Greetings from Switzerland

Hi, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Attila from switzerland. I'm deeply in love with British sitcoms and with all British comedy in general. This infatuation started during my last few years in school where my English teacher (a real Brit who could hardly speak any German!) showed us an episode of "Blackadder Goes Forth"...and Bang!...after That "incident" I had to explore British comedy. Funnily, my english marks were always pretty good during schooldays but my English really improved in the years afterwards when I ordered DVDs of British sitcoms and watched them without any subtitles. (I hope my English is good enough for you to understand this post! )
I also fell in love with British culture and the peculiarities of your language...or in other words: guys like Del Boy or Rimmer introduced me to new ways of thinking or expressing myself in English, Gordon Bennett!
So, I'm very looking forward to chat in this forum where I can meet other Britcom afficionados and talk about my "addiction".
By the way, me and three of my friends (they, unlike myself, all have British roots or connections) made a tutorial about British sitcoms at university; our students liked it a lot!
Here's my DVD list of sitcoms so far...so maybe you can see my range or give me advice for future buys:
-The Best Of The Two Ronnies
-Monty Python (Complete + the movies)
-Some Mothers Do... (series 1-3)
-Porridge (series 1-3 + Christmas specials)
-Open All Hours (series 1-3)
-Fawlty Towers (Complete)
-The Best Of Not The Nine.. (1+2)
-Only Fools (Complete)....MY ALLTIME FAVOURITE SHOW!!!!!
-Red Dwarf (Just The Shows + Back To..)
-Blackadder (Complete)
-Rising Damp (Complete)
-The Fall & Rise Of Reg..(Complete)
-The Young Ones (complete)
-Bottom (Complete)
-Filthy Rich & Catflap
-One Foot In The Grave (Series 1)
-The New Statesman (Complete)
-The Brittas Empire (Series 1)
-Mr. Bean (Complete)
-The Thin Blue Line (Complete)
-Father Ted (Complete)
-Believe Nothing
-Nighty Night (Series 1)
-Lead Balloon (Series 1+2)
-The Office (Complete)
-Extras (Series 1+2)
-Spaced (Complete)
-The Mighty Boosh (Series 1+2)-Father Ted (Complete)
-Alan Partridge (Complete)

Wilkommen Gordon

Hello Attila! An excellent taste, if I do say so myself.

If you enjoy the likes of The Two Ronnies (sketch, not sitcom), you may very well take to The Morecambe & Wise Show.

Green Wing strikes me as something that may very well tickle your fancy, considering some of those more recent titles.

For a crash course in British media, politics, culture and comedy you can't go far wrong with Drop The Dead Donkey.

Dear John...., from the same writer as Only Fools And Horses, is an utter delight. Just Good Friends is also spoken highly of, but I'm not familiar enough with it myself.

Are you familiar with 'Allo 'Allo! or Dad's Army? Particularly with the continental connection, those may tickle you.

Other titles that spring to mind for various reasons: Outside Edge, Only When I Laugh, To The Manor Born, The Good Life, Are You Being Served?, Outnumbered, George & Mildred, Big Train (sketch show).

Hello to you Gordon,I like many of your video choices!

Quote: Nicky Liar @ August 4 2012, 4:18 PM BST

Wilkommen Gordon

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Hello Nicky, glad to see I'm not the only one here that speaks french no seriously, thanks for the welcome...or Dankeschön!

Hi, pretty good list. the obvious omission is anything by Galton & Simpson. Try Hancock's Half Hour or Steptoe & Son.

Quote: Aaron @ August 4 2012, 6:11 PM BST

Hello Attila! An excellent taste, if I do say so myself.

If you enjoy the likes of The Two Ronnies (sketch, not sitcom), you may very well take to The Morecambe & Wise Show.

Green Wing strikes me as something that may very well tickle your fancy, considering some of those more recent titles.

For a crash course in British media, politics, culture and comedy you can't go far wrong with Drop The Dead Donkey.

Dear John...., from the same writer as Only Fools And Horses, is an utter delight. Just Good Friends is also spoken highly of, but I'm not familiar enough with it myself.

Are you familiar with 'Allo 'Allo! or Dad's Army? Particularly with the continental connection, those may tickle you.

Other titles that spring to mind for various reasons: Outside Edge, Only When I Laugh, To The Manor Born, The Good Life, Are You Being Served?, Outnumbered, George & Mildred, Big Train (sketch show).

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Hi Aaron, thank you so much for your suggestions. I already know "'Allo 'Allo!" (at least series one...liked it a lot!) and "Are You Being Served?". I'm looking forward to explore the other ones.
One show that strikes me as important is "Yes Minister/Prime Minister". I watched one or two episodes many years ago on BBC Entertainment but it didn't do a lot for me then...probably my English was a lot worse than it is now. But my question is: Do I have a chance to get the majority of the jokes? Bear in mind that I'm from Switzerland and that I'm not that much into British politics (of the 70s...on top of that). Is it therefore wise to order a complete show DVD box set?

Hello- my fiance is 1/8th Swiss.

Quote: Nat Wicks @ August 5 2012, 4:46 PM BST

Hello- my fiance is 1/8th Swiss.

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Hello Nat, nice to meet you. Has your fiancee any relations to switzerland?

It might be benvenuto or bienvenue Gordon.

Great list and no Dinner for One, which is not very funny.

Quote: youngian @ August 5 2012, 5:36 PM BST

It might be benvenuto or bienvenue Gordon.

Great list and no Dinner for One, which is not very funny.

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Hi Youngian, now you've started something: Outside Britain the "Dinner For One" sketch is immensly popular...at least in the german speaking world they show the sketch on december 31 on every channel, you can't zap through without catching it somewhere sometime. The problem is, that the popular conception is that it's a classic British sketch which I believe it is not. Most Brits don't even know it and those who do know it don't like it (like you). So, most of us non-brits think that British humour consists of "Dinner For One", "The Benny Hill Show" and "Mr. Bean"...and that is not right.
But apart from that misunderstanding, I must admit that I find the "Dinner For One" Sketch quite amusing; it is even hilarious if you're pissed: in fact this is what the sketch is all about.
Without any intention I just explained with this post why I wanted to become a member of this wonderful site in the first place: to share my love (and hopefully even deeper in future) for the real British comedy with you people here. Here outside Britain you don't find many likeminded people...

Quote: Gordon Bennett @ August 5 2012, 5:17 PM BST

Hello Nat, nice to meet you. Has your fiancee any relations to switzerland?

View original

None that he knows- but I'm sure there are some distant relatives. He doesn't have any Nazi gold

Quote: Gordon Bennett @ August 4 2012, 10:00 PM BST

One show that strikes me as important is "Yes Minister/Prime Minister". I watched one or two episodes many years ago on BBC Entertainment but it didn't do a lot for me then...probably my English was a lot worse than it is now. But my question is: Do I have a chance to get the majority of the jokes? Bear in mind that I'm from Switzerland and that I'm not that much into British politics (of the 70s...on top of that). Is it therefore wise to order a complete show DVD box set?

View original

It is a very wordy show so you may find your pause and rewind buttons quite useful at times, but you don't need any prior knowledge of British politics or political figures in order to get the jokes. Quite the opposite in fact: it'll teach you a lot about how politics works in this country, and deals with no real-life figures whatsoever.

Order it. It'll probably take a few watches to unearth the multi-layers of the series, but you'll enjoy every ruddy minute of it.

Quote: Nat Wicks @ August 5 2012, 7:04 PM BST

None that he knows- but I'm sure there are some distant relatives. He doesn't have any Nazi gold

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Not even a dodgy swiss bank account?

Quote: Aaron @ August 5 2012, 7:50 PM BST

It is a very wordy show so you may find your pause and rewind buttons quite useful at times, but you don't need any prior knowledge of British politics or political figures in order to get the jokes. Quite the opposite in fact: it'll teach you a lot about how politics works in this country, and deals with no real-life figures whatsoever.

Order it. It'll probably take a few watches to unearth the multi-layers of the series, but you'll enjoy every ruddy minute of it.

View original

Then I will order it. Anyway, I watch my DVD's multiple times over the years...everytime I find something new that got probably lost the first time.
As I said I watched a few episodes on BBC Entertainment/Prime a few years ago...that was by the way the only British channel we could watch here in Switzerland for many years. Now that we have digital TV we can watch BBC 1-4, ITV 1-4, Channel 4, Channel 5 etc. But "Yes Minister" doesn't seem to get any repeats these days.
Thanks for your reply!

Quote: Gordon Bennett @ August 5 2012, 5:57 PM BST

Hi Youngian, now you've started something: Outside Britain the "Dinner For One" sketch is immensly popular...at least in the german speaking world they show the sketch on december 31 on every channel, you can't zap through without catching it somewhere sometime. The problem is, that the popular conception is that it's a classic British sketch which I believe it is not. Most Brits don't even know it and those who do know it don't like it (like you). So, most of us non-brits think that British humour consists of "Dinner For One", "The Benny Hill Show" and "Mr. Bean"...and that is not right.
But apart from that misunderstanding, I must admit that I find the "Dinner For One" Sketch quite amusing; it is even hilarious if you're pissed: in fact this is what the sketch is all about.
Without any intention I just explained with this post why I wanted to become a member of this wonderful site in the first place: to share my love (and hopefully even deeper in future) for the real British comedy with you people here. Here outside Britain you don't find many likeminded people...

View original

They did show a clip of the Merkel Sarkozy version on the news in the New Year-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO4GGizw-fI

Dinner for One was a popular music hall routine in the UK, but never transferred to British TV. It was seen in its later days in Blackpool in the late 60s by a German TV producer who liked it so much he invited them to make the sketch for German TV.