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Britcom - TV Tropes

  • ️Tue Sep 13 2022

British situation comedy series, or "Britcoms", differ from other countries' sitcoms by being much, much more British.

Britcoms are often quite bawdy, playing against the stereotype of British Stuffiness. The typical Britcom takes a negative worldview, with the lead characters usually lonely, miserable, doomed to failure, just plain weird, or flat-out unlikable.

The standard length for a UK TV "season" (called a "series" in the UK) is 6 to 8 episodes. British shows tend to be written by just one or two people, often long term collaborators such as Galton and Simpson or Gervais and Merchant.

UK production companies will usually let a show end when it's over, rather than running successful franchises well into the ground. Thus, Fawlty Towers was a major hit and still ended in two series. There are exceptions such as Last of the Summer Wine, which lasted for 37 years, ending in 2010.

Some British sitcoms have also become popular in Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or mainland Europe. There have been several American remakes of Britcoms, including a few successful ones: Sanford and Son, All in the Family and The Office. Americans can sometimes see UK sitcoms on PBS stations, [adult swim], HBO, BBC America or IFC.

Expect to see a lot of Black Comedy, Double Entendre, Understatement, Cringe Comedy, The Comically Serious, Surrealism, Deadpan Snarkers, Refuge in Audacity and British Humour.

Examples are, naturally, numerous:

Examples: