I haven't seen KOTH, but I totally relate to your sentiment. I always thought that people who expect all humor to be LOL funny have a rather primitive concept of humor. There are so many "creations" out there that are not LOL funny but have an undeniable humorous quality; a joke can be implied rather than told out loud, a joke can be in the idea rather than the actual content, a joke can be ironic, or just some playful cleverness.

There are many variants of humor. Humor that actually makes you LOL is a small subset of it, and a rather limited one in my opinion. It takes a certain degree of surprise and punch to actually make one laugh, and after a while you become desensitized both to the "strike" of the punch and to the element of surprise (in that it becomes really hard to surprise you). This is one reason why Southpark lost their touch. they ran out of "tricks".

Personally, I can't remember the last time I thought something was LOL hilarious. The words I like to use though are "it has a humorous quality".

Actually the show does have a lot of LOL funny in it too, most of the side characters are ridiculous and function soley as jokes. Namely Dale, Bill and any famous guest star. But yes, most of the main characters are not out and out hilarious, and for this reason it took me a few eps to really get into it. It's kind of weird, all the propane jokes aren't meant to be particularly funny, they're just something that the character does, and once you get to like them it sort of becomes that way. Also a lot of it is plot and context based humour, generally through how harsh and ridiculous things can get.

Not that there is anything inherently wrong with LOL humour, I don't think it's primative or lesser, it's just different.

Right I'm not saying it's necessarily bad. It is fun to actually laugh, but it's just a part of a much broader spectrum of humor.

Apparently I'm only into bullshit and joke after joke shows. Fuck off. King of the Hill just isn't a good show in my opinion. It's dull, boring, and it seems to almost promote the middle american family, conservative kinda lifestyle. I appreciate the fact that it tells proper stories, unlike shows like Family guy, where it's pretty much just retarded bs for the most part, but i find it's just a boring, dull, lifeless show - i don't relate to, or care about the characters, none of them. A bunch of conservative Americans standing around drinking beers sayin "yep" to one another just never appealed to me.

Apparently shows like "Armando Iannucci Shows", "15 Storeys High" and "Peep Show" are just unintelligent bullshit.

Just ended up purchasing the three Mike Judge box sets of Beavis and Butthead really cheap. So far, they've been pretty entertaining. Definitely not the best show, but has had quite a few good laughs.

Though not a TV show, I'm also a huge fan of Homestar Runner. The Brothers Chaps have had two offers to turn it into a TV show, but ultimately refused. Unfortunately, the site has more or less been in hiatus for over a year now, and I'm jonesing for some new Strong Bad Emails.

I don't know about that. It seems to me a very incisive critique of that type of small town. I mean come on - a rambling hillbilly, a paranoid conspiracy theorist, a fat sad alcoholic and the obsessive-compulsive "true american" type. Every character has huge problems and is extremely unlikeable. Where exactly is it promoting the middle class conservatives?

Yessss, the second season of Superjail is set to premiere on April 3rd.

Luanne's some pretty hot walnut, DRD. Dunno how you don't like that show-it's one of my favorites. Bill's cousin Gilbert is the best character Judge ever created.

Maybe you're just high when you watch it. Awful television.
Meanwhile, i'm watchin through Generation Kill again. Great show. Sweet array of characters, stunning sets, and i like the way it almost mirrors The Wire and Treme with the stuff about bureacracy, chain of command, and the press.

no, 1-4 are best, seas 5 mid seas break they jumped the shark

Arrested Development (!), Venture Bros, King of the Hill, The Office, Home Movies, Dr Katz, South Park, MST3K, ATHF, SGC2C, UCB, Strangers with Candy, Reno 911!, Crossballs, Mr Show, TV Funhouse, Sledge Hammer!, Mama's Family are the all-time best

Good man, mentioning Dr. Katz. Most Home Movies fans NEVER even realized it was a spiritual successor to something.

Totally forgot about Home Movies. Pretty funny show. Gonna look into Dr. Katz immediately.

Just tried watching some Parks & Recreation. My first revisit of this show in a year or two. Verdict: awful. Just seems to be a third rate rip off of The Office (UK), and features a leading actress who doesn't seem to have a comedic bone in her body. A few people i know have recently been watching it, so i thought i'd give it another shot. Really pretty poor comedy in my opinion.

Also, tried watching a few episodes of Portlandia and found that pretty third rate too. Hipster comedy which is definitely laughing with them, rather than at them.

Dude did you jump in the new seasons? Parks and Recs is pretty awesome in my book now, I think they've finally broken out into their own and have a little more character now outside of just being an Office knock off. Good characters and I like how they settings change up a lot more than the Office.

Anyways, guess it's not for anyone. I'll agree with you above though that King of the Hill is godawful.

I think Parks and Rec is an alright show. It's enjoyable to watch, but doesn't stand out much. Last night's episode was rather funny however. As far as sitcoms go, I really think NBC has the edge over other networks.

Last night, I saw what was probably CBS' worst sitcom ever: $#*! My Dad Says. Based on the book, based on the Twitterfeed, staring William Shatner. Need I say more?

Nah dude just running through season one. I first copied it onto a hard drive a couple years back, and watched one episode. Thought i might give it another chance but it's really not my kinda thing - feels a bit generic. I could see how it has room for improvement like you said though. Gagh! So many good shows that do a good job in season one, and then don't really get to go beyond that. Whereas this show seems average at best in its first season, and gets given a chance to improve in latter seasons (apparently). I wish they'd made a second season of Nathan Barley, and a third of Saxondale

Honestly I thought the Office (American version here obviously) improved in such a way too, the first short season was just okay, and Parks and Recs is definitely the same case to me. I really didn't like season 1 (which was also very short), but 2-3 have been pretty good.

Anyone keeping up with It's Always Sunny? My friends and I used to be pretty religious about watching that one, but they've said this season was pretty weak and kind of just stopped watching, huh...

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia is a pretty great show. I've been following it pretty hard, but i do think it took a bit of a dive in quality in the most recent season. To me it just seemed like it was rushed into production or something, like there were some good ideas in the episodes, but they didn't take the time to really explore them and flesh them out before shooting the episodes or something. Still gonna watch the next season though. Recently re-watched a few of the older seasons and they were as funny as ever. That show has serious rewatchability.

Anyone around here a fan of IDEAL? I'm a longtime fan, but haven't watched it for ages. I've just started one season one now and think i might watch the entire course of the show over the next few days (yeah, i've mentioned before i watch waaaay too much TV). This is such an interesting take on the sitcom, Graham Duff is a genius with that show. I hope they keep making it, last season was still solid.

Anybody else like Wire In The Blood? I really dig it. I despise pretty much every other "CSI" type cop show, but Wire In The Blood certianly keeps me coming back.

I really should watch In The Thick Of It simply because In The Loop is probably the funniest film i've seen in at least five years. Amazing.

Also Fawlty Towers still regins supreme. Tightest script ever.

A bit of a guilty pleasure but I seriously can't get enough of Home Improvement, I can't explain why I like it but I just do.

The old episodes of Blue Heelers from the first four seasons are also fantastic, a very small town full of crime with a very small police force.

So true.

Fawlty Towers is classic for sure "Manuel!" I've had the DVDs of that for years now. Watching a bunch of shows at the moment including Underbelly (An Australian crima drama, following a notorious gangs activities in Sydney during the 1990s, kindof almost an Australian take on the Sopranos. Quite solid, pretty well acted, but clearly never gonna be equal to Sopranos, The Wire, or Breaking Bad (for crime dramas). Tried watching some Firefly last week but not really my thing, felt like some regular drama/adventure/sci fi show, like Buffy/Angel (not surprising given the crew), Seaquest DSV, Stargate SG1 or something. Not really my cup of tea, but i will eventually watch through the rest of the show, since i've had it sitting on a hard drive for a few years. I'm into far too many quality television shows to list em all, but another one i've watched again lately (after a large absence) is the Canadian food show Food Jammers - anyone Canadian or otherwise heard of this show? They come up with super awesome unconventional food ideas, and build cool things to make food, like homemade coffee roasting setups (they do a lot of building and welding on the show, as well as cooking awesome food). It's pretty different as far as food shows go (Man vs Food, Anthony Bourdain etc. Worth checking out.

Fawlty Towers is classic for sure "Manuel!" I've had the DVDs of that for years now. Watching a bunch of shows at the moment including Underbelly (An Australian crima drama, following a notorious gangs activities in Sydney during the 1990s, kindof almost an Australian take on the Sopranos. Quite solid, pretty well acted, but clearly never gonna be equal to Sopranos, The Wire, or Breaking Bad (for crime dramas). Tried watching some Firefly last week but not really my thing, felt like some regular drama/adventure/sci fi show, like Buffy/Angel (not surprising given the crew), Seaquest DSV, Stargate SG1 or something. Not really my cup of tea, but i will eventually watch through the rest of the show, since i've had it sitting on a hard drive for a few years. I'm into far too many quality television shows to list em all, but another one i've watched again lately (after a large absence) is the Canadian food show Food Jammers - anyone Canadian or otherwise heard of this show? They come up with super awesome unconventional food ideas, and build cool things to make food, like homemade coffee roasting setups (they do a lot of building and welding on the show, as well as cooking awesome food). It's pretty different as far as food shows go (Man vs Food, Anthony Bourdain etc. Worth checking out.

The first two series were excellent by Australian drama standards. Only second to East West 101.

Still makes me laugh after years of watching it.

I have a small die cast model of Basils car which was limited with the first DVD set. It came with a small Basil figurine in a tux holding a tree banch. Truely awesome.

It's this thing.

http://www.fawltytowersrevisited.com/bl ... 43547.html

I'm going to sell it on Antiques Roadshow when i'm a old cunt.

Ah Fawlty Towers. Will there ever be a funnier, more entertaining show? I don't think there has been for over 30 years.

There's Frasier.

I get more laughs out of Law & Order than I do Frasier.

We are not soul mates.

frazier can be a great show when it wants to be. I'm an avid true blood fan, along with American Choppers, Seinfeld, and very few others. Dirty jobs can be a fun time as well.

I'm the same way. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air too.
I'm also a fan of older cartoons. Tom and Jerry has to be the greatest thing I've ever watched. Sometimes I'll put on History channel, too. Haven't watched TV in about a month, though. Once the batteries went out on the remote, I forgot about it.

I watch silly amounts of History Channel, to be honest. Hahaha, i even started watching "Top Shot" recently, and will be downloading the rest of them soon. I watch stuff like Gangland, and many, many others. Gangland is totally awesome. Kinda makes me scared of America though We don't really have gangs over here.

Here's my list of essential TV, in rough order from most to least essential:

Firefly
The Wire
Buffy Season 1 - Season 3
The Sopranos
Lost Season 1 - Season 3
Veronica Mars Season 1
Death Note
Twin Peaks
Mad Men *
Breaking Bad *

* These are still being made, so they can't be ordered yet, but they are excellent.

Other great stuff: Dexter Season 1, The Vision of Escaflowne, Rescue Me Season 1 - Season 2, Arrested Development, Skins Series 1, The West Wing Season 1 - 4, Freaks and Geeks, Battlestar Galactica 2004 up to episode 3x04.

I'm one season into The Shield now and I like it so far. I'm also about to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion, finally.

Hell yeah, both are great.

I'm all about early Spongebob (seasons 1, 2, and some of 3), Invader Zim, Tim and Eric, Aqua Teen, Squidbillies, and Star Trek TNG and Voyager.

Lately I've been watching a lot my girlfriend's favorites like Seinfeld, Frasier, and Faulty Towers. Enjoying them all but sitcoms can stress me out. Especially Faulty Towers, it's so painful at times!

Edit: Forgot to mention Archer. Watched a bit of this and it seemed promising, but I'm having problems with H Jon Benjamin's voice not belonging to a totally pathetic character.

Season 6 was far from weak. The first two episodes might have been lower in quality than usual, yet still funny, and the season even picks up really quickly. There wasn't one episode I didn't enjoy or laughed loudly at. Dee Reynolds: Shaping America's Youth is probably one of their best episodes ever. Lethal Weapon 5, IASIP style. The gang are geniuses.

Frasier is great stuff and I certainly think there's some similarities to British sitcoms like Fawlty Towers with Frasier. It uses the whole situation gone bad through misunderstanding that most classic British sitcoms. One of my favourite episodes is the one with the gay boss.

On the note of Fawlty Towers, Connie Booth was such a babe too.

I almost have too many shows. And they're all good. I watched every episode of The Comic's Choice Awards yesterday. Recommended for fans of British sitcoms (classic and modern) and comics. Basically a bunch of famous Brit comedy stars are interviewed by Bill Bailey and asked their favourite comedians and why, lots of great clips, discovered a few new shows, and some guest stars and comedians i really like.

I've been trying to watch that show Whites i mentioned in here, but this shitty backup Acer laptop i'm using keeps switching itself off when i try watch em. Pathetic. Anyway, features some solid, recognisable stars in it.

I also watched MST3K for the first time yesterday. Mixed feelings about it. I only saw one episode, and though i can appreciate they play a lot of old shorts, and strange, obscure, sometimes cool sci fi b movies and the like, watching a show essentially a framed bunch of people making snyde remarks dismissing b movies is sortof almost a weak premise.... Like...if i wanted to do that, i could just make those comments myself. Though, some of the comments were pretty funny. I don't like the aliens or much of the sets used in the framing sections though. Still, i'd like to get every epsidoe and check more out....

For sci/fi/horror kinda stuff, i really prefer Tales from the Crypt, Twilight Zone, Night Theatre, Tales from the Darkside etc.

Currently watching some season 7 Seinfeld, classic of course. Still get solid laughs, even after almost 20 years of watching it, heh.

Is anyone else in here a fan of Freaks & Geeks? I don't think i ever saw it in its original run on TV, but grabbed the entire series off a friend a year or two ago, and i really enjoy it. It's not really a comedy, per se, but there's some laughs to be had, for sure. It feels pretty genuine though, and its the kinda show where you want to keep watching, to follow the storyline developments, especially with the "geeks".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freaks_%26_Geeks

Might watch some more Psychoville today. An award winning british comedy show, oozing with originality and quirkiness. Check it out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoville