The Telly Addict Awards 2011–PART 4

 

The John Sullivan Comedy of the Year

2011 was a funny year for British Comedy. Long running shows aired their final series such as Ideal, Two Pints of Lager, Lead Balloon, Coming of Age, Psychoville and My Family while an old favourite made a very welcome return in the form of Absolutely Fabulous. All in all it would seem that British Comedy is going through a transitional period with the Panel Show providing the majority of laughs. Have I Got News For You, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Q.I. and 8 Out of 10 Cats all went from strength to strength. T.V. Burp may be a show deemed by many to be in decline but it still kept me laughing. For the winner of this award it would be all too easy for me to look to America. Shows such as The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Two and A Half Men and How I Met Your Mother all continue strong runs while The Big Bang Theory provides a marker for all other sitcoms to follow. I am instead going to stick British for this award and have decided that the first ever winner of The John Sullivan Comedy of The Year Award shall be………………………………………………………………………………………………….8 Out of 10 Cats. Comedy today comes in many different forms and this award covers all of them, even the comedy panel show. Sure, Have I Got News For You is pretty much an institution while Q.I. has Stephen Fry. In my opinion though, 8 Out of 10 Cats is currently the best. Jimmy Carr is a brilliant presenter, if only for his crazy laugh, while Sean Lock and Jon Richardson are great as team captains. The guests are often brilliant too with the idea of putting JedWard on Sean Locks team in one episode inspired.

 

Best New Show of 2011

There were many new shows in 2011, some good, some not so good. Sky 1 perhaps had the pick with Mad Dogs, Trollied Mount Pleasant while Sky Atlantic possibly had the craziest with This Is Jinsy. Simon Cowell brought his brand new show, Red or Black, to ITV while Penn and Teller also joined the station as they asked the British public to fool them. James Nesbitt became the British House in Munroe while more recently David Jason became The Royal Bodyguard. Will Mellor shook off Two Pints of Lager with two brand new sitcoms in White Van Man and In With The Flynns. It is a comedy that wins this award with Channel 4 once again proving to be King of the Comedy. The Best New Show of 2011 is………………………………………………………………………………………………….Friday Night Dinner. Had it been on it’s 2nd series then this show would’ve won the best comedy award. Two grown up brothers return home every Friday Night to attend a family dinner with often hilarious results. Whether it’s the creepy nosey neighbour with his dog showing up or the father who (for reasons never explained) walks around the house bare chested, it’s a genius concept. The Royle Family mastered this kind of family unit concept years ago yet Friday Night Dinner came across so fresh. The cast is genius in itself with Tamsin Greig brilliant as the fiery mother while Paul Ritter is equally as good as the science loving, often shirtless father. The casting of Mark Heap as neighbour Jim Bell is inspired also. All in all a very deserved winner of this award.

 

Next time I’ll finally be announcing the winner of The Peoples Choice Telly Addict Show of the Year. The results are in and let me tell you, it’s extremely close.