Greatest Sketch Comedy (What's Your Top 10?)

[Snarf Zagyg]

After posting my Berlantiverse post ....

Poll: Best DC TV Superhero Show

Look, the MCU gets all the cred, and for a good reason. It makes the major money. And then, coming in a little later, there is the DC Universe, wherein people argue about the Zac Snyder Cut, and the benefits of grimdark v. Wonder Woman, and what happened with the whole Nolan Trilogy, and so on...

www.enworld.org

I was thinking that in these trying times, we need something a little lighter! How about ... TOP 10 SKETCH COMEDY SHOWS OF ALL TIME????

Now, there's been a lot of good sketch comedy done in history, so much that it is probably outnumbered only by the bad sketch comedy. But what is the BEST OF ALL TIME? For me, the following are the Top 10, combining a peculiar mixture of funny, personal preference, influence, and longevity into a special judging admixture ...

10. Upright Citizens Brigade

9. Mr. Show

8. Key and Peele

7. A Bit of Fry and Laurie

6. The Kids in the Hall

5. Chappelle's Show

4. Portlandia

3. That Mitchell & Webb Look

2. SNL

1. Monty Python's Flying Circus

(apologies to Your Show of Shows, Carol Burnett, MadTV, SCTV, In Living Color, Laugh-In, Muppet Show, and Smothers Brothers, among so many)

So, what are your Top 10? Or any recommendations for a show that I can watch during the Forever Time?

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Added a poll! Choose 5, or put your top ten here in the comments.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Ah, Sid Caesar's Show of Shows, classic. I'd probably rate In Living Color and SCTV higher than the honorable mentions, but other than that, I can't disagree too much with your rankings.

One thing I'd add is the Almost Live show. That's a favorite from back in the 90s. And filmed in Seattle, it is so very 90s.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

One thing I'd add is the Almost Live show. That's a favorite from back in the 90s. And filmed in Seattle, it is so very 90s.

Despite my affection for all things Joel McHale, I never got around to seeing that! I'll have to see if it streams anywhere.

I always viewed the late 80s into the 90s as the "golden age" of weird tv that aired late at night on the UHF stations* ... including a show called, um, WeirdTV.


*Try explaining that to a kid today. It's like explaining "race as class."

 

[Morrus]

While Python has several of my favourite sketches of all time, they weren’t consistently great.

Fry & Laurie were more consistent but didn’t reach the same heights. Same with Mitchell & Webb.

Then there are older classics like The Two Ronnies (the Fork Handles sketch is an all-time great). Not the Nine O’clock News, Little Britain, French & Saunders, the list goes on. Too many to mention.

Most of that list I’ve never heard of (American, I assume?)

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

While Python has several of my favourite sketches of all time, they weren’t consistently great.

Fry & Laurie were more consistent but didn’t reach the same heights. Same with Mitchell & Webb.

Then there are older classics like The Two Ronnies (the Fork Handles sketch is an all-time great). Not the Nine O’clock News, Little Britain, French & Saunders, the list goes on. Too many to mention.

Most of that list I’ve never heard of (American, I assume?)

I tried to include a fair smattering of ones from the UK I was familiar with in the poll; if I had gone to 30, Little Britain and French & Saunders would have made it.

....not The Two Ronnies, though. Can't say I've ever heard of that one?

But yes, there is an American/Canadian bias.

The British Ones on the list (for everyone but Morrus) are:

A Bit of Fry and Laurie
That Mitchell & Webb Look
Monty Python (that makes 3/10 for my personal top 10 and 2/5 for my top 5!)
The Day Today
Not the Nine O'Clock News

 

[TheSword]

Kind of missed of Catherine Tate and Little Britain and the two ronnies is as funny as Monty Pythons Tv work.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

@Morrus @TheSword

fine, I added those. Plus Snuff Box, because reasons.

 

[Morrus]

....not The Two Ronnies, though. Can't say I've ever heard of that one?

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Public Access shows have been supplanted by YouTube and whatnot, but pound for pound weirdness, they had the edge. Stumbling across some of that Top-Level Weirdness late at night was an experience all of its own.

I always viewed the late 80s into the 90s as the "golden age" of weird tv that aired late at night on the UHF stations* ... including a show called, um, WeirdTV.

SNL and Monty Python both. While they both had their share of misfires and weaker material, at their best they became cultural landmarks.

While Python has several of my favourite sketches of all time, they weren’t consistently great.

Fry & Laurie were more consistent but didn’t reach the same heights. Same with Mitchell & Webb.