I love comedy, but not really on film, although this summer i have woken up to the idea of film comedies this summer as you can see, however i have always loved comedies on television, and comedy is one of the few genres at which network actually excels over cable. Whereas very few of the films i watch are comedies, i would say a majority of the television series' i watch are comedy series. TV has produced some truly iconic comedies, from the highs of Seinfeld and I Love Lucy, in fact cable TV has yet to produce a truly iconic comedy series, and many cable shows fall more into the 'dramedy' category. For this list i am selecting pure comedies only, so more drama oriented shows like Girls or Sex And The City, while great, will not be included here.
One of my absolute favourite comedy series, this show is delightfully camp,written by Jennifer Saunders and starring Saunders herself and Joana Lumley, the series revolves around Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone, over the hill career women hanging on to youth and trying to stay fresh and trendy, the pair are looked after by Edinas daughter Saffy, who has become bitter and tortured by her mothers antics. The pairs toxic relationship provides much of the comedy for the show, and the way the characters are penned and executed is spot on, the backdrop of the series is specific and hilarious, and even more than twenty years on, the show hasn't aged a day.
I love Amy Poehler, and this show is a fantastic vehicle for her, Poehler plays Leslie Knope, a mid level government employee working in the parks department of a small town in indiana, the show commenced as a spin off of The Office, but later grew beyond it's spiritual predecessor, and while the show does take it's mise en scene from the mockumentary style of The Office, Parks has grown beyond it with it's use of current issues, and it's charismatic cast, the show also stars Nick Offerman who is superb as Ron Swanson, the shows breakout character, Chris Pratt plays Andy Dwyer, an amiable albeit dim slacker, who is married to Aubrey Plaza's character, April Ludgate, a lazy and possibly psychopathic intern. The show succeeds mainly because it is really really side-splitting, and because the characters and the town of Pawnee in which it is set are all really well defined, and because it's cast are talented and appealing.
I have often spoke of my love for this show, in fact about a year ago i named it the greatest TVshow of all time, a statement i still stand by, Arrested Development tells the story of the Bluth family, a group of feisty and eclectic misfits, who previously survived off their fathers money, and who now have to support themselves, all told through the eyes of their brother, Michael. The show was, and still remains a cult classic, the whole affair is kitsch and full of inside gags, only discernible to longtime fans of the show. The cast of the show is also great, from the overbearing matriarch played by Jessica Walter to the irresponsible patriarch played by Jeffrey Tambour, to the group of children played by Jason Bateman, Portia DeRossi, Will Arnett and Tony Hale, the show was funny, self referential and is now iconic, good work for a sitcom less than a decade old.
Another iconic show, built around her experiences as head writer on Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey plays Liz Lemon, writer on a small sketch comedy show, who is confronted with a new boss and a new star. Fey created and wrote the show, which also stars Alec Baldwin and Jane Krakowski, in addition to Fey's SNL alum Tracy Morgan and Jack McBrayer. The show is hysterically funny, and is a loose satire of the network television system, the show not only shows behind the scenes of a sketch comedy show, but also behind the scenes of the running of a network. The show lampoons the network system and the idiocy of a TV channel being owned by an electrical company. Walking a fine line between polite farce and genuine criticism, 30 Rock remains one of the greatest TV shows of the modern era.
Another favourite, The Vicar of Dibley catapulted it's lead actress, Dawn French to stardom when it launched in 1994. The show stars French as a female vicar who is assigned to a small town in Oxfordshire. The show is a pastiche of life in a sm
all town, making fun of such events as the town council, songs of praise, town fetes and the entire religious institute. The film had a cast of typical buffoons, centered by a surprisingly level headed Gerry Granger, the town reverend. Written and produced by Richard Curtis, the show is now iconic, like many on this list, and although it contains many of the same hi-jinks as the other shows on this list, the whole show has a calmer, quieter feel, much like the village in which it is set.
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