‘Allo ‘Allo – Some Classic British Comedy

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When I was in high school in southwest Dallas in 1980–1981, one of the PBS Evening comedy shows my Dad watched incessantly and enjoyed for so long was the hilarious weekly show, “‘Allo ‘Allo” with Gorden Kaye (as René Artois, cafe owner during WW2), Carmen Silvera (as Edith Artois, wife of René and jealous of all beautiful women), Vicki Michelle (as Yvette Carte-Blanche, pun intended), Kirsten Cooke (as Michelle Dubois head of the French Resistance), Kenneth Connor (as Monsieur Alfonse, Undertaker; “Swiftly and with Style”), Sam Kelly (as Captain Hans Geering), Ken Morley (as General von Flockenstuffen), Guy Siner (as the gay Lieutenant Hubert Gruber), Arthur Bostrom as Officer Crabtree the bad French-speaking policeman), and several other wonderful actors and actresses. I came to love this show because the writers, Jeremy Lloyd, David Croft and later Paul Adam, created an exceptionally entertaining 30-minute British sitcom. Dad and I always laughed non-stop.

A clip from one of the best episodes in Series 2, “The Gâteau from the Château“:

I have also come to love many other British comedy shows such as “QI – Quite Interesting,” also “Travel Man” with Richard Ayoade, “Gadget Man Stephen Frye,” and “The Graham Norton Show,” and of course “The Benny Hill Show” and even more so “Fawlty Towers” with John Cleese. All of these shows Dad and I thoroughly enjoyed weekly, well, barring Graham Norton that I later discovered and fell in love with. So my followers and readers…

What were or are some of your favorite British comedy shows? Share them below in comments. 😁

Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Always

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33 thoughts on “‘Allo ‘Allo – Some Classic British Comedy”

  1. British?
    Fawlty Towers, One Foot in The Grave are two that come to mind. The Two Ronnies is also on my list.
    However, my favorite sitcom of all time is the Big Bang Theory which is very much American.

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  2. Well, technically it wasn’t a comedy show per se, but there was humorous banter between the two principals, John Steed and Emma Peel.

    Diana Rigg wuz the one I fell in love with, bein’ my first crush, and all . . . .

    HUBBA HUBBA!

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  3. Even though I’m a huge fan of British television, especially British sitcoms. Coupling, Father Ted, Black Books, Blackadder, going back to oldies like Are You Being Served. The Goodies. the 1948 Show which was a sort of precursor to Monty Python. etc.

    But… (climbs on soap box) This is strictly a personal opinion. I am not going to start beating drums or ranting or anything like that. The one exception to that was shows like Allo Allo and that entire genre that attempted to find humor in the horrors of war. I, of course, wasn’t even born at the time and was not involved in the war but I had relatives who fought in that war and some who died in it. I simply don’t find anything even remotely funny about Allo Allo and the other shows like it which try to find humor in it. I find it in bad taste and even blatantly offensive. I have the same opinion of shows like McHale’s Navy, Hogan’s Heroes., etc. (End of rant)

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  4. In NZ we got every comedy show the British made and I must say I loved every one of them. I have not had the same reaction to American sit com comedy as I would become annoyed with the canned laughter and it would happen when nothing was that funny and the lines were not delivered with the same natural impact, however MASH I thought was the best American one back in my younger years. Black Adder series with Rowan Atkinson, The Young Ones, Only Fools and Horses, Father Ted etc were some of my favourites but all of them were favourites at one time or another. These days its people such as Ricky Gervais and George Carlin style stand up routines on You Tube that get me going.

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  5. Both iterations of Bob Newhart’s shows are worth a look. Cheers was good before it went stale .. Too many people were fond of Seinfeld, but I’m not one of them . . . .

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    • Lenny, I can watch the series over and over and never get tired of it, that is… its wonderful humor, timing, and context of the scene. But with respect to/for GrouchyFarmer, making light of WW2 atrocities committed by Nazi Germany, war, and far too many innocent civilians being killed/murdered, that is the sad reality of war—hence, we should avoid it at all costs! But, in the words of Albert Einstein:

      “I loathe all armies and any kind of violence, and yet I am firmly convinced that in the present state of the world, organized force can be opposed only by organized force. There is no other way.”

      — Albert Einstein,

      Sometimes, perhaps most of the time, armed conflict, war, and senseless killing MUST be fought with equal or higher force in order to save other millions of lives from continued, unopposed force and killing. There is a military necessity to stop more increased violence and killing.

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  7. Benny Hill, was rather sexist, but funny as hell. Monty Python, is one I really enjoyed. The Young Ones, was pretty good. I’ve seen a good bit of Graham Norton, he has his moments.

    One of the funniest things on TV these days is the Felonious Orange Show. While simultaneously being one of the most damnably frustrating things I’ve ever seen.

    I just caught the first three episodes, of season 27, of South Park last night. Yes, I know, South Park isn’t British, or even close to high brow humor, but I’m a fan of their expose’ style. Even if you can’t stand South Park, you should watch these three episodes.

    If anyone knows how to put an apostrophe above a letter in comments, I’d love to know.

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  8. I loved “Allo Allo”!

    I watched too many British comedy shows (britcoms) to remember them all, but I’ll mention the classic “Monty Python”, but also “Keeping Up Appearances” (with Mrs Bucket aka Bouquet), “Little Britain”, “Blackadder” of course!, and “Absolutely Fabulous”.

    The feature “Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment” is not working. I always do it and it never remembers me.

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  10. My first introduction to Brit humor was the hilariously dreadful (or dreadfully hilarious) St. Trinian’s. It was my maiden voyage with Alistair Sim, he of the rubber face and the leeeer…I was about 12 at the time, and had never seen comedy quite this broad before. By the time he had matured (in a manner of speaking) to “A Christmas Carol” I had too, and have never watched any other version of it again.
    Never really cared for Benny Hill, or Fawlty Towers, The actors were just a tad too over-the-top with snidity (delicate blossom that I am) …

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    • I’m not familiar with St. Trinian’s or Alistair Sim. Nevertheless, I have found that many people all have different tastes, preferences, etc., regarding British comedy—it varies widely. Hmmm, interesting. 🤔

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