As an American, I don't come across many comedies in my country that are worth watching. They all seem to be formulated and sanitized to fit within a measured reaction of a focus group. Even though break-out comedies such as Seinfeld and even 30 Rock tend to pay off well for the network they all seem to want to stay with the safe money/safe laugh.
What American made comedies do Brits enjoy and why?
Curb Your Enthusiasm .
Office: An American Workplace - superb characters, performance, writing.
Seinfeld: See above reasoning
Frasier. Cheers. 30 Rock. The Office. American Dad. South Park. Family Guy. Arrested Development. Curb Your Enthusiasm. Sledgehammer.
Curb. I like The American Office but not near as much as the UK version. Family Guy. Only saw bits of Seinfeld (it was put in a very late night slot) and what I saw I liked, but not enough to bother with catching up with DVDs. I used to like Cheers.
People tend to lap up most of the stuff we get from America, I suppose the worst stuff has been filtered out before we get our delivery of US comedy. I liked The Andy Milonakis Show, Wonder Showzen, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Reno 911 (for about two series). Not really a fan of the drama/comedies from the US like Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty etc.
The Big Bang Theory, 30 Rock, Two and a Half Men
The only ones I watch at the moment are The Office and Family Guy. If Arrested Development was still on I'd be watching that too.
Arrested Development, The Office, Scrubs and The Big Bang Theory.
"The Greatest TV Shows of the Noughties" from Channel 4 had Friends at #11; which was the only American show on the list.
I've liked a few over the years, but there has been some shit shown as filler.
Main US ones I like are
Roseanne
Cybill
Friends
Ellen
Ugly Betty
Cheers
Frasier
Spin City(first few series)
Desperate Housewives
Off Center
The Class
Family Guy
The Simpsons
Futurama
American Dad (have to be in the mood)
King of the Hill
South Park
some of the shit that has poured out
The Cleveland Show
The Big Bang Theory
That 70's Show
How I Met Your Mother
My Name Is Earl
Quote: Dolly Dagger @ February 24 2010, 4:33 PM GMTCurb. I like The American Office but not near as much as the UK version. Family Guy. Only saw bits of Seinfeld (it was put in a very late night slot) and what I saw I liked, but not enough to bother with catching up with DVDs. I used to like Cheers.
Bother. You won't be disappointed.
I hated Seinfeld.
It just bored me, I think it was more that I found the actor annoying.
Also being stuck on BBC2 at random times didn't help me like it any further.
Oh and I missed 3rd Rock From The Sun! How I don't know, thought it was brilliant.
Quote: Dolly Dagger @ February 24 2010, 4:33 PM GMTOnly saw bits of Seinfeld (it was put in a very late night slot) and what I saw I liked, but not enough to bother with catching up with DVDs.
It's one of the greatest sitcoms ever made, so worth bothering about. 
Obviously Cheers & Seinfeld set a Benchmark that was very hard to match
But I did think that My Name Is Earl was an excellent, inventive & very funny series.