World Cup Of... US Sitcoms

Summary

The Rest Is Entertainment: World Cup Of... US Sitcoms

Podcast: The Rest Is Entertainment
Date: June 30, 2026
Hosts: Richard Osman & Marina Hyde
Guests: Maisie Adam & John Robbins

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Brief Overview

In this lively bonus episode, Richard Osman hosts the “World Cup of US Sitcoms,” joined by comedians Maisie Adam and John Robbins. The premise: the British public has voted on their favourite US sitcoms, and the top eight contenders are pitted in knockout-style rounds until a single winner emerges. Along the way, the trio dives into what makes (or breaks) a classic sitcom, explores generational reactions to old hits, and drops plenty of behind-the-scenes trivia. The show retains its irreverent, quick-witted tone, balancing genuine insights with playful banter.

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Episode Structure & Key Discussion Points

1. The World Cup Format & Purpose

• [01:07] Richard explains the format: “Our lovely polling partners have given a massive list of kind of 60, 70 US sitcoms to the British public...I know what the top eight are and I’m going to draw them in four quarterfinals.”
• Each match-up is discussed, with the panellists giving opinions and predictions, before Richard reveals the actual public vote winner.

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2. Quarterfinals

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Quarterfinal 1: Friends vs MASH

• [02:13] Immediate sense this is a heavyweight battle.
• Discussions include:
  • Theme songs:
    • “Battle of the great themes...‘I’ll Be There for You’ by The Rembrandts, ‘Suicide is Painless’ from MASH.”
      —John Robbins [02:25]
    • Fun fact: “Robert Altman...his son wrote the lyrics when he was, like, 18. Made, like, a million dollars out of it.”
      —Richard Osman [02:37]
  • Premise irony: “Can you imagine pitching a sitcom now where the lyrics to the theme tune are ‘Suicide is painless’?”
    —John [02:44]
  • Ratings history:
    • MASH’s finale drew 105 million viewers!
      —Richard: “Even when I started in TV in the early 90s, we weren’t getting 105 million for stuff.” [03:24]
    • Friends finale drew 52 million.
  • Cast transitions to film: Surprised more Friends stars didn’t take Hollywood by storm; Jennifer Aniston remained typically “Rachel in various forms.”
    —Maisie [04:20]
  • Friends spin-off trivia: “First ever Friends character was actually Phoebe’s sister Ursula, who was the waitress on Mad About You.”
    —Richard [04:34]
  • Generational rewatch: Gen Z finds Friends “quite confusing in some ways...references to homosexuality are quite dated...lack of diversity,” but “Gen Z are able to watch something, understand it in context.”
    —John, Richard [05:09–05:52]
  • Joke Density:
    • “Friends has 6.06 jokes a minute.”
      —Richard [07:11]
    • “That’s one every nine seconds!”
      —John [07:23]
  • All prefer Friends (personal connection, longevity, cultural hit)
• 🌟 Notable Quotes:
  • “Friends has 6.06 jokes a minute...one every nine seconds.” —Richard Osman & John Robbins [07:11–07:24]

Public result:
Friends goes through.

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Quarterfinal 2: Big Bang Theory vs The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

• [08:43] Joke rate for Big Bang Theory is 5.8 per minute.
• Tribal identity: “You can define the kind of people you were in school with by whether you were more Fresh Prince or Big Bang Theory.”
  —Maisie [08:54]
• Theme tunes: Both have recognizable, wordy theme songs—Fresh Prince's iconic rap, Big Bang's “Bare Naked Ladies.”
• Will Smith’s Fresh Prince audition: “At Quincy Jones’s birthday party...in front of Stevie Wonder and Steven Spielberg.”
  —Richard [10:48]
• Episode count: Big Bang (279), Fresh Prince (148).
• Nostalgia factor: Both Maisie and John favour Fresh Prince, citing greater cultural impact and the 90s fashion revival; Richard defends Big Bang’s writing and scale.
• 🌟 Quote: “It is huge...I really do [think it’s funny]. Chuck Lorre...started out writing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme.” —Richard [12:00]
• Surprise result:
  Big Bang Theory goes through.

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Quarterfinal 3: The Simpsons vs Frasier

• [13:09] Fierce debate: Is Simpsons a ‘sitcom’? Yes: “It follows the conventions of a sitcom.” —Richard [13:33]
• Simpsons facts:
  • Longest-running animated series (37 seasons)
  • Quality drop-off noted post-2000: “Joke for joke, best jokes in history...Every single one you’re currently thinking of happened before the year 2000.”
    —John [14:49]
  • IMDB graph: “Chilling” to see quality over time.
    —John [14:57]
• Maisie’s confession: “I’ve never seen an episode of the Simpsons.” [13:51]
• Frasier analysis:
  • Spin-off from Cheers; same set.
  • “Script is very well written, but I find Niles quite annoying.” —John [18:13]
  • “That sort of American dinner party...didn’t speak to my life.” —John [18:18]
  • Frasier’s British accents called “all over the shop.”
• Verdicts: John & Richard: Simpsons
• Result:
  Simpsons goes through.

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Quarterfinal 4: Family Guy vs Modern Family

• [20:25] “Where’s the US Office?” —John [20:27] (to be discussed in next segment)
• Family Guy:
  • Go-to for comedians after gigs: “Sometimes...the only thing on in that half ten to midnight bracket.” —Maisie [21:04]
  • Animation allows wild, cutaway gags.
  • Praise for Stewie: “One of the best characters ever created in comedy.” —John [21:43]
• Modern Family:
  • “It’s perfect Modern Family. It’s amazing.” —Maisie [23:15]
  • Lawrence Marks used Modern Family pilot as textbook; Maisie enthuses about comedy depth and emotional resonance.
  • “Can make you laugh out loud and cry—that’s an achievement in half an hour.” —Maisie [25:54]
• Votes:
  • John: Family Guy
  • Maisie: Modern Family
  • Result: Family Guy goes through.

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3. "What’s been left out?" — Sitcom Omissions

• [27:35] Richard: “My four favourite US sitcoms are not in that top eight.”
• Panel laments omission of:
  • US Office (John’s #1: “The best sitcom that doesn’t feature Steve Coogan or Rik Mayall” [27:44])
  • Brooklyn 99
  • Veep
  • 30 Rock
  • Discussion: The Office’s awkward first half-season, the managerial merry-go-round, and enduring love for Dwight/Pam/Jim dynamic.
• “The final season [of the US Office], I think it really, really brings it back.” —Richard [28:16]
• Discussion: Should The Simpsons / Family Guy even be “sitcoms”?
  • “In 9th place was Sex and the City, in 10th Brooklyn 99. You go down to 13 to find The Office.” —Richard [30:06]

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Semi-Finals & Final

Semi-Final 1: Friends vs Big Bang Theory

• [30:55] “Walkover for Friends.” —John
• Result: Friends in the final.

Semi-Final 2: Simpsons vs Family Guy

• “We don’t love this, do we?”
• John and Maisie suspect Family Guy might win among today's youth, but predict mainstream prevails.
• Result: Simpsons in the final.

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Final: Friends vs The Simpsons

• [32:21] “Two very different teams here.” —Maisie
• “Simpsons at its peak knocks Friends into a cocked hat, but in terms of a brand, as a product, I think it has to be Friends.” —John [32:28]
• [32:44] “Friends as what it’s meant to the maximum amount of people.” —Richard
• All agree: Friends is consistent, has no “bad” seasons, and keeps characters likable even as they become insufferable.
• “Let’s find out... What is the winner? It is Friends. Very well done, Friends.” —Richard [33:45]
• “I’d have been really annoyed if Monica had been pipped by Maggie.” —Maisie [33:46]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Can you imagine pitching a sitcom now where the lyrics to the theme tune are ‘Suicide is painless’?” —John [02:44]
• “Friends has 6.06 jokes per minute ... one every nine seconds.” —Richard & John [07:11–07:24]
• “You can define the kind of people you were in school with by whether you were more Fresh Prince or Big Bang Theory.” —Maisie [08:54]
• “Script is very well written, but I find Niles quite annoying.” —John [18:13]
• “One of the best performances I’ve ever seen.” [On Steve Carell, US Office] —John [29:36]
• “If you haven’t seen Modern Family, really, really, really worth it.” —Richard [25:59]

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Other Sitcoms Discussed / Honourable Mentions

• US Office (with praise for Steve Carell, Dwight, Pam/Jim love triangle, and late-season quality)
• Veep, 30 Rock, Brooklyn 99, Sex and the City, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Always Sunny in Philadelphia

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:07] — Setting up the World Cup format
• [02:13] — Quarterfinal 1 (Friends vs MASH)
• [08:39] — Quarterfinal 2 (Big Bang Theory vs Fresh Prince)
• [13:09] — Quarterfinal 3 (Simpsons vs Frasier)
• [20:25] — Quarterfinal 4 (Family Guy vs Modern Family)
• [27:35] — Omissions and overlooked sitcoms
• [30:55] — Semi-Finals
• [32:21] — The Final: Friends vs Simpsons
• [33:45] — Winner revealed: Friends

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Verdict & Closing Thoughts

The episode celebrates both the nostalgia and the craft of US sitcoms, offering a fun but thoughtful breakdown of why certain shows have enduring appeal or fall short of modern tastes. Trivia and personal anecdotes abound, including industry behind-the-scenes nuggets and first-hand encounters with icons. Ultimately, Friends emerges as the UK’s favourite, a result the panel agrees is fair—even if some personal favourites didn’t make the final cut.

For fans of comedy, TV history, or just good-natured debate, this “World Cup” episode is a treat, serving as both a playful competition and a primer on the best in US sitcom-making.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

Who?

[B]

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[C]

Yes.

[B]

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[A]

Would it be possible to contact the people I'm paying my money to? Well, with Octopus Email, you can reply directly to your own dedicated small team.

[B]

I mean, that's amazing, right? Hello, everybody. Welcome along to the Wrestlers Entertainment World cup of Everything. Our first bonus episode is all about US sitcoms on the World cup of US Sitcoms. I am joined to discuss them by Maisie Adam. Hello, Maisie.

[C]

Hello.

[B]

And John Robbins. Hello, John.

[D]

Hello. I'm good, thank you. Lovely to be here.

[B]

See, that's. That's how you're supposed to do that.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

The way this works is more in common. Our lovely polling partners have given a massive list of kind of 60, 70 US sitcoms to the British public. The British public have told them which is their favorite. I don't have the results yet, but I know what the top eight are and I'm going to draw them in four quarterfinals. We're going to talk about those quarterfinals, predict who's going to win, and then find out who actually did win. Okay, we'll go quarterfinals, semi, finals, final, and we will discover which US sitcom is. Is the favorite of the British public. Now, I've done World Cups of before, World Cups of Crisp and things like this. What I will say is the result is always disappointing.

[D]

What a great trailer for the podcast.

[B]

We might as well call this. And this is why Democracy Doesn't Work.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay. Our first quarter final is Friends versus mash.

[D]

Oh, wow.

[B]

I mean, well, that's it. When there's only eight teams, every game's a big game.

[D]

I mean, also, Battle of the Great themes.

[B]

Yeah, Battle of the Great themes. So I'll Be There for you by the Rembrandts. Suicide is painless. Do you know who wrote Suicide Is Painless? The lyrics?

[C]

Who did? What? No.

[B]

So Robert Altman, who directed the movie, his son wrote the lyrics for that when he was, like, 80.

[C]

Really?

[B]

Made, like, a million dollars out of it.

[D]

Can you imagine pitching a sitcom now where the lyrics to the theme tune are, Suicide is painless?

[C]

It wouldn't really lift off, I don't think. Would it?

[D]

It's got an odd vibe. An odd vibe to navigate.

[B]

But also. Yeah, he said, I tell you what, it's gonna be. It's gonna be a sitcom. It's gonna be about a mobile hospital unit in the Korean War. The funniest war, of course. And it's gonna have a theme tune that says, Suicide is painless. And also it's gonna have the highest rated episode of any sitcom in the entire history of sitcoms. Whoa. That's the problem with picture.

[C]

Highest rated, Actually, I think.

[B]

Million.

[D]

Good grief.

[B]

That is, like, even with When Mock the week, add, like, two episodes together, they're not getting to 105 million. Right. Even. You know, even when I started in TV in the early 90s, we weren't getting 105 million for stuff.

[D]

Me and Ellis are lucky if we get that in a month.

[C]

Friends final. What was that?

[B]

It was big. It was super big.

[D]

It's gonna be 60 million.

[B]

Yeah, but it was. Yeah, it wasn't 105. I don't think anything would ever get.

[C]

Friends finale was the biggest one.

[B]

No. 52 million friends, so pretty much. Exactly. Although it was, like, super, super, super massive. Right.

[D]

Also, both sitcoms where people have transitioned into films. Or was Alan Alder already a big film star?

[B]

Huh. That's a good question.

[C]

What year Skin all the egg, isn't it?

[B]

Mash started 72, so I guess not. I guess he moved into the world of films. I wasn't surprising that the cast of Friends didn't do more films.

[C]

Are they just tarred with that brush of forever being seen as those characters, though?

[B]

I just say they're so. Yeah.

[C]

So Jennifer Aniston did good, but still largely, you know, great career, but went into a career of being Rachel in various forms, really.

[B]

Do you know it's technically a spin off Friends because the first ever Friends character was actually Phoebe's sister Ursula, who was the waitress on Mad about yout.

[C]

What?

[B]

Yeah. So really it's a Mad about yout spinoff.

[C]

A very tenuous spino.

[B]

An enormously tenuous spinoff.

[D]

I remember watching it when it was on TV and it was part of the big UK Jacob's Creek launch. So the two are like inextricably linked in my head.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

And then when, when I started buying DVDs like friends box sets.

[C]

Quite big.

[D]

You go around to your mate's house and what Friends box set have they got? And then there was a lot of coverage of it when it came on streaming services because I guess Gen Z and younger generations were discovering it and finding it quite confusing in some ways because I would have, without having rewatched it, thought of it as quite, you know, harmless, liberal. But actually some references to homosexuality are quite dated. Yeah, the complete lack of diversity on almost any level is quite strange. But then Gen Z kind of embraced it, didn't they?

[B]

Well, I think they, you know, Gen Z, who are, who are much maligned. I think they're able to watch something, understand it in context and go oh, so that was acceptable.

[C]

I think the pacing of Friends though is, is quite Gen Z. It's quite quick. The gag rate is quite quick when they're so used to, to, to, to consuming comedy that is a lot more kind of a quick succession of gags. We're re watching Friends at the moment and sure Chandler's got some opinions about his father that is, is, is a man not dealing with things in a healthy way. And there's loads of weird. I mean, yeah, we're rewatching at the moment and we're only into like season two or three and just Ross approach to his ex wife. Now being queer is deeply problematic.

[D]

There are episodes of Friends. The one with the videotape, yeah, is really masterful stuff. And I think it also maintained that gag rate and gag quality right towards the end. There's a bit in, I think it might be even the last episode or the last two where Ross is chasing Rachel in the, the airport and there's one of those.

[C]

Oh, and he has to go the whole way.

[D]

He's going to the check in desk and Phoebe just runs down to the side, straight the front. But he goes through all of the empty little zigzag corridor sections which I just think is a really nice sight. Gag.

[B]

Yeah, they never, they never ran out of GAG 6. The Atlantic did a gag rate of every single top US sitcom and friends has 6.06 jokes a minute.

[D]

Whoa.

[B]

That's why Gen Z love it. That's why we loved it as well.

[D]

It's one every nine seconds.

[B]

One every nine seconds. That's not bad going, is it?

[C]

Six jokes a minute.

[B]

That's a long Edinburgh.

[D]

That's what I'd get out of half a tour show. Like, big setups, six payoffs, Dream of

[C]

Edinburgh, shows like that.

[B]

Shall we? If it was just us, say which one of those we would put through to the semi finals? Jon. That's a tricky one, isn't it?

[D]

Can I just guess a fact that Elliot Gould is in both? MASH came out. I remember the theme tune from when I was, like, 4 years old, when it would have been being repeated for the fifth time. So I didn't take on board a huge amount. So I'm gonna have to say Friends.

[B]

Yep. Understood, Maisie.

[C]

Yeah. I mean, exactly the same reason. But MASH I can admire from afar, but in terms of what I have a strong connection to, it's Friends all day.

[B]

Yeah, it was even a tiny little bit too early for me. Mash. But I remember loving it. But I have to go with Friends. I'm going to assume that the British public had gone for Friends as well. That'd be a big shock. Certainly this whole series is going to be weird if the first thing we do is MASH beating Friends. But one never knows. Joey. Who won that? Friends, is it Friends goes through to the semi finals. Very well done to Friends. Our second quarter final. Big Bang Theory versus the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

[D]

Good Lord.

[B]

Now, big bang theory. 5.8 jokes a minute.

[D]

Okay.

[C]

I think you can define the kind of people that you were in school with of whether they were more of a Fresh Prince fan or a big band Big Bang Theory fan.

[D]

Well, I definitely watched more Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Than Big Bang Theory.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Can I just double check? Check. Is Big Bang Theory the one with the guy who played Doogie Howser, MD.

[B]

No. That's how I met your mother.

[D]

Okay, well, we'll come back to that.

[C]

I can see how you get that. They're Both shown on E4, a weird time of day involving a bunch of people who wear, like, long sleeve tops with a T shirt over them.

[B]

Big Bang Theory is the geeks who all study Sheldon.

[C]

Isn't it?

[B]

Sheldon? And big fans on the sofa. I think.

[D]

But sometimes it feels like they're always all living in that room, that all of them come and sit back on the sofa in. In all of these American sitcoms.

[B]

Yeah. But I mean, that's how sitcoms essentially, isn't it? They've only got one main set, and the more they can sit on that, the cheaper the episode is. It's when they come to London, that's when you get a proper convolution. Yeah.

[C]

You get your money's worth from.

[B]

That's when you go, I wonder if you just go back and sit on that sofa.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

They've both got very wordy theme tunes as well. Big Bang Theory has that Bare Naked lady song.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Prince of Bel Air, of course.

[D]

Oh, wow.

[B]

It's the famous rap.

[C]

Both can sort of give you the ick, can't they? I think. I mean, I know Sheldon is deliberately antagonizing, but he's so irritating. But then at the same time, anybody who starts a conversation about Fresh Prince and starts to do the rap, I find it nauseating.

[D]

Yeah. I definitely though I would be capable of doing it. I would never do it. No, but it is in there somewhere. Like, I know all the lyrics to Rapper's Delight.

[C]

Exactly. It's that Vanilla Ice, that's a bit cool. And the rap from World In Motion, people can't talk about it without then insisting that they know it.

[B]

I could do Only Fools and Horses both theme tune and post theme tune as well. I'm not going to. None of us are. I met Will Smith, so I met Will Smith, who, by the way, was auditioned for that show at Quincy Jones birthday party.

[C]

No way.

[B]

So he auditioned for that show in front of Stevie Wonder and Steven Spielberg.

[D]

Why?

[B]

I don't know. Hollywood, innit? So, big bang theory, 12 seasons, 279 episodes. Fresh prince of bel air, 148 episodes. Which do you think the British public have put through to the semifinal?

[D]

I get. I think for sort of, like, nostalgia, I would go Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

But it's just reminded me, reading out those stats, an American friend of mine, just getting into British comedy says, what is it with you Brits? You make six episodes of a sitcom, say you've changed the face of comedy, and then it stops. These, like, all of these have got, like, I know, thousands of episodes and what, Faulty towers? What, 14?

[C]

Even fewest.

[B]

12, wasn't it? Yeah, I think so. So you're gonna go Fresh Prince, Maisie?

[C]

Yeah, yeah. I think Fresh Prince had a bigger impact, I think, as well, in terms of, like. And again, you mentioned there, like, the nostalgia, but, like, it had such a second boom, didn't it? Of all that, like, 90s fashion, which I don't really see Big Bang Theory enjoying. Nobody's having a sort of second wave.

[B]

I don't know. I'm gonna stick up for Big Bang Theory. It is huge.

[C]

Do you think it's funny?

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Do you?

[B]

I really do. I genuinely do. It's massive in America. It's beyond massive. I think Chuck Laurie, who does it and did Two and a Half Men and all sorts of things, very talented. He started out in show business writing the lyrics for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

[C]

Really? Yeah.

[B]

Who won? Was it Fresh Prince of Bel Air or was it Big Bang Theory?

[C]

Please be Fresh Prince.

[B]

No, Big Bang Theory. I'm genuinely surprised.

[C]

Oh, justice for Big Bang.

[B]

Justice for Will Smith.

[D]

Do you think that's reputational damage of Will Smith in more recent years, do you think?

[C]

Oh, potential.

[B]

I don't know. So I met him on Graham Norton

[C]

and before or after Slapgate?

[B]

So soon? Before. It really. It really. I just thought he was really great. And I thought, what if I become friends with Will Smith? That's why. What if next time I'm in la I just go, will, it's rich from the show, from the GM show, and I get invited over to Will Smith South. Then literally, like a week later, he punches Chris Rock. I was like, oh, great. Who am I going to stay with now? Quarter final three. Oh, this is an absolute doozy. We have the Simpsons versus Frasier.

[C]

Ah, now this is.

[B]

I mean, that's tricky, right? Simpsons. Longest running animated show of all time.

[D]

Now here's a question. Do you think when they wrote the first episode of the Simpsons, they said, we're writing a sitcom. So has it just become a bit like Family Guy? Has it become a sitcom because of what it evolved into? Or is it still like an animation? Or is that okay for an.

[B]

I think you have to treat it as a sitcom. Right? I mean, it is. It follows the conventions of a sitcom.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Is it linear? So the Simpsons was always on at 6 o' clock on Channel 4 and we weren't allowed to watch it because my dad wanted to watch the news and we were so. I've never seen an episode of the Simpsons.

[B]

Are you serious? You've never seen the episode to this day. Wow. Because your dad's still possible.

[C]

That's impossible, I promise.

[B]

You've seen clips.

[C]

I've seen clips. I know, I know. He enjoys a Duff beer and donuts.

[D]

You have to ask. We have to stop this now.

[B]

That's unbelievable.

[C]

Should I abstain from the vote as I haven't seen.

[B]

I mean, I Think you might have

[D]

to, like, take a sabbatical from comedy and watch seasons like 3 to 13 of the Simpsons.

[C]

How many seasons have we got of Simpsons?

[D]

Way too many, really. Which is, I think, a problem. We might.

[B]

37. 37 seasons.

[C]

And is it linear? Does it follow?

[D]

It doesn't. They don't age.

[B]

No, that's the. That's the clever thing about them. That's why there's 37 seasons, because there can be. Because the actors don't get any older.

[C]

But they're not on a journey of any. Like, there's no narrative.

[B]

Not really. I mean, they took. You know, if you watch early Simpsons, the voices are all different, the animation is different. But they settled. Once they settled, they really settled. Yes. It's gone on forever. But joke for joke has had some of the best jokes in the history of sitcoms.

[D]

Every single one you're currently thinking of happened before the year 2000.

[B]

No, there must be some good ones after that because the generation who grew up watching it.

[D]

The graph of the IMDb rating per episode for the Simpsons and it's a color like a heat chart. And what happens, it just goes green for 25 years. So like, you know, the sort of 8.5, the 9.5 are all red. It's quite chilling. And you just think it must be so odd to work on something so well respected that most people probably think has stopped.

[B]

Interesting. Yeah, I know what you mean. But it's probably makes more money than ever now.

[D]

Do you reckon?

[C]

Yeah, it's still going.

[B]

Oh, yeah. There's still new episodes and. Yeah, all sorts of things.

[D]

I've not watched it since probably 2005.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

So I think longevity is, you know, obviously is a feather in the cap, but there's. Is the. Is it as big a boast to have longevity without the quality? Because really they did have like a seven to eight year golden period and then it just never stopped.

[C]

What's that, like late 90s, sort of

[D]

like, I would say 96 to 2002 maybe, or 95.

[B]

I knew John would have a strong opinion on that. I knew you'd have the right dates.

[C]

Like, what are the Simpsons? Are they humans? They're these yellow, long limbed, big. Yeah.

[D]

You do need to watch the Simpsons if you're asking.

[B]

It is so great to have you on Mason.

[D]

They're humans.

[C]

Yeah, but they don't look human. They got long yellow. They look like chips with. With a.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

And then they've got mouths like.

[B]

I mean, they're cartoons.

[C]

They are Mr. Chips they do. They look like Mr. Chips.

[B]

We'll be talking about him on our British Quiz shows episode, I'm sure.

[C]

I think that's a pretty big achievement that they managed to kind of like invent a new.

[B]

I mean, the drawings.

[D]

Matt Groening had a very good rule about for the cartoonist drawing the characters. He said their faces should never do things that human beings. Faces can't do. So their eyes don't pop out.

[C]

Yes. This is it.

[D]

Like, you know, they. They don't get smoke coming out of their ears.

[C]

They're not that Looney Tunes kind of mad, that. Yeah, but they're also not Family Guy where you're like, oh, that's ears, nose,

[B]

mouth, you know, ears, nose, mouth.

[D]

Well, they've got ears, you know.

[C]

I know they've got ears. Right. You know what I mean, boys? It's a long. Not how you draw a human being in a cartoon. It is. I've seen a Simpson.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

They don't look like human beings.

[B]

But the Flintstones don't really look like human beings. Maisie, have you ever seen a show called Frasier?

[C]

Yes, I'm aware of his work.

[B]

Shall we talk about the joy of Frasier now? I think it's a tough draw for Frasier being up against the Simpsons, I'll say that. So Frasier really was a spinoff. A spinoff from Cheers, which I'm going to guess has not made this top eight, although it was brilliant. It was actually shot on exactly the same set as Cheers. So Frasier's living room is where the bar was in Cheers. Yeah. But the most successful spinoff of all time, I'd say.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Frasier fan.

[C]

Yeah. Again, I kind of have it as one of those ones that was Channel four. Early mornings on a Saturday or Sunday. Still is, isn't it? If you wake up a bit too early, it's Everybody Loves Raymond.

[B]

I love Everybody. I love Everybody Loves Raymond. Wake up a bit too early. One forgets you're a stand up.

[C]

I like Frasier. I don't love Frasier.

[B]

Interesting, John.

[D]

No, not for me.

[B]

Really. That's interesting.

[D]

I just can feel that I'm having script read to me. And that's not to say it's a bad script, it's very well written. But they're delivering a script and I find Niles quite annoying. The character. Yeah. That sort of American dinner party kind of raised eyebrow vibe that didn't really speak. Said nothing to me about my life.

[B]

I was, to quote the bard himself.

[D]

Yes.

[C]

Whereas the Simpsons.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm probably the age Bart is meant to be, I would have thought now. Yeah.

[A]

Also.

[D]

And never bloody worked out if that woman's accent were real or whether shit weren't learnt how to do accents. Where from?

[B]

The worst episode of any show in history is when Daphne's brothers turn up and it's like Robbie Coltrane and Richard E. Grant. They've all got different.

[C]

It's all over the shop, isn't it?

[B]

Yeah, it's really, really, really bad.

[D]

Is she English?

[B]

Yes, she is. Jane Leeves.

[D]

Yeah. And is that her accent?

[B]

I've just made it can't be. It can't. She's from Manchester, isn't she? But that's not. She can't speak like that.

[C]

No.

[D]

How do you feel about that accent?

[C]

Not great. Not great. And. And it felt confusing to see. Do you think she panicked?

[D]

Well, they must have been like someone.

[B]

They must have been able to say.

[C]

But maybe it was just, you know, you go over to America and they're also like, have fun with it. You know, really. She just maybe went for all of the accents.

[B]

And then Anthony Lopaglia comes from places, brother talks like that, talks like Dick Van Dyke. And you think at some point, it's so beautifully observed, that show. At some point someone should have said, this is not how anyone in this country speaks. Simpsons versus Frasier. What would you go for?

[D]

Simpsons.

[B]

Simpsons. Do you know what? I'm gonna ask you to sit this one out.

[C]

Yeah. I think that's.

[B]

Cause you hate one of them and you've never seen the other one.

[C]

Ye, yeah. So I will abstain.

[B]

I love Frasier. It has to be the Simpsons just for the joy it's given different generations and the different groups of people who can watch that show. And surely it's gonna win. So let's find out. Frasier versus Simpsons.

[C]

Yay.

[B]

Through to our semi finals, we have one final semi finalist to discover and it will come from two family shows. Family Guy and Modern Family.

[D]

Oh, hang on, where's the US office?

[B]

We will get to that after this because we will have a little debrief on what's not in here.

[D]

Because I'm gonna kick off.

[B]

Yes, exactly.

[C]

This is an interesting one though. Family Guy and Modern Family. As a comedian, I think Family Guy is the only thing sometimes when you get in from a gig into a hotel room and you're trying to find something on the telly, a Family Guy is the only thing sometimes in that sort of half ten to midnight bracket. I think I've watched so I think I've watched every episode at least two or three times purely due to the schedule of being a stand up comedian

[B]

and talk about density of jokes.

[C]

And the gag rate again is.

[B]

And because it's an animation that they can do jokes about anything. The cutaway gags, which are those where

[C]

they go, this is almost as bad as the time I. And then it just.

[D]

Oh, so would south park not have been considered in this?

[B]

It would have been further. It's further down the list.

[D]

Oh, right.

[C]

Smuttier, isn't it? South Park. It's a lot. Yeah.

[D]

I think much reader Family Guy maintained its standard, which is a very high standard for a lot longer. I think Stewie is one of the, just the best characters ever created in comedy. And I love when there are episodes just about him.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And that's another good thing, is they can just focus on like you would never have a Friends episode just on Chandler, just Chandler in a room. Unless they went down some odd.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

Alan Bennett style avenue.

[C]

And if you, if you pitched Stewie at the time, like when you were saying about mash, like if you were to describe it now going, oh, no, he's. He is a baby, but he's evil. And he, he talks sort of incredibly like he doesn't have an accent like anybody else in his family. He's got a sort of old rp.

[B]

You should also know he's incredibly camp.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Next question.

[C]

Has a complex relationship with the dog, who's the only person that can hear what he's saying?

[D]

The tone of voice. Like there's one where Brian's writing a novel and I love that there's that element to Brian is that he's the real serious, the great American intellectual. And Stewie just walks in and he says, oh, hello, Brian.

[C]

Great impression, John.

[D]

How's the little novel coming along? You got a couple of protagonists and

[C]

it just keeps going higher.

[D]

Dunno, maybe some of them. Some life lessons.

[B]

Friends becoming enemies, enemies becoming friends.

[D]

It just really gets. Just gets higher and higher and higher.

[C]

It's so good. It's really, really like. Yeah, all of that and that one where he just goes in.

[A]

Lois.

[C]

Lois, Lois. Mommy. Mommy, Mommy.

[B]

Modern Family. We must. We're not. But it's Modern Family to me has the same hit rate for a mainstream audience that Family Guy has for.

[C]

It's perfect. Modern Family.

[B]

It's amazing.

[C]

I was introduced to Modern Family in 2015 when I was at university because I applied through the National Youth Theatre to win a writing masterclass with Lawrence Marks.

[B]

Oh, wow. Yeah. Statesman.

[C]

Yeah. Goodnight, sweetheart. Birds of a feather. And there was like maybe 10 of us sat around this table, and he was talking about how to write the perfect pilot. And he used Modern Families, his first episode, as the perfect pilot. And I hadn't seen it. I think it's absolutely that. And they all have their own individual little funny relationships. And again, going back to that whole thing of, like, depending on what point of life you're at, you can find yourself relating more to being Claire Dunphy, which was what I was doing when we rewatched it recently. But I remember at the time when I first watched it thinking the hilarious thing was Manny and Gloria. The way that you're introduced to all of those characters and how they relate to each other and. But it's gag heavy, but, my God, Modern Family in a way that the US Office and especially the British office actually also achieved, but like, can suddenly really hit you in the gut with just life and things that real people come up against in real relationships. I mean, I'm not a writer, but I think it's so hard to do.

[B]

You're having much more fun than on the Simpsons versus Frasier Quarter Final.

[C]

I'm having a lot, much more fun. Yeah. That fixture for me was like watching Jordan vs Bosnia and has to go

[B]

vino at 4am I absolutely agree with you. With Modern Families, it's one of those ones it's very easy to overlook. It's not cool, but the writing in it is sensationally good.

[C]

It's uncool. It's not as uncool as Big Bang Theory.

[B]

It's not, you know, Brooklyn nine. Nine.

[C]

No, no, you're right.

[B]

Are you a Modern Family watcher?

[D]

I've got to hold my hands up. I was too busy watching the Office four times all the way through. So I have some black spots. But Maisie's very eloquent description of it has kind of sold it to me. So I'm gonna check it out, but I can't say that I've seen it.

[C]

Oh, really? Really like it. It's.

[B]

It is really good. It has some. Has some proper truths in it. Yeah, absolutely right. We're gonna find our.

[C]

I can't vote in this one.

[B]

Oh, yes, we're gonna say. So, John, you're. I presume you're gonna go for Family Guy.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

But in the absence of more information, as.

[D]

As Maisie abstained from the Simpsons, you're gonna say, maze.

[B]

What do you think?

[C]

Gosh, this is really, really tricky, isn't it? But I don't get me wrong, I love Family Guy for how it guides me through on an evening when I need something on. But Modern Family has made me laugh out loud and it's made me cry and I think that's a real achievement to do in half an hour. So Modern Family.

[B]

Modern Family. And also if you take anything away from this, it's that if you haven't seen Modern Family, really, really, really worth it.

[C]

I'm excited to see who's going through.

[B]

Is it going to be Family Guy or Modern Family? Oh, my God.

[C]

Family Guy goes through a worthy winner though.

[B]

This episode is brought to you by the Lloyds 5k house deposit.

[A]

Lloyds are offering a 5k house deposit which was last seen in 1996. What are your entertainment memories of the 1990s?

[B]

I feel guilty talking about the 1990s because you look back and it was, it was such a golden era.

[A]

We'd never had it so good and we didn't even realise because we were young and we just thought we were entitled to it all.

[B]

We absolutely took it for granted. Yeah. Brit Pop was absolutely in its pomp Oasis playing to a quarter of a million people. You had Blur, Sky, Skull, I'm so so Girls, Amazing movies at the cinema, Trainspotting. I mean, it felt a time of absolute optimism, but at the time you just assumed that was the way that.

[A]

A very British type of optimism.

[B]

Yeah, but part of the optimism, of course, is that mortgages were more affordable and that is what Lloyds is dealing with right now.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

Last seen in 1996, Lloyds are now offering 5K deposit mortgages to first time buyers. Search 5K First Time Buyer 1996 Average

[B]

first time buyer deposits based on ONS data subject to status. Your home may be repossessed if you don't keep up repayments. Conditions apply. So that's our top eight. We got our semi finals. We will deal with those in a minute. What else on this list do you think should have been in the top eight? I think there's some. I think probably my four favorite US sitcoms are not in that top eight.

[C]

Really?

[B]

I think so, yeah.

[D]

I would say the Office, the best sitcom that doesn't feature Steve Coogan or Rick Mayle.

[B]

Wow, that is high praise indeed. I think again, it's one of those ones you probably need to get past the first season.

[D]

Well, not even the first season. It's sort of the first five episodes.

[B]

The one where they're trying to ape the UK office. Yeah.

[C]

But it, yes, once it finds itself, it's great. Do you not think, John, it drops off a little bit towards the end?

[B]

I don't know that it did. Actually. We were rewatching it recently. Even the kind of. That Season eight. Did it go Season nine?

[C]

What's his name, that new boss that

[D]

came out, James Spader.

[B]

There is a brief. But the final season, I think it really, really brings it back.

[D]

The final episode is great. Is superb.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

I think what happens is they get into that situation that Friends did where you just run out of combinations of people. In Friends, it was who's dating who, who'd slept with who. In the Office, it was who's manager of the office. It pushes your suspension of disbelief. When Ed.

[B]

Yes. When Ed Hells becomes.

[D]

That's when he's going off on a ship. But that's a bit ridiculous.

[B]

The James Spader era, Idris Elba era, Will Ferrell. Yeah, Will Ferrell. All of that I can live without. I think that final. Certainly the second half of the final season.

[D]

But if you ignore the sort of manager rotation, the dynamic between Dwight and Pam and Dwight and Jim's battle, that's a really sort of beautiful, underplayed love story between Jim and Dwight.

[B]

Yeah, it really is, isn't it?

[C]

And I think that thing as well of like sort of. If you compare it to Friends, the whole thing is Ross and Rachel. Will they, won't they? But actually you start to really fall with Chandler and Monica's beautiful relationship. And I found that with the U.S. office of like Jim and Pam.

[A]

Sure.

[C]

But my God, the way I was rooting for Dwight and Angela.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Like when Angela was with the senator, I just wanted him gone and wanted her back with Dwight.

[D]

Doesn't it speak to the quality of the cast that we've not even mentioned Steve Carell yet?

[B]

I know.

[D]

One of the best performances I've ever seen.

[B]

For me, that would be number one. My top four, I'd have US Office, Veep, 30 Rock, Brooklyn 9. 9. None of them made it into Brooklyn.

[C]

9. 9. If only for Charles Boyle.

[B]

Yeah, he's amazing.

[C]

Charles Boyle, I think, is one of the best sitcom characters.

[B]

Agreed.

[C]

Ever.

[D]

I wonder if it was a mistake putting Simpsons and Family Guy amongst them.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Because I wouldn't say that they're technically sitcoms.

[B]

Well, I'll tell you what would have snuck in if we hadn't. In ninth place was Sex and the City and in tenth place was Brooklyn. Nine. Nine. You have to go down to number 13 to find the office. The US office.

[C]

Sex and the City. Each time you revisit you have a very different reaction to it and a different.

[D]

And would you say that was a sitcom?

[C]

Yeah, good point, John. I don't know if I would. No. I love Arrested Development. I do love Curb youb Enthusiasm. Yeah.

[B]

I love Curb youb.

[C]

And I really, really like always Sunny in Philadelphia.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[C]

That's for that kind of stupid sense of humor. The stupidity of Everybody.

[B]

Sensationally rude. Yeah, I mean, I've watched it so many times. Shall we do our semi finals and find what the British public voted for? Our first semi final is Friends against Big Bang Theory. What do you reckon's gonna win on that?

[D]

I mean, it's gotta be a walkover for Got to Be Friends.

[B]

Got to Be Friends, hasn't it? Got to Be Friends with Think at Home as well is Friends going into the final? Yeah, it is indeed. Friends is our first finalist.

[C]

That's a seven nil thrashing, isn't it in the semi final.

[B]

I mean, God bless Big Bang. Big Bang Theory did well to get through the semi finals.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And our other semi final is all. Is all animation. Right. We have the Simpsons versus.

[C]

Yeah, we don't love this, do we? We don't love.

[D]

Because I'm in my head there's two more deserving teams. But that's no, no slight on the Simpsons or Family Guy.

[C]

Are there third place playoffs in this World Cup?

[B]

Should we do that? Can you imagine if we're running short, which I think we will be.

[D]

Well, I wonder. Like I'm trying to think of people voting on this.

[B]

That's the thing.

[D]

When I was a kid, we didn't have sky, so I was watching Simpsons sort of on catch up through DVDs. And then I don't know if younger people are still watching the Simpsons. I reckon Family Guy might have pipped this.

[C]

I would go Family Guy for reasons we.

[B]

But we've explained again my experience of these World Cups is the most mainstream thing almost always wins. I did the World cup of Crisps and the winner was.

[C]

Ready Salted.

[B]

Salt and vinegar.

[D]

You know, way.

[B]

Oh, sorry. Salted Walkers.

[D]

No way.

[B]

Yeah. Can you believe it?

[C]

That's disappointing.

[B]

Let's find out. Is it the Simpsons or is it Family Guy? Simpsons. It's the mainstream thing.

[C]

So it's Simpsons v. Friends is the final.

[B]

I mean, that's a. That's a tricky one.

[C]

Two very different teams here.

[B]

Must be Friends.

[C]

It's gotta be Friends.

[D]

I just think for consistency across the seasons. Yeah, I think the Simpsons at its peak knocks Friends into a cocked hat. But in terms of you we looking at it as a brand, as a product, I think it has to be

[B]

friends as what it's meant to the maximum amount of people.

[C]

And I don't think there's a bad. There's occasionally an episode where you're like a flashback one. Yes, a flashback one. But there's no season where you're like, oh, it dropped off in at 7 or 8. Like it's consistently, as you say, even

[D]

when you knew they were each getting a million dollars an episode. And as like an 18 year old. He was just my brain exploding at the price that's anyone earning too much money.

[B]

And that was in the 90s.

[C]

And the constant ability to bring somebody back to being likable was incredibly impressive. Just when Ross had got so insufferable, he'd be. He'd do the most romantic thing ever or he'd be the most. You had so much pity for it like that. It was really, really well done. The writing is excellent.

[B]

Okay, let's find out. So thank you. More in common, they polled the British public. The British public had told them their favorite US Sitcom of all time. We know it's gonna be Friends or the Simpsons. What is the winner of the World cup of US Sitcoms? It is Friends. Very well done, Friends. That's. Do you know what?

[C]

I'm happy with that.

[B]

I think that's fair enough.

[C]

I'd have been really annoyed if Monica had been pipped by Maggie.

[B]

Very, very well done, Friends. Like they're watching. There might be. You never know, do you?

[C]

Have you ever met a friend?

[B]

No, my wife has. Ooh, yeah. Yeah.

[C]

Sort of like the Spice Girls. If you go, which one were you? Which one was your favorite one? Who would you like to meet?

[B]

I think I've met all the Spice Girls.

[C]

Are you a Chandler?

[D]

I would say I'm more Ross.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

I think I'm slightly maybe dull and nerdy and quite pernickety. Like that scene where he's staying to the last minute of the hotel and filling his suitcase full of toilets.

[C]

It's very Robin's there. It's very Robins.

[D]

Just with sachets and tea bags and. And free sugar.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

Maisie, John, thank you so much. Congratulations to Friends. I think you're gonna join us for a couple more of these at some point as well. Which I look forward to ever so

[D]

much after I've watched Modern Family.

[B]

After you watch this, I really, really, really, really recommend it. And I hope there's a few recommendations in there for you as well. So we're saying US Office. Maisie saying Friends. And Maisie agrees with the British public. World cup of US Sitcoms won by Friends. See you next time.

[D]

Bye,

[B]

Sam.