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If we’re talking about comedians?
Dave Allen.
Steptoe and Son
My original post was a piss take but some of these answers remind me of spending time with my grandfather when I was a kid
Even something like last of the summer wine has a nostalgic feel whether the content was actually clever or not
The trouble is Sludge, would you still have the same opinion of Bob Monkhouse if he wasn't a tory? I used to hate him when I was younger because I thought he was just an oily, slick quiz show presenter, but when I dug a little deeper, I found that, despite his presentation being a bit too polished for me, he was a genuinely funny man.
Comedy, like music, is either good or bad and which side of the line it falls into is very much in the eye of the beholder. Allo Allo has been mentioned on here, but I thought it was rubbish because I was old enough to remember Dads Army which was very similar in format and concept, but I thought it was far better acted and fresher.
Acts like Morecambe and Wise, the two Ronnies and Tommy Cooper (the only comedian I've seen who would have me cracking up even before he said a word) would have to be a bit more "edgy" if they were around these days, but they would have been successes because, when all's said and done, they were funny. Similarly, it appears that, thankfully, the sort of Terry and June family based type situation comedies are a thing of the past.
Not really old school, but "Big Train"
Almost as good as Python.
How long ago does it need to be to be considered old school?
Phoenix Nights is over 20 years old and creases me every time I put it on.
Its difficult to say without going back and watching them. I remember loving Allo Allo as a kid but its probably horrifically dated now.
Of the ones I have watched of late, Only Fools (especially the early ones), Porridge, The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin and Yes Minister are all superb.
Brass Eye is 25 now so not sure if that counts, still the best comedy ever shown on TV IMHO.
We rewatched all of Reggie Perrin and Yes Minister (and Yes Prime Minister) last year.
Yes (Prime) Minister is still brilliant - not just the writing and the acting, but the relevance over 40 years on.
Reggie Perrin was dire. Painful. Re-watching it destroyed all my fond memories.
I would say things changed in the early eighties
The fact that one foot in the grave kept going is the key
Phoenix nights is mostly very gentle comedy and quite old school but then throws in a spanner
It's way above the likes of bread , only fools and horses , allo allo
it is interesting how some comedy ages better than others though.
Tommy Cooper was one I never found remotely funny, painfully unfunny- you couldn't have paid me to watch him when I was a teenager, yet I really liked the earlier work of someone like Harry Hill who I can imagine being just as unfunny to someone else if they weren't feeling it.