The best sketch comedy shows of all time
From classics like SNL and Monty Python's Flying Circus to modern favorites like I Think You Should Leave, we're counting down the 30 funniest sketch shows ever
TV Lists Sketch comedy
Clockwise from bottom left: In Living Color (Fox), Mr. Show With Bob And David (HBO), Monty Python’s Flying Circus (BBC), The Kids In The Hall (CBC), The State (MTV) Graphic: Rebecca Fassola
While sketch comedy is almost always part of the cultural conversation thanks to the near-constant presence of Saturday Night Live, it’s been particularly relevant lately with the recent release of I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson season three. Robinson’s absurdist take on the genre is a modern favorite, but it also got us thinking about the all-time greats: what are the best sketch comedy shows of all time? To construct our list, we consulted our staff and asked for their thoughts. We ended up with a diverse group, from can’t-miss classics like Monty Python’s Flying Circus to one-season wonders like The Day Today. Here are our picks for the greatest sketch shows ever.
159 Comments
I mean, I love the love being shown to KITH, and deservedly so. But some of the rest of this list is just… bizarre. I’ve never been a huge SNL guy, but on what planet is the most influential sketch show in history (yes, in terms of influence, I’d put it ahead of Python based on the sheer number of stars it’s produced who have shaped the comedy landscape for decades) not *at least* in the top 10?
“I’d put it ahead of Python”You’ve lost all credibility.
It is undoubtably the most influential, but is it good? I’d argue it’s not even top 20 in quality and most people who become stars who were part of Saturday Night Live become stars outside of it and sometimes, despite it, instead of because it.
There would be no SNL without Python. Python cast a much longer shadow influence-wise than SNL. Since for the most part Python didn’t rely on pop culture references or current politics it remains evergreen, as opposed to SNL.
Realistically, it should go Python, Kids in the Hall, Mr. Show, and then SNL. SNL will always have it problems, but it has also had many, many high points. I would say that Chapelle deserved to be much higher too. Dave may have burned out quickly, but the first two seasons were amazing and opened up the doors for Key and Peale and A Black Lady Sketch Show.
Agreed. I love Key and Peele, but if we take the Chappelle backlash out of the equation, his show was easily one of the most influential pop culture creations of its era. Should be higher than K&P.
pretty sure madtv opened the doors for key and peele
Adding on. If it came 5 years later, ok. But not sure you can say Chappelle opened doors for a BLSS that wouldn’t come for another 15 years
I think Python and SNL can be 1 and 2 interchangeably. This is just another in long line of these listicles trying waaaaaaay too hard. The Tracy Ulman show is ahead of SNL, I dare anyone to name a a sketch from that show that isn’t “The Simpsons”, which she hated. The Carol Burnet show is 8?! Also, SNL is Live! Degree of difficulty has to be a factor in judging.
Culturally influential, for sure. But compared to the volume of output vs the quality of that output, I have to agree with its placement on this list. Even during its heyday, it never batted as well as TKITH, Mr. Show or Monty Python.
Can’t really argue with you on that one. I’d say Key and Peele, Chappelle’s Show, and SCTV are shows that probably had a higher batting average than SNL, too.
Chappelle’s Show easily had a higher batting average than KITH and probably higher than Mr. Show as well. It also worked much better than those two shows as cultural criticism. I love both KITH and Mr. Show but if we’re honest then Chappelle was better. I’d put it at #2 after Monty Python.
I think Chappelle was sharper when targeting social and cultural issues than KITH. But I think the way KITH works in film making and elevating some of the skits to short films and exploring avant garde spaces gives it an edge. But really they are going in two different directions that entirely non-comparible.
I second the person saying “influential but not best”…I actually more or less like the recent seasons (in the minority around here) but the terrible seasons are really terrible and you’ve gotta take the whole thing. That said, I think putting Chapelle’s Show that low must be including his post-show idiocy and that’s not cricket
100% agreed. I fully expected SNL to be # 1 or 2 (with Python). Even if you’re not a fan, it’s influence alone should give it a spot in the top 5.
As I went through the slides I got more and more irritated because I knew that made it less and less likely that That Mitchell and Webb Look was going to be left out.But then it wasn’t! Well done.The sketch that really stands out to me is “Old Holmes:”The end of the last segment of the “Quiz Broadcast” (or “Remain Indoors”) series of sketches is also strangely emotionally affecting.Both of those could really do without the laugh track, but oh well.
This has got to be my favorite bit.
I guess the caveat for the title is “that Americans know about”.I’d definitely add in Not The Nine O’Clock News……a show that had a noted impact on the sports world (the Darts sketch actually got the British Darts Organisation to ban drinking during games). Also a likely bit of inspiration for Mitchell & Webb’ss snooker commentators.
I generally grade on a curve for lists like this from US websites.But absolutely, NTNON is a classic and totally brilliant. The League of Gentlemen, The Two Ronnies, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and French and Saunders also deserved consideration as well, I’d say, to varying degrees.
French & Saunders made the listicle.
Oh, FFS, sorry… I clicked through so quickly to see if Mitchell & Webb was there that I totally missed it. 😀
I remember someone – might’ve actually been Stephen Fry – who said that everyone in Britain said that sketch comedy was impossible to do after Python, and that NTNOCN resurrected it. I’m Australian, so I’ve a soft spot for Hale & Pace, who got briefly exiled here, IIRC, after microwaving a cat.
Here’s one I prepared earlier.
ha, i used to love hale and pace when i was a youngster!
The Two Ronnies is great but had quite a few sketches that don’t hold up well for modern audiences. But one of the great things about sketch comedy is that you can repackage them for “best of” shows losing the problematic sketches.
I will say that when the Two Ronnies hit….they hit BIG. I consider their Mastermind Sketch to be probably one of the most inventive things to ever hit TV.The fact that it’s both written to be the correct answers before they are asked AND hilarious answers to the current question is a sight to behold. Its brilliant in its delivery and so unique even if you don’t understand the topics being discussed you get how well it works to crack you up with its silliness.
Good call – an absolute classic. Having come up with the concept, they also had to string together joke after joke, as each punchline has to act as the set up line for the next punchline.
Ronnie Corbett (aka the one answering) looks to be on the verge of cracking up a few times during the sketch as he is realizing how well the jokes are hitting perfectly. The really great thing though is that when you look at the hilarious answer it is unofficially correct in the joke itself to the public at large once you understand the gist of it:Correct. Who are Len Murray and Sir Geoffrey Howe?
Burke’s. aka BerksIn the UK, Berks is slang for ‘fool’ so he is calling these 2 fools….which at the time, if you asked the general public they were absolute idiots because of their stupid decisions and tone deaf excuses. Which of course doubles the joke of the next one: Correct. What is the difference between a donkey and an ass?One’s a trade union leader and the other’s a member of the cabinet.Which literally calls them both idiots again as they hold those positions at the time.Every joke within it is both subtle and complex. There are puns, double entendres, witty introspection , etc. And yet when you look at the Q/A wholly, they are both correct twice in answering the previous question AND the current question in a joking form……its genius!I remember John Cleese saying his comic timing was so perfect he had never met anyone else who had mastered it as well he could. You can see why in the sketch with small moments of stoppage to allow the joke to hit and then hit again as the comprehension nails you again with the double meanings.
Their 1976 special “The Picnic” was the funniest half hour of my then 10-year-old life, still makes me chuckle nearly 50 years later…
Thanks for that – I don’t recall seeing it before. It’s like The Plank with a bit of Benny Hill-style smut thrown in.
If we’re including youth-oriented sketch shows like You Can’t Do That on Television here, then I’d put The Goodies in with the rest of this missing Brit list.
love The Goodies, not sure you could classify them as sketch though.
Fair point, although I’d argue that it was at least partly sketch in the sense that there were scenes which easily functioned as standalone sketches often only tangentially connected to an almost freeform plot.
The Americanized version, HBO’s Not Necessarily the News, arguably should’ve been on this list as well.
Is Big Train not well thought of?
HBO did a middling Americanized version of Not the Nine O’Clock News in the early to mid 1980s called “Not Necessarily the News”. Rich Hall was a regular, and Wikipedia says it was the first writing credit for several future Simpsons writers including Conan O’Brien.
“Are we the baddies?”
You left out my all time fave, Exit 57!
They did that on purpose just to spite you!
I was looking for that and The Vacant Lot. There was a time when Commedy Central did a good job at giving young comedians a chance. Exit 57 is amazing both on how good it was and seeing that group of comedians getting their start before Strangers with Candy or the Daily Show.
yessssss
I wish Dinello still acted. I know he writes for Colbert and occasionally shows up in clips, but ya know.
Good selection, but I would have put Carol Burnett as first and Living Color second.
No Whitest Kids You Know?!
Wow!…
A… a gallon.
Yeah.
Th-That’s that’s illegal, right?..
Yeah it’s a felony!
It’s a felony!…
Yes.
Wow!…
And here you are with it anyway…
That is… Wow.
I uh, I didn’t even knew it came
in liquid form!
Science.
That’s right.
Reno 911?
Not sketch comedy?
It’s likely too “problematic” of a pick for an official AV Club endorsement, but if this is a list of funniest sketch shows, WKUK should absolutely be on there.
slow jerk is one of the most reliably funny bits I’ve ever scene.
For my money, they had a handful of excellent all-timer sketches, but also a lot of dead air in between. Still: gallon of PCP, getting high with dinosaurs, asshole Lincoln…
I think they have quite a few all time great sketches. The Grapist? The monster truck driver sketch? The Kennedy Assassination musical?! The COWBOY WATERBALLOON FIGHT SKETCH?! ugh they were so good
He’s coming to your toooown.Do you wanna get down?
R.I.P. Trevor.
RACE WAAAARRRR
Nice dig to put Key & Peele above Chappelle’s Show …
I mean, if you’re going to include The Day to Day, you can’t really leave out the superior Brass Eye. But try telling that to these bog-brained Murphies.
*Brass Eye* not being on the list was the one thing we didn’t want to happen.
Saloni’s a street dentist, that’s why.
Genius
Ideally you’d leave both of them out as neither are sketch shows.
Yeah, maybe.
John Cleese’s real last name is not, and never was, Cheese. His father’s last name was Cheese, but he legally changed it to Cleese long before John was born. Research – what a bitch, right?
Would have liked some separation between SCTV and SNL, but otherwise a pretty good list. In Living Color was a great show, certainly above SLN quality wise, but .. 4 seems pretty high imho. Of course, this is a list that everyone will have different opinions about, more so than usual.
SCTV #1.
I’d certainly put it right up there in the #5 no question
Agreed. Python is definitely #1 but I think SCTV is a close, close #2.
Also, shoutout to Four of the Floor, who don’t belong on this list but should be given honourable mention for giving us Canadians (and probably many Americans in the more northern states) Mr. Canoehead.
If there was no Four on the Floor, it’s interesting to speculate if there would have been a Kids in the Hall series as we knew it, if at all. The CBC put the sketch comedy infrastructure in place with the former, and many of the behind-the-scenes people eventually rolled over into KITH.Dr. Demento was a fan of The Frantics (the comedy troupe behind Four on the Floor), so Americans might also be familiar with some of their radio and album sketches through his radio program. A few years back, The Frantics put out some of their best material from their old CBC Radio show as a podcast… not quite sure how to describe their style, perhaps they’re the older, nerdier brother of KITH.
https://thefrantics.com/podcast/
Agreed – The Frantics TV show proved the format viable for CBC. It was thanks to the Frantics migrating from radio to TV that primed my family and more than a few others for CODCO, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, KiTH… I mean, my family still sings “I get around in a brown car” every time we see a brown car, and “Heavy Metal Shop” does NOT get old. And when my siblings ask me how my IT job is going, I tell them “I made a new game, it’s called ‘Stop Your Mother’…”
Also Bizarre with John Byrner which gave us Super Dave Osborne.
I still haven’t put my brain together after it blew apart learning that Super Dave was Albert Brooks’ brother. (It was just about there, but then I learned Norm Macdonald was CBC’s Neil Macdonald’s brother and CTV’s Joyce Napier’s brother in law.)
Look, I understand that the AV Club reminds us near-daily that we are supposed to be mad at Dave Chapelle, but its silly to list his show so low.
Muppets egregiously too far down on the list.As is UCB.
How could you leave out Fridays?
Fridays was wild. At times it was very funny. Then there’d be stretches of like 4 sketches where there were no laughs. Indeed, they did some that were not even comedy (purposely, I’m not saying that they just weren’t funny, they were dramatic sketches).They’re on Tubi, and boy do they bring me back to my early teenage years.
I was thinking Stella would be in there.
Stella on Comedy Central wasn’t sketch, unfortunately. I love the Stella Shorts but I don’t think it qualifies as a TV show, which is a shame, because it’s so damn funny. I’m kind of surprised The State was listed so high. I adore the cast, but the comedy felt sort of unpolished and they all went on to way better and funnier things.
Great show. But I dont think it qualifies here.
No love for HeeHaw nor Uncle Miltie? A good list regardless.
No Peter Serafinowicz Show? you messed up
I love this bit from Catherine Tate:
If you’re going to include UK shows , the absence of The Fast Show (or its sort of predecessor The Harry Enfield show) is a bit weird seeing as rightly or wrongly stuff like Catherine Tate and Mitchell and Webb were influenced by itAlso the weirdly odd but wholesome relationship between an English lord and his Grounds keeper The terrible Jazz programme For Americans , it was apprarntly shown under the name Brilliant(?) ..and I think a lot of the cast may have been in Harry Potter in different roles .Also I’ll never understand why Americans like Benny Hill , it was rubbish even then , and if you wanted an older guy doing risque humour Spike Milligan had shows on TV around that time.
He was the one who we got, back then.
“Got” as in “got to see” or as in “understood”?
Had available on network television. Monty Python on PBS was a rare treat; I do recall seeing some Morcambe & Wise once.
Yeah, Spike Milligan’s Q series was scattershot, frequently brilliant, occasionally somewhat… er… problematic. And I say this as a Spike Milligan fan.
To be honest that its true , his humour was pretty anarchic, but its ..well.. some kinds of jokes were allowed then that arent now (hell theres a reason he’s had to have some of his Muppet show stuff removed), and its not totally wrong. yeah , its of its time , and when its good its good , and when its bad..well yeah. One slight thing I’ll say in Milligan’s defence , he grew up in india , and had an irish family , so identified as Irish (which is great as he’s beloved here) , but also as Indian, having spent his childhood in Maharashtra (which ..look as a pale guy he probably couldn’t do today )so I mean he was coming from the right place doing indian (SE asian) brownface , but yeah it’s probably hard to watch now.He also gave the world the sitcom Curry and Chips , about a half Irish half half Bangladeshi factory worker*. I mean they wanted to highlight prejudice. But ..yeah it..it wasn’t great to be honest , and theres a reason its not talked about .Also he was a boundary pusher in an age where you were allowed to make fun of anybody (and yeah a lot of that is straight up hurtful today), plus given the fact that he was bipolar and suffered most of his life with PTSD (seriously , his war diaries are an amazing read , and mostly given his wit , massively funny , but about two years in, after some of his friends had been killed and he was under heavy shelling for 48 hours alone in a communications station he has a breakdown , and his description of it is absoutely heartbreaking .I really recommend reading them (but of course , trigger warning and all that , they’re definitely ‘of their time’ regarding some of the humour).Its a pity outside the UK/Ireland he’s kind of overlooked.(Also on his grave he’d asked for the the words “Duirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite” which translates from Gaelic as “I told you I was ill .” so his pursuit of getting a laugh continued after he died)*(in 60s Britain Irish people were only slightly less descrimnated against than Asian people . and considering we (Irish ) at least look practically the same as the English ,that says a lot about humanity)
Yeah, to be fair, it’s clear even in the bits that are harder to excuse as simply being a product of the era (*ahem* “Pakistani Daleks”) that Spike was never a “punching down” kinda bloke. He was just as prone to deprecate his own background (“First Irish Rocket to the Moon” is basically a checklist of Irish stereotypes that I’m sure played very well with English TV watchers of the day).
Agreed on the War Diaries, which I have! “At Victoria Station the R.T.O. gave me a travel warrant, a white feather and a picture of Hitler marked ‘This is your enemy.’ I searched every compartment, but he wasn’t on the train.” A childhood gift from a family friend was “A Book of Milliganimals,” and the tale of Mr. Gronk the Bald Twit Lion probably did far more to shape my sensibilities than something like Disney ever could.
I’d also put Big Train over both The Fast Show or Benny Hill (although probably not The Day Today or Mitchell & Webb).
As a voracious comedy nerd, I read about the Fast Show and was endlessly pissed off about never being able to see it (here in Canada). Finally, our Comedy Network cable channel (which is vastly worse now and only shows reruns of the most mainstream contemporary sitcoms in endless marathons, at least back then the odd interesting import would show up) showed the Christmas episode, which I had a tape of for years (still dig up the occasional sketch I’d never seen on YouTube in piecemeal bits). I also read about all of Milligan’s later TV work (my parents had raised me on Goon shows on vinyl, as that also used to air here on the radio back in their day), but it was just never shown over here; Benny Hill was the show that someone (and Hill was by all accounts a pretty shrewd businessman in terms of deals like that) packaged and imported for North America, so we were stuck with it. Blame 70s TV import package syndicators, not an audience who had no choice or knowledge of better options. I don’t think people find it brilliant, just were of a perfect age for that mix of juvenile old school racy-but-tame & conservative lewdness and the iconic Yakity Sax-plus-sped-up-film combo to stick in their memories
I mean it gave the world Yakkity Sax and Jane Leaves (or at least introduced the world to them) so there’s that I guess.
If the Fast Show had a flaw , it was that it went down the route of surviving on catchphrases before the end . Although it did manage a (pre nutso) Johnny Depp cameo , which is something a lot of BBC shows havent managed
The absence of Big Train is also a problem.
I loved Big Train ,written by Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews although its from the period before Glinner went nuts and had a breakdown on twitter(I still hope he somehow gets himself together and just moves on)
Not every ‘Big Train’ sketch was a hit, but when they were good they were incredible. The “cake factory” skit is still one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
Being hit and miss seems to be the nature of sketch shows in general, but yeah. The best of Big Train stands alongside anything.
Nice
There’s one version of that drunk rambling guy sketch which becomes oddly touching by the end.
the whole thing is, as he’s talking about a lost love. hits hard, as the rest of them rely on silly non-sequiturs for the (very funny) comedy. Fast Show were good with that, did it a handful of times with other sketches too.
DO YOU LIKE CHEESE?DO YOU LIKE PEAS?DO YOU LIKE CHEESY PEAS?THEN YOU’LL LOVE THESE!NEW! SQUEEZY CHEESY PEAS!THEY’RE SQUEEZY!THEY’RE CHEESY!THEY’RE PEASY!SQUEEZY CHEESY PEAS!
To be clear, I liked Benny Hill… when I was 9. I watched him on PBS between the ages of 8-12.
So… just a list… but clearly not a ranked list.
I will be the only person – absolutely the only person – who will wonder why Balloon Shop wasn’t included in this list.
I’m still a big fan of Pardon My Zinger
Baroness Von Sketch Show is better than several on here. And Mr. Show does not make the list? The State, a great talent incubator, but the only sketch that I though was actually funny was the film noire talk show, Talk, You.
Mr. Show is uh #3
I loved loved loved Baroness Von Sketch and miss it tremendously.
Well, can’t argue with this one. Flying Circus may not be my personal #1, but the spot is deserved. My personal #1 and #2 are #2 and #3, and The State is probably next for me with In Living Color not too far behind, if at all. I find this list acceptable.
As a teen in the 90s, there were few things better to watch than The State and In Living Color. It’s amazing how many of those actors have gone on to do great things. Tom Lennon might be my favorite of both shows.
He’s also (probably) incredibly rich due to his successful screenwriting career.
The State in particular has a real diversity of talent among its cast. Wain and Jann became directors, Garant and Lennon did a lot of screenwriting in addition to acting, a lot of the rest have been at least working comedy actors (Ken Marino probably being my favorite)… really, Todd Holoubek went back to academia and I’ve hardly heard from Kevin Allison as an actor– seems to be mostly podcasting and teaching in comedy and live storytelling, but everyone else has had a pretty solid and sustained career.
MadTV is deservingly low, but ahead of The Muppet Show?Get the fuck out of here.
If the Muppets performance of I Go to Rio doesn’t put a massive smile on your face, you’re not human.
Whoa, I was getting worried for a second that you guys weren’t going to include Kids in the Hall. Didn’t think you’d have it ranked that high.
I didn’t really need to click through the slideshow to know that the ridiculously unfunny The State would be a top selection here, but what kind of alternate reality exists where SNL and SCTV aren’t even in the top 10 of this list?
A list of “best sketch comedy shows” that doesn’t include “Your Show of Shows”/”Caesar’s Hour” is like a list of “best sitcoms ever” that doesn’t include “I Love Lucy”. I’d also include “Tush”, an offering from TBS in the early 1980s headed up by WTBS on air personality and sometime news guy Bill Tush and that launched Jan Hooks’s career along with others who worked on SNL. “Tush” probably doesn’t make the top 10, but it’s noteworthy.My top five would be: “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”, “Your Show of Shows”/”Caesar’s Hour”, “SNL”, “The Carol Burnett Show” and “Kids in the Hall”. And much as I liked much of “In Living Color”, the Fire Marshall Bill recurring sketch was one of the most painfully unfunny things ever aired on American television.
Miss Swan? The character that is a collection of asian stereotypes and was named Miss Kwan in her first appearance? If you actually believe she’s Björk-inspired I have a bridge to sell you. There’s no denying MADtv launched a ton of careers but to count Miss Swan as anything but a stain on its legacy is embarassing.
Yeah, that character was an obvious embarrassing stereotype right out of the gate and had nothing to do with Bjork.
Claiming Swan was inspired by Bjork is funnier than any of the Swan sketches.
John Cleese’s last name was never Cheese. His father changed the family name to Cleese 16 years before John was born.
It’s nice to see The State get some love. My friends and I used to quote that show a lot in grade school. It’s been fun in the years since to spot the stars in various projects.
I’ve obviously never watched a full episode of The Catherine Tate Show because it’s dogshit, but I’m pretty sure that Lauren Cooper isn’t a cheerleader, because that’s not a thing we do in the UK.
slideshow!
I was raised on Monty Python, SCTV and SNL. I became man on Kids in the Hall, but for my money, Mr Show is the all time king of champions.
i would say mad tv is massively underrated and snl massively overrated
Not that I am suprised that AVC gets things wrong but…’’John Cleese (whose real last name is Cheese, incidentally).” NOT TRUE. I guess you think it was cute to toss that untruth in.He was born John Marwood Cleese, October 27, 1939, Weston-super-Mare, England, but has mentioned that eariler on, the family’s name was changed from Cheese.
Scottish sketch comedy show from a decade ago called Burnistoun, that’s a good one. It’s all over YouTube.
There’s an Australian sketch show little known overseas called The Micallef Program (or alternatively the Micallef Programme or the Micallef Pogram, as they jokingly attempted to cater to viewer’s pedantry over the course of the series), which for my money is as good as anything in the top 10 of this list.Presented as a variety show, its full of satirical and absurdist sketches with variety show bits peppered in.
MICALLEF PROGRAM: Bob Franklin’s Carpet Cleaning Commercial – YouTube
Drunk tilted Room Sketch – YouTubePlenty of clips on youtube and worth checking out.
Snuff Box with Matthew Berry and Rich Fulcher
Joseph, person of the year!Joseph, person of the year!Joseph, person of the year!
No Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In? The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour? The subversiveness of the latter was legendary; the former was an institution before SNL and launched careers. In fact, I don’t think NBC does SNL without Laugh-In.
I remember where I grew up, you could watch Monty Python at 1030 pm (on PBS), SCTV at 1100 and then SNL at 1130.Then SCTV had to mess it all up by expanding their show to 90 minutes (initially before they scaled it back to an hour). Yes, I used to bounce back and forth during commercials.I used to watch the Carol Burnett show too and I remember wishing they’d make Tim Conway a regular, and lo and behold, they did!
I have very happy memories of SCTV catchphrases making the rounds in my family when I was a kid.
No “Little Britain?” Computer says noooooo…
I didn’t expect to see any Australian shows on this list, but I will take the time to put in a word for ‘The Micallef P(r)ogram(me)’, a surreal, highly verbose sketch show from comedian Shaun Micallef. It could be goofy slapstick one scene and then sublime wordplay in the next, and it was wonderful.
great show. to this day, one of my favourite sketches (mostly for its excellent silliness/simplicity ratio) is when a little person dressed up as the devil walks down a busy Melbourne road and turns into a building. the camera pans up to show the building number 333. gets me every time.
I’d move SNL up just for the fact that most of those shows wouldn’t have existed if it hadn’t paved the way.
Tim and Eric speaks to me on a visceral level.
The ridiculously low position of the Muppet Show and the bafflingly high position of effing Tim and Eric are causing me to dismiss this entire list.
This is an unpopular opinion, Tracy Ullman doesn’t understand it’s the medium. Sure it’s different, and it’s just coasting on “how can one woman do all this….” but then there’s Carol Burnet doing the same thing 20 years earlier. It always felt like it was pandering to just one person, and it’s the first place where the Simpsons came on but that’s also a sign you can’t remember anything about it.
No show was more of its time than the Ben Stiller Show. And a lot still holds up for this Gen Xr. I wonder if a new watcher today would enjoy it. Like how watching Looney Tunes had 40s pop culture reference you could still get through context.
I don’t remember where I was having this discussion recently, but someone observed that The Ben Stiller Show is extremely West Coast-90s and The State is extremely East Coast-90s.
Without being able to articulate why, that makes sense.
French & Sauders should be much higher on the list: James Cameron with a high-powered rifle on a crane on the set of Titanic should be enough to get them to #5 at least!
OK. Acceptable. I was nervous Kids in the Hall wouldn’t take a top-2 spot, for reasons. I, personally, don’t enjoy Key & Peele. There are a few iconic sketches, sure. But most of their show is their corny banter, a part of the show they clearly ripped off from Chappelle.Yes to The State being top 5.Let’s talk about Upright Citizens Brigade. Season 1 – one of the all-time greatest seasons of sketch comedy. Season 2? 3? Like…what the hell happened? To this day I still cannot figure it out. Any thoughts? What am I missing? Season 1 could still put the show in the top 10.
Is That Mitchell and Webb Look streaming anywhere?
There are full episodes up on YouTube. Enjoy! (Also, your handle is excellent.)
Can’t speak for the overall quality of Trigger Happy TV, but their “learning French” bit is kind of an all timer:
I have to say, excellent list, but are we including any web content, or only sketch comedy that aired on traditional commercial television? Because, I think it’s criminal that Studio C isn’t included. I mean, it did run on BYU tv, but that’s also sad and should be ignored. We all learned of these excellent sketches from the web. And I also agree that Laurie & Fry should be included as well!
I think “Not The Nine O’Clock News” should be on there… It was a small cast, but brilliant people, early on.
For an example, since “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” is #1 (no argument there)… if anyone is familiar with the TV debate where Cleese and Palin debated a couple religious figures (who don’t seem to have watched or paid attention to the movie) who called it blasphemy… then I’ll offer up NTNON’s dead on parody of that debate:
I think “Not The Nine O’Clock News” should be on there… It was a small cast, but brilliant people, early on.
For an example, since “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” is #1 (no argument there)… if anyone is familiar with the TV debate where Cleese and Palin debated a couple religious figures (who don’t seem to have watched or paid attention to the movie) who called it blasphemy… then I’ll offer up NTNON’s dead on parody of that debate:
Not a valid list.You completely missed The Whitest Kids U’Know and that’s just not forgivable.How dare you disrespect Trevor Moore like that, RIP, I expect an apology or a complete resignation from your position as a writer.
I don’t think Tracey Ullman was ever a “huge deal” in the UK. She was one-third of a decent but very mainstream sketch show, Three of a Kind, with Lenny Henry and David Copperfield (not that one, and not the other one either) and had a few minor pop hits doing covers of old songs. I think most people in the UK were a bit stunned to learn how big she’d made it in the US.
Carol Burnett not a sketch show. But it should/would top a list of best variety shows.
Did you ever see Smack the Pony? Some absolute winners, particularly the dating site videos.
I think Your Show of Shows/Ceasar’s Hour should be somewhere on the list. Some of the sketches still hold up strong seventy plus years later, and half the writers room would go on to define american comedy for the next two decades.