Skaro's Favourite Sitcom: Round 13

[Pip Madeley]

Dad's Army (1968-1977)
starring Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn, John Laurie & Ian Lavender



A Fine Romance (1981-1984)
starring Judi Dench, Michael Williams, Susan Penhaligon & Richard Warwick



The Young Ones (1982-1984)
starring Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan & Alexei Sayle



Watching (1987-1993)
starring Paul Bown, Emma Wray, Liza Tarbuck, Patsy Byrne & Perry Fenwick



The Detectives (1993-1997)
starring Jasper Carrott, Robert Powell & George Sewell



Green Wing (2004-2007)
starring Stephen Mangan, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Tamsin Greig, Mark Heap & Michelle Gomez

You can vote for two sitcoms.

[Dirk Gently]

Young Ones win this easily! With Dad's Army second just ahead of The Detectives.

[WhiteCrow]

Dads Army - you know you want to dislike it, but you rewatch it now, and goddam it, it's still as funny as ever. My son loves it. Tragic really.

Like Dirk I went with the Young Ones as my second choice. But should I? It was absolutely great, and really gained a foothold for alternative comedy. But ... has it stood the test of time? Is it still as good and funny as ever? I don't know.

A great round this - I could easily have voted for the Detectives on a different day.

[Dirk Gently]

But should I? It was absolutely great, and really gained a foothold for alternative comedy. But ... has it stood the test of time? Is it still as good and funny as ever?

Yes you should. I have them on 'video' & it is still funny and anarchic as ever it was. Other than the jokes aimed at Thatcher it's great.

The University Challenge one is a classic!

[SiHart]

Dad's Army easily wins this round for me, with my second vote going to the underrated The Detectives, which i enjoyed a great deal.

The Young Ones is terribly overrated and is very much a product of its time that has dated very badly- ironically a lot worse than the sitcoms it tried so hard to replace.
I didn't see much of A Fine Romance, and Watching was very good at the time and I haven't really seen The Green Wing.

Si xx

[Andrew Curnow]

Dad's Army and Watching for me. The former is just an all-time great, and the latter is the only other one I really followed. I saw some of The Young Ones at the time, but always hated it - Rik Mayall and Ade Edmonson in particular are probably two of the most over-rated performers I've ever seen.

[Mr BHT]

The Young Ones for me. Rik Mayall 4 Ever!!

[Alex]

Tis The Young Ones and Dad's Army for me. The Young Ones is a really mixed affair, and some of it annoys me a lot, but there are some really great moments in it, the aforementioned Bambi episode especially. Dad's Army is also a classic - I'm watching one now and it still feels fresh and new despite having seen it years and years ago.

As for the others, I quite liked The Detectives but never thought it that special, I've never really seen much of A Fine Romance, or Watching, and feel that Green Wing is quite annoying, it had the elements to be great but just didn't work for me.

[Larry]

no contest Dad's Army wins by a country mile - - Jimmey Perry and David Croft created pure comedy gold there wrighting was fantastic and the characters you really did love and care about. The jokes well you can see them coming but even now they are still hillarious the "Don't tell him pike" line has to be one of funniest lines in tv sit coms ever.

Dad's Army was also helped by having wonderfull cast of actors that very few sit coms have come close to matching though the one downer is that it was never quite the same after James Beck died.

The Detectives got my other vote.

[Martin Penny]

I went for 'Dads Army', which I've always liked, although it's not really something I'd ever go out of my way to watch.

I always loved 'The Detectives' though, and remember watching it when I was younger and really enjoying it. I've not seen it for a few years now, maybe I'll invest in a DVD...

I've only seen about two episodes of 'The Young Ones', but I recall liking it. 'Green Wing' I always found rather annoying, and a bit pretentious, which is a shame because I liked the cast.

[Si Hunt]

"Watching" was a great little comedy at the time, a good cast (including Patsy Byrne and Lisa Tarbuck), good gags and a great theme tune. Such a shame the DVD releases have stalled.

"The Detectives" emerged from an average sketch on "Canned Carrott" to somehow, briefly, shine as one of the most popular comedies of the nineties. It somehow seems to have been forgotton now though, despite some brilliant episodes. My favourite was always the one where they get taken hostage by an escaped convict and end up watching the Cup Final with him.
"Shoot! Shoot damn you!"
"Sir, I think he's challenging him to shoot him!"

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

Green Wing and The Detectives for me (that's my fave episode too, Si).

[Mr BHT]

I must be the only person on Earth who can't stand Dad's Army!

[Pip Madeley]

I don't hate it, I'm just indifferent. I prefer David Croft's later work with Jeremy Lloyd.

[WhiteCrow]

Hmmm ... I was thinking about this. Mainly when I was upstairs and heard my son downstairs giggling like a maniac. I went to see whatever he was watching ...

It was Dad's Army. It possibly could be one of the finest comedies of all time.

Why?

Okay there might be the whole alternative comedy rant of it's too cosy. But the fact is it was funny then. and it's still funny now.

It was helped by the fact it was at the time of broadcast set in a bygone era. Somehow setting a sitcom out of the current time frame seems to help it avoid dating too badly. Because it's not in the now, it's in a kind of remembered "now".

But it works on so many levels for so many people. There is a great ensemble cast all with their own mannerisms. The very idea of Dad's Army is almost ridiculous in itself - this mismatched band of the old and the very young would repel Hitlers invasion plans.

And you have a superb set of characters who just bounce comedy off each other -
* Captain Mainwaring, the bank manager turned Captain, often hopelessly out of his depth, but so pompous he'd just blunder in
* Sgt Wilson, by far the more capable, but almost timid compared to his superior officer. Much of the comedy would be Mainwaring coming up with a plan with an obvious problem and Wilson trying to steer him away "Do you think that's wise sir"
* Lance Corperal Jones - "Don't Panic" when he obviously was panicing. Brilliant performance by Clive Dunn.
* Private Walker - the black market spiv always with a hairbrained money making scheme. He predated Del Boy by over a decade
* Private Frasier - the undertaker "We're doomed!". Personally my favourite, as John Laurie was just so magnetically watchable.
* Private Godfrey - the least likely soldier ever, always asking permission to use the toilet, polite, mild mannered.

And many more.

It worked at the time of broadcast - the older watchers could appreciate it's references to the war years. However it wasn't afraid of a few attempts at slapstick - mainly with Clive Dunn's character, which kept the younger viewers chuckling.

The whole comedy of Mrs Mainwaring, oft mentioned by never seen (something which would be repeated in Frasier).

All around classic.

[Wayne]

No time for explanations, but first vote for the groundbreaking Young Ones, & second vote for the timeless Dad's Army.

[Dirk Gently]

A man with taste there.

[WhiteCrow]

Quite a strong set this round compared to others. I could quite easily have changed my vote from The Young Ones to Watching or The Detectives.

Or Watching The Detectives even!

[MinaHarker]

Dad's Army for me. No matter the circumstance, it will make me laugh. Maybe sometime when I get drunk I will explain the worst time I did that..... poor guy was so insulted........