Best tv shows like Brass Eye
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Controversial spoof of current-affairs TV and the role of celebrity in the UK.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: parody, controversial, humorous, sitcom, political, absurd, spoof, sketch comedy, surreal, dark comedy
Best tv shows and movies like Brass Eye (1997):
Similar in 85%
Rutland Weekend Television (1975)
Plot Summary:
Rutland Weekend Television was a television sketch show on BBC2, written by Eric Idle with music by Neil Innes. Two series were broadcast, the first consisting of six episodes in 1975, the second of seven in 1976. A Christmas special also aired on Boxing Day 1975. It was Idle's first television project after Monty Python's Flying Circus, which ended the previous year. The show was the catalyst for The Rutles. Rutland Weekend Television or RWT centred on "Britain's smallest television network", situated in England's smallest county, Rutland. The show's title alludes to London Weekend Television. A Rutland TV station would be pretty small, so a Rutland Weekend Television would have to be ridiculously tiny. The joke was doubly meaningful as Idle had accidentally been granted a presentation budget instead of the more lavish budgets associated with light entertainment - so the weekly patter about their inability to buy props and sets was in fact quite real. Indeed, the last show of the first series featured Idle and Innes, stripped and shivering in blankets under a bare bulb, singing about how the power's about to be shut off. Idle speaks bitterly about these conditions now but his attempts to overcome them formed the basis of a lot of the show's jokes.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 138
Genere: Comedy, Music
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: mockumentary, sketch comedy, spoof, parody, clever, offbeat, humorous, surreal, witty, cynical
Similar in 86%
Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Thursday (2008)
Plot Summary:
Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday is an American limited-run series broadcast on NBC. It is a political satire news show spin-off from Saturday Night Live, featuring that show's "Weekend Update" segment. It initially ran for three 30-minute episodes in October 2008, during the lead-up to the 2008 United States presidential election.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 960
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration:
Plot tags: parody, humorous, not serious, clever, witty, talky, realistic, biting, spoof, sketch comedy
Similar in 81%
The Chaser's War on Everything (2006)
Plot Summary:
The Chaser's War on Everything was an Australian television satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation television station ABC1. It has won an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Television Comedy Series. The cast perform sketches mocking social and political issues, and often feature comedic publicity stunts. The series is produced by the Australian satirical group, The Chaser, consisting of Chris Taylor, Julian Morrow, Craig Reucassel, Andrew Hansen, and Chas Licciardello. Fellow Chaser members Dominic Knight and Charles Firth are not part of the regular on-screen cast. However, Knight is a writer, and Firth compiled roving reports for the show from the United States, until he left the group to start a satirical newspaper in mid-2007. The show premiered on 17 February 2006 and has since produced 58 episodes, broadcast over three seasons between 2006 to 2007 as well as during 2009. The first season was broadcast at an unstable late timeslot on Friday nights. The second and third seasons were broadcast in a more favourable timeslot of Wednesdays at 9 pm. The show did not return in 2008, but returned on 27 May 2009 for the third season featuring only ten episodes. Following the controversy of the "Make a Realistic Wish Foundation" sketch, the third season was reduced to 8 episodes, being suspended for 2 weeks.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy
Country: Australia
Duration: 26 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, clever, cynical, not serious, parody, sketch comedy, mockumentary, offbeat, witty
Similar in 76%
Smack the Pony (1999)
Plot Summary:
Smack the Pony is a British sketch comedy show that ran from 1999 until 2003 on Channel 4. The main performers on the show were Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan, and Sally Phillips. There were also regular appearances from Sarah Alexander, Darren Boyd, and Cavan Clerkin. The show's popular theme tune was Dusty Springfield's song In the Middle of Nowhere, sung by Jackie Clune. As well as the three principal cast members, the show was written by a large number of writers, the core of which went on to write Green Wing and Campus. In Germany, the first transmission of the show aired on ProSieben, where the theme tune was changed to Texas' 2001 version of I Don't Want a Lover, and featured a different title sequence. Among the show's regular themes were unsuccessful relationships, competition in the workplace and latent lesbianism, but sketches would also dip into the surreal; such as two women jumping from their car as they neared a parking space, and brushing in front of the path of their car to help it move further forward, as in curling. Two regular strands involved a series of different women making dating agency videos about their general likes and dislikes, and a musical parody that would close the show.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: sketch comedy, atmospheric, hilarious, offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, not serious, fun
Similar in 77%
Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979)
Plot Summary:
Attention, comedy fans: NOT THE NINE O'CLOCK NEWS is the real thing. This is scathing, no-holds-barred Brit humor at its best. Rapid-fire skits starring Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) are as politically incorrect as they are side-bustingly funny, sparing no one as they take on the British Royal Family, Margaret Thatcher, Scotland Yard, country music, Christianity, devil worship, punk rock and bathroom etiquette. NOT THE NINE O'CLOCK NEWS is so irreverent that when the pilot was due to air in April 1979, the BBC cancelled it due to its incendiary political content. When at last it aired, the greatest comedy group to hit England since Monty Python's Flying Circus stormed the airwaves and revolutionized British and American television alike. Discover the show that set the standard for the anarchic cynicism that defined the alternative comedy of the 80's.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: sketch comedy, humorous, political, sitcom, parody, realistic, witty, not serious, spoof, vintage
Similar in 90%
Drop the Dead Donkey (1990)
Plot Summary:
Drop the Dead Donkey is a situation comedy that first aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 1990 and 1998. It is set in the offices of “GlobeLink News”, a fictional TV news company. Recorded close to transmission, it made use of contemporary news events to give the programme a greater sense of realism. It was created by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. The series had an ensemble cast, making stars of Haydn Gwynne, Stephen Tompkinson and Neil Pearson. The series began with the acquisition of GlobeLink by media mogul Sir Roysten Merchant, an allusion to either Robert Maxwell or Rupert Murdoch. Indeed, Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin note on their DVDs that it was fortunate for their libel lawyers that the two men shared the same initials. The series is mostly based on the on-going battle between the staff of GlobeLink, led by editor George Dent, as they try to maintain the company as a serious news organisation, and Sir Roysten’s right-hand man Gus Hedges, trying to make the show more sensationalist and suppress stories that might harm Sir Roysten’s business empire. The show was awarded the Best Comedy Award at the 1994 BAFTA Awards. At the British Comedy Awards the show won Best New TV Comedy in 1990, Best Channel 4 Comedy in 1991, and Best Channel 4 Sitcom in 1994.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: sitcom, political, dark comedy, humorous, realistic, witty, not serious, biting, cynical, suspense
Similar in 88%
Harry Hill's TV Burp (2001)
Plot Summary:
Harry Hill's TV Burp is a British television comedy programme that ran for 11 years from 2001 to 2012. It was produced by Avalon Television for ITV and hosted by comedian Harry Hill. The show presents a look at the week's television, including extracts from TV shows with added sketches, observational voice-overs, and guest appearances. The show is based on clips of the previous week of programming on television, frequently reinterpreting actions or lines of dialogue in a humorous way, or pointing out how views of props or sets amusingly resemble other objects, and often lightheartedly or sarcastically commenting on the actual intended content of the programme. To produce the show, Hill and his programme associate writing team, including Brenda Gilhooly, Paul Hawksbee, Dan Maier, Joe Burnside and David Quantick, watch significant amounts of television, much on preview tapes. Clips from a variety of shows across most channels are included in the show, with soaps, dramas and popular-factual series being the most commonly represented genres. The clips are shown outside of the context of their original programme and only limited information about the scene is given, as the focus of the show's treatment is on the often unintentional humour which can be derived from the scene. The show was filmed at Teddington Studios, Greater London, in Studio 1 for series 1 to 8. From series 9 to 11, the studio has been the BBC Television Centre in London.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 23 min
Plot tags: humorous, witty, not serious, surreal, realistic, biting, offbeat, suspense
Similar in 90%
The Rick Mercer Report (2004)
Plot Summary:
A weekly helping of topical satire, funny takes on the week's top stories and Canada-wide adventures.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 864
Genere: Comedy
Country: Canada
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: humorous, witty, parody, realistic, talky, semi serious, biting, spoof, sketch comedy, slapstick comedy
Similar in 89%
That Mitchell and Webb Look (2006)
Plot Summary:
That Mitchell and Webb Look is a British television sketch show starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. Shown on BBC Two since 2006, its first two series were directed by David Kerr, who also directed Mitchell and Webb's previous television sketch show The Mitchell and Webb Situation, whereas series 3 and 4 are directed by Ben Gosling Fuller. As well as Mitchell and Webb themselves, the writers include Jesse Armstrong, James Bachman, Sam Bain, Mark Evans, Olivia Colman, Toby Davies, Chris Pell, Jonathan Dryden Taylor, Joel Morris, Jason Hazeley, Simon Kane, John Finnemore and others. It is produced by Gareth Edwards. Colman, Bachman, and Evans were also members of the cast alongside Abigail Burdess, Gus Brown, Sarah Hadland and Paterson Joseph. Many of its characters and sketches are first featured in the duo's radio show That Mitchell and Webb Sound. First aired on 14 September 2006, a second series was commissioned later that same year and shown between 21 February 2008 and 27 March 2008. The third series began on 11 June 2009. Since series two, the production has also been broadcast on BBC HD. The first series won a BAFTA award in 2007. The third series started airing on BBC America on 14 April 2010. The fourth series premiered on BBC Two and BBC HD on 13 July 2010 with a total of 6 episodes commissioned by the BBC. In a November 2011 interview, Webb stated that there are "no plans, sadly, for another series of sketches" continuing to say that "you'd have to ask the BBC" about further series.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy, Fantasy
Country: UK
Duration: 720 min
Plot tags: humorous, sketch comedy, not serious, clever, parody, surreal, controversial, sitcom, hilarious, offbeat
Similar in 83%
Absolute Power (2003)
Plot Summary:
Stephen Fry and John Bird star as spin doctors Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe as they bring the popular and satirical Radio 4 comedy Absolute Power to BBC Two. Stephen as Prentiss and John as McCabe are an unscrupulous pair who run the blue chip PR agency Prentiss McCabe. Dealing with commercial as well as personal PR, their remit covers everything from political communications to celebrity media relations. Their manipulation skills are tested to the full as they frequently find that their work brings them into conflict with political parties, newspaper editors and celebrities.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 29 min
Plot tags: sitcom, witty, humorous, cynical, semi serious, political, clever, realistic, talky, biting
Similar in 87%
Goodness Gracious Me (1998)
Plot Summary:
Goodness Gracious Me is a BBC English language sketch comedy show originally aired on BBC Radio 4 from 1996 to 1998 and later televised on BBC Two from 1998 to 2001. The ensemble cast were four British Indian actors, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia. The show explored the conflict and integration between traditional Indian culture and modern British life. Some sketches reversed the roles to view the British from an Indian perspective, and others poked fun at Indian stereotypes. In the television series most of the white characters were played by Dave Lamb and Fiona Allen; in the radio series those parts were played by the cast themselves. The show's title and theme tune is a bhangra rearrangement of a hit comedy song of the same name. The original was performed by Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren reprising their characters from the 1960 film The Millionairess. The show's original working title was "Peter Sellers is Dead", but was changed because the cast generally liked Peter Sellers. In her 1996 novel Anita and Me, Syal had referred to British parodies of Asian speech as "a goodness-gracious-me accent". One of the more famous sketches featured the cast "going out for an English" after a few lassis. They mispronounce the waiter's name, order the blandest thing on the menu and ask for twenty-four plates of chips. The sketch parodies often-drunk English people "going out for an Indian", ordering chicken phall and too many papadums. This sketch was voted the 6th Greatest Comedy Sketch on a Channel 4 list show.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: sketch comedy, parody, offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, not serious, campy
Similar in 87%
The Day Today (1994)
Plot Summary:
The Day Today is a surreal British parody of television current affairs programmes, broadcast in 1994, and created by the comedians Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris. It is an adaptation of the radio programme On the Hour, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1991 and 1992. On the Hour was written by Morris, Iannucci, Steven Wells, Andrew Glover, Stewart Lee, Richard Herring, David Quantick, and the cast. For The Day Today, Peter Baynham joined the writing team, and Lee and Herring were replaced by Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews. The principal cast of On the Hour was retained for The Day Today. The Day Today is composed of six half-hour episodes and a selection of shorter, five-minute slots recorded as promotion trailers for the longer segments. The six half-hour episodes were originally broadcast from 19 January to 23 February 1994 on BBC2. The Day Today has won many awards, including Morris winning the 1994 British Comedy Award for Best Newcomer. All six episodes are available on BBC DVD, having previously been issued on VHS.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: parody, humorous, political, sketch comedy, sitcom, surreal, offbeat, realistic, cynical, not serious
Similar in 88%
The Two Ronnies (1971)
Plot Summary:
The Two Ronnies is a British sketch show which aired on BBC1 from 1971 to 1987. It featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett, the "Two Ronnies" of the title.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: sketch comedy, humorous, witty, sitcom, realistic, not serious
Similar in 85%
The Richard Pryor Show (1977)
Plot Summary:
The Richard Pryor Show is an American comedy variety series starring Richard Pryor. It premiered on NBC on Tuesday, September 13, 1977 at 8 p.m. opposite ABC's popular television shows Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days. The show was produced by Rocco Urbisci for Burt Sugarman Productions. It was conceived out of a special that Pryor did for NBC in May 1977. Because the special was a major hit, both critically and commercially, Pryor was given a chance to host and star in his own television show. TV Guide included the series in their 2013 list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 446
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min
Plot tags: sketch comedy, exciting, humorous, realistic, witty, not serious, biting, parody, spoof, black comedy
Similar in 79%
Little Britain (2003)
Plot Summary:
Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas. The show's title is an amalgamation of the terms 'Little England' and 'Great Britain', and is also the name of a Victorian neighbourhood and modern street in London. The show comprises sketches involving exaggerated parodies of British people from all walks of life in various situations familiar to the British. These sketches are presented to the viewer together with narration in a manner which suggests that the programme is a guide—aimed at non-British people—to the ways of life of various classes of British society. Despite the narrator's description of great British institutions, the comedy is derived from the British audience's self-deprecating understanding of either themselves or people known to them.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 29 min
Plot tags: sketch comedy, parody, humorous, witty, cynical, not serious, sitcom, funny, political, controversial
Similar in 81%
Spitting Image (1984)
Plot Summary:
Spitting Image is an award winning British satirical puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. The series was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Independent Television over 18 series which aired on the ITV from 1984 to 1996. The series was nominated and won numerous awards during its run including 10 BAFTA Awards, including one for editing in 1989, and even won two Emmy Awards in 1985 and 1986 in the Popular Arts Category. The series featured puppet caricatures of celebrities famous during the 1980s and 1990s, including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and fellow Tory politicians, American president Ronald Reagan, and the British Royal Family. The Series was the first to caricature the Queen mother.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: sketch comedy, humorous, sitcom, political, absurd, controversial, surreal, parody, clever, realistic
Similar in 77%
The Fast Show (1994)
Plot Summary:
The Fast Show is a multi BAFTA award winning sketch comedy show written and produced by Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sketch comedy, sitcom, hilarious, humorous, realistic, witty, cynical, not serious, fast, offbeat
Similar in 88%
A Bit of Fry and Laurie (1987)
Plot Summary:
A Bit of Fry & Laurie is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, broadcast on both BBC1 and BBC2 between 1989 and 1995. It ran for four series and totalled 26 episodes, including a 35 minute pilot episode in 1987. As in The Two Ronnies, elaborate wordplay and innuendo were staples of its material. It frequently broke the fourth wall; characters would revert into their real-life actors mid-sketch, or the camera would often pan off set into the studio. In addition, the show was punctuated with non-sequitur vox pops in a similar style to those of Monty Python's Flying Circus, often making irrelevant statements, heavily based on wordplay. Laurie was also seen playing piano and a wide variety of other instruments and singing comical numbers.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: humorous, sketch comedy, clever, witty, funny, multicultural, hilarious, mind blowing, realistic, not serious
Similar in 84%
Dog Bites Man (2006)
Plot Summary:
Dog Bites Man is a partially improvised comedy television show on Comedy Central that aired in summer 2006. It began airing on The Comedy Channel in Australia in June 2007. The series was produced by DreamWorks Television.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration:
Plot tags: parody, humorous, stylized, not serious, sitcom, spoof, mockumentary, offbeat, realistic, alternative comedy
Similar in 78%
The Benny Hill Show (1969)
Plot Summary:
The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show that starred Benny Hill and aired in various incarnations between 15 January 1955 and 30 May 1991 in over 140 countries. The show focused on sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, parody, and double-entendre. Thames Television cancelled production of the show in 1989 due to declining ratings and large production costs at £450,000 per show.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: parody, sketch comedy, sitcom, offbeat, controversial, slapstick, double entendre, naughty, sexy, humorous
Similar in 75%
Da Ali G Show (2000)
Plot Summary:
BAFTA Award-winning Da Ali G Show is back, and this time Ali G gets to take on America. Ali G In Da USAiii, nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys, stars Sacha Baron-Cohen. The series, filmed in the USA for HBO and Channel 4, brings to life three unique characters: Ali G; Borat, the naive television reporter from Kazakhstan; and Bruno, a camp Austrian fashion reporter.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: humorous, witty, cynical, not serious, sitcom, funny, parody, controversial, sketch comedy, political
Similar in 79%
Big Train (1998)
Plot Summary:
Big Train is a surreal British television comedy sketch show created by Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan, writers of the successful sitcom Father Ted. The first series was broadcast on BBC Two in 1998, while the second, in which Linehan was not involved, aired in 2002.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sketch comedy, sitcom, surreal, absurd, clever, offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, not serious
Similar in 84%
Mr. Show with Bob and David (1995)
Plot Summary:
Mr. Show with Bob and David is an American sketch comedy series starring and hosted by Saturday Night Live writer/actor Bob Odenkirk and stand up comedian/actor David Cross. It aired on HBO from November 3, 1995 to December 28, 1998. Cross and Odenkirk introduced most episodes as heightened versions of themselves, before transitioning to a mixture of live sketches and pre-taped segments. The show featured a number of alternative comedians as both cast members and writers, including Sarah Silverman, Paul F. Tompkins, Jack Black, Tom Kenny, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Brian Posehn, Jerry Minor, Scott Aukerman, and Dino Stamatopoulos. It was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards, as well as a Golden Satellite Award.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 27 min
Plot tags: sketch comedy, sitcom, surreal, funny, absurd, cult classic, parody, offbeat, humorous, witty
Similar in 90%
Harry Enfield and Chums (1994)
Plot Summary:
BBC sketch show that while continuing to show the misadventures of a series of popular characters now also introduces a slew of new oddballs and misfits for us to enjoy including Tory Boy and The Lovely Wobbly Randy Old Ladies.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 40 min
Plot tags: sketch comedy, political, humorous, realistic, witty, not serious, alternative comedy
Similar in 76%
Chocolate News (2008)
Plot Summary:
Chocolate News is a satirical news show hosted and head written by David Alan Grier with an emphasis on African American culture. The show aired on Wednesday nights at 10:30 PM on Comedy Central as a lead-in to their other news satire programs, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. The show also aired in Canada on The Comedy Network. On March 10, 2009 a Comedy Central representative confirmed that Chocolate News would not be renewed for a second season.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 549
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: parody, humorous, cynical, not serious, captivating, realistic, biting, spoof, black comedy, sketch comedy
Similar in 90%
Jam (2000)
Plot Summary:
A collection of bleakly dark comedy sketches pushing the boundaries of taste, decency and television in general, shot using new and different techniques and fading slowly in and out of each other against a slow musical soundtrack. Regular themes include death, insanity and, most often of all, the medical profession.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 24 min
Plot tags: surreal, postmodern, atmospheric, humorous, cynical, not serious, sketch comedy, dark comedy, controversial, absurd
Similar in 76%
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969)
Plot Summary:
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a British sketch comedy series created by the comedy group Monty Python and broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines. It also featured animations by Terry Gilliam, often sequenced or merged with live action. The first episode was recorded on 7 September and broadcast on 5 October 1969 on BBC One, with 45 episodes airing over four series from 1969 to 1974, plus two episodes for German TV. The show often targets the idiosyncrasies of British life, especially that of professionals, and is at times politically charged. The members of Monty Python were highly educated. Terry Jones and Michael Palin are Oxford University graduates; Eric Idle, John Cleese, and Graham Chapman attended Cambridge University; and American-born member Terry Gilliam is an Occidental College graduate. Their comedy is often pointedly intellectual, with numerous erudite references to philosophers and literary figures. The series followed and elaborated upon the style used by Spike Milligan in his ground breaking series Q5, rather than the traditional sketch show format. The team intended their humour to be impossible to categorise, and succeeded so completely that the adjective "Pythonesque" was invented to define it and, later, similar material.
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 78000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sketch comedy, surreal, sitcom, humorous, parody, funny, psychedelic, political, absurd, avant garde
Similar in 81%
The New Statesman (1987)
Plot Summary:
The New Statesman is a British sitcom of the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the Conservative government of the time. It was written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran at the request of, and as a starring vehicle for, its principal actor, Rik Mayall. The show's theme tune is an arrangement by Alan Hawkshaw of part of the Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. The programme was made by the ITV franchise Yorkshire Television between 1987 and 1992, although the BBC made two special episodes; one in 1988, the other in 1994.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags: sitcom, dark comedy, political, surreal, clever, humorous, realistic, witty, semi serious, parody
Similar in 75%
Dead Ringers (2002)
Plot Summary:
Dead Ringers is a United Kingdom radio and television comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and later BBC Two. The programme was devised by producer Bill Dare and developed with Jon Holmes, Andy Hurst and Simon Blackwell. It starred Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Phil Cornwell, Kevin Connelly and Mark Perry. The main writers for season 1-3 on Radio were Jon Holmes and Andy Hurst with Tom Jamieson and Nev Fountain coming on board in Series 4. Other writers have included Simon Blackwell, Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, John Finnemore, David Mitchell, Richard Ward, Terry Newman, Jonathan Morris, Colin Birch, Carl Carter and Tony Cooke. It was revealed by star Jan Ravens that the BBC quietly cancelled the television run in 2007 after five years of broadcast.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 403
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: humorous, witty, talky, cynical, not serious, political, sketch comedy, spoof, clever, realistic
Similar in 77%
I'm Alan Partridge (1997)
Plot Summary:
I'm Alan Partridge is a BBC situation comedy starring Steve Coogan, of which two series of six episodes each were produced — the first in 1997 and the second in 2002. The series followed the titular Alan Partridge, a failed television presenter whose previous exploits had featured in the chat-show parody Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, and who is now presenting a programme on local radio in Norwich. Both series were written by Peter Baynham, Coogan and Armando Iannucci; supporting Coogan were Felicity Montagu as his faithful, mouse-like personal assistant, Lynn Benfield; Simon Greenall as Geordie Travel Tavern handyman/BP garage attendant Michael; and Phil Cornwell as disc jockey Dave Clifton. It has been well received by both critics and fans, and was nominated for three BAFTAs, two British Comedy Award, and a Royal Television Society award.
IMDB Rating: 8.6
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 29 min
Plot tags: sitcom, hilarious, clever, offbeat, humorous, realistic, witty, talky, cynical, not serious