Today I’m continuing with the A-Z Blogging Challenge. The aim is to write a post for every day of the month except for Sundays, with each post representing a different letter of the alphabet. This year I’m doing an A-Z of Great Britain, covering as much as I can about British music, literature, TV and film, food, wildlife and culture.
We love a little banter and much of our daily conversation is laced with irony, which sometimes baffles non-Brits who find it hard to tell when we’re being serious and when we’re being sarcastic. This is probably because most sarcastic comments are said in a very straight, dry tone, rather than an obvious ‘snarky’ voice. We’re known for a more subtle brand of humour, generally preferring innuendo and the double-entendre to a brash sex reference (although this is beginning to change with TV shows like The Inbetweeners becoming more and more popular). Although I’ve always loved The Simpsons, it took me a while to get into shows like Family Guy and South Park, which are filled with toilet humour, expletives and violence and aren’t afraid to openly joke about all manner of controversial topics. Sometimes I really enjoy those kind of shows, whilst other times I just want to settle down to a tame, cosy classic.
I’ve decided to share with you a few clips from some of my favourite British comedy series. Some I hope you’re already familiar with, others you may not have heard of. Here goes:
*Warning, some of these clips may contain strong language or mild sexual references*
Monty Python
The pinnacle of silliness and surrealism. This is what happens when a group of highly intelligent Oxford and Cambridge chums get together to write sketches. A lot of witty banter, ridiculous slapstick and catchy songs with brilliant lyrics. Utter madness or complete genius?
Red Dwarf
Blackadder
The Vicar of Dibley
This hilarious and heart-warming show was about a larger-than-life female Vicar (played by the brilliant Dawn French) moving to the quaint fictional village of ‘Dibley’, with its cast of well-meaning and likeable village oddities. Watching this program will give you quite a good idea of what life is like in rural England! My favourite episode is where the Vicar accidentally agrees to have Christmas dinner with several of her friends on the same day because she’s too polite to turn them all down.
The IT Crowd
Black Books
This series, starring Dylan Moran, Tamsin Greig and Bill Bailey, was set in a London book shop. Moran plays a belligerent and hostile shopkeeper called Bernard, who hates the outside world and is constantly rude to customers. He uses the book shop like a personal library and sits around smoking and drinking all day while chaos ensures around him. He’s probably the person I would become if I could get away with it!
What do you think of the TV shows I mentioned? What’s your favourite British comedy series?
Hi Tizzy. Lovely post. Really enjoyed the videos…. Happy Blogging A to Z.
Here is my take on the letter H…
http://musenmotivation.wordpress.com/2014/04/15/hat-it-is-for-the-letter-h/