Best tv shows like The Upper Hand
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The Upper Hand is a British television sitcom, produced by Central Independent Television and Columbia Pictures Television and broadcast by ITV from 1990 to 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom Who's the Boss?. As in the former series, an affluent single woman, raising a son with the help of her mother, hires a housekeeper only to have a man apply for the job.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 585
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 25 min
Plot tags: sitcom
Best tv shows and movies like The Upper Hand (1990):
Similar in 83%
Me and My Girl (1984)
Plot Summary:
Me and My Girl was a 1980s British television situation comedy starring Richard O'Sullivan, which centred on the challenges faced by a widower raising his adolescent daughter. It was broadcast on ITV between 1984 and 1988.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 208
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom
Similar in 81%
Bread (1986)
Plot Summary:
Bread is a British television sitcom, written by Carla Lane, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC1 from 1 May 1986 to 3 November 1991. The series focused on the devoutly-Catholic and extended Boswell family of Liverpool, in the district of Dingle, led by its matriarch Nellie through a number of ups and downs as they tried to make their way through life in Thatcher's Britain with no visible means of support. The street shown at the start of each programme is Elswick Street. A family called Boswell had also featured in Lane's earlier sitcom The Liver Birds and Lane admitted in interviews that the two families were probably related. Nellie's feckless and estranged husband, Freddie, left her for another woman known as 'Lilo Lill'. Her children Joey, Jack, Adrian, Aveline and Billy continued to live in the family home in Kelsall Street and contributed money to the central family fund, largely through benefit fraud and the sale of stolen goods.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom
Similar in 87%
Fresh Fields (1984)
Plot Summary:
Fresh Fields is a British situation comedy written by John T. Chapman and produced by Thames Television for ITV between 7 March 1984 and 23 October 1986. A ratings success at the time, the show is well remembered for its opening titles featuring a silhouette of a person in a rocking chair. It stars Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers as Hester and William Fields, a devoted middle-class couple with an idyllic suburban lifestyle. William works while Hester keeps home. The crux of the show was that she was always looking to try new hobbies or find ways to improve her life, much of which exasperated her hard-working husband. The family home had a granny flat attached, in which Hester's mother Nancy lived. She was divorced from Hester's father Guy although remarried him as the series progressed. The couple had a daughter called Emma who frequently telephoned but never appeared. Her husband Peter did appear often. They later had a son — the Fields' first grandchild — whom they named Guy, after his great-grandfather. Perhaps, the best remembered supporting character was Sonia Barrett who would frequently pop round to borrow items to replace hers due to breakage, theft or mislaying. Hester was not perturbed by this, as the two were close friends, but it used to irritate William. Sonia had the show's only catchphrase — she would always knock on the back door of the Fields' home and then say It's only Sonia! as she walked in. This would sometimes lead to applause of recognition from the studio audience, a phenomenon more regularly seen within American sitcoms. Sonia's husband John appeared on occasion, as did William's secretary Miss Denham, played by Daphne Oxenford.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 349
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom
Similar in 79%
The Other One (2017)
Plot Summary:
After Colin Walcott drops dead at his birthday party his wife Tess and daughter Cat discover he had a long-term mistress Marilyn by whom he has a daughter Cath. An irate Tess throws out Colin's belongings whilst Cat is angry with boy-friend Marcus over a text he sent to another girl. When the two half-sisters meet there is an argument over where to scatter their father's ashes, leading to police intervention whilst they also learn he may have been having an affair with yet another woman.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 29 min
Plot tags: sitcom
Similar in 90%
Going Straight (1978)
Plot Summary:
Going Straight is a BBC sitcom which was a direct spin-off from Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker as Norman Stanley Fletcher, newly released from the fictional Slade Prison where the earlier series had been set. It sees Fletcher trying to become an honest member of society, having vowed to stay away from crime on his release. The title refers to his attempt, 'straight' being a slang term meaning being honest, in contrast to 'bent', i.e., dishonest. Also re-appearing was Richard Beckinsale as Lennie Godber, who was Fletcher's naïve young cellmate and was now in a relationship with his daughter Ingrid. Her brother Raymond was played by a teenage Nicholas Lyndhurst. Only one series, of six episodes, was made in 1978. It attracted an audience of over 15 million viewers and won a BAFTA award in March 1979, but hopes of a further series had already been dashed by Beckinsale's premature death earlier in the same month.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom
Similar in 80%
I Married Dora (1987)
Plot Summary:
I Married Dora is an American sitcom that appeared on the ABC television network. It premiered on September 22, 1987, and its final first-run episode aired on December 18, 1987. The series was created by Michael J. Leeson, who was one of the creators of the long running TV series The Cosby Show.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 121
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, hispanic
Similar in 90%
In Sickness and in Health (1985)
Plot Summary:
In Sickness and in Health is a BBC television sitcom which ran between 1985 and 1992. It was a sequel to the highly successful Til Death Us Do Part, which ran between 1966 and 1975, and Till Death..., which ran for one series of six episodes in 1981.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 700
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom
Similar in 77%
After You've Gone (2007)
Plot Summary:
After You've Gone was a British comedy that aired on BBC One from 12 January 2007 to 21 December 2008. Starring Nicholas Lyndhurst, Celia Imrie, Dani Harmer and Ryan Sampson, After You've Gone was created by Fred Barron, who also created My Family. The writers include Barron, Ian Brown, Katie Douglas, James Hendie, Danny Robins, Andrea Solomons and Dan Tetsell. Three series and two Christmas specials aired, and work on scripts for a fourth series had already begun when the BBC withdrew the commission in November 2008 and cancelled the series.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 853
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: sitcom, situational comedy
Similar in 79%
Love, Sidney (1981)
Plot Summary:
Love, Sidney is an American situation comedy which ran on NBC from October 28, 1981 until June 6, 1983. The series was based on a short story written by Marilyn Cantor Baker, which was subsequently adapted into a TV movie entitled Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Best Friend, which NBC aired on October 5, 1981, a few weeks before the series premiered. The premise involved a gay man and his relationship with a single mother and her five year-old daughter whom he invites to live with him. Tony Randall stars as Sidney Shorr, with Swoosie Kurtz as Laurie Morgan and Kaleena Kiff as her daughter Patti. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Television. Love, Sidney was the first program on American television to feature a gay character as the central lead, although for the series, Sidney's homosexuality was almost entirely downplayed from its subtle yet unmistakable presence in the two-hour pilot.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 285
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: retro, sitcom, queer cinema
Similar in 86%
Grandma's House (2010)
Plot Summary:
Grandma's House is a sitcom television series broadcast on BBC Two. Written by Simon Amstell and long term collaborator Dan Swimer, the series stars Simon Amstell playing a version of himself: an ex-television presenter searching for meaning in his life. Each episode takes place at his Grandma's house, where Grandma welcomes her family, desperate to see everyone happy. The first series was shown in 2010, the second in 2012. In December 2012 Amstell stated that there would not be a third series.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, semi serious, light, feel good, realistic, game show
Similar in 83%
2point4 Children (1991)
Plot Summary:
2point4 children is a 1990s British sitcom that was created and written by Andrew Marshall. It follows the lives of the Porter family; an average family that is persistently faced with surreal situations and sheer bad luck. The show was originally broadcast on BBC One from 1991 to 1999, and ran for eight series, ending in a special Millennium edition that would be the last due to the death of Gary Olsen, who died from cancer in 2000. The show is now repeated regularly in the UK on Gold, and in Australia on UKTV. The title of the show refers to the once average size of a UK family. There are two children in the Porter family, however Andrew Marshall has indicated that the father, Ben, could be considered almost another child, making up the "point four". The show regularly picked up large audiences of up to 14 million in the early 1990s, with an average of between 6 - 9 million, the final episode was viewed by 9.03 million people. In 1997 a remake of the show debuted in the Netherlands: 'Kees & Co' starring Simone Kleinsma.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 40 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, realistic, not serious
Similar in 85%
The Royle Family (1998)
Plot Summary:
British comedy series focusing on the lives of a working-class family in Manchester who love the TV.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 45 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, realistic, talky, semi serious
Similar in 79%
Game On (1995)
Plot Summary:
A 1990s flat-share sitcom which, in its tales of the sexual adventures and misadventures of three twenty-somethings living under the same roof, featured more than a dash of crudity. Matthew, a wealthy, workshy landlord who, because of a strange phobia, never leaves the flat. Martin and Matthew have been friends since schooldays and Mandy's connection is by way of her best friend Claudia, Martin's sister. Mandy is a bright young woman who wants to better herself and is tired of being treated as a sex object, yet she still tends to find herself jumping into bed with inappropriate men. Both Matthew and Martin are obsessed with sex but neither is conspicuously successful in the field.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, dark comedy
Similar in 76%
The Coopers vs The Rest (2016)
Plot Summary:
The Cooper family share a small house, and absolutely no DNA. Mum Tess wanted to save as many kids as she could from the sort of childhood she had. So, along with her husband Toby, she now divides just about enough money and nowhere near enough time between their three adopted children Frankie, Alisha and Charlie.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 57
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration:
Plot tags: sitcom
Similar in 81%
Josh (2014)
Plot Summary:
Sitcom about flatmates Josh, Kate and Owen, and their annoying landlord Geoff.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom
Similar in 82%
Cybill (1995)
Plot Summary:
Cybill is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre, which aired on CBS from January 2, 1995, to July 13, 1998. Starring, Cybill Shepherd, the show revolves around the life of Cybill Sheridan, a twice-divorced single mother of two and struggling actress in her 40s, who has never gotten her big show business break. Alicia Witt and Dedee Pfeiffer co-starred as Sheridan's daughters, with Alan Rosenberg and Tom Wopat playing their fathers each, while Christine Baranski appeared as Cybill's hard-drinking friend Maryann. The sitcom was produced by Carsey-Werner Productions and YBYL Productions, with Shepherd, Lorre, Howard Gould, Jay Daniel, Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner serving as the show's original executive producers. Broadcast to critical praise, Cybill was nominated for twelve Emmy Awards throughout its run and awarded the 1996 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. Shepherd won a third Golden Globe Award for her performance, while Baranski received an Emmy, a SAG and an American Comedy Award.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, realistic, witty, not serious
Similar in 89%
The Gregory Hines Show (1997)
Plot Summary:
The Gregory Hines Show is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS. The series premiered on Monday, September 15, 1997 before airing on September 19, 1997 as a part of the network's Block Party Friday night lineup. It ended its run on February 27, 1998 with 15 episodes aired, out of the 22 that were produced. It was the only show on the Block Party lineup that was not produced by Miller-Boyett Productions.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 92
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom
Similar in 81%
Barbara (1995)
Plot Summary:
Barbara is a British sitcom starring Gwen Taylor in the title role. A pilot was broadcast in 1995, and three series were then televised from 1999 to 2003. It was made by Central Television, and filmed at their Lenton Lane studios in Nottingham in front of a live studio audience. The majority of location scenes for the series were filmed in various suburbs of Nottingham, including Mapperley and West Bridgford, with other scenes filmed around Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Despite winning awards and respectable viewing figures, it was axed by ITV in 2003.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 134
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 27 min
Plot tags: sitcom, offbeat, humorous, realistic, semi serious, situational comedy
Similar in 80%
Sykes (1972)
Plot Summary:
Sykes is a British sitcom that aired on BBC 1 from 1972 to 1979. Starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques, it was written by Sykes, who had previously starred with Jacques in Sykes and A... and Sykes and a Big, Big Show. Forty-three of the 1970s colour episodes were remakes of scripts for the 1960s black and white series, such as "Bus" based on 'Sykes and a Following' from 1964 and the episode "Stranger" with guest star Peter Sellers based on 'Sykes and a Stranger' from 1961. Sykes had the same premise as Sykes and A... with Sykes, Jacques, Richard Wattis and Deryck Guyler reprising their former identical roles. The series was brought to an end by the death of Hattie Jacques of a heart attack on 6 October 1980.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 338
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 89%
Brother's Keeper (1998)
Plot Summary:
Brother's Keeper is an American television sitcom that ran for one season from September 25, 1998 to May 14, 1999 on ABC. Created by Donald Todd, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of Porter Waide and his irresponsible pro-football player brother Bobby Waide, who is contractually forced to move into his brother's house, where Bobby's lifestyle often clashes with that of Porter's, and becomes an unwitting second parent to Porter's son Oscar.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 159
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, touching, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 75%
Ben and Kate (2012)
Plot Summary:
Ben and Kate are a pair of odd-couple siblings - one, a responsible single mom; the other, an exuberant dreamer - who reunite to help raise Kate's daughter.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: realistic, sitcom, sentimental, humorous, not serious
Similar in 76%
Sophie (2008)
Plot Summary:
Sophie is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on CBC from January 9, 2008 to March 23, 2009. It stars Natalie Brown as Sophie Parker, an unmarried single mother and talent agent. The show is an English-language adaptation of Télévision de Radio-Canada's show Les Hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin. The show was created by Richard Blaimert and its executive producer is Jocelyn Deschênes, the same creative team behind the original series. It was the CBC's second attempt in as many years to create an English adaptation of a successful series from its French sister network, following the less successful Rumours. In February 2008, it was announced that the show had been bought by ABC Family, part of Disney-ABC Television Group in the United States. The network signed on for the first 13 episodes, as well as an option for the second season of the show. On March 27, 2009, the series was cancelled by CBC due to poor ratings.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 378
Genere: Comedy
Country: Canada
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, captivating, semi serious, realistic
Similar in 83%
Jesse (1998)
Plot Summary:
Jesse Warner is a 26-year-old single mother juggling between her job, her dreams and her family responsibilities.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 78%
Lord, Give Me Patience (2022)
Plot Summary:
Follows Gregorio, an ultra-conservative, reactionary and prejudiced family man, as he must deal everyday with his children and do whatever it takes to keep his family together, without the help of his wife.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 62
Genere: Comedy
Country: Spain
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, captivating, entertaining, satirical, sitcom, semi serious
Similar in 81%
Who's the Boss? (1984)
Plot Summary:
Who's the Boss? is an American sitcom created by Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter, which aired on ABC from September 20, 1984 to April 25, 1992. Produced by Embassy Television, in association with Hunter-Cohan Productions, and Columbia Pictures Television, the series starred Tony Danza as a retired major league baseball player who relocates to Fairfield, Connecticut to work as a live-in housekeeper for a divorced advertising executive, played by Judith Light. Also featured were Alyssa Milano, Danny Pintauro, and Katherine Helmond. The show received positive reviews throughout most of its run, becoming one of the most popular sitcoms of the mid-to-late-1980s. The series was nominated for more than forty awards, including ten Primetime Emmy Award and five Golden Globe Award nominations, winning each one. Also very successful in the ratings, Who's the Boss? consistently ranked in the top ten in the final primetime ratings between the years of 1985 and 1989, and has since continued in syndication worldwide.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Comedy, Family, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, sentimental, feel good, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 85%
Desmond's (1989)
Plot Summary:
Desmond's was a British television situation comedy broadcast by Channel 4 from 1989 to 1994. With 71 episodes, Desmond's became Channel 4's longest-running sitcom. The first series was shot in 1988, with the first episode broadcast in January 1989. The show was made in and set in Peckham, London, England and featured a predominantly Black British Guyanese cast. Conceived and co-written by Trix Worrell, and produced by Charlie Hanson and Humphrey Barclay, this series starred Norman Beaton as barber Desmond Ambrose. Desmond's shop was a gathering place for an assortment of local characters.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 50 min
Plot tags: sitcom, touching, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 86%
Raised by Wolves (2013)
Plot Summary:
Set on a Wolverhampton council estate, Raised By Wolves is modern day reimagining of the childhood of Caitlin Moran and her brothers and sisters. Single-mum Della lives in a three bedroom council house with Germaine, Aretha, Yoko, Mariah, Wyatt and baby Cher. She is attempting to raise the children by herself, but does have visits from Grampy, who likes to come around to dispense his wisdom to his grandchildren.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 87%
Kenan (2021)
Plot Summary:
The recently widowed host of Atlanta's No. 2 morning show struggles to balance his job and his young daughters despite all the “help” he gets from his grifter father-in-law and his brother/assistant/manager/house guest.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 22 min
Plot tags: funny, feel good, humorous, captivating, entertaining, satirical, semi serious, sitcom
Similar in 81%
Complete Savages (2004)
Plot Summary:
Complete Savages is an American sitcom that was broadcast on ABC from September 2004 to June 2005. It was part of ABC's final TGIF comedy line-up. The show was created by Mike Scully and Julie Thacker and executive produced by Mel Gibson. It was cancelled after its first season due to low ratings.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy
Country: USA
Duration: 21 min
Plot tags: sitcom, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 84%
The Kennedys (2015)
Plot Summary:
Multi-generation family sitcom set in the 1970s, loosely based on Emma Kennedy's memoirs. The Kennedy family pursue every opportunity they can to climb the social ladder on their housing estate.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 736
Genere: Comedy
Country: UK
Duration: 30 min
Plot tags: feel good, humorous, captivating, entertaining, satirical, sitcom, semi serious, hilarious