In other words, here are a bunch of TV shows that were brilliant. But they never seem to have been repeated, or been made available on DVD. Which is a shame.
It's Garry Shandling's Show - fantastically off-beat, self-aware, post-modern take on the family sitcom. Complete with self-referential theme tune ("This is the theme to Garry's show, the opening theme to Garry's show. This is the music that you hear as you watch the credits") and a machine that Garry would use whenever he needed to do a flashback. A work of genius that has disappeared into the ether. A damn shame.
Sean's Show - Comedian Sean Hughes, living in a bedsit. I can't remember much about it, apart from the fact that it was funny, a bit surreal and self-referential and, now I come to think of it, probably hugely influenced by Garry Shandling's show.
On The Air - David Lynch's post-Twin Peaks attempt to make a sitcom, set in a local TV station and populated by bizarre characters. Cancelled after 3 shows in the States, over here in the UK we actually got to see all 7 that were made, but it's never been seen since.
Friends - a little known, short-run sitcom which was shown on Channel 4 in the mid-90s and never seen again. A cult hit.
What show(s) do you wish were repeated or available on DVD?
Update: Here's a YouTube clip of Kelly Monteith for Jo.
4 comments:
The Garry Shandling Show would be my top choice too.
The only other one that I can think of right now, that used to be a 'must-see' in our house was Kelly Monteith. I must be honest and admit that I haven't looked to see if it's available on DVD (clearly I haven't missed it that much)...
How about "Dream On", the adult themed sitcom created by Crane and Kaufmann a few years before they came up with "Friends". Channel 4 showed the first two seasons (30 episodes) in 91/92 which are available on DVD, but apparantly a total of 120 were made and shown on HBO in The States.
Jo - yes, Kelly Monteith. That was great, wasn't it? Wasn't it? Maybe nowadays it would look awful!
Jon - yeah, Dream On. Fantastic show. Swearing and nudity in a sitcom! We used to watch that avidly, for some reason, didn't we?
I looked up Kelly Monteith's website (www.kellymonteith.com - it took me a while to find it...) and his biog made me chuckle, so I like to think that he was and is funny, and it wasn't anything to do with our low standards. After all, we loved Rhoda, right?
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