Watching Newhart episodes on Hulu, and I’m still convinced it was the greatest sitcom ever.
Stephanie was one of the greatest characters ever made.
This post is in: Open Threads, Television
Watching Newhart episodes on Hulu, and I’m still convinced it was the greatest sitcom ever.
Stephanie was one of the greatest characters ever made.
Comments are closed.
Frank
You obviously never watched Love that Bob.
Just Some Fuckhead
Little known Fuckhead fact: I have every orig. b&w episode of Andy Griffith on videotape and still make time for TVland marathons. Switching back and forth between that and the race.
Maurs
Hi, I’m Larry. This is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Maurs: Someday Paris Jackson is gonna be able to say, Hi, I’m Paris and this is my brother Prince and this is my other brother Prince but you can call him Blanket.
kth
There were no characters named Stephanie or Larry or Darryl on the Newhart show. There were Bob’s wife Emily, Howard, the pilot who lived next door, Jerry the dentist, Carol the receptionist, and Mr. Carlin, “Bob Hartley”‘s longtime patient.
At least these were the characters on the Newhart series with a lasting claim to fame.
kommrade reproductive vigor
The Odd Couple, hippie.
Steeplejack
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Man, I am speechless. That reveals a whole side of your personality that I would never have guessed existed. Or could exist.
Having said that, I especially liked all the episodes with Ernest T. Bass.
QrazyQat
Definitely the best finale, and the best twist in a finale.
Still love the one about renewing the wedding vows, and Bob’s reading the vows he wrote but never delivered the first time, stops after “no matter what bag you’re in”, and says, “this isn’t quite as timeless as I remember [pause, scanning page]… I think I’ll skip this part about Cambodia”.
gizmo
I’m still devoted to Tim Conway and his Third Bananas Drill Team.
jharp
“Stephie Dawn” and “Michael Chuck” scene still makes me laugh.
And I haven’t seen it for 15 years.
bleh
it was the greatest sitcom ever
No, you’re just playing “Hi Bob!,” the greatest drinking game ever (whenever someone on the Newhart show says, “hi Bob,” you drink), and you’re waxing a little too enthusiastic.
Thrashbluegrass
You’ve obviously never seen Nathan Barley, which is the best thing to come out of TV, ever, full stop.
Dan: “You’re gonna fuck him, aren’t you?”
Claire: “No…”
Dan: “Yeah, you’re gonna fuck an idiot.”
General Winfield Stuck
My fav character, and the other his exact opposite, Jerry, the Dentist
General Winfield Stuck
Let me guess, Barney fetish, or Otis. I loved the b and w ones too.. And am envious you have them all/
Ked
Why watch Hulu when you could watch UFC 100?
…well, okay, PPV isn’t cheap. That would be a good reason. But I’m not being reasonable tonight and after the last week at work I really, REALLY need to see someone get pounded into a bloody pulp.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Steeplejack: Not much of fan of the Ernest T. Bass episodes. But I’m glad I could help complete me for you.
John Cole
@bleh: No.
No one who has ever seen the Stephanie bowling or blood transfusion episodes will argue with me about the greatness of this show.
Mornington Crescent
For those of you in San Francisco, the Castro Theater will be having a double feature next Friday of Red Dawn and Invasion, U.S.A. Between features, they’ll be showing some Chuck Norris trailers. I’m sure none of you will want to miss it.
ellaesther
My mother and I actually went to see Newhart do stand-up about six months ago — at age 44, I brought the average age in the room down to about 65, I think — and it was a lot of fun. Then, on the way home, I veryveryVERY randomly heard his General Motors Chariots thing on some random radio station that I had never heard before, and as I laughed my face off, I just thought: Oh Bob! I mean, he was a lot of fun on stage, but nothin’ like he was in the 60s. Mind you, neither am I, being out of diapers and all, so perhaps I shouldn’t talk.
alone in the dark
A couple of you seem to be confusing Newhart with The Bob Newhart Show. Anyway, as great as Bob is, in all his iterations and with all his ludicrously hot wives, the greatest sitcom of all time, especially when you factor in longevity with funny, is Cheers. Funnier in year eleven than it was in year one, and year one was pretty funny.
John Cole
@alone in the dark: Cheers was never the same without Coach, and Newhart was far superior to the Bob Newhart Show. They were all funny, but Newhart was the best.
Ed in NJ
Newhart was ok. But the greatest sitcom of all time was the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Nothing before or since comes close.
As an aside, Party Down on Starz is, outside of Curb Your Enthusiasm, the best current sitcom on the air.
ellaesther
@alone in the dark: @John Cole:
Can a sister get a Scrubs up in this bitch?
Probably not.
El Cid
I’m Larry, this is my brother Darrell, and this is my other brother Darrell.
JGabriel
Just Some Fuckhead:
With a name like Just Some Fuckhead, I just knew you had to be a Walton’s fan. Oh well, I was close.
.
Phoebe
I saw old Mary Tyler Moore shows a few years ago, and thought Cloris Leachman’s character, Phyllis, was the greatest character ever. At the time, I think everyone loved Ted the best, at least that’s what my 8 year old self thought, but now I just marvel at Phyllis. I am in awe.
And Cheers was great mostly because of Diane.
ellaesther
@Ed in NJ: Ok, I’ll accept that.
(You’ll all have to forgive me, I just wrote this little thing about how the sitcom is on my official list of Things I Love About America, and much as I loved the original Newhart show, and Cheers, neither came to mind when I was writing. Which I suppose marks me as a traitor to my generation or something, but there it is).
Comrade Kevin
@Mornington Crescent: and then afterwards you can go to the Endup and see if Chuck is there.
John Cole
@Ed in NJ: I actually almost named Lily Rhoda instead.
Just Some Fuckhead
@JGabriel: Fuck you.
Poopyman
Phoebe,
Betty White. ‘Nuff said.
Though for the record, I’d give Newhart the edge over MTM.
General Winfield Stuck
The Beaver is still king of early sitcoms. IMO.
El Cid
There is an absolutely, staggeringly fantastic celebration of “Fawlty Towers” which aired on British television and which I hope airs in the U.S. I didn’t know this, but Basil Fawlty was based on a real hotelier who so impressed the Monty Python crew with his weirdness that John Cleese and Connie Booth based what might be the single best comedy series ever (12 episodes, 2 x 6 episode seasons separated by, what, 4 years?) out of this one guy’s weirdness over 1 weird weekend.
Comrade Kevin
@El Cid: Fawlty Towers would be at or near the top of my list for the best comedy series ever as well. It was sheer brilliance, and they were smart enough to not beat it into the ground.
Flay Otters, Flowery Twats, Farty Towels…
Just Some Fuckhead
@El Cid: Got a bunch of those on tape. I consider Fawlty Towers to be the funniest sitcom evah.
alone in the dark
ellaesther,
Sorry, as much as I like Scrubs, it’s not in the race.
Cole,
Newhart is funnier than TBNS, but the way Cheers rebounded from Nick Colosanto’s death and then expanded from “show in a bar” into a large ensemble show, with multiple characters who could carry a story and a writing staff that could write episodes featuring every one of those characters elevates it in my mind. Even now, having seen every episode multiple times, there’s not a single ep of Cheers lacking actual laughs. Not that Newhart isn’t great, and your point about Stephanie is valid (Julia Duffy coasted on that character for years), but I still go with Cheers.
Although MTM was great and Taxi and Arrested Development have more than their share of brilliant episodes. I think a case could be made that MTM is the most influential sitcom of the last forty years.
Mike G
For those of you in San Francisco, the Castro Theater will be having a double feature next Friday of Red Dawn and Invasion, U.S.A.
Oh that is priceless.
The irony level of the audience would of course be very different if this was a screening in Lubbock or Montgomery.
M. Bouffant
You must admit (those of a certain age must, anyway) that the Bob Newhart Show/Mary Tyler Moore Show twofer Sat. night on CBS was even better than Mr. Ed/My Favorite Martian Sunday nights on CBS a decade or so earlier.
alone in the dark
Well, if you’re going to bring up Fawlty Towers then you’ve poisoned the well. :)
I think FT is sui generis, and not to be compared to anything else.
Michael D.
I DVRed a Bob Newhart special tonight. Did I miss something? I’ve been searching for news. Did something happen? What’s with Bob Newhart tonight?
Jean
Fawlty Towers is my favorite sitcom ever. I used to watch old episodes on DVD from the library whenever I needed to laugh out loud. Loved it when Cleese would go on a rant, then say to Connie, “But you know best!”
Another favorite was Cleese’s “Don’t mention the war!”
M. Bouffant
Best pre-cable telebision show ever?
“Dragnets 1967-70.”
arguingwithsignposts
And nobody mentions the simpsons?
Michael D.
@Just Some Fuckhead:
I was introduced to this several years ago and can watch them over and over and still laugh my ass off even when I know exactly what is going to happen.
Manuel!? !? !? !?
¿Qué?
El Cid
@Comrade Kevin: @Just Some Fuckhead: This is an incredible, moving, hilarious, touching retrospective: Fawlty Towers Reopened.
John Cole
I always thought Are You Being Served was pretty funny.
Kyle
Seinfeld
Dennis-SGMM
@bleh:
LOL! We used to play “Hi, Bob” at a bar called Ethelread’s (Known locally as Lethalred’s) in San Luis Obispo during the early 70’s. Good times. “Newhart” coincided with Dollar Night (Beer at a buck a pitcher) so yes, it got drunk out.
John Cole
Go here. The furnace scene at around 4:22 has me in tears.
Steeplejack
@Just Some Fuckhead:
So it’s Aunt Bee’s pickles, then? That was a good one.
SiubhanDuinne
Curiously, Fawlty Towers is on at this very moment on the local PBS station. Saturday night is Britcom night.
Steeplejack
@ellaesther:
Sister, please!
Dick Weathers
@arguingwithsignposts:
Amen. Seasons 3-7 were truly the most sublime shows ever shown on television.
Mike
I love the last season, where they must have said “Fuck it, let’s do whatever we want.” My favorite was the one where Bob joins a social club for middle-aged men that has rumbles with similar clubs, all choreographed like West Side Story.
arguingwithsignposts
One interesting thing about Fawlty Towers was also found in the original “The Office” – it had an incredibly short run for a hugely successful sitcom. Compared to the U.S. version of the Office. Probably a good thing that FT couldn’t be imported.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Michael D.: Same here. This may be the first thing we’ve ever agreed on.
Comrade Kevin
@arguingwithsignposts: I’m pretty sure a pilot of an American version of Fawlty Towers was made, though I don’t think it ever aired.
ellaesther
@Steeplejack: Well, I was at least open to the possibility that I was in the wrong room…. In my defense, I mean. (@ alone in the dark, too).
But since there is a certain amount of sheer enjoyment of insane funniness, can I throw Eddie Izzard onto the pile?
Funniest man on earth. There, I said it.
cbear
Fawlty Towers is one of the best comedy shows evah, but any list of great sitcoms HAS to include Barney Miller. Some of the best character actors of that generation were cast members: Hal Linden, Abe Vigoda, Jack Soo, Barbara Barrie, Nehemiah Pershoff….and Steve Landesberg was funny as hell.
alone in the dark
cbear
Barney Miller also had the most cool-ass theme song ever.
Ned R.
@QrazyQat:
Definitely the best finale, and the best twist in a finale.
Absolutely, totally true. That was just stellar. Suzanne Pleshette forever, etc.
El Cid
@Comrade Kevin: The documentary shows a bit of the U.S. messup with John Larroquete. The U.S. producers decided to boldly drop everything that was interesting about the original series. Hence, we are all grateful that it vanished.
Tom
Quit watching Newhart and take in the latest YouTube sensation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMnwOZA0DQk
Steeplejack
@ellaesther:
No argument from me, but the category was funniest sitcoms for a hundred, Alex. Scrubs is funny, but probably not even in the top 10.
AhabTRuler
@Tom: The kids really good, but those Sabian cymbals make me wanna cry!
devopsych
Suzanne Pleshette made me feel naughty in my netherpants when I was just a lad. Maybe it was that voice.
D-Chance.
Someone already beat me to the Barney Miller love.
Very underrated. I’ll take that cast of actors and guests, and that group of writers and put them up against any other sitcom…
ellaesther
@Steeplejack: I know (re: my category appropriateness fail. Not Scrubs. I will stick to my lonely guns on this). I was… stumped. I can’t find anything funnier on earth than him.
And I am almost afraid to mention M*A*S*H*.
Mike in NC
“Just don’t mention the war.” That show was genius. Hard to believe it was only 12 episodes.
Indylib
@ellaesther:
I was just going to say MASH. My favorite episode is when Harry Morgan plays the batshit crazy General (pre Col. Potter).
alone in the dark
ellaesther
M*A*S*H* was great until Gary Burghoff left. At that point, Alan Alda took over completely and, as wonderful as he is as a human being and an actor, the show kind of slid into windy self-righteousness for the last few seasons. The first seasons, with McClean Stevenson and Larry Linville, are brilliant. Even after Harry Morgan and then David Ogden Stiers were added, it was still aces. It just slid too much in the final years. There are whole episodes that just stop dead for another Hawkeye soliloquy about the horror of war rather than making the point with a laugh, like they did in the early years.
And does anyone else think that if M*A*S*H* had taken place in real life, Frank Burns would now be the senior senator from South Carolina?
Dennis-SGMM
“Get Smart” A couple of the signature lines from that show became a part of the culture here for a while.
kth
Also The Dick Van Dyke Show, which surely was the model for many of the shows already mentioned.
John Cole
MASH has aged horribly. So has Seinfeld.
Cheers, MTM, Newhart- still good.
Just Some Fuckhead
M*A*S*H was better as a short drama with witty writing than as a full blown sitcom.
ellaesther
@Indylib: Thank GOD. I was feeling very lonely indeed.
And as long as we’re talking about finales…! Though, one would be hard pressed to call MASH’s finale “funny,” per se.
One of my favorite moments was when Trapper walks into Col. Blake’s office in his side-ways pin-stripped suit, and Alan Alda all but falls apart at the seams, he’s laughing so hard.
But if I were to start listing moments, lines, or episodes, I would be here all night.
Dennis-SGMM
@John Cole:
MTM’s “Chuckles Bites the Dust” episode remains for me fall down funny.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Flay Otters: One needs Depends before watching the episode where Basil flips out on the German guests.
Weirdest sit-com ever: The Young Ones. I’m not even sure it qualifies as a sit-com. Maybe RandomOddShit-com.
Svensker
Newhart I never liked. The Bob Newhart show, however, was gold.
Did anyone ever see the British sitcom “My Hero”? Weirdest show ever and my husband and I are the only people in America who liked it, apparently.
Fawlty Towers = Perfection.
MikeJ
Starring a guy who was in another contender, Father Ted.
Where are you going with your fetlocks blowing in the wind?
ellaesther
@kth: AHHH! Yes, yes!!
Now I have to go back and edit that thing I wrote about sitcoms. How could I have forgotten Dick Van Dyke?! Fucking brilliant, and the blueprint for everything that came after.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Ah feck, THAT’S the one I was trying to think of.
If the Blackadder series counts as a sit-com they give FT a run for the money. Especially Blackadder II, which is dangerously funny. Ab Fab was funny when I was younger, now, not so much.
arguingwithsignposts
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
Indeed. And it had Hugh Laurie.
mai naem
I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned MASH and All in the Family. Also too, Leave it to Beaver and the Dick Van Dyke show. Personally I liked The Bob Newhart Show better than Newhart but they’re both very very good shows.
El Cid
It seems like it never even existed, but I find myself recalling skits from The State constantly.
God forbid U.S. viewers discover That Mitchell and Webb Look (or even That Mitchell and Webb Sound).
It’s the most brilliant writing since Python. Except the 3rd season just doesn’t feel up to speed yet.
But if you’ve seen seasons 1 & 2, it’s hard not to quote them. Particularly “Write This… Or… That… Or……. DON’T!!!”
And, of course, there’s BMX Bandit and Angel Summoner. No superhero pairing can seem quite normal after that.
And their movie “Magicians” was just unrecognized genius.
JK
I caught a few episodes of It’s Garry Shandling’s Show when it had its initial run. There were some great clips of It’s Garry Shandling’s Show on YouTube but last time I checked, they’d been removed. It was brilliant. I don’t understand why it doesn’t get more recognition. It was far more inventive than many other comedy shows I’ve watched. I like Seinfeld but I do think, the MSM has given it more praise than it deserves.
I’ve never seen more than a few snippets Newhart, but I loved the Bob Newhart Show.
Before I logged onto Balloon Juice just now, I was watching Robert Klein interviewing Monty Python at the Aspen Comedy Festival on YouTube. It was hilarious and I recommend it to anyone who has not seen it before.
My favorite comedy shows –
1st tier – off the top of my head in no particular order
Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Fawlty Towers, Larry Sanders Show, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, The Newsroom, Taxi, Curb Your Enthusiasm, SNL 1975-1980, Dick Van Dyke Show, Frasier, The Odd Couple, The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy
2nd tier – off the top of my head in no particular order
Mary Tyler Moore Show, Bob Newhart Show, Roseanne, Everybody Loves Raymond, Burns and Allen Show, Cheers, Seinfeld, Sanford and Son, King of Queens, All in the Family, MASH, The Simpsons
The Newsroom was a Canadian show but it’s available on video. As far as I know, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show is not available on video.
Comrade Kevin
@MikeJ: I never much cared for My Hero, but Father Ted was absolutely brilliant.
I also really liked Red Dwarf.
Bostondreams
Okay, come on, you cannot discuss classic comedies without some mention of Blackadder. That show was simply awesome. But maybe it is the history teacher in me.
Bostondreams
And naturally Komrade mentions it as I post. Sorry! Great minds and all.
Also, Red Dwarf. Awesome. They are making a new season!
cbear
@John Cole:
By what standard?
I never watched a single episode while the show was in production and so incredibly popular, but have seen virtually every episode 5-10 times in syndication and still catch my favorites every couple of weeks when they appear.
IMO, The Bottle Deposit (Parts 1&2) is arguably one of the funniest shows ever written.
You may be spending a little too much time with your herb garden, my friend.
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason
@John Cole:
I didn’t realize it so much at the time, but Seinfeld was really low budget with poor production quality AND very dependent on jokes about 90s pop culture. Two things guaranteed to not make a show last. However, some of the bits in the show age better than the rest of the series (“the soup nazi”, for example).
ellaesther
@John Cole: In my defense, before I go to bed to no doubt dream of Hawkeye Pierce, I hated Seinfeld at the time.
LD50
@John Cole: I love the Normandy joke at 7:06.
Michael D.
@Just Some Fuckhead:
You’re an asshole. You think I’m an asshole.
That’s 2. ;-)
LD50
@John Cole:
I agree completely. It’s practically unwatchable now.
Seinfeld has dated somewhat, tho not too badly, I don’t think.
EDIT: Okay, it’s dated a lot, but I can still laff at it.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Please say the new R.D. is being produced in England or I will become very depressed.
And I’ll take this time to say that there is something deeply wrong with the fact that way more Americans know Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Funny as Watching Paint Dry Bean, rather than Edmund Blackadder.
JK
@Mike in NC:
I’ve seen interviews with John Cleese where he said it was a deliberate decision to end Fawlty Towers after 12 episodes. He and Connie Booth felt they had written the best material they could come up with and anything else would simply be inferior in quality. I think they made the right decision. I look at Seinfeld, Cheers, All in the Family, and Saturday Night Live and wish the people behind these shows had the same philosophy as John Cleese.
Except for the political sketches about Obama, Palin, Clinton, and McCain which were brilliant, I think SNL today is absolute garbage. From 1975-1980, I could watch SNL straight through from start to finish. During the campaign season, I watched SNL for the political sketch and then quickly changed channels.
LD50
So when is Brick Oven Bill going to wander in and express his love for Milton Berle’s Texaco Star Theater Hour?
Bad Horse's Filly
@Just Some Fuckhead: I knew there was a reason I liked you. And Sweet Rowena is a good friend of mine. She’d be thrilled to know you love the show. I’ve seen every B&W episode several times.
Josh Huaco
@LD50:
BOB strikes me as more of a Sledge Hammer! fan.
Comrade Kevin
That’s another show that was funny, but was on for far too long. Also, speaking of that show, Mrs. Slocombe died a couple of weeks ago.
El Cid
At times, Black Adder is f’ing genius.
I’m a sucker for time loop comedy (e.g., Groundhog Day). The episode of Red Dwarf where they had the time loop (White Hole) which also included the robot toaster who desperately wanted to make toast for anyone, and the episode of the Good Luck Virus (“Quarantine“), were pure hilarity.
LD50
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
The Young Ones is brilliant. Bottom is even better, *and* it’s rentable.
[See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottom_(TV_series)%5D
cbear
I doubt he ever got over the cancellation of Father Coughlin’s radio show.
Comrade Kevin
@Josh Huaco: “Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
jeffreyw
“As god is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly…”
arguingwithsignposts
@JK:
Ditto with interviews with Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant about the original “Office.” They did have the final Christmas show to wrap up loose ends, but they expressed no interest in reincarnating it. Of course, the US version didn’t follow that script.
Has there every been a us comedy that just quit after 2 seasons because that was the story? I can’t recall. They either get cancelled or they live long past their shelf life.
Comrade Kevin
@jeffreyw:
Oh man, WKRP in Cincinnati was awesome. I think WGN are showing reruns of it these days.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Michael D.: Yeah but I have other redeeming qualities. You don’t.
Dennis-SGMM
@LD50:
Okay, I’m old enough to remember Uncle Milty. For real killer funny stuff back at that time I preferred “Your Show of Shows” with Imogene Coca, Sid Caesar and Howie Morris. Moving the Wayback Machine forward a few years, Ernie Kovacs was, to me, a genius who made me laugh as he played with television.
El Cid
@arguingwithsignposts: If you watch the linked documentary, you see that the first 6 episodes (the first season) of Fawlty Towers basically destroyed the marriage of John Cleese and Polly Booth, and burned the hell out of everyone making it, such was the strain. Yet, years later, they managed to come back together, work past the divorce, work past the strain, and work three times as hard to produce another 6 episodes.
delosgatos
I just had the weirdest dream…
BEST last line in a sitcom EVER!
Bad Horse's Filly
@Comrade Kevin: HULU runs WKRP, too. I mean. Also.
M. Bouffant
“It’s Gary Shandling’s Show” is under-rated & unjustly forgotten.
It may not be available on video because Shandling, IIRC, had a falling out/legal tussle w/ his manager(s). One or both sides may not want to release it, because the other side would make some money from it as well. “That’ll show ’em!”
LD50
The Ernie Kovacs show was the most surreal show ever aired on TV. I saw it as a teenager in the 70s when they started showing reruns of it at 1AM. The late hour made the whole experience even more dreamlike and bizarre.
JK
@arguingwithsignposts:
None that I’m aware of. I ‘ve never seen the UK version of The Office but I like the US version. I forgot to include it on my list.
I remember liking Maude during its original run, but my recollection of individual episodes is very hazy.
If there’s a Maude fan out there, you have to track down the episode where Henry Fonda makes a cameo appearance. Maude gets the crazy idea to launch a Henry Fonda for President campaign. He finds about it and visits her home to tell her he’s not interested in running for President.
fliegr
Python. Fawlty. Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge stuff. Original Office. What is it about the Brits that allows them to do such cringe-inducing stuff that’s so incredibly funny. Very little American comedy gets away with that sort of thing. I know, I know, why do I hate America?
Indylib
I loved Flip Wilson and Carol Burnett. I miss the variety shows even though they haven’t been on since I was about 7.
M. Bouffant
Has there every been a U. S. comedy that just quit after 2 seasons because that was the story?
I doubt it. British tee vee, especially the BBC, generally made deals for six shows at a time (may be different these days) period, if it caught on & people wanted to see more, another six would be contracted & made.
The American way is to have at least 150-200 episodes, the minimum for syndication, which is where the investment is recouped.
JK
@Dennis-SGMM: @LD50:
In January, my PBS station in NY ran a 6 hour documentary on the history of comedy called Make Em Laugh. They inexplicably left out any mention of Ernie Kovacs and Bob and Ray. They spent about 2 minutes on Lord Buckley. I’d been waiting decades for a definitive documentary on the history of comedy and was very disappointed with some of their editorial decisions. I wish someone would have given Ken Burns a boatload of money and had him make an exhaustive 24-27 hour documentary on comedy.
@M. Bouffant: I vaguely recall reading something about Garry Shandling having a very bitter dispute with Brad Grey.
@Comrade Kevin: @Bad Horse’s Filly:
Caught a handful of episodes of WKRP during ts orig run and thought it was pretty good.
Unfortunately,WKRP suffers from the same problem as Freaks and Geeks and American Dreams. All 3 shows made extensive use of rock and pop songs. When it came time for video release, the licensing fees to use these songs was astronomical. I read that WKRP and American Dreams deleted many original songs from video releases because of the costs. I think Freaks and Geeks decided to pay for the licensing and kept the original songs on the video releases.
mai naem
I forgot The Gary Shandling show. It was on Fox on Sundays with Married with Children, The Tracey Ullman show and Living Color and Tracey Ullman wanted a piece of the Simpsons pie because they started there
Very good Brit sitcoms – To the Manor Born with Penelope Keith and Yes, Prime Minister. There was also a very funny Aussie sitcom called Mother and Son which they used to show om my local PBS channel.
zmullls
Boy, I’m so fucking late to this party.
Newhart was amusing, but not as good as the original TBNS. Julia Duffy was freaking amazing though. And the Larry/Darryl/Darryl stuff was gold. I have to think that the series finale — probaby the very best series finale ever — made the rest of the series look better in retrospect.
I nearly pissed myself watching the finale.
As a matter of fact, I think I did….
And I totally echo the Barney Miller fans above. That series was so well-acted and so well-written. Comedy came from character and situation, not gags. So very good, and it just got better as it went along. God bless Jack Soo.
Many sitcoms deserve some love and respect, but I really heart Frasier. I never thought they could pull off a sequel to Cheers, and I never thought they could build a successful sitcom around that character, but it was one of the most consistently well done series ever. I never think I want to watch it, but when I do catch a rerun, I’m amazed at the level of sophistication in the writing, and the quality of the cast. The guest stars always seemed like they were in heaven, getting to work at that level.
Totally random sitcom observation: I thought Will & Grace was one of the most hideously written, but best performed series ever. If you just listen to the “jokes” they are campy and obvious and weird; but that incredible cast (and that director) were working at a level of comedy some of us can only dream.
Bostondreams
@kommrade reproductive vigor:
Well, they are specials more than a season, but any more time with the most incompetent crew this side of an Imperial Target Shooting Team is worth it.
I used ‘Blackadder’ in teaching history. I love it, and it introduces my kids to real comedy that can actually require thought! All part of my, um, cunning plan..
kommrade reproductive vigor
@LD50: Better than The Young Ones? I’m old. I wouldn’t watch something better than TYO unless I had a canister of O2 and a defibrillator. To this day I can’t go to the laundromat without thinking of the scene where the washer puked their clothes all over the place. And Buddy Holly makes me laugh for reasons that are totally inappropriate.
@M. Bouffant: When you only have three channels because the teevee is controlled by CommieSoc!al1sts, you can’t let stuff hang around.
Kyle
And does anyone else think that if M*A*S*H* had taken place in real life, Frank Burns would now be the senior senator from South Carolina?
Frank Burns would be Sean Hannity today.
With all the Blackadder/Rowan Atkinson references, has anyone seen Not the Nine O’ Clock News ? It was a BBC show with Atkinson, Mel Smith and a couple of others, on TV in Australia in the early 80s but don’t know if it ever aired in the US. The easiest way to describe it is a great-grandfather of The Daily Show or Colbert – a comedy show as a parody of a newscast.
calling all toasters
The funniest sitcom I’ve ever seen, bar none, was Buffalo Bill. If I had to pick a show that someone else actually watched, I’d go with NewsRadio.
JK
@Indylib:
Wholeheartedly agree with you on the variety shows especially the two that you mentioned. For a while TV Land was running the Flp Wilson show. I’d love to see TV Land or another channel create a block of programming filled with the old variety shows like Flip Wilson, Carol Burnett, the Smothers Brothers, Dean Martin, and Johnny Cash.
@zmullls:
Totally agree with you about Frasier. I know John would be upset to read this, but I preferred Frasier to Cheers. I think Cheers should have ended its run after Shelley Long after the show. I didn’t care much at all for Kirstie Alley and think the last few seasons of Cheers were far inferior to the first few. I think Frasier was one of the few sitcoms I can recall which ended its run just as funny as when it began its run.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Awesome. Just don’t hide in the vegetable rack and frighten children at parties.
slip
Has there every been a U. S. comedy that just quit after 2 seasons because that was the story?
Just happened last week. *snort*
Comrade Kevin
@Kyle:
HA!
Not the Nine O’Clock News was pretty good, and was the model for the American series Not Necessarily the News. Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith, Pamela Stephenson, and Griff Rhys-Jones. It looks horribly dated now, unfortunately.
KQED showed the whole run of the series maybe once back in the early 1980’s.
There’s also another series two of them did, Alas, Smith and Jones.
Also, there’s A Bit of Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, that I also recommend. Also.
M. Bouffant
“TW3,” anyone?
arguingwithsignposts
@M. Bouffant:
You’re right. I remember from the “Complete Office” DVD that they had two seasons. But, like FT, BBC would have given anything to have another few seasons of that show after the initial success.
OTOH, WTF is up with only six shows in a season?
@slip:
FTW!
JK
@Kyle:
Never seen it, but it sounded great from what I read of it. Sounds similar to This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Not Necessarily the News, and That Was the Week That Was. I’ve seen brief clips of Not Necessarily and That Was the Week in documentaries but no full episodes. Would love to see these shows made available on DVD or posted online somewhere. I can’t get enough of political satire.
M. Bouffant
Arguing W/ Signposts, the economic model is different. The Beeb (& again, the six shows at a time may have changed since the ’80s, w/ cable & satellite now in Britain, & so on) is tax-payer supported, so they don’t need huge hits to finance the network & production co.
There may be some desire to spread the money around to “creative” types as well, rather than let the same clowns do stuff over & over, & may even be an implicit realization that most shows are just going to suck when stretched out.
It also gives writers & so on the chance to get away from something, & then come back to it later w/ a new take or whatnot. Note that a lot of Brit shows in DVD boxed sets will refer to “series” whatever, rather than “season” whatever.
Dennis-SGMM
“Brisco County Jr”, easily the best comedy-scifi-surrealistic Western ever made (And I have Gene Autry in “The Phantom Empire” on DVD to back up my cred) only ran one season.
I doubt that it was a creative choice.
srv
This all got me started looking for episodes of the very short-lived Richard Pryor show…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqteDk15Ud8
I am speechless.
YellowJournalism
Glad to see at least one person handing Roseanne a little love. Seasons 2 through 5 of that show are the best. I’m always sad that Sarah Gilbert never got the recognition she deserved as a young actress.
And I’m usually alone in thinking that Sarah Chalke was the better Becky.
srv
Richard’s commentary on TV religion, 1977:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udomqgvsHB4&NR=1
Cain
@zmullls:
Hear, hear! I love Frasier. The characters were so consistent, you could predict exactly what they would do, you knew them as old friends it was great.. I felt so bad when it was over.
cain
Kyle
Not the Nine O’ Clock News clips —
Monty Python worshipers outraged by ‘Life of Christ’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asUyK6JWt9U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpNIwx32F30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8xpURXB720
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSINO6MKtco
Irony Abounds
It’s too bad they don’t make good sitcoms anymore. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be Dick Van Dyke, which, despite being in B&W, and the twin beds for Rob and Laura, laid the foundation for the ensemble comedies to come, along with the home/work framework. In any event, I loved Newhart as well as TBNS. Bob Newhart really was underrated. To have one classic sitcom is pretty damn good, to have two is amazing.
BethanyAnne
Long interview with Bob Newhart here.
Svensker
@Bostondreams:
Outstanding.
swalker
I loved the first Bob Newhart show, so when Newhart was announced I geared up to watch it, and was repeatedly unimpressed. I gave up after about 7 or 8 shows, I just didn’t think it was funny. At all. Perhaps I missed something later on?
John Cole
@calling all toasters: Dabney Coleman FTW. I watched it- my dad loved it.
MBunge
The whole British “we’ll only make 12 episodes cause that’s all we want to make” thing sound really good, until you realize it’s why Ricky Gervais and other Brits all end up in Hollywood whoring themselves out in bit parts and crappy movies. More episodes = more $$$$.
Mike
D-Chance.
@Dennis-SGMM:
Low ratings… I remember reading a story where the cast joked that they knew their fans on a first-name basis…
but the sci-fi western angle was great, and Bruce Campbell is Bruce Campbell and one needs little else in life.
D-Chance.
And with the mention of Uncle Miltie… the best “old” comedy/variety show was Jack Benny’s. Also, anything Dean Martin did, whether it be his variety show or his occasional roasts, was top-notch comedy entertainment.
El Cid
@MBunge: In the recent documentary, the stars and writers of Fawlty Towers express the argument that they simply could not have produced any more than 6 episodes per season, otherwise they would have collapsed. People who went on to other series remarked how much more seemed to go into, and be required of them for, each episode of Fawlty Towers than anything else they worked on. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not, but I don’t think it was simply British refusal.
Jonny Scrum-half
MASH was unwatchable in the later years, when Hot Lips became friendly.
The first two Newhart shows are classic. I especially liked watching Julia Duffy, who was very cute.
Buffalo Bill was good.
But the two best sitcoms ever were (1) Honeymooners (not the lost episodes), and (2) Simpsons (until about 1998).
Raenelle
Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm are my favorites, with Michael Cera as George Michael as my favorite character–the normal kid, continually confused both by adolescence and by the crazy-criminal-greedy family who were his only role models. But if we’re going old school here, I loved Married with Children, and Al Bundy was, for me, a brilliant, delicious, wonderful character–the ultimate loser, without hope, who just kept going.
Screamin' Demon
Bullshit. It was a total cop out. They couldn’t come up with a creative way to end the show, so they just decided to pretend it didn’t really happen. Just like on Dallas: Pamela Ewing wakes up to find Bobby in the shower, not dead after all. Stupid beyond belief.
Oh, and Green Acres was the best sitcom ever. Eva Gabor as Lisa Douglas made the show. Every time I see Ariana Huffington on Countdown, l turn to my wife and yell, “Oli-VAH!” Kills her dead every time.
drillfork
Wow, so much here.
I think people overrate Newhart because the good parts were so good. But a lot of it wasn’t that funny. And it took at least a season or two before they settled on the ensemble (featuring the Michael and Stephanie chracters).
Dick Van Dyke was a wonderful show, and while the many good episodes are timeless, a few are embarrassingly dated now — I suspect that’s why it’s not on much anymore.
I thought the first three years of MASH (with McLean Stevenson and Wayne Rogers) and the last three years (after Gary Burghoff left) were excellent. The middle five, which is where Alan Alda seemed his most overbearing, kinda sucked. In the end Charles was my fave character.
With the MTM Show, I suspect (but don’t actually know) that Phyllis’ never-seen husband, Lars, inspired Vera Peterson on Cheers and then the epically non-existent Maris Crane on Frasier. To me though Mary Tyler Moore Show’s underrated character was Betty White’s Sue Ann Niven. Just brilliantly devious.
And how ’bout Shandling’s other sitcom, Larry Sanders? I consider Jeffrey Tambor’s Hank Kingsley one of the greatest characters ever.
Another interesting discussion: Biggest single laugh on a sitcom. Have to start with Sammy Davis Jr. kissing Archie Bunker.
Fave repetitive sight gag: The Cone of Silence in Get Smart.
Along those lines, Police Squad! anyone?
Finally, not a lot of support for it, I see, but I’ll stick up for Scrubs. Honestly, it’s my fave show ever, and the final episode was the best finale since Newhart.