Dark/Cult Tv Comedy Thread

[Malcolm Tucker]

I did a search for a comedy thread and only found one from 2004 so I thought I'd start a new one rather than bump a 10 year old thread

Here's a list of comedies I'd recommend to anyone who likes a bit of dark comedy or likes to think whilst they laugh. If your a fan of The Big Bang Theory etc then you may as well ignore this thread

I've tried to keep it as concise as possible so I've only included my absolute favourites

UK
The Thick Of It
15 Storeys High
The Armando Iannucci Shows
Brass Eye
Garth Marenghi's Darkplace
Human Remains
Nathan Barley
The Office
People Like Us
Phoenix Nights
Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive
Time Trumpet
That Peter Kay Thing
The Trip
Twenty Twelve
Ali G/Borat
Getting On
Green Wing
Inside No.9
Hunderby
W1A
Peep Show
Lead Balloon

The Alan Partridge Timeline
The Day Today
Knowing Me, Knowing You
I'm Alan Partridge
Mid Morning Matters
Welcome To The Places Of My Life
Open Books With Martin Bryce
Alpha Papa

US
Arrested Development
Veep
South Park
Louie
Archer
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Wilfred

Other
Summer Heights High (Aus)

 

[iainn]

Ahhhh, Nathan Barley, well bum mate.

That one with the superheroes off duty with the same guy was good too...

After wikipedia search.... "No Heroics" also starring the excellent Patrick Baladi.

 

[Malcolm Tucker]

Nice one @iainn, I never saw that 👍 Keep it chopped out yeah, no idiots here

 

[iainn]

Just need a Wasp T12 emulator for Android now to be a self facilitating media node.

 

[Malcolm Tucker]

They aint got a clue what their doing mate, smartphones would be so much more useful with a giant number 5 and they would suit my look so well

Just started downloading No Heroics

 

[DK]

I can't believe That Mitchell and Webb Look wasn't on your list.

 

[Malcolm Tucker]

Yes @DK, I had to be picky otherwise it would be a ridiculously long list The reason for Mitchell and Webb not being on there is because I think it kind of fell off from season 3. The first two are classic though

 

[RDAardvark]

League of Gentlemen is also missing. For me, this is the very definition of black comedy.

 

[Malcolm Tucker]

Yes mate @RDAardvark, classic. League of Gentleman didn't make the list because of the live crowd in Seasons 1 and 2. I love the show, I've got seies 1-3 on dvd, but I had to keep the list from getting out of control lol. Charlie and Stella were always my favourites, fairly minor characters but I'm in creases every time I watch them arguing I guess we can't post youtube clips here if it's a bit sweary?

It's the perfect programme to talk about live crowds as well. I hate them lol, it removes any realism and ruins the flow of the dialogue imo. On the League of Gentleman dvd extras, they included some scenes they pre-recorded then played to the crowd later (time restrictions for make-up etc) without the laughter, and there's huge gaps they had to leave after punchlines for the laughter to be added later

The seismic change came with The Office, the popularity of that made it acceptable to make a comedy that didn't have extra gimmicks to make it obvious that it's a comedy and to tell you when to laugh. The League Of Gentleman series 3 was made after The Office, and you can see how much more realism they were allowed to get away with. I always think about how amazing series 1 and 2 would be if it was made after The Office, or rather if The Officee had happened in the 80s or something lol. It's the same with all the Alan Partridge stuff, if that was an 00s show rather than a 90s show it would be untouchable

 

[Sanji Himura]

I actually think that the US version of The Office is pretty funny. As for others, well, I am going to have to go to my time machine and tell you later.

 

[SVT Cobra GT]

The Office

I'd suggest, Not Going Out, Only Fools And Horses, The Thin Blue Line, Blackadder and Benidorm for the UK

US: Family Guy, Friends, Big Bang Theory, Rules Of Engagement.

 

[Malcolm Tucker]

I actually think that the US version of The Office is pretty funny. As for others, well, I am going to have to go to my time machine and tell you later.

Yeh I like the US Office. Jim and Pam are a bit but Micheal, Dwight and Andy are great. It's a shame they couldn't make it work without Carell.

I'd suggest, Not Going Out, Only Fools And Horses, The Thin Blue Line, Blackadder and Benidorm for the UK

US: Family Guy, Friends, Big Bang Theory, Rules Of Engagement.

I've bolded the worst offenders from your post. The Office is classic, Friends and Big Bang Theory are two of the absolute worst imo. They're basically the same programme in a slightly different setting with slightly different characters

 

[SVT Cobra GT]

I've bolded the worst offenders from your post. The Office is classic, Friends and Big Bang Theory are two of the absolute worst imo. They're basically the same programme in a slightly different setting with slightly different characters

You highlighted Not Going Out and Only Fools as the worst offenders, yet you think the office is funny.

Oh dear.

Time to abandon thread I think.

 

[Malcolm Tucker]

Good idea lol

 

[V8-Johnboy]

Where's "Bottom"

 

[Malcolm Tucker]

Where's "Bottom"

It's too old No, it's a quality show, I grew up on it in the '90s but I couldn't put everything in the list. The idea was to get a conversation going but so far I've just been hammered for the things I didn't include and been accused of being a troll for the things I did include

 

[SVT Cobra GT]

The idea was to get a conversation going

To be fair, the OP didn't state any conversation initiation.

When I first looked at it, it seemed like you were compiling a list of comedy shows that others could check out if they've not heard of it etc.

 

[Malcolm Tucker]

To be fair, the OP didn't state any conversation initiation.

When I first looked at it, it seemed like you were compiling a list of comedy shows that others could check out if they've not heard of it etc.

Well starting a thread is initiating a conversation in itself surely? My list was just to get the ball rolling and give people an impression of what style of comedy I like. Plus a lot of the things I watch are what people like to call 'cult' so many people may not have discovered them. I should refine the thread title really

 

[SVT Cobra GT]

Well starting a thread is initiating a conversation in itself surely? My list was just to get the ball rolling and give people an impression of what style of comedy I like. Plus a lot of the things I watch are what people like to call 'cult' so many people may not have discovered them. I should refine the thread title really

Yeah that is true but the way it was written didn't seem to come across that way to me. Just seemed like you were compiling a list as I said.

Anyway of the shows you listed I only like Phoenix Nights, although I've not seen it in years.

I've remembered a few more to add to the list I put up. 2DTV, Bo Selecta and Father Ted.

 

[axletramp]

Chris Morris's 2000 series Jam has to take the crown of 'darkest comedy show'. With jokes about dead babies and breast cancer you know it's going to be (and often was) treading a fine line between comedy, horror and decency. Luckily Chris Morris is an absolute genius so he pulled it off to perfection. I have the DVD box set which includes all the content removed for TV, and it's all the better for it. If you're going to make dark comedy it needs to go all the way.

I remember driving home late from work one night almost stuffing my car in a ditch whilst listening to the late night radio version 'Blue Jam'. Pure genius. I must find if I can get hold of recordings of it somewhere.

 

[MatskiMonk]

You forgot SPACED

 

[axletramp]

And Black Books!

There's a theme here...

 

[Malcolm Tucker]

Chris Morris's 2000 series Jam has to take the crown of 'darkest comedy show'. With jokes about dead babies and breast cancer you know it's going to be (and often was) treading a fine line between comedy, horror and decency. Luckily Chris Morris is an absolute genius so he pulled it off to perfection. I have the DVD box set which includes all the content removed for TV, and it's all the better for it. If you're going to make dark comedy it needs to go all the way.

I remember driving home late from work one night almost stuffing my car in a ditch whilst listening to the late night radio version 'Blue Jam'. Pure genius. I must find if I can get hold of recordings of it somewhere.

Yes Jam is amazing, not sure why I overlooked that when making my list It's amazing how Brass Eye got so many complaints to OFCOM, Jam was a couple of years before Brass Eye and so much more borderline yet no complaints. By the way if you haven't selected the continous loop option on the dvd then don't bother! It does exactly what it says; I had to unplug the dvd player from the wall to get it to stop Also I must say that Jaaaam is better than Jam imo

I had Blue Jam and another radio show he did but had to delete them years ago due to lack of HD space, I got them from a torrent so thanks for reminding me, I think I'll go have a look and see if it's still alive

Must admit Spaced didn't do it for me and I never really got into Black Books. And The Mighty Boosh, I hated that show with a passion lol but everyone loved it

 

[MatskiMonk]

Must admit Spaced didn't do it for me and I never really got into Black Books.

I've not really gotten into that much TV over the years. A bit of Star Trek and Some Gerry Anderson stuff when I was little, I was/am a big fan of David Lynch's Twin Peaks, and Futurama too, but other than that, most TV series' come and go and I pay little attention... except for Spaced, it's easily one of the best series I've seen, and dialogue from the series permeates conversations with my friends worryingly often still to this day.

 

[MeanElf]

...except for Spaced, it's easily one of the best series I've seen, and dialogue from the series permeates conversations with my friends worryingly often still to this day.

I know that feeling. Saw Human Traffic the other day and finally got all of the references in that first episode with Tyres.

Drawn Together has not been mentioned. It's a Big Brother setting for cartoon/game characters and is dark as well as offensive to everyone in the same way that Monty Python went for in The Meaning of Life.