Top 10 British Comedies They'd NEVER Get Away With Now 

What do you think is the best modern comedy? Top 10 British Sitcoms of the Century So Far ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QpXLoNHEGpA.html

the thing is a lot of people are not offended themselves, they’re offended on behalf of others who they assume would feel the same way but most of the time they don’t

People always say "they'd never make this nowdays" but they really can. People will always complain and these series also got loads of complaints during their time. As long as the comedy is clever and funny, you can still get away with a lot. It just that so few people are willing to try

"Series", not "Season". Remember we're British. 😁

Everything may changed nowadays but the classics are still the classics, comedy are comedy these are the stuff I still watch now because they are funny if people don't like it don't watch it

I don’t think people these days are constantly offended - but I do think people don’t get irony. The point of most of these comedies was to make ‘offensive’ comedy ironically, not to actually offend.

You know if it wasnt for things like Twitter. People would still have a laugh. 😂😂😂😂

I'm so lucky to have grown up in the 90s and early 2000s loved Little Britain, Da Ali G Show, Bo Selecta, Brass Eye and I use to love watching It Ain't Half Hot Mum with my granddad on Gold he was Asian and found it funny.

I wonder if this is why I don't watch TV no more? 🤔 Yet I do indeed watch the old comedies. Not everyone featured here, but many good British comedies.

social media killed comedy

Eric Sykes and Spike Milligan in Curry and Chips would upset a few people today 😂

Comedy in general is ruined because the producers fear the wrath of the 9% that find it offensive more than the 91% with a sense of humor. David Zucker said something similar in november 22'.

How about "Mind your Language" from the 1970's based in a multicultural language evening class. Poor Mr Brown trying to teach English to Chinese, Italian , French, German and many more. Enjoyed it back in the 70,s.

As an older guy i can tell you that even the west Indian immigrants back in the day even used to love 'love thy neighbour'

Glad I have 90% of these on dvd :) people need to get a life ffs 😂

Come Fly With Me, love it. Little Britain was super too. The old shows were better than what’s around today.

Just say "Everything before 2010"

People have gone soft, Can't take a joke. Always someone to get offended over nothing.

Bo Selecta was absolute comedy gold and it really sucks that we can't have comedy like that any more because a lot of people enjoy being offended on behalf of folks who really didn't give a shit. Shamone Mothafucka!

Yep, completely agree, grew up in the 70’s and all these shows will never get on tv in this day and age.

*"Can I get a re-wiiiiind?"* Sorry, that killed me!😅 I used to watch *"Bo Selecta."* But it was the overuse of blackface that killed it, so Leigh Francis and Channel 4 came to an agreement to end the show. I also think Sacha Baron Cohen is a genius.

Social media didn’t kill comedy, wokism did.

Little Britain's punching down to disability is a bit of a surface level idiocy. Both Andy and Ann were clearly pretending to be physically and mentally ill. It reflected the growing culture of benefit cheating and taking it to an absurd length because that is how satirical comedy works.

I've found in my 50+ years on this planet that the best comedy is that which today's perpetually offended class doesn't like. You left out 2 series that should have been on your list. Are you being served and On the buses. I was wrong. You left 3 off your list. I almost forgot Benny Hill.

John Cleese said last year that he wants to reboot Fawlty Towers with his real life daughter in the role originally played by Prunella Scales (who has Dementia), with all due respect to the man I'd rather he didn't, what was pant wettingly funny 50 years ago isn't even PC these days so a new Fawlty wouldn't be anywhere near as funny.

As an Australian I don’t know any of these programs. But I have fond memories of On the Buses and Benny Hill. People can’t take a joke these days

Brass eye, the day today, nathan barley, jam, the league of gentlemen.... some of the best humour ever committed to celluloid and have all aged timelessly. Nothing in the past ten years even comes close.

Loved Love thy neighbour. A very good social narrative. They tried to keep it light hearted. Rudolph Walker (Bill), aways has the last laugh.

It's a shame that everyone is so sensitive these days

Theres a huge differance between 2 people doing a character sketch show and using black face, compared to big budget blockbusters going out of their way to use it instead of changing actors. I feel so sorry for the young generation these days, having to live in a protective bubble, choosing anger over laughter. Computer says no.

I remember a teacher I had putting on Come Fly With Me on in school 😂

It ain't half hot mum was great. The joke was an English guy made up as an Indian guy who goes around saying he's British . A lot of people don't understand the basic meaning of English words let alone a joke .

Amazed Benny hill or the carry on crew missed a mention. Fan of Kenny Everett who probably wouldn’t make the cut these days either

Re the Lucas/Walliams shows, you're overlooking the key reason they wouldn't get made today - they're just endless reshuffles of the same five or six scripts.

The commentator misunderstands the essence of much of this comedy and who is actually being sent up. A pity.

I never found brass eye funny, I appreciated everything else on the list as I grew up with all of them it's just brass eye I couldn't watch back in the day

Balls of steel - public indecency is stringent as ever nowadays Dick and Dom bogies - shouting bogies in public settings could have bouncers embarrassing you or cops intervening

They would never redo Benny Hill these days. Pity!

Gets me why should they apologise. It was a reflection of the times.

several of those air on the likes of yesterday & other digital channels, they just have a note on saying that 'its a product of its time & if you're likely to be offended dont watch it' hell they even stuck one of those on Men Behaving Badly for gods sake, grow up people, its comedy, if you dont like it then dont watch it I say

I would be interested to see Little Britain in this current climate…the trans characters, black characters, fat fighters one (in the age of body positivity)…😅

Shame people have lost their sense of humour.

God bless the 90’s

There was an abominable show called "Mind Your Language" in the mid-late 1970s that sought to find humour in crude stereotypes of people learning English as a second language. It was also shown on one of the Australian networks in that period.

A big difference seems to be that in the shows from the seventies they were trying, maybe too simplistically and maybe unsuccessfully, but trying to mock the bigoted or racist characters but the later shows - Bo Selecta, Little Britain etc seem to be mocking the victims of bigotry, racism, disability prejudice and so on. I have more respect for the writers of the older shows. They were at least aiming at the right targets even if they missed them while viewers missed the point.

Bo Selecta was 'rubber face' NOT 'blackface'.

Regarding. Michael Bates in it Ain’t half hot Mum. Michael was born in India 🇮🇳 spoke fluent Hindi and Urdu . He was more Indian than most of these so called Indians in the Uk, who weren’t even born in India or their parents or Grandparents.

There are many programmes still being broadcast today that I wished didn't exist anymore.

Comedy is dead Political correctness killed it

Young people can't see how things was in the past. So how can the future be improved??

I feel sorry for parts of the younger generation. It appears they don’t understand irony, satire, parody and the ability to laugh at yourself. I’m not British but we had nearly all of these shows in my country. I find them hilarious however, these days, everybody finds things offensive. They certainly wouldn’t be able to handle Ricky Gervais. I find him hysterically funny!

1:55 - Fun fact: Did you know that BSM Williams, played by Windsor Davies, would go on to play at Sergeant Major Zero from Terrahawks

people, we've always been sensitive and everybody across the political spectrum (including you) is sensitive. we all have biases and opinions and will emotionally defend them. we are all sensitive and easily offended. all of us.

I Have watched most of the comedies above and its not about offending people its about make people laugh which we really need in this day and age. To be totally honest i dont think some of the things that are on this list are offensive at all (Bo Selecta doing craig david for instance its just a face mask) and when i watch i laugh because of kes and him pissing himself not the mask. Also how is trigger happy tv on this list its not offensive at all? I totally understand why people would be offended with some nowadays but its just to make people laugh. I watched You people film latley and i love Eddie Murphy but if it was the other way around it would be able to be shown and it would be racist. Some one please tell me how that works.

LENNY HENRY did the same with CHALKY ( FORGOT BEING RACIST ONLY GOES ONE WAY ) FUNNY THAT !!😐!!

By the way, Sacha baron cohen is bringing Ali G back this year )))

All of my favourites are now blacklisted. Unbelievable how far comedy has fallen. Funny is funny, no matter how much it may offend some.

Little Britain was always meant to be offensive so don't understand why they said sorry. It's like if the cast of dexter said sorry about making a show about serial killers. It's what it set out to do.

Does anyone remember a comedy called "Heil,Honey,im home?" It was like love thy neighbour,but hitler moved in next to a jewish couple in golders green.Some time in the early nineties,i think,but cant remember the channel.

I’m surprised the comedy Goodness Gracious Me isn’t on this list

The new statesman with rik mayel The young ones Filthy rich and catflap And Lastly The black & white minstrel show

The Benny Hill show or On the buses. Blakey as Gestapo .

When 'It ain't half hot mum' was made there were very few Indian actors (Which explains why some appeared as different characters in different episodes). Michael Bates, who grew up in India and could speak the language fluently, was probably the next best thing (And adds to the humour to his line of 'we British"). the use of the word 'poofs' was a product of it's time, it was used as the Jimmy Perry had heard it used multiple times by officers while on service. The portrayals of the British and Indians were both written as stereotypes and multiple times it was the Indians who came with the solution to a problem. one of the Indian actors was said to be not happy with the BBC when they refused to air an episode as a tribute to Windsor Davies.

It's sad that mainstream media don't make comedy shows or films anymore. Totally neutered themselves through fear of offending.

I have the dvd box set of it ain't half hot mum i still can laugh at it now perhaps by today's standards not politically correct but still funny to watch even if it doesn't get shown on TV anymore 😂

i think they would be able to get away with it cause europe aint that sensitive to comedy and mockery

F*ck social media and today society.

Benny Hill, The Goodies, Dick Emery...

So glad I grew up in an era of creativity and humour in the 80s and 90s before everything was neutered. Sad there seems to be a generation of people don’t understand irony, satire, parody and the ability to laugh at themselves. Modern mainstream media is just encouraging these simple and weak mindsets.

The fact bo selecta had to apologise to the snowflake celebs is serious...

My grandad got me into It ain't half hot mum and dad's army and honestly I love both shows I don't care it offends the modern world, it just a show that has character, story etc. Tbh the modern day shows are not as good as shows from 1950s to mid 2010.

You better start eating your word on number 2 Little Britain on its way back in 2024

Anyone who is not buying up the old box sets of British dvd comedy series, is going to be highly disappointed in their old age when they want to remember what a real side splitting laugh feels like. They are putting many on the list not to be produced again for distribution and series like " Bo Selecta " Alf Garnett " and even Bernard Manning are becoming harder to find for sale. They might not be your taste now, but with how unfunny and restricted life is becoming we will need every smile we can find in later life for entertainment.

I love Trigger Happy.

Mind your language would never get on TV today

Bates was born in Jhansi, United Provinces, India.

Little Britain and Come Fly with Me were brilliant. In fact most of these shows were brilliant. Too many whingers these days.

British comedy exists but not on tv but on the streets

Alf Garnett better be on this list

Monkey Dust is a great animated comedy sketch show that's still quite relevant today with it's satire on British society. But it's been all but buried by the BBC who I imagine are terribly embarrassed by it now.

Where is balls of steel and rising damp lol

Half Hot Mum would never be made because it was boring and stupid

Idk man, aside from a few iconic characters, Little Britain was kinda meh even back then. A lot of the sketches were very hit and miss.

All of those shows were shyte, with the exception of Alf Garnet, Warren Mitchel was brilliant but most people didn't understand he was mocking people like the character he portrayed!

Interesting. But its not 'Till Death Do Us Part'. Rather 'Till Death Us Do Part'.

Remember when you couldn't get away with reality nowadays?

I don't have trouble introducing 'Little Britain' to my friends ... those who know it already love it and those who don't know it wonder why they didn't know it. 😅

This narrative is so bs actually Dave chapels and Ricky gervais still gets Netflix specials which probably earns them millions

In fairness, almost everything before around 2010 wouldn't exist today. There are too many snowflakes that get offended by everything.

I thought little britain was coming back

Comedy is dead because someone taking offence to something you say is now your problem no matter how it’s intended or the context behind it instead of your emotions being your problem like it should be

Some of you folks can defend these classic British comedies all you want, along with other classic British TV shows of course, but ummm……we all should just know that all major British TV networks are being careful these days and are doing their best to avoid bringing back any of those classic TV shows that would offend a certain minority in the UK these days. You know? And ummm, well, besides, it’s 2024 now and if any of those British television networks in the UK would just even think about bringing back such certain shows like “Little Britain”, “Fat Families”, “The Word” and others, well then…… They oughta know that there should be just so many changes being made to them in order to fit with today’s ever changing social climate in the United Kingdom, including just rightfully giving certain characters to the right actors and actresses of color, staying away from material that makes light of serious subjects like **** and mental health, rewriting storylines that can be offensive to some people in the country and……ummm……more. Ya’ll see where i’m getting at here, right? Sorry if it’s being just a little bit all over the place to some of you in the comments section but, um, just really had to go on a bit of a tangent here to talk about how much British TV has changed in terms of potentially offensive content.

Anything that's vaguely funny couldn't be made today.

the bbc would NEVER make any of these shows because it is populated by people that are hyper sensitive to everyone else's needs. when everyone's needs are met you are left with an extremely unfunny comedy.

Now comedy is unfunny, we are all so much happier. Look at all the joy, happiness, and togetherness out there on the streets now comedies have been killed so we don't upset middle~class students with green hair, violent protesters, or religious extremists

A lot of British sitcoms had racist and offensive characters back in the day.

I own the 'It ain't half hot mum' DVD boxset. And there's definitely a noticeable few missing episodes. Same with 'Mind your language' boxset that I also own.

British comedy was ruined , but not by Mary Whitehouse. By today's people. The simple comedy of the 70s 80s and 90s was yes a bit risque but was laugh a minute and out loud. The boring comedians you have now are so careful not to go over any lines. It is outrageous.

Glad I was born in the 80s before the downfall of modern-day "comedy" and before I found out Dom Jolly was an insufferable prat. I encourage anyone to watch Brass Eye, we will definitely never see this type of brilliant comedy ever again.

Can’t believe you’ve missed ‘Curry and Chips’!