Top 6 Sitcoms You Have Never Seen (Maybe)

A lot of the dreck that passes for comedy theses days makes me vomit uncontrollably inside my mouth, which in turn makes me cry, which in turn makes me vomit some more.

There's a lot of stuff most Americans have never seen which is pretty friggin funny (and smart) and would blow certain unnamed, wretchedly unhilarious shows out of the comedy waters. Here are a few to get you started.

1) THE YOUNG ONES (1982, 1984): Without hyperbole, this is the greatest show of all time. OK, that was plenty of hyperbole and it's probably not the greatest show of all time. It is, however, the most wickedly insane situation comedy of all time. The show is basically indescribable, but the essential premise is that four college students live in disgustingly wretched student housing together. There are 4 archetypes; The Hippie, The Punk, The Cool Guy and The Poet Socialist.

The brilliant people behind "The Young Ones" discovered that variety shows got bigger budgets. So what did they do? They turned their sitcom into a variety show. A regular 1/2 hour will contain a wildly odd sitcom plot...and also a musical performance (from some great 80's bands), stand-up comedy, puppet asides and general madness. This, combined with the unrelentingly surrealistic situations (including a lion tamer moving in, a vampire sent in the mail, the house being transported back to the middle ages, etc) make for a wonderfully entertaining, yet compellingly unique, viewing experience.

Here's a clip:



Various episodes star "House"'s Hugh Laurie, Academy Award-Winner Emma Thompson "Harry Potter" star Robbie Coltrane and bands like Motorhead, Madness, Dexy's Midnight Runners and The Damned.

2) BLACK BOOKS (2000-2004): If you think alcoholism, surrealism, narcissism, and people being really fucking awful to each other is funny, than this is the show for you. A situation comedy set in a tiny independent bookstore run by an alcoholic, chain-smoking Irishman named Bernard Black, it's kind of a 21st century "Fawlty Towers".

I'm always a big fan of big, broad surrealist comedies with an intellectual bent and plenty of self-loathing from the characters. Bernard Black is the ultimate alcoholic/comedic anti-hero. He just wants to read, drink, smoke and be left alone. Don't we all?

Why this isn't on TV more, I'll never know. From the same group of comedians that brought you "Shawn Of The Dead" and "Hot Fuzz".

Here's a clip (unfortunately, some evil soul went on to youtube and blocked any clips from this show from being embedded. Here's a whole episode...skip to about 5 minutes or so if you want to get a feeling of the humor):

black-books-1x02
by the_tick_sp

3) NEWSRADIO (1995-1999): There was a palpable alternative comedy movement going on in the states in the 1990s represented by shows like "Mr. Show" and "The Ben Stiller Show": Newsradio is the culmination, and only mainstream example of this type of alternative comedy. How it lasted as long as it did on network TV is beyond me.

Basically creator Paul Simms hand-picked some of the best and brightest comedians of the 1990s (SNL's Phil Hartman, "Kids In The Hall"'s Dave Foley) and put them together in an office sitcom. Sure, most of the standard archetypes are there, but the characters and humor were original, unique and often absurd.

Take one plot from the final season; office dullard Matthew is given a drink that was invented by the office handyman to make him smarter. It does make him smarter, however the drink is just a placebo...he's just so stupid that he only becomes smarter because he thinks the placebo is the real thing. Paradoxical logic like that is always comedy gold.

That sort of humor combined with the fact that Dave Foley is one of the greatest straight-men of all time and Phil Hartman was one of the greatest funny-men of all time mean that there were a lot of memorable moments.

This is definitely a show worth revisiting, and now, thanks to Hulu, most of the episodes are available online for free.

Here's a quick clip; the premise of the episode is another one of those delectable, illogical situations: the boss wrote a book, had it translated into Japanese, then had it translated back into English...then had a public book reading.

Also, Ron Jeremy is in the audience as the book is being read. Delicious.



Next three tomorrow night....