ITV have always played second fiddle in the sitcom land to the BBC. A historian once wrote that the main reason why ITV sitcoms have rarely sat easy was that a half hour sitcom on ITV runs around 25 minutes and includes a commercial break, whereas the BBC sitcoms run to a near full 29 minutes with no break in the middle to stop the flow of the programme.
He also said the 4 minutes of breaks reduces the time for character development and exposition in stories, and causes ITV sitcoms to appear lacking in character development.
ITV sitcoms have been very successful in the 70s, such as On the Buses, Rising Damp and Bless This House, compare it to the catalogue of great sitcoms from the BBC, they do appear to be second fiddle, with a huge amount of sitcoms running for just two or three series, after being dropped due to falling ratings.
ITV now seem to concentrate on big entertainment shows, soaps and daytime programmes to attract the big audiences. The era of a half hour sitcom on ITV attracting a big audience is now dead and gone in their eyes.
It's a bit of a storm in a teacup. If McDonalds were to announce they're going to stop selling salads nobody would kick up a fuss becasue, no matter how hard they try, everyone still associates McDonalds with burgers. Nobody goes to McDonalds for a salad. ITV have had 1 hit sitcom in 20 bloody years. I don't think it's unreasonable for them to surrender a genre nobody associates them with anyway. It's not then end of television....i doubt even the most ardent ITV viewer will notice.
LS
Lou Scannon
"ITV comedy" generally seems to be an oxymoron.
A list of those UK sitcoms that are most venerated as all-time classics would be very BBC-heavy.
I struggle to think of any ITV sitcom that the mass populous would regard in the same way as e.g. Only Fools and Horses, Fawlty Towers, Dad's Army, or Blackadder.
A list of those UK sitcoms that are most venerated as all-time classics would be very BBC-heavy.
I struggle to think of any ITV sitcom that the mass populous would regard in the same way as e.g. Only Fools and Horses, Fawlty Towers, Dad's Army, or Blackadder.
Never the Twain, Fresh Fields, French Fields, Second Thoughts, Home James, The Upper Hand, Rising Damp, On the Buses, Mind Your Language, Man About The House, Duty Free, Only When I Laugh, Robins Nest, George and Mildred, i thought i would throw are few in there.
Yes, Rising Damp is often cited as the most 'BBC' of ITV's sitcoms. That said, although I appreciate that much of the BBC's output in the 70s and 80s was much better, I do still have a soft spot for some of the ITV sitcoms of the era. The BBC's were more laugh out loud funny, better written and often had great character development and pathos. However, I've always found ITV's sitcoms to be quite comforting and easy to watch. There's something to be said for that - you don't always feel like being bent double laughing at Fawlty Towers; sometimes a pleasant chuckle is all you want.
My personal favourites would include On The Buses, Bless This House, Man About the House, Robin's Nest, George and Mildred and Rising Damp from the 70s. Pickings were a bit slimmer in the 80s - except for Watching which I thought was excellent. Duty Free and Only When I Laugh were alright. By the 90s it's very hard to find any ITV comedy worth talking about. Mr Bean, Second Thoughts and The Upper Hand are about it really and even then they weren't a patch on their output in the 70s.
So, I wouldn't say ITV comedy has been all bad and certainly not to the extent that a lot of PC media types would have you believe. There was some pretty decent stuff back in the day, even if it wasn't to the BBC's standard.
Never the Twain, Fresh Fields, French Fields, Second Thoughts, Home James, The Upper Hand, Rising Damp, On the Buses, Mind Your Language, Man About The House, Duty Free, Only When I Laugh, Robins Nest, George and Mildred, i thought i would throw are few in there.
Anything from this century? The 80's alternative comedy boom killed ITV comedy and it never really recovered. Since then they've had Mr Bean, The Upper Hand (kinda forgotten) and Benidorm and that's about it. Again, it's not exactly hard to see why they'd rather just not bother.
