Message Boards

From the Goodies to the Good life, the 70s had sitcoms galore and so much more. But was the saucy Seventies the best decade for comedy overall?

If I think back over the moments that have had me splitting my sides, more have come from the 1970's than any other decade.

The biggest laugh that I recall from the 1970's, the very first time it was screened, was "Don't tell him Pike !" from Dads Army. That was a really well thought out use of ordinary everyday language. It is still a talking point 35 years later. I'm chuckling about it now, as I think of that scene.

Then we had Morecambe and Wise, with their wonderful song and Dance send-ups and, of course, their memorable Breakfast to the Stripper.

"Some Mothers do 'Ave em", was compulsive viewing, for its slapstick comedy. I don't think there was any significant bad language in it, but you knew exactly what Frank Spencers victims were feeling and thinking from their physical reactions and expressions. Much cleverer than what we see today.

And what about Dave Allens sketches. I really used to look forward to those, particularly those that featured Funerals !

We mustn't forget to mention Fawlty Towers, and the memorable episode with the Germans.

Norman Stanley Fletcher in Porridge was compulsive viewing and it is still popular today.

The Carry-on films were starting to go a bit too far in the 1970's, but there are still some fabulous laughs to look back on. Private Widdle in Carry-on up the Khyber was a funny enough name, but discovering much later in the film, just as we were getting used to the silly name, that his Christian name was James, Jimmy to his friends, was really good use of humour developed over an extended period. I haven't seen anybody get two laughs out of the same joke in the same sort of way for a very long time.

Monty Python had one or two sketches of pure genius, I'm thinking of the Dead Parrot, the Fish-slapping Dance, Ministry of Silly Walks and the LumberJack song, but most of it wasn't that funny really and was setting the scene for the dross that was served up as "alternative comedy" in the 1980's and beyond. It was all downhill after Monty Python. Comedians saw what they'd been able to get away with and tried to outdo them. The quality of humour on TV, generally speaking, has spiralled downwards since then. Shame. The 70's were undoubtedly the best overall.

Surprised there was no Dave Allen in the selected 30 e.g. the race for the last funeral plot in the cemetary (4/4/75).