[barmar]

Winstonm, on 2012-November-24, 08:15, said:

My favorite Taxi moment came when Jim (Chris Lloyd) had to take his written driver's test and and asked Tony Danza, "What does a yellow light mean?", to which Tony replied, "Slow down," so Jim continued, "W-h-a-t d-o-e-s a y-e-l-l-o-w l-i-g-h-t m-e-a-n?"

Definitely one of the best sitcom scenes ever. It's frequently shown on retrospectives, and always has me ROFLMAO.

[blackshoe]

Christopher Lloyd the actor was born in 1938. IMDB doesn't say when Christopher Lloyd the screenwriter was born, but his father, David Lloyd, also a screenwriter, was born in 1934. So I'd guess the actor is some 20 years older than the screenwriter.

[barmar]

The writer's Wikipedia page says he was born in 1960.

http://en.wikipedia....d_(screenwriter)

And both IMdb entries have pictures -- they're obviously not the same people (although it's Hollywood, where they do marvels with makeup).

[kenberg]

barmar, on 2012-November-24, 22:20, said:

They're not the same person.

Christopher Lloyd actor = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000502/
Christopher Lloyd writer/producer = http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0515941/

Huh. Thanks! Yes, 1938 certainly seems right for the actor.

At times, Becky and I have commented that some of the humor in Modern Family is reminiscent of humor in Taxi. Maybe we were influenced by the name.

At any rate, Jim was a memorable character.

[billw55]

paua, on 2012-November-22, 01:38, said:

Beacause the British know when to stop. Americans just drag an idea out for as long as it is marketable.

Vampyr, on 2012-November-22, 01:51, said:

A good example of this is The Office. The Tim/Donna story ended with their first kiss; it was perfect. I was bawling like a baby while I watched that. In The Office: An American Workplace, their counterparts have got married, bought a house, and were expecting a child, who has probably been born. The thrill, at least from the viewers' perspective, is gone. Also, I heard that the David Brent character has left -- yet they are carrying on. It seems the show would be pointless without him.

kenberg, on 2012-November-22, 05:53, said:

I completely agree with this. A five year old does something and his parents laugh. So he does it again. And again. And again. This is much the way I see American tv. If the Brits don't do this, I congratulate them.

I understand quitting while you are ahead, and before the material/premise/humor go stale. And I admit, many an American program has crossed this line.

But 12 episodes still seems a little short. Would any of you say that you would not have wanted another series of Fawlty Towers, had the creative team been willing or able to do it?

Speaking of fine shows with short production runs, I would cite Firefly .. not a sitcom of course, but good stuff. I wish there was was more adult sci-fi made, but the American market just doesn't seem to support this genre.

[kenberg]

There were two examples of this staying too long, neither a sitcom, that I got caught up in. I really liked the first season of Treme, I never missed an episode. I was disappointed that there was to be a second season, and I never much got into it. The second example was Saving Grace. Of course it was a somewhat silly premise, the hard living hard drinking Grace runs someone down, says w/o much intended meaning "God help me" and an angel shows up and says "What did you have in mind?". But I liked it. For one season.

Back to sitcoms: I agree with VMars that Roseanne was very good and, also, it stayed to long. I would say the same about Mary Tyler Moore and Cheers. I never cared for Frazier but I know many do. Possibly it has something to do with it's origins being with MTM. At some point I just had enough of that show, its characters, and its writers. Again I have one of these favorite moments from Cheers:

Coach: I've got to get home and work on the novel.
Dianne: Coach, you are writing a book!
Coach: No, reading one.

I may be the only person who did not watch I Love Lucy all that much. Or the Honeymooners either for that matter, although I think I preferred Honeymooners to Lucy. It was a long time ago, memory fades. From roughly that era, a bit earlier I think, I watched Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca (skits, not sitcom) every week. Also there was a short lived show with Ernie Kovacs. I have some distant memory of him chopping vegetables to the beat of the 1812 Overture. Whatever he was, he was an original.

[blackshoe]

Not a sitcom, but... I remember, when I was about five, visiting my grandparents. They had a TV, black and white, little tiny screen. I was watching cartoons. My grandmother walked in, said "it's time for Groucho" and changed the channel. Man, was I pissed! Groucho? Who the heck is Groucho? He's not even funny. Gimme back my cartoons! Nope.

In later years I came to realize that Groucho was funny - just not to a five year old, particularly one who's just been deprived of his cartoons.

[Vampyr]

When I was about the same age I stayed up ridiculously late every night to watch "You Bet Your Life" with my parents. I really enjoyed Groucho in that.

[Aberlour10]

The sitcoms with british humor are simply unbeatable.

I also liked much these british old fashioned series like a "Upstairs, downstairs" with Gordon Jackson as a butler... a great picture of the english social life at the beginning of the 20th century.

Married with Children...primitive humor say all...but nobody managed to ridicule the American Dream so much as Al Bundy done. And its great!

[Winstonm]

If Gunsmoke is not in the top 10, you'll all hang.

[mike777]

Winstonm, on 2012-November-25, 17:26, said:

If Gunsmoke is not in the top 10, you'll all hang.

Gunsmoke aint a sitcom....situation comedy....

[ggwhiz]

What the writers (especially) managed to cobble together for Laugh-In as a replacement show was truly extraordinary.

[Bbradley62]

ggwhiz, on 2012-November-25, 21:04, said:

What the writers (especially) managed to cobble together for Laugh-In as a replacement show was truly extraordinary.

Also not a situation comedy.

[ggwhiz]

Bbradley62, on 2012-November-26, 11:56, said:

Also not a situation comedy.

Yeah, I posted that late at night.

However, I was in South Africa from 97-2000. They didn't have any network tv until the late 70's and even then bought the cheapest schlock they could get.

I watched an episode of "The Beachcombers" (the worst Canadian thing of all time) and saw Bruno Gerussi dubbed into Zulu.

Since that traumatic experience anything I say about tv in general should be ignored.

[Winstonm]

mike777, on 2012-November-25, 19:41, said:

Gunsmoke aint a sitcom....situation comedy....

You mean they were serious?

[billw55]

Winstonm, on 2012-November-27, 21:29, said:

You mean they were serious?

That's where I was coming from about Doctor Who.

[waubrey]

I tend to like the older shows although I do love Big Bang Theory. But I just don't get The Office. I have tried watching it a couple of times and I just don't get it. Guess maybe I am just too old LOLOL.

[Hanoi5]

Newsradio? WKRP? What about Friends? 3rd Rock From The Sun? The Office!!??

[Vampyr]

waubrey, on 2012-December-20, 16:27, said:

But I just don't get The Office. I have tried watching it a couple of times and I just don't get it. Guess maybe I am just too old LOLOL.

Was it The Office proper you were watching, or The Office: An American Workplace? If the latter, try the former. This show said what it wanted to say and then shut up shop while people still loved it. The American version basically has the goal of staying on the air until it is cancelled; so they have to keep coming up with storylines that badly delute the core concept of the show. In fact, the original was much more like a series of vignettes than a collection of stories about the characters.

[jdeegan]

Two and One Half Men may be more than a tad vulgar, but it is consistently funny and belongs in the top 20, if not the top 10 imo.