There are certain things which will never get a second look because the 'cool' clique in the school yard of life objects. (this is very much a 'cool' list)
Whereas other stuff, which is patently crap, gets hailed as one of the greatest works in comedy, ever, because there is someone, or something in it, which is - 'cool'.
In short: certain things are acceptable, even laudable, for one to be be seen to like in public.
Objections to this are usually explained away with differences in taste, etc. But it just strikes me that once in a while a comedy comes along which appears to have the 'right' people in it, or is about a 'relevant' subject matter and all the media wonks tell us how fantastic it all is. Strangely a huge number of people tend to go along with this.
Tellingly however, once the hit has had its day, it rarely gets repeated again and, frankly, nobody wants to see it.
Watching this 'cool' stuff turns out to be much like eating wallpaper paste.
Frankly, I think I would prefer spooning Solvite into myself to watching an episode of The Office ever again, no matter how 'ground breaking' the wonks tell me it was.
If this list tells us anything it is that media folks have an inflated view of the importance of some of the more recent comedy products.
No matter whether the author of a list likes Ab Fab or Spaced, it can never really be compared with Hancock or Monty Python who in fact did much to shape the national understanding of comedy.
Mind, the presence of 'I Love Lucy' and 'The Cosby show' heavily underplays the US influence on this little island.
It is little surprise that we dubbed a programme Hancock's Half Hour, after the Yanks had been running 'Caesar's Hour'.
And the influence of their movies can never be underestimated.
Was it The Young Ones or was it 'Animal house' which caused that particular anarchic spark?
I would have finished the list at Only Fools And Horses, (with 'Seinfeld' and 'Frasier' as later US contributions) simply because there hasn't really been anything of similar impact and weight since.
Trying to treat The Fast Show as something of equal standing is much like trying to compare the US invasion of Grenada to the second world war.
I add that there are things missing on there which I myself do like a great deal. But liking something doesn't really make it 'great'. Much as I might admire the likes of Red Dwarf, it was hardly one of the greats of history. Annoying as lists as these are, they should at least be kept short.
(Unless it's a list about newts, of course.)
Oh, and before I go. I never liked The Likely Lads either (incl. Whatever Happened). But not because it had someone in it who held the 'wrong' views. Simply because I felt it wasn't very funny.
Somehow having people with Geordie accents in it didn't make things any funnier to me.
The various north easterners I know disagree ardently there. To them it holds near mythical status - along with Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Poor fools.
You've a lot to catch up on and enjoy.