It is very revealing that while we are undeniably in the midst of the Golden Age of TV, the Beeb is not part of it. Great content is being produced so fast it’s hard to keep up, yet the monolithic Licence Fee funded entity can only pump out generic sitcom #327 and cheap drama #726. Aren’t they ashamed, deeply ashamed to be vomiting up Citizen Khan when Master of None is a click of a button away?
The deal is that we are forced (at threat of prosecution and imprisonment) to pay the Licence Fee in return for the BEST TV IN THE WORLD. If, instead, we’re getting little more for our money than endless rehashes of Terry and June while the other side is making Arrested Development then some very serious questions need to be asked.
As a thought experiment, what are the top 20 best sitcoms made by the BBC that have been on in the last 20 years, vs non-BBC?
BBC:
- The Office
- Ab Fab
- …?
Non BBC (in no particular order):
- Curb Your Enthusiasm
- The Simpsons
- Peep Show
- Master of None
- Father Ted
- Arrested Development
- Parks and Rec
- Friends
- Frasier
- South Park
- Modern Family
- 30 Rock
- Louie
- It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
- The Inbetweeners
- Family Guy
- Flight of the Conchords
- Spaced
- The Larry Sanders Show
- Seinfeld
Maybe if the BBC didn’t automatically get paid whether or not they spewed out lazy rubbish decade after decade, they might have to make a bit of effort. “The BBC makes the best tv in the world”? Now that’s comedy.
