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The Top Ten British Comedies You’ve (probably) Never Seen
By Andrea Miller

If you’re a fan of British comedy, you’ve probably managed to cover everything featuring John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, or Ricky Gervaise. There was a time when only the broad mega-hits were available to you, but you know what? The internet is awesome. So, VH1 style, here is the second in a series of the top ten British comedies you’ve probably never seen, coming to you with ample commercial breaks!

1. QI (Quite Interesting): Is the funniest panel show that I’ve ever seen. QI also happens to be ripe with interesting facts. Also, it's hosted by Stephen Fry. You may only know him from bit roles in things like V for Vendetta, but he's probably one of the wittiest men on earth.

2. Coupling: People have compared it to Friends because it also centers of six people. But that’s where the similarities stop. Because unlike Friends, it never takes itself too seriously. They tried adapting Coupling in the States, and it flopped: The sex-centered (or magnificent lack thereof) show became a too-bright, four camera, indelicately acted aberration. The real version is very, very funny.

3. Peep Show: Astoundingly enough, this one’s not a baby of the BBC. It’s about two roommates, prematurely middle-aged Mark and musician/slacker Jeremy who seem normal enough at first glance. Then you hear their deviant, dysfunctional inner monologues. It’s a show that handles what would be incredibly painful situations in far funnier ways than almost any other show I’ve seen. 

4. Green Wing: An hour-long comedy, which doesn't really exist here. It's sort of like Scrubs with ADD. The first season is far superior to the second, but both are solid, and both manage to end with honest-to-God cliff hangers.

5. The Thick Of It: If you’re like me, you can appreciate how the original Office is funny, but also don’t have a pain threshold for the bits with an unbelievably high cringe-factor. The Thick of It has a similar deadpan mockumentary feel, but it doesn’t make you feel queasy (I know you’re probably not me and think every moment of The Office was golden, in which case you will still love this show). It follows the workings of a government department, from exhaustion and boredom-driven mistakes, to a crazed, terrifying press secretary kicking-up the type of swearing you just can’t get on the CBC.

6. The Mighty Boosh: One of the grandbabies of the absurdist British comedy tradition, the Boosh episodes have a plot, but also have a lot of bizarre characters who have ridiculous things happen to them, along with amusing, low-key banter. And this double act was mixing musical numbers with comedy years before Flight of the Conchords. 

7. Spaced: You know how Simon Pegg writes funny, funny things?  Well, before Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz he co-wrote and co-starred in Spaced. Though more domestic in its setting (he and co-star/author Jessica Stevenson pose as a couple in order to rent out a flat) there are definite similarities in style and geeky revelry which foreshadow the full-out spoofing that he’s done since.

8. Alan Partridge: Alan Partridge is an old-fashioned Tory in a young man’s body. Politically incorrect and just totally oblivious, this character has gotten around. Starting off on The Day Today (very funny in its own right) as the sports correspondent, he later got his own 70s-style chat show in Knowing Me, Knowing You (also an even funnier radio show of BBC Radio 4) and was later followed as a struggling, middle-aged has-been in Norwich.  Stick in a brace of Christmas specials and the like, and it’s a very funny franchise. 

9. Brass Eye: Michael Palin said that he considered Brass Eye to be the best modern equivalent to Monty Python. I would compare it more to the UK’s answer to the Daily Show, only before The Daily Show existed…Chris Morris, who anchored the aforementioned The Day Today, hosts this fake magazine-style show covering topics such as crime, sex, and pedophilia. 

10. Never Mind the Buzzcocks: Another panel show, this one with a pop sensibility. It demonstrates the ultimate formula for panel shows: witty host + comedians + possibly drunk wildcard celebrities trying to guess song lyrics or answer pop trivia = hilarity.

 Honourable Mentions:

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