Worst British Sitcoms of all time!

[Babygirl66]

In your opinion what is the worst British sitcom of all time.

My definition of Sitcom, is a comedy that prime purpose is to be “funny”. For Example shows such as Being Human, Fleabag, my mad fat dairy, Brasic and Jonathan Creek don’t count as whilst they contain humour they are not what most would consider a sitcom as they contain to much of a serious undertone. (Not saying these are bad shows, I just see them refer to as sitcoms a lot when they technically are not)

I think it's possible that I just don't like sitcoms. Watched thin blue line last night and it's just so contrived. Very dated too!

I mentioned Birds of a Feather upthread. No shared dislike of that one? Everyone was so sad, it seemed counterintuitive that it was supposed to be funny when they were all miserable.

I’ve seen a few posts noting (accurately) that Birds of a Feather was godawful.

Hi di hi was ok at first : then it went on and on and run out of steam.
A lot of comedies tend to do this. I admire 'the Office ' for stopping when it did.

The Brittas Empire was funny. The fact they didn't actually want any customers was inspired. Against how they usually work !
I must admit that Dorian in Birds of a feather was a wonderful character: just a shame the series was quite weak at times as they had some good actors in it.

Birds of a Feather was awful, they two women always seemed to be miserable and moaning? I don't think I ever watched more than 5 or 10 minutes of it!
I agree @Iamthewombat the American sitcoms were better, think Happy Days, Mork and Mindy, the Wonder Years, Rhoda and more, they really got my attention.

I agree @Iamthewombat the American sitcoms were better, think Happy Days, Mork and Mindy, the Wonder Years, Rhoda and more, they really got my attention

There have been some absolutely shite ones from America too. Here's one:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=CqqJJ1Lfsxw&list=PLpdd9C4pKzRFYm6GlO6M6CNSn_le7gs0_&index=2&t=0s

That link is Small Wonder.

Yes thinking about it some American ones were crap too

Oh yeah Small Wonder was just terrible. However, their good sitcoms wiped the floor with ours.

@BadLad that's truly awful, so bad it was oddly entertaining!

Ugh Small Wonder was awful. That one with Kate Winslet and Ray Winstone. Get Back or something. It was terrible. Although I liked the other one the same team made...Sitting Pretty. The lead said 'Phenomenal' all the time.

We had one over here made by BBCNI...I Fought The Law. It was so unbelievably crap. Not funny at all.

I'm loving Kate & Koji, it's refreshing to watch something new while we are living through such tragic times. The Royle family always makes me laugh, it reminds me of my ex in laws where everything worked around what everyone had for tea & what ex SIL had ordered from the catalogue, Caroline Ahern & Craig Cash knew how to mix comedy & tragedy, the Queen of Sheba episode where Nan died had me laughing one minute & crying the next, that is proof of true genius in writing.

Oh good, I’m rather pleased other people found Birds of a Feather fucking depressing as well.

I live in Canada do grew up being subjected to a lot of American telly and most of it is bloody awful! American dramas became great around the time of the Sopranos, but most of their comedies don’t travel well in time for me. When I was a kid, for example, MASH was very funny, but it’s awful now. Of course this is true for a lot of UK comedies, but American ones don’t get a pass from me. I hated Happy Days, Lucy (god I really, really, really loathed anything with Lucille Ball in it), Golden Girls, really any American comedy where the actor comes on stage “in front of a live studio audience” (instead of the studio audiences stacked with corpses) and pauses while the audience claps admiringly. A few years ago I found Modern Family amusing, but maybe now I’d hate it? It could be very sweet without (most of the time) being cloying. When I was a kid I liked Bob Newhart, his exasperation was relatable.

Maybe we look back fondly on some sitcoms that are best just left in the past! There wasn't a big choice of tv programmes in the 70's 80's god we had to sit through some bilge.

And not just sitcoms - I remember rocking with laughter at The Generation Game. Can't see it even raising a smile now, in fact, wouldn't it be ageist?

@prampushingdownthehighst
a programme called Help that had all or most of the McGann brothers in...I can only remember it because the scrummy Paul was in it but it wasn't very good!

I remember Help in the late 80s. Think it was just 6 episodes, and it was Stephen McGann in it, not Paul. He was a bit fit and the only reason I watched it! No idea what the storyline was though!

There was a truly awful sitcom that probably ended John Inman's career - anyone remember "Take a letter Mr Jones". It was just about the most cringeworthy attempt at a sitcom ever.

Hi de Hi was never the same after Simon Caddell left. I think a lot of its value was the nostalgia for 1980s adults - it was set in 1959 - 1960, so it would be like setting a series in the late 1990s now.

@Pelleas

it would be like setting a series in the late 1990s now.

Nah, late 1990s was only a couple of years ago, surely?

Ha ha, that's what I secretly think too @TheRattleBag

Another vote for Mrs Brown's Boys.
Plenty of others have aged badly but it has no excuse as it's dire and current.

I loved birds of a feather! And Peep show and Two pints of Lager!
I'll stand by Miranda as the worst ever.

An absolute classic that I haven't seen mentioned is The Upper Hand, who remembers this? I loved it at the time.

One Foot in the Grave doesn't seem to have been mentioned here. I loved it at the time but when I tried to watch it a couple of years ago it was dull as hell!

The Office
Mrs Brown's Boys
Dad's Army