Television Arrested Development is the best comedy of the last 25 years

Spoony

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It's great, but everything after the original 3 seasons is a bit of a chore to get through. Still plenty of funny moments, but it doesn't compare. There was no need to bring it back.

And whilst the original Office is getting mentioned, I think Extras is extremely underrated among Gervais' body of work, and British comedy in general.

There is nowt better than the Blackadder series.
 

Bubz27

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Besides the fact they are both in the same genre, they are not very similar at all. I like both shows, but AR is a lot cleverer.
But the thread is about best comedy so it doesn't matter what style of comedy.

IASIP maintained a similar peak for a lot longer. And AD's lows were considerably lower for me.
 

Ollie Derbyshire

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No love for Veep? Thought that was very good.

in no particular order;
Veep, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Rick & Morty, Big Bang, Friends, Community, Parks & Recs, Trailer Park Boys and How I met your Mother, all funny and all have some great episodes. Most recent Paradise PD was very funny at times as well. Mythic Quest first season was good. Only Fools and Horses and Red Dwarf of the UK ones I’ve seen.

GOAT I’ll give to Always Sunny, but very difficult choice, close joint second The Goldberg’s, great one to watch with the kids, and Blackadder Goes Forth, absolute classic. Might have just changed my mind about the GOAT....
 
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OleGunnar20

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Peep show
IASIP
The Thick of it (more satire but whos judging)

First three seasons of AD are definitely up there though. Some absolute gold.

"They're laughing with me Michael!"
 

OnlyTwoDaSilvas

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But the thread is about best comedy so it doesn't matter what style of comedy.

IASIP maintained a similar peak for a lot longer. And AD's lows were considerably lower for me.
True. The length of Sunny's peak is impressive. Perhaps only really matched by The Simpsons and Seinfeld, all had a good 9 or 10 years of excellent output. Very few comedies stay that good for that long.
 

Maagge

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It's fantastic. Exactly my type of layered humour with the added deadpan delivery. Superbly written.
 

acnumber9

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I didn’t realise this was even a debate. The first three seasons are the best comedy writing since seasons 3-8 of The Simpsons.
 

marktan

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I only watched a couple of episodes and it bored me, didn't realise it was so highly rated.

For me:
Certain episodes of Always Sunny
Friends
Inbetweeners

I started Parks and rec a month ago and rated that pretty highly too. Next tier down would be the likes of Office (US), modern family etc.
 

decorativeed

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But the thread is about best comedy so it doesn't matter what style of comedy.

IASIP maintained a similar peak for a lot longer. And AD's lows were considerably lower for me.
I thought the thread was about Arrested Development mainly.
 

Minkaro

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I preferred Community to Arrested Development, but both very good.

I used to love the IT Crowd too.
 

Cascarino

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AD is really great.
Peep show is probably my number one though.
 

Oldyella

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True. The length of Sunny's peak is impressive. Perhaps only really matched by The Simpsons and Seinfeld, all had a good 9 or 10 years of excellent output. Very few comedies stay that good for that long.
 

Salt Bailly

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Really need to watch this properly, only seen it in fits and starts. I think it's all on Sky Go...

My top tier shows from this era would be Curb, Veep, IASIP, The Office (UK), Parks & Rec, I'm Alan Partridge, The Mighty Boosh and Garth Marenghi's DARKPLACE.

Edit: Add v.early era Ali G/Borat to that list.
 

Idxomer

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Only 2 great seasons, the 3rd is good but not on the same level as the 1st two.

No enough to be called the best when Sunny had consistency for over 10 seasons.
 

Sweet Square

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The guy turned into a twat and it's partly a Spinal Tap rip off but nothing comes close



every other comedy show afterwards is just a bad rip off.
 

Maagge

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Really need to watch this properly, only seen it in fits and starts. I think it's all on Sky Go...
It's difficult to watch Arrested Development like that. There are so many great callbacks throughout the show which you won't pick up on if you've only watched it irregularly.
 

KirkDuyt

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I like Scrubs.

AD is funny too, but it's a bit too ridiculous for my taste.
 

GBBQ

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It really is a pity that AD was cancelled, seasons 4 and 5 are disjointed but still have some great moments. It would have been great for it to have been at a network that would have kept it going.
 

OnlyTwoDaSilvas

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It's difficult to watch Arrested Development like that. There are so many great callbacks throughout the show which you won't pick up on if you've only watched it irregularly.
I agree, and it gets way better with repeated viewings. The dialogue is so sharp, there's so much you miss the first time round. It took a few viewings to pick up on all the different names Ann gets called.

"Annhog's coming?"
 

decorativeed

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Really need to watch this properly, only seen it in fits and starts. I think it's all on Sky Go...

My top tier shows from this era would be Curb, Veep, IASIP, The Office (UK), Parks & Rec, I'm Alan Partridge, The Mighty Boosh and Garth Marenghi's DARKPLACE.

Edit: Add v.early era Ali G/Borat to that list.
I'm confused how you can have both of these two on the list, but not the US Office, given it was inspired by the first one and written by the writers and creators of the second one. Do you not like it?

Arrested Development definitely benefits from watching them all in order, and rewards multiple viewings with extra jokes.