It is almost taken as a given that we Brits produce the best sitcoms in the world. There’s only one problem with treating this as an unquestionable fact: it isn’t actually true anymore.
There’s no denying that, as a nation, we are well versed in the art of sitcom making, be they timeless classics: Dad’s Army, Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses; or the more modern greats such as The Office, Peep Show and The Royle Family.
But in the past two years we haven’t seen any new sitcoms hit our screens that are worthy of being placed in the same category of their great predecessors. How can this be? Could it be that as a nation we no longer have an appetite for sitcoms? Maybe we much prefer wall-to-wall contrived ‘reality’ TV shows and equally manipulated ‘talent’ contests, and so the TV Powers That Be no longer feel the need to cater to the sitcom crowd. Surely not? Perhaps there’s been a drought in quality sitcom ideas being pitched to the big dogs in sharp suits at the BBC or Channel 4. This is possible, but again, I struggle to believe that this could be the case. I think I know the real reason; in the words of ’90s Swedish singing sensation Meja: It’s all about the money.
If you look back at some of the best sitcoms of the last decade, they all share one characteristic: they were all risks. When Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant walked into the Commissioning Editor of BBC Comedy’s office insisting that they, two unknown and inexperienced writers, were to be given complete control over a sitcom (the style of which had never been attempted before), not even they could have truly known what the end result was going to be. But the BBC took the risk, and the risk paid off, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Since then budget cuts have forced those with control of the purse strings to reduce the number of risks they make, a cautious approach to get them through daunting times. As a result, we’ve seen the BBC put all their eggs into a small selection of mildly humourous but broadly appealing baskets. So instead of The Office, we have Miranda. Where we once had The Thick of It, we now find Mrs. Brown’s Boys. Sitcoms that, sure, might keep a large amount of the country mildly entertained for half an hour, but will they stand the test of time? Surely not.
Comedy isn’t about finding the lowest common denominator, the same way that the greatest music doesn’t try and satisfy everyone’s pallet. The sitcoms that have stood the test of time are those that reinvented the genre, shocked the audience and deviated from the norm.They certainly didn’t viewing figures their priority. Monty Python, The League of Gentlemen, The Office, The Young Ones; they were all ‘risks’. And guess what? They’re still raking in the cash. If sitcom creating really is all about the money, it’s worth remembering that risks do pay off.
Nice article, sums it up completely. With the exception of a very select few (The Office, The Thick Of It etc) I always found the American sitcoms to be better. Friends still makes me laugh despite having seen them all hundreds of times, and things like Scrubs and 30 Rock are miles ahead of stuff we produce. Let’s hope Life’s Too Short will show the world what Britain can really do with comedy, because when we are good, we’re the best.
Scrubs is awful, especially the new ‘Med School’ series. Whilst the US are great at long running, funny but rarely groundbreaking comedy, the UK still rules. Still I agree that we are in danger of playing it safe. The endless ‘The Only Way is Essex’ type shows are a case in point. Life’s too short only got comissioned because it’s a now famous Gervais and Merchant.
Best thing on recently was Cowards but the BBC only comissioned four episodes and then hid it away on BBC4. Even then it was made by four ex footlighters so not even that much of a risk.
It is a shame that the truly wonderful “Outnumbered” has been forgotten by the writer of this otherwise good article
Outnumbered used to be great when it had the shock value of child actors being genuinely funny. Now they’re all (sort of) grown up it’s just become the same as every other angsty teen Brit comedy.
I completely disagree with this article… how can you question why there has not been any great sitcoms for the past 2 years but name two shows which have had series in the last 2 years (The Thick of It, Peep Show). The fact that these brilliant shows are still around and other fantastic shows are making a comeback (Alan Patridge online series and film coming out soon) coupled with writers such as Mitchell and Webb coming up with entirely new sitcoms, how can you say it’s dead? Surely it’s just a creative lull? I’m pretty sure all the sitcoms you made didn’t all come about at once… be assured that the UK is still a nation of brilliant comedy and I’m sure another fantastic original sitcom will rear its head soon.
p.s. theres a new series of The Thick of It coming out…
Mitchell and Webb don’t write Peep Show and their own stuff is dire. I think the author meant completely new rather than new series of tried and tested favourties.
Outnumbered’s first series was genuinely funny but now relies on the same Miranda-esque lazy comedy.
Man comes home. Peng ting in the oven. Lands sofa. Gets a spliff on lock. PEng. Reaches for the peng ting in the oven. PEEEENG! then i go and watch series 8 of scrubs and cry at the last episode.
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