she was 10) one day I heard her call her sister a Smeg Head! Found out that while I was out Dad let them watch his shows 😂😂😂 pretty much gave up then!
Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) and Ade Edmondson, the red haired punk guy you noticed in The Young Ones, clip are husband and wife and have been for decades. Jennifer also featured/appeared in several episodes of The Young Ones alongside her long time comedy partner Dawn French. Rick Mayall and Ade Edmondson were a long standing comedy partnership, French and Saunders also.
Love Red Dwarf, I have every episode from the original series on an external hard drive that plugs into my TV. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched them.
Tamsin Grieg was also in the brilliant "Friday Night Dinner", where Mark Heap also appears and I have never seen him play a sane character, not since "Spaced", "Green Wing", "Up Start Crow", well, anything, really.
The Young Ones are must see TV. The scene where Vyvyan (the Punk Rocker) kicks his decapitated head down the rail tracks cracks me up even now some 40 years later.
The whole AP franchise is just brilliant, even including The Day Today. I just love the way that takes the piss out of The One Show. It’s probably the closest thing to Curb Your Enthusiasm, for comparisons with American comedy.
@@Steve_W27 agreed. It's also one of those shows that is so much funnier if you don't just dip in and out of it. Lots will go over a viewers head if they don't know some of AP backstory.
Blackadder The 2nd, 3rd, and Goes Forth, Red Dwarf, The IT Crowd, Father Ted, I'm Alan Partridge, Mid Morning Matters, What We Do In The Shadows, Black Books, Mighty Boosh, The Young Ones, and Bottom are all well worth watching if you haven't seen them.
Lists like these remind me of the catalog of incredible British comedy shows is vast. there is something in the water for producing great comedy and also music over there.
There’s a couple of American women who share a reaction channel on UA-cam called the Galifrey Gals, who specialise in sci-fi programs and are currently watching/reviewing several different shows, including Red Dwarf which they have just recently started to watch season 8. I consider them to be worth watching if only for the extracts of Red Dwarf that they share on their channel. They are also currently covering the remake series of Battlestar Galactica and their channel name suggests they are regular fans of the Doctor WHO programme both the current series and the old 1960’s origin stories.
Red Dwarf is smegging brilliant. There's an American version, but its rubbish and barely aired more than the pilot. The episodes are only about 20-30 mins a piece, and less than a dozen per season iirc, so an easy binge. So many great moments like Queeg, Toastie the talking toaster, Nodnol, Rimmerworld, Silicon Heaven and the hilarious Duane Dibbly.
Black Books was true genius. It's still funny today. Incidentally, I saw Dylan Moran on tour and he had a bar of chocolate on stage, which he picked at a little. At the end of the show, more than half of it was left and he threw it to me in the front row. I got Dylan Moran's Green & Blacks LOL
Peter Capaldi was in a punk band with Craig Ferguson, in their early years. Ferguson was on the Drew Carey Show, in the 90's and later was host of the Late Late Show for about ten years.
The Michelle Gomez scene where she takes a slash is hilarious, even the word 'Jobby' is hilarious in her accent. Not just cult viewing, but incredibly surreal too.
Bottom and Red Dwarf are so worth it. There's not many episodes, as they're UK runs, so 6 episodes or so per season. Red Dwarf also has some fun books that are worth reading after you've understood the characters and premise of the show. They're light, but nice for a fun scifi jaunt while on the beach.
@@scottneil1187 Number 1, I said "not many" not "hardly any". Compared to 178 episodes of ST:TNG, or 169 of New Who, there are "not many". Number 2, The books are very light, the audiobook for backwards (free on YT btw) is 5 1/2 hours, read at a casual pace. it involves such hard sci-fi concepts as *checks notes* having sex while time is running in reverse....
continuing the series again after so many decades just didnt seem right to me, the chemistry and the feel of the show felt very different even though it was the original cast it felt like they had matured and the characters they played a long time ago didnt fit or feel the same
The Boosh were AWESOME! And Spaced launched the careers of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost - particularly the "Cornetto" films (starting with Shaun Of The Dead) - but you knew that. Missing from this list: "The IT Crowd" and "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy"
British TV shows frequently have only 6-8 episodes per season, this includes Red Dwarf. This means there are only 52 episodes in total for it's initial run (1989 - 1999), and these are only about 30 mins long, so about 26 hours all in.
@@philiprice7875 I'm not sure of every episode but I sure remember some of the funny signs made by rearranging the letters of the sign, Flowery Twats and Fatty Owls and Farty Towels stick with me
"If you're in trouble he will save the day, he's brave and he's fearless come what may, without him the mission would go astray, he's Arnold, Arnold, Arnold Rimmer, more reliable than a garden strimmer, he's never been mistaken for your grimmer, he's not old and his head doesn't glimmer!"
The mighty boosh is an incredible journey through increasingly surreal adventures. It is defiantly a niche show, but i love it. "Cheese is a type of meat, a tasty yellow treat, I milk it from my teet, but i try to be discreet"
Despite being very funny, these sitcoms are fairly mainstream. 15 Stories High is an excellent Sean Lock sitcom. Smoking Room, Stath Lets Flats, Man Down, This Country, Still Game, Marion and Geoff, Operation Good Guys and Sean's Show are all hilarious and had very small viewing figures
I always thought they put laugh tracks on US sitcoms to signal when there really was a joke, in case someone got offended and shot someone else. Also thought that was the reason for the pauses after the delivery of each joke line, rather than the rapid-fire follow-on jokes of British comedy (I really did think this - that they were safety measures)
One last comment for this video lol you'll get through Red Dwarf in no time JJ. Episodes are only 20 minutes long and the seasons are short. Also, the US tried to make an American version of this show but the pilot was dire. It is available to watch online
The American pilot was mind-bendingly bad. You knew when they cast a comparitively good looking actor to play 'Lister' that they didn't understand the fundamentals of the show.
At 12.24 ("League of Gentlemen") you ask whether the noses of the 2 characters were prosthetic. They were not, but according to Steve Pemberton (who played the female character, Tubbs) the up-tilted shape was produced by sticking some Sellotape (Scotch tape in the US and Canada) to the tip of the nose, pulling it up and anchoring it to the forehead. This produced the rather porcine-looking snouts - the result of generations of in-breeding! As an aside, the name of the village where all the action took place, Royston Vaisey, is the name of a very popular stand-up comedian in the North of England who delighted in ".... offensive humour, high profanity, forthright social commentary and outspoken disdain for political correctness". He goes by the stage name, Roy "Chubby" Brown and is still very popular in down-market seaside resorts such as Blackpool, Lancs.
Nighty Night is absolutely a must-watch. And so is Garth Marenghi's Darkplace; so much of early 21stC British lo-fi 'alternative' situation comedy begins right there. (But you could say that about Boosh too). Also, Boosh S3 gave us one of the best side characters of all time: " *Tony* 'arrison!" Has to be seen to be understood.
I can`t believe it! Or have I missed something? You`ve left our two of the greatest, Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin about a business man going mad and Rising Damp - both featuring Leonard Rossiter.
Peter Capaldi has had a strange career. He was in a punk rock band with late night host Craig Ferguson in the 80s. In the 90s, He wrote and directed a film about Franz Kafta that won an academy award. And yes, he was the Doctor for a few series.
When M.A.S.H was brought to the UK we did not want the laugh track so got used to it being absent. As JJLA says, we don't need to be told when something is funny or when to laugh. When you later see an episode of M.A.S.H with a laugh track it is terrible.
I recently re-watched all of Nighty Night. It’s on BBC iPlayer at the moment. Julia Davies starred but also wrote it and quite frankly I don’t know how they got away with it. Definitely worth watching. From the clips they showed The Young Ones doesn’t look great, but it really changed the face of British comedy. It was iconic back in the early 80s. I can highly recommend most of these, although I lost interest in Red Dwarf after a few series (sci fi ain’t my thing).
A couple of shows not mentioned on the list but which I get the impression you might be interested in from things you said here - Mongrels (puppet led, fairly dark, sitcom about a group of animals in London), and Monkey Dust (animated sketch comedy that's dark to the point of bleak at times)
I think it's a crime not to mention a British TV show called keeping up with appearances with hyson the bucket woman if you understand that reference then you understand how cool it is not to have her on and obviously the show what most people watch over and over again was Blackadder that show was awesome too I still have it on my computer and sometimes I watch episodes on UA-cam what do you guys think do you think these should have been in there.
Nighty Night is brilliant, your instincts are spot on. I'm not sure how many Americans would go for it, but I'm confident you will. It's great to see a reacter who knows his way around the world of comedy.
Alan Partridge has a much much longer lineage than the sitcom listed. His solo character career started with Knowing Me Knowing You a mock chat show, then I'm Alan Partridge, then several documentaries, recently a magazine show parody called This Time with Alan Partridge. But there's three series of his podcast on Audible, a movie... it's a massive character.
The Day Today was so brilliant. We have basically been living in it for the past 20 years. Alan Partridge is so good in it because he is so irrelevant in the show but thinks he's everything. Which is the premise for all the later shows.
Also you've seen Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in these videos such as Bottom and The Young Ones. Well, Simon Pegg starred in the Bottom Movie. An early role.
I agree with you JJLA, a fair few of those were 'main stream' TV! in terms of cult classics I would put 'The Mighty Boosh' at number 2 with 'Garth Marenghi's Dark place easily coming in at No1 for cult status! I still watch it now and again, it still holds up today with how amazingly bad/brilliant it is! A must watch cuz its only 1 season with 6 episodes! :)
@@gabbymcclymont3563 no, holly is a genius and number 1 the crew wouldnt have survived without holly, number 2 is queeg because he is the 2nd cleverest being
Touch of Frost was a detective show. Touch of Cloth is a joke name as "touching cloth" means you're about to poop your pants. Not sure if you have that saying in the US.. (referred to as "gophering" on National Lampoon's Vacation.)
Ahh, that's where I've seen her before! I think she's great, and I did know about the Archers. Over the years she popped back in from Hungary once in a blue moon, when her work schedule permitted.
@primalengland I totally agree, it was brilliant. Tubbs & Edward could've had their own show.😂 I only learned that 'Royston Vasey' is actually Roy Chubby Brown's real name years after the show ended.😂
The Thick of It was the last great political satire. What a gem. Malcom Tucker forever. I am crying because it's not available for streaming in my country anymore, anywhere.
All of these choices - and the near-misses are really great. Not a single lead ballon. The League of Gentlemen is truly dark but repays the effort, however, Red Dwarf is definitely number one.
i know they were just honorable mentions but DEFINITELY check out Green Wing, its brilliant! also Garth Marenghi's Dark Place if you want to watch something random, weird and hilarious!
He shocked me, of all the really famous people he doesn’t know like David Jason he immediately recognized the rock god himself Lemmy, that really shocked me
18:05 you probably actually can watch all that. It is about seventy episodes in total across the twelve series, and nearly all of them are shorter than half an hour long!
@@ebbhead20 Yup. Top 10 moments and I might chuckle once. Maybe. Not a funny show in my opinion, and based on JJ's other comedy preferences I don't think it'd be his thing.
15 storeys high (should have been there), saxondale, I’m not an animal, human remains, Nathan Barley, maybe not sitcoms but snuffbox, jam, brass eye, day to day… to name a few!
You should recognize Simon Pegg in Spaced! Red Dwarf- marvelous, used to go to conventions and watched it in PBS.❤❤❤ If you haven't discovered it yet, look for the Brit comedy "Coupling". Screamingly funny.
Nighty Night is brilliant, however Red Dwarf my ultimate favourite. If you watch it, don’t worry it’s only 6 episodes a series, don’t be put off by the first series. They had barely any money to work with, so it’s a bit gray. After that it brightened up, and Robert Llewellyn came back as Kryten. The first Kryten wasn’t that good.
One You Tube video where punk Vyvyan was decapitated on his way to University Challenge, featuring Motorhead, had 437K views. I think that shows you didn't need to be around in the 80's to enjoy the alternative comic book style humour of The Young Ones... 🤷♀️ Rik Mayall also is much loved by several generations.
@@themoderntemplar1567 Vyv loading the reluctant washing machine "It's a subtle blend of psychology and extreme violence". 😆😆😆 I used that line once in a Vyvyan voice when someone commented on how well behaved my sons are. Luckily they understood the reference 🤣
@nolasyeila6261 That could be been a tricky explanation of they didn't get it, phew 😂 There was just something about Felicity Kendall's underwear needing "a good wash" that a mid-teenage me was in complete solidarity with that washing machine, worryingly enough. 😂😂
The random musical acts in The Young Ones had a behind the scenes reason because it classified the show as light entertainment which gave them an increased budget and an extra day of studio time per episode.
As a teenager in the 90's, Red Dwarf was my favourite, so funny! Robert Llewellyn who played Kryten has a great UA-cam channel called Fully Charged (all about EVs).
A great suggestion, with only two minor draw backs sir. 1. Red dwarf is an incredible show - and 2, this one being quite important, Red Dwarf is an incredible show. Now I realise that's the same thing but I thought it was so important that I should say it twice.
stella street was a good one. had the bloke that voiced the alien from the 80's morning kids show "get fresh"
1984 the first episode of red dwarf. The original kryton was david Ross who went onto become the voice of the toaster, I have every single episode the books and the magazines you could say I liked it lol
Quoting the comments from the previous night's episode in the playground the next morning, Brilliant memories!
@janolaful 1988 actually. My last year at primary school. Everyone was talking about it the next day.
The guy with the red hair in The Young Ones is Ade Edmondson who's married to Jennifer Saunders who wrote and starred in Absolutely Fabulous .
They were part of a troupe in the early eighties called the comic strip comprising of Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Ade Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Robbie Coltrane, Keith Allen,Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Alexi Sayle.
Also Lenny Henry.
@@susanpearson-creativefibro Lenny Henry was not part of the Comic Strip crew, he just happened to be married to Dawn French at the time.
In order to understand The Young Ones you would have have to have lived through the Punk Rock Era, the Sex Pistols at least, and into Margaret Thatchers early years as the Prime Minister of the UK. The 'punk' Ade Edmonson has a pet hamster called SPG - which stood for Special Patrol Group - the SPG were a specially set up by M. Thatchers government police unit who were to smash the coalmining unions were were striking and causing major disruption to daily life and the economy in the UK in the early 1980's. It was the same era as Spiting Image. The show always featured a guest musical artist who would perform the popular hit of the day, it was a nice change to music chart type shows. If you google "music artists who performed on The Young Ones tv show' they had the most famous musical artists of the time in the UK. The difference was, the actors behaved as though the band or singer was actually in the show.
Ade Edmondson was also in Star Wars
The Young Ones was a seminal moment when I was an 18 year old student, when popular culture changed forever. It is seriously underestimated.
A bunch of private school oxbridge educated upper middle class BBC types acting out how they think ordinary people live.
I’m an Aussie and this is my favourite show of all time!! I have converted 3 boyfriends, a husband and my son to this brilliant show. My son has a huge collection of Red Dwarf now himself. There are not enough superlatives to describe the amazing writing, the build team (such as it was) and to whoever cast these 4 guys together to make brilliance!!!
The books are also outstanding! By the duel entity that was Grant Naylor (Rob and Doug respectively) then the two sequels by each author)
Just hilarious! 😆
The Young Ones was groundbreaking at the time, it was the first proper sitcom by comedians who had made a name for themselves at a comedy club in London called the Comedy Store and showcased a new style of comedy which was labelled 'Alternative Comedy', this show was the catalyst for more comics from the Comedy Store to make names for themselves, they all went on to collaborate for the next few decades making a series of feature length one-off comedy featurettes and films under the banner of 'The Comic Strips Presents.....' This was a very important period in UK comedy and The Young Ones and the The Comic Strips Presents were amazing!
I liked spotting the extra person in the room.
Then came Bottom
@@paulf1157 Bottom was actually 7 years after TYO's, Filthy Rich & Catflap came inbteween plus loads of episodes of 'The Comic Strip Presents....' French and Saunders and Alexei Sayle's Stuff were all before Bottom started.
I had dinner with Joanna Lumley at a friend's house and didn't realise who it was until we got to pudding. She's a cool cat.
Red Dwarf shaped who I am as a human being. You have no idea the impact that show had on dorky scifi nerds. And that's not to say I dislike the others, many of these shows were universally loved. Glad they put the Mighty Boosh in, that was incredible.
"Step up to red alert"
"Are you sure Sir, it does mean changing the bulb."
Knowing about danger Mouse gets you a like. Greatest secret agent ever.
He's the best. Wherever there is danger he'll be there!
I was super impressed he knew that!
@@sarahbayley2971 He only knew it because he'd seen it on a similar video that featured David Jason a few days ago.
And Penfold voiced by the late great Terry Scott 👌
I lernt taking the piss fron DM.
Some episodes of red dwarf were so unbeleivably funny, was one of those series that improved with age as the cast became more comfortably imbeded in their roles and the scripts just got better and better...
Who else began singing the Arnold rimmer song when Rimmer appeared?
David Jason was also the voice of Count Duckula as well as Dangermouse.
One of my friends knew The League of Gentlemen’s Mark Gatiss and Steve Pemberton at university and said they had some strange parties where they dressed up as various characters often in drag.
Jennifer Saunders from Ab fab is married to Ade Edmondson, who was the punk in The young ones, both of whom were key players in The Comic Strip Presents... series of films in the 80's & 90's.
Some big names in those shows like Robbie Coltrane
Craig Charles has had a varied career, acting in Red Dwarf, then as a regular cast member in the soap, Coronation Street (which is HUGE). He is now a radio presenter/DJ in his favourite genres, funk and soul.
He also hosted Robot Wars as well
The young ones is chaotic anarchic and exactly what teenagers wanted back in the 80s. Theres an episode featuring The Good Life and vyvyan (the punk) goes crazy saying he didnt want to be in anything “sickly sweet” like the good life. They play university students so was aimed at the pre adult/first time leaving home audience. Each episode had a theme and different bands played each episode. My fave episode is Bambi, and the 4 get picked to go on university challenge (quiz show pitting unis against each other). Theres lots of cameo performances by actors/comedians such as ben elton (who co wrote it), robbie coltrane, emme thompson, hugh laurie, griff rhys jones, mel smith, dawn french, jennifer saunders etc etc. Rik is a die hard cliff richard fan and throughout the series they make fun of sir cliff, so cliff himself invited them to release a version of cliffs song “living doll” which was used to raise money for comic relief. Its a great show. Lots of cultural refences (which i didnt get when i was back hime in nz, but since living in england i finally get).
Green wing is a must watch very funny. But red dwarf is class I've been watching it since I was very young I think I was just about to hit 10 when it started and I've loved it ever since.
And oh, Red Dwarf. Finest of them all! ❤
Smeeeeg-Headddddddd
Everybody's dead,Dave, Everybody's dead!!!
@@KirstinDisney1990 Do you want some toast .
dogs milk
Are you sure, sir? That will mean changing the bulb.
Steven Mangham was also in UK TV show 'Dirk Gently' based on the books by 'Hitch-hikers Guide...' author, Douglas Adams.
The League of Gentlemen is the best most disturbing comedy in British TV history.
we didn't burn him
I recently bought the DVD set as I haven't seen it in years. Had to be done. Pauline and her pens ❤
And the brown towel is for …
If you haven’t already, check out Jam. REAL disturbing.
"We don't use the 'F' word in tnis house. This... is a... toad"
Simon Pegg had had bit parts in a few shows and was in the hilarious show Big Train so even though still a newcomer when Spaced came out he was known, I'd say Big Train was his first big break really, but Spaced was the catalyst for the Cornetto Trilogy as you say, one of the episodes has him playing Resident Evil on PS1 which is often cited as the inspiration for making Shaun of the Dead.
My son is only 32 but he LOVES The Young Ones! In late 82, I was nine months and three days pregnant with my second son and wondering if he would ever arrive. I watched the show and laughed really hard. About an hour later my labour started!
Thank you.. I disagree with JJ about only being funny in the 80s but not now..but then he has probably only watched snippets and so not got into it. My son loves it too and he was born in the 80s.
My daughter is 34 she still watches Red Dwarf and The Young Ones. I wouldn't let her watch The Simpsons ( she was 10) one day I heard her call her sister a Smeg Head! Found out that while I was out Dad let them watch his shows 😂😂😂 pretty much gave up then!
he should be 42 then.
@@robopecha Duh. I was talking about my second son who is 43 in December. My youngest who enjoys the Young Ones has just turned 33.
Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) and Ade Edmondson, the red haired punk guy you noticed in The Young Ones, clip are husband and wife and have been for decades. Jennifer also featured/appeared in several episodes of The Young Ones alongside her long time comedy partner Dawn French. Rick Mayall and Ade Edmondson were a long standing comedy partnership, French and Saunders also.
Alan Partridge is folklore and occasionally presenters make what is known as an "accidental Partridge". You know it if you hear it.
8:35 He 's English and he doesn't know how to pronounce 'Norwich'. What??! How?
He butchered a surprising number of the names, too.
I think it's because he's familiar with Northwich and Nantwich in Cheshire
Iv noticed that he cant pronounce quite a few countys names, so odd.
@@gabbymcclymont3563Same
I've heard some say it's done to increase comments which improves algorithm. I don't know if it's true.
Black Books and Spaced are my two all time favourites. You have to check them out.
Love Red Dwarf, I have every episode from the original series on an external hard drive that plugs into my TV. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched them.
Tamsin Grieg was also in the brilliant "Friday Night Dinner", where Mark Heap also appears and I have never seen him play a sane character, not since "Spaced", "Green Wing", "Up Start Crow", well, anything, really.
The Young Ones are must see TV. The scene where Vyvyan (the Punk Rocker) kicks his decapitated head down the rail tracks cracks me up even now some 40 years later.
To really get Alan Partridge you have to see Knowing Me Knowing You. Which was a spoof satirising British light entertainment chat shows.
Or even go back to The Day Today. His spoof career has had me laughing for decades
"Ah ha " ... Wonderful stuff 😄
The whole AP franchise is just brilliant, even including The Day Today. I just love the way that takes the piss out of The One Show.
It’s probably the closest thing to Curb Your Enthusiasm, for comparisons with American comedy.
@@Steve_W27 agreed. It's also one of those shows that is so much funnier if you don't just dip in and out of it. Lots will go over a viewers head if they don't know some of AP backstory.
Shaun of the Dead came from an episode of Spaced, where Simon Pegg's character halucinates zombies in the flat while playing Resident Evil
Blackadder The 2nd, 3rd, and Goes Forth, Red Dwarf, The IT Crowd, Father Ted, I'm Alan Partridge, Mid Morning Matters, What We Do In The Shadows, Black Books, Mighty Boosh, The Young Ones, and Bottom are all well worth watching if you haven't seen them.
Lists like these remind me of the catalog of incredible British comedy shows is vast. there is something in the water for producing great comedy and also music over there.
Its all the rain. we have to do something to pass the time when indoors
There is something in the water. We call it tea.
There’s a couple of American women who share a reaction channel on UA-cam called the Galifrey Gals, who specialise in sci-fi programs and are currently watching/reviewing several different shows, including Red Dwarf which they have just recently started to watch season 8. I consider them to be worth watching if only for the extracts of Red Dwarf that they share on their channel. They are also currently covering the remake series of Battlestar Galactica and their channel name suggests they are regular fans of the Doctor WHO programme both the current series and the old 1960’s origin stories.
Red Dwarf is smegging brilliant. There's an American version, but its rubbish and barely aired more than the pilot. The episodes are only about 20-30 mins a piece, and less than a dozen per season iirc, so an easy binge. So many great moments like Queeg, Toastie the talking toaster, Nodnol, Rimmerworld, Silicon Heaven and the hilarious Duane Dibbly.
Duane Dibbly, The Duke of Dork, thanks for the reminder!
Black Books was true genius. It's still funny today. Incidentally, I saw Dylan Moran on tour and he had a bar of chocolate on stage, which he picked at a little. At the end of the show, more than half of it was left and he threw it to me in the front row. I got Dylan Moran's Green & Blacks LOL
Peter Capaldi was in a punk band with Craig Ferguson, in their early years.
Ferguson was on the Drew Carey Show, in the 90's and later was host of the Late Late Show for about ten years.
Craig Ferguson also featured in an episode of Red Dwarf - "Confidence and Paranoia"
Tamsin Grieg was also on Friday Night Dinner. Another brilliant show. Lovely bit of squirrel 😄
Wilson. RIP.
Greenwing, Red Dwarf, Phoneshop and the IT crowd are some of my favourite comedies ever ever
If man says him a ting, then him a ting.
@@xneurianx "Spin round Heskey man, go to your boy Rooney init"
The Michelle Gomez scene where she takes a slash is hilarious, even the word 'Jobby' is hilarious in her accent.
Not just cult viewing, but incredibly surreal too.
@@MrRjhyt or the scene where so gets Sue Whyte to make her fly around her office... bl00dy h3ll I love Greenwing!
@@sparklypeanuts The tippex...! It just makes me shudder.
Dylan Moran (Black books) was also in Shawn of the Dead as David. So many greats in that movie ❤
Bottom and Red Dwarf are so worth it. There's not many episodes, as they're UK runs, so 6 episodes or so per season. Red Dwarf also has some fun books that are worth reading after you've understood the characters and premise of the show. They're light, but nice for a fun scifi jaunt while on the beach.
There's 61 episodes of Dwarf, more than hardly any. The books are not light either, they deal with deep, hard sci-fi concepts.
@@scottneil1187 Number 1, I said "not many" not "hardly any". Compared to 178 episodes of ST:TNG, or 169 of New Who, there are "not many".
Number 2, The books are very light, the audiobook for backwards (free on YT btw) is 5 1/2 hours, read at a casual pace. it involves such hard sci-fi concepts as *checks notes* having sex while time is running in reverse....
@@stuartcollins82 "Actually you just *became* virgins"
continuing the series again after so many decades just didnt seem right to me, the chemistry and the feel of the show felt very different even though it was the original cast it felt like they had matured and the characters they played a long time ago didnt fit or feel the same
The Boosh were AWESOME! And Spaced launched the careers of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost - particularly the "Cornetto" films (starting with Shaun Of The Dead) - but you knew that.
Missing from this list: "The IT Crowd" and "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy"
Red dwarf is legendary
'Smoke Me a Kipper, I'll be Back for Breakfast!"
I have every episode from the original series and never tire of rewatching them.
@@MrRjhyt smegging brilliant.
Yes, endlessly quotable. "We're out of options. We've got less choice than a Welsh fish and chip shop."
For the first 6 series, after that it went downhill fast.
British TV shows frequently have only 6-8 episodes per season, this includes Red Dwarf.
This means there are only 52 episodes in total for it's initial run (1989 - 1999), and these are only about 30 mins long, so about 26 hours all in.
*series
@@1969gawa
In the US, a "series" is the whole show, so I adapted my language to aid understanding.
fawlty towers
12 eps
6 hours
50 years old 1974 1975
bet you can still remember every episode
@@philiprice7875 I'm not sure of every episode but I sure remember some of the funny signs made by rearranging the letters of the sign, Flowery Twats and Fatty Owls and Farty Towels stick with me
@@andrewharrison1197hahaha yes, and Flay Otters!
I can't believe that 'Men behaving badly' didn't get an honourable mention
And I can't believe Peep Show had a 5 second clip in the intro to this video but then never showed up again!! 🤷
among many others Blackadder, Bottom, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisp, Coupling,One Foot in the Grave, Father Ted, Allo Allo, Fawlty Towers,
"If you're in trouble he will save the day, he's brave and he's fearless come what may, without him the mission would go astray, he's Arnold, Arnold, Arnold Rimmer, more reliable than a garden strimmer, he's never been mistaken for your grimmer, he's not old and his head doesn't glimmer!"
Correction:
He's never been mistaken for Yul Brynner.
The mighty boosh is an incredible journey through increasingly surreal adventures. It is defiantly a niche show, but i love it. "Cheese is a type of meat, a tasty yellow treat, I milk it from my teet, but i try to be discreet"
Despite being very funny, these sitcoms are fairly mainstream. 15 Stories High is an excellent Sean Lock sitcom. Smoking Room, Stath Lets Flats, Man Down, This Country, Still Game, Marion and Geoff, Operation Good Guys and Sean's Show are all hilarious and had very small viewing figures
Great list. Stath is hilarious. Oh my crump!
I always thought they put laugh tracks on US sitcoms to signal when there really was a joke, in case someone got offended and shot someone else. Also thought that was the reason for the pauses after the delivery of each joke line, rather than the rapid-fire follow-on jokes of British comedy (I really did think this - that they were safety measures)
"Nighty Night" is an all-time great and Julia's other series (which she also wrote) are also classics. So dark. So hilarious.
Human Remains by Rob Brydon and Julia Davis is gold too
You’re seeing the tradition of writer-performers I mentioned previously in full force here
One last comment for this video lol you'll get through Red Dwarf in no time JJ. Episodes are only 20 minutes long and the seasons are short. Also, the US tried to make an American version of this show but the pilot was dire. It is available to watch online
They're half an hour, I think even the ones that were made for Dave were half an hour.
The American pilot was mind-bendingly bad. You knew when they cast a comparitively good looking actor to play 'Lister' that they didn't understand the fundamentals of the show.
At 12.24 ("League of Gentlemen") you ask whether the noses of the 2 characters were prosthetic. They were not, but according to Steve Pemberton (who played the female character, Tubbs) the up-tilted shape was produced by sticking some Sellotape (Scotch tape in the US and Canada) to the tip of the nose, pulling it up and anchoring it to the forehead. This produced the rather porcine-looking snouts - the result of generations of in-breeding!
As an aside, the name of the village where all the action took place, Royston Vaisey, is the name of a very popular stand-up comedian in the North of England who delighted in ".... offensive humour, high profanity, forthright social commentary and outspoken disdain for political correctness". He goes by the stage name, Roy "Chubby" Brown and is still very popular in down-market seaside resorts such as Blackpool, Lancs.
Nighty Night is absolutely a must-watch.
And so is Garth Marenghi's Darkplace; so much of early 21stC British lo-fi 'alternative' situation comedy begins right there. (But you could say that about Boosh too).
Also, Boosh S3 gave us one of the best side characters of all time: " *Tony* 'arrison!" Has to be seen to be understood.
I can`t believe it! Or have I missed something? You`ve left our two of the greatest, Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin about a business man going mad and Rising Damp - both featuring Leonard Rossiter.
They are top 10 cult comedies, can be argued that rising damp and reggie perrin are mainstream
Laugh tracks here are always from a live reaction, whether a studio audience or playback of the episodes to an audience
The young ones was a work of genius.
The League of gentlemen is great, but incredibly disturbing at times.
Every episode of the young ones seemed like 3. Just amazing
Deffo watch nighty night, and 'Human remains' - Julia Davies is amazing. - also anything Chris Morris. x
Peter Capaldi has had a strange career. He was in a punk rock band with late night host Craig Ferguson in the 80s. In the 90s, He wrote and directed a film about Franz Kafta that won an academy award. And yes, he was the Doctor for a few series.
I simply have to see the photographs of Joni Mitchell dressed as Vivian
Laugh tracks filmed live with a studio audience are brilliant, that's how Red Dwarf did it :)
When M.A.S.H was brought to the UK we did not want the laugh track so got used to it being absent. As JJLA says, we don't need to be told when something is funny or when to laugh. When you later see an episode of M.A.S.H with a laugh track it is terrible.
I recently re-watched all of Nighty Night. It’s on BBC iPlayer at the moment. Julia Davies starred but also wrote it and quite frankly I don’t know how they got away with it. Definitely worth watching. From the clips they showed The Young Ones doesn’t look great, but it really changed the face of British comedy. It was iconic back in the early 80s. I can highly recommend most of these, although I lost interest in Red Dwarf after a few series (sci fi ain’t my thing).
A couple of shows not mentioned on the list but which I get the impression you might be interested in from things you said here - Mongrels (puppet led, fairly dark, sitcom about a group of animals in London), and Monkey Dust (animated sketch comedy that's dark to the point of bleak at times)
I think it's a crime not to mention a British TV show called keeping up with appearances with hyson the bucket woman if you understand that reference then you understand how cool it is not to have her on and obviously the show what most people watch over and over again was Blackadder that show was awesome too I still have it on my computer and sometimes I watch episodes on UA-cam what do you guys think do you think these should have been in there.
the thick of it is brilliant and i recommend you watch the malcum tucker compilation (you wont regret it)
Garth Marenghi's Dark Place is genius. I rewatched it recently and it stands up really well.
Nighty Night is brilliant, your instincts are spot on. I'm not sure how many Americans would go for it, but I'm confident you will.
It's great to see a reacter who knows his way around the world of comedy.
Alan Partridge has a much much longer lineage than the sitcom listed. His solo character career started with Knowing Me Knowing You a mock chat show, then I'm Alan Partridge, then several documentaries, recently a magazine show parody called This Time with Alan Partridge. But there's three series of his podcast on Audible, a movie... it's a massive character.
The Day Today was so brilliant. We have basically been living in it for the past 20 years. Alan Partridge is so good in it because he is so irrelevant in the show but thinks he's everything. Which is the premise for all the later shows.
Jennifer Saunders and Ade Edmundson (the spikey haired punk in the Young Ones) have been married since 1985, and have 3 children.
'The New Statesman' starring Rik Mayall.
Also you've seen Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in these videos such as Bottom and The Young Ones. Well, Simon Pegg starred in the Bottom Movie. An early role.
I agree with you JJLA, a fair few of those were 'main stream' TV! in terms of cult classics I would put 'The Mighty Boosh' at number 2 with 'Garth Marenghi's Dark place easily coming in at No1 for cult status! I still watch it now and again, it still holds up today with how amazingly bad/brilliant it is! A must watch cuz its only 1 season with 6 episodes! :)
😅look up absolutely fabulous, kitchen fire. Possibly the funniest scene I've ever seen
I love the rave in the lounge room and the episode when they go for plastic surgery. 😂
I love the Auto - reloading champagne fridge 🤣
Garth Marenghi's Dark Place is brilliant - highly recommend you check it out!
Red Dwarf is a must and the Cat is my fav.
Holly the computer
@@CovBloke1310 OK HOLLY IS A CLOSE 2ND.
@@gabbymcclymont3563 no, holly is a genius and number 1 the crew wouldnt have survived without holly, number 2 is queeg because he is the 2nd cleverest being
@@CovBloke1310Cat joined the police on some tropical island.
Touch of Frost was a detective show. Touch of Cloth is a joke name as "touching cloth" means you're about to poop your pants. Not sure if you have that saying in the US.. (referred to as "gophering" on National Lampoon's Vacation.)
Shy turtle tis another Brit idiom, innit
@@firstsurname7099 🤣🤣
Now known as Bidening
@@icemagliteis that stupid comment ageism, idiocy, ignorance or all three?
Touch of Cloth was absolutely brilliant, but nobody I know has even heard of it! A real gem.
The reason Tamsin Greig looks so familiar is that she played Debbie Aldridge in The Archers.
Of course - that's exactly where an American will recognise her face from!🤣🤣🤣
See what you did there 🙂
I hear what you did there …
Ahh, that's where I've seen her before!
I think she's great, and I did know about the Archers. Over the years she popped back in from Hungary once in a blue moon, when her work schedule permitted.
Ha!
Loving watching you go down IMDB and Wiki rabbit holes for your followers.
Greig is pronounced Greg, her sister was actually my head teacher at school.
Tamsin Greig is Debbie Aldridge from The Archers
Ignore anyone who says ‘Do not watch League of Gentlemen.’ 😊
@primalengland I totally agree, it was brilliant. Tubbs & Edward could've had their own show.😂 I only learned that 'Royston Vasey' is actually Roy Chubby Brown's real name years after the show ended.😂
Nighty Night is one of the funniest and most brilliant comedies ever made.
The Thick of It was the last great political satire. What a gem. Malcom Tucker forever. I am crying because it's not available for streaming in my country anymore, anywhere.
New Statesman ? Rick Mayal
There are dvd box sets (I know, I'm showing my age!)
Got to add 'The High Life'! Nobody ever talks about that!
Trust me on this. Watch Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. That show changed my life forever.
Came here to say this. That and Nighty Night are both gems of the noughties.
Post apocalyptic Romford!
Was just about to comment the same thing. So, so good!
@@SongBillong Yes me too. Garth Marengi is easily no. 1
Love on Absolutely Fabulous when that tall blond said "Darling I haven't eaten since 1971"...LOL
League of Gentlemen is my favourite all time comedy. At my age that’s a massive accolade!
All of these choices - and the near-misses are really great. Not a single lead ballon. The League of Gentlemen is truly dark but repays the effort, however, Red Dwarf is definitely number one.
I also enjoyed Jack Dee's 'Lead Balloon' - though doubt it counts as a 'cult classic'.
i know they were just honorable mentions but DEFINITELY check out Green Wing, its brilliant! also Garth Marenghi's Dark Place if you want to watch something random, weird and hilarious!
Oh dear I had forgotten about The League Of Gentlemen! Binged season 1 from VHS recordings on hangover days 😂 back in the day.
He shocked me, of all the really famous people he doesn’t know like David Jason he immediately recognized the rock god himself Lemmy, that really shocked me
18:05 you probably actually can watch all that. It is about seventy episodes in total across the twelve series, and nearly all of them are shorter than half an hour long!
JJ please take my advice from your previous comedy video! Look up the top ten moments in Only Fools and Horses! I promise you won't regret it.
Thats the worst on this list..he should concentrate on the good ones..
@@ebbhead20 give that ebb head a wobble would you please.
@@ebbhead20 Yup. Top 10 moments and I might chuckle once. Maybe. Not a funny show in my opinion, and based on JJ's other comedy preferences I don't think it'd be his thing.
15 storeys high (should have been there), saxondale, I’m not an animal, human remains, Nathan Barley, maybe not sitcoms but snuffbox, jam, brass eye, day to day… to name a few!
Superb list! Completely agree with every single one 👍
Noel Fielding from The Mighty Boosh was also in The IT Crowd and is a host on The Great British Baking Show.
You should recognize Simon Pegg in Spaced!
Red Dwarf- marvelous, used to go to conventions and watched it in PBS.❤❤❤
If you haven't discovered it yet, look for the Brit comedy "Coupling". Screamingly funny.
Simon Pegg's first big break was actually a sketch show called Big Train, some of that is quite funny
Great fun, but too many wankers!
No more wanking in the office - genius sketch
Make a cuppa tea, sit back and join JJLA for his latest instalment. One of the highlights of my evening.
Nighty Night is brilliant, however Red Dwarf my ultimate favourite. If you watch it, don’t worry it’s only 6 episodes a series, don’t be put off by the first series. They had barely any money to work with, so it’s a bit gray. After that it brightened up, and Robert Llewellyn came back as Kryten. The first Kryten wasn’t that good.
Series 1 is my favourite. It is so focused with basically only the two of them.
One You Tube video where punk Vyvyan was decapitated on his way to University Challenge, featuring Motorhead, had 437K views. I think that shows you didn't need to be around in the 80's to enjoy the alternative comic book style humour of The Young Ones... 🤷♀️ Rik Mayall also is much loved by several generations.
@nolasyeila6261 "DO NOT LEAN OUT OF THE WINDOW... I wonder why" and " Is it true you done a Disney nasty Bambi? " Priceless 😂😂😂
@@themoderntemplar1567 Vyv loading the reluctant washing machine "It's a subtle blend of psychology and extreme violence". 😆😆😆 I used that line once in a Vyvyan voice when someone commented on how well behaved my sons are. Luckily they understood the reference 🤣
@@themoderntemplar1567 🤣
@nolasyeila6261 That could be been a tricky explanation of they didn't get it, phew 😂
There was just something about Felicity Kendall's underwear needing "a good wash" that a mid-teenage me was in complete solidarity with that washing machine, worryingly enough. 😂😂
I’ve lived in Britain all my life and I haven’t heard of some of these