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45-461: The Navy Lark is a radio sitcom about life aboard a British Royal Navy frigate named HMS Troutbridge (a play on HMS Troubridge , a Royal Navy destroyer ) based in HMNB Portsmouth . In series 1 and 2, the ship and crew were stationed offshore at an unnamed location known simply as "The Island". In series 2 this island was revealed to be owned by Lt. Cdr. Stanton. The programme

90-540: A 30-minute time slot. Throughout their history, American sitcoms have often drawn inspiration from British counterparts. Popular shows like All in the Family , Three's Company , and Sanford and Son were adapted from successful British series. More recently, The Office achieved significant popularity in the United States , following the success of its British counterpart. Numerous television networks in

135-556: A Potarneyland frigate, the Poppadom , appears in several episodes manned by various Potani officers voiced by Michael Bates and Ronnie Barker . Guests: The series used accents and characterised voices to supplement the humour, as well as a good deal of innuendo. The show's theme tune was "Trade Wind Hornpipe" written and performed by Tommy Reilly on a Barry Music compilation of short interlude pieces published in 1958 on BMC118. In one episode, The Return of Sir Frederick Flatley,

180-412: A bit". "Ev'rybody down!" was a phrase of CPO Pertwee's, necessitated by a string of incomprehensible navigation orders by Phillips, and followed by a sound effect of the ship crashing. Also, whenever Pertwee had a menial job to be done, Able Seaman Johnson was always first in line to do it, inevitably against his will: "You're rotten, you are!". The telephone response from Naval Intelligence (Ronnie Barker),

225-463: A brief snippet of the theme tune is heard when Lieutenant Bates tries to connect the ship to a whaling ship by radio and accidentally "connects" to the actual radio. The programme was strong on creating identifiable characters; the listener was able to clearly differentiate each person Laurie Wyman created, many of whom acquired enduring catchphrases , most notably from Sub Lieutenant Phillips: "Corrrrr", "Ooh, nasty...", "Oh lumme!", and "Left hand down

270-544: A core group of characters who interact in a recurring setting, such as a family, workplace, or institution. However, British sitcoms typically consist of shorter series, often six episodes, and are frequently developed by a smaller writing team. The majority of British sitcoms are half-hour comedies recorded in studio settings using a multiple-camera setup. While many adhere to traditional sitcom conventions, some have ventured into more unconventional territory. For example, Blackadder and Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister shifted

315-500: A hotel proprietor, Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese , seeks to stamp out suspected extra-marital liaisons on his premises), Yes Minister (as a journalist, who discovers that a Government Minister, whose wife is a friend of hers, has retained for himself a valuable vase presented during an overseas visit), Dad's Army (as a Second World War “ land girl ”), Morecambe and Wise , The Dick Emery Show , Terry and June , Sykes , and The Les Dawson Show . Interspersed with

360-564: Is one of the leading channels in India, dedicated entirely to Sitcoms. Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah is the longest-running sitcom of Indian television and is also known as the flagship show of SAB TV . On Tiptoes and Shabhaye Barareh were among the first and most important sitcoms that led to the growth of this type of comedy in Iran, both receiving wide critical and audience acclaim. El Chavo del Ocho , which ran from 1971 to 1980,

405-725: The Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Series . In 2020, the sixth and final season of Schitt's Creek was nominated for 15 Primetime Emmy Awards . This broke the record for the most Emmy nominations given to a comedy series in its final season. During the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards , the show became the first ever comedy or drama series to sweep the four acting categories ( Outstanding Lead Actor , Outstanding Lead Actress , Outstanding Supporting Actor , Outstanding Supporting Actress for Eugene Levy , Catherine O'Hara , Dan Levy , and Annie Murphy respectively) and one of only four live action shows, along with All in

450-753: The RTR channel. The "boom" of Russian sitcoms began only in the 2000s, when in 2004, the STS started the highly successful sitcom " My Fair Nanny " (an adaptation of the American sitcom " The Nanny "). Since that time, sitcoms in Russia have been produced by the two largest entertainment channels in the country — STS and TNT . In 2007, the STS released the first original domestic sitcom — " Daddy's Daughters " (there were only adaptations before), and in 2010, TNT released " Interns " —

495-732: The United States feature sitcoms in their programming. CBS , TBS, Nickelodeon , and Disney Channel are just a few examples of networks that air sitcoms. April Walker April Walker is a British actress and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art between 1960 and 1962. Walker was born in 1943 in Sherborne , Dorset . She worked extensively in repertory and touring theatre before appearing on television in BBC TV comedy series such as The Two Ronnies , Fawlty Towers (as Jean Wilson, in an early episode in which

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540-664: The comedy-dramas of the 1980s and 1990s. Although there have been few long-running Australian-made sitcoms, many American and British sitcoms have been successful in Australia, since sitcoms are considered a staple of the government broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). In the 1970s and 1980s many British sitcoms also screened on the Seven Network . By 1986, UK comedies Bless This House and Are You Being Served? had been re-screened several times by ABC Television ; they were then acquired and screened by

585-418: The 12th series onward. For most of its run the show starred Leslie Phillips , Jon Pertwee and Stephen Murray , whose names rotated in order of precedence with each new episode over the entire 15-series run. Stephen Murray's daughter, Amanda Murray, also appeared in a few episodes. Episodes of The Navy Lark series are regularly replayed on BBC Radio 4 Extra . Episodes were self-contained, although there

630-431: The 1990s these included: Dekh Bhai Dekh (1993), Zabaan Sambhalke (1993), Shrimaan Shrimati (1995), Office Office (2001), Ramani Vs Ramani (Tamil 2001), Amrutham (Telugu 2001–2007), Khichdi (2002), Sarabhai vs Sarabhai (2005) F.I.R. (2006–2015), Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (2008–present), Uppum Mulakum (Malayalam 2015–present), and Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain (2015–present). SAB TV

675-482: The 1990s, sitcoms have since expanded to animated sitcoms , with successful shows of the genre including The Simpsons , King of the Hill , and Family Guy . Critics have debated the exact definition of a sitcom, mostly regarding productions created at the turn of the 21st century. Many contemporary American sitcoms use a single-camera setup and do not feature a laugh track, instead more resembling documentaries or

720-482: The 2010s, resulting in a decline in sitcom popularity. Nevertheless, there have been recent efforts to revive the sitcom genre. For instance, Netflix released So Not Worth It in 2021, featuring many creators from popular South Korean sitcoms. Popular South Korean sitcoms include the High Kick series, which has spawned several spin-offs. British sitcoms , like their American counterparts, often revolve around

765-417: The Family , The Golden Girls , and Will & Grace where all the principal actors have won at least one Emmy Award. Sitcoms started appearing on Indian television in the 1980s, with serials like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (1984), Nukkad (1986), and Wagle Ki Duniya (1988) on the state-run Doordarshan channel. Gradually, as private channels were permitted to operate, many more sitcoms followed. In

810-628: The Lyric Theatre in 2000. In 1973, a new companion was being sought to star opposite Jon Pertwee in the long-running television series Doctor Who . After auditioning many women, producer Barry Letts selected Walker for the role of Sarah Jane Smith . Pertwee, who had been playing the Doctor for some time, had not been consulted and totally disagreed with the casting although he and Walker had worked harmoniously together in Oh Clarence . He

855-849: The Middle East and Far East in 1990 with Tim Brooke Taylor in a Derek Nimmo production of Alan Ayckbourn 's Table Manners . She has appeared in West End productions: Oh Clarence at the Lyric Theatre in 1968 (in which she played Jon Pertwee 's niece), in Key For Two at the Vaudeville in 1982, Present Laughter at both the Aldwych Theatre and the Wyndham Theatre in 1996, and Brief Encounter at

900-728: The Seven Network. In 1981, Daily at Dawn was the first Australian comedy series to feature a regular gay character (Terry Bader as journalist Leslie). In 1987, Mother and Son won the Television Drama Award for portraying a woman suffering from senile dementia and her interaction with her family, presented by the Australian Human Rights Commission . In 2007, Kath & Kim ' s first episode of series 4 attracted an Australian audience of 2.521 million nationally. This

945-588: The United States in 1926 with the radio show Sam 'n' Henry . The subsequent success of Amos 'n' Andy , also created by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll , solidified the sitcom's place in American radio programming. The transition to television brought about significant changes in the sitcom format. Mary Kay and Johnny , which premiered in 1947, became the first American television sitcom. Today, American sitcoms typically run for 22 minutes, allowing for approximately eight minutes of advertising within

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990-477: The arrival of The TV Lark . The entire crew had been drummed out of the service and hired by Troutbridge TV Ltd. Janet Brown joined the cast due to the absence of Heather Chasen for this series. However, mainly due to public pressure, the production team of Alastair Scott Johnston and Laurie Wyman managed to revert the show to nautical capers. Storylines in The TV Lark nudged back to naval origins across

1035-650: The comedy were drama series which included appearances in Inspector Wycliffe , Anna Karenina , Minor Complications , Father Brown , The Prince and the Pauper , Judge John Deed and Waking The Dead . She has also performed on radio, including the last series of The Navy Lark , and in films such as The Pink Panther Strikes Again , Rhubarb Rhubarb and Shadow in a Landscape . Walker's experience of touring took her to Canada and South Africa in 1979, with Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques , and to

1080-559: The course of the programme Lt Murray marries Admiral Ffont-Bittocks' daughter Rita. The Republic of Potarneyland, a country situated somewhere on the Indian subcontinent, is featured in several episodes. Over the course of the series, it is revealed that Potarneyland had recently been granted independence from Great Britain , and had joined NATO because the Potanis considered it to be a "free gift scheme". During Series 3 of The Navy Lark ,

1125-515: The film and believed that this contributed to his own replacement in the cast by Shiner. Pertwee noted that the film "bombed" and said audiences did not consider the film to be The Navy Lark due to the absence of himself, Price and Stephen Murray. Wyman co-wrote with three other writers a television sitcom HMS Paradise ( Associated-Rediffusion , 1964–5) set in a naval shore establishment in which Caldicot played Captain Turvey, but only one series

1170-647: The first sitcom, filmed as a comedy (unlike dominated "conveyor" sitcoms). Sitcoms, or "시트콤" in Korean, gained significant popularity in South Korea during the 1990s. This popularity was fueled by the success of shows like Dr. Oh's People , LA Arirang , and Men and Women . The use of computer graphics (CG) in sitcoms began to increase in the late 1990s as more broadcasters adopted CG technology. This led to more visually dynamic and creative sitcoms. However, viewer preferences shifted towards dramas and thrillers in

1215-496: The focus from domestic or workplace settings to the world of politics. A more recent development in British comedy is the mockumentary , a style that blends documentary and comedic elements. Shows like The Office , Come Fly with Me , W1A , People Just Do Nothing , and This Country have successfully employed this format to explore a variety of topics and characters. Sitcoms, or situation comedies, made their debut in

1260-572: The scripts from Wyman and edited them to around twenty-five minutes each, to accommodate the commercial breaks. The revised show was recorded by local actors in front of a live audience. All the UK associations were kept for the South African audiences. Sitcom The structure and concept of a sitcom have roots in earlier forms of comedic theater, such as farces and comedy of manners . These forms relied on running gags to generate humor, but

1305-532: The show has earned an estimated $ 1 billion in syndication fees alone for Televisa . Gliding On , a popular sitcom in New Zealand in the early 1980s, won multiple awards during its run including Best Comedy, Best Drama and Best Direction at the Feltex Awards . The first Russian sitcom series was "Strawberry", which resembled "Duty Pharmacy" in a Spanish format. It was aired from 1996 to 1997 on

1350-467: The ten episodes until they were finally reunited with Troutbridge , which continued for another six episodes as the fifth series of The Navy Lark . Also written by Wyman, three series of The Embassy Lark were broadcast from 1966 to 1968. It starred Frank Thornton and Derek Francis . The show was set in the British Embassy in the fictional country of Tratvia and was concerned with

1395-434: The term "sitcom" emerged as radio and TV adapted these principles into a new medium. The word was not commonly used until the 1950s. Early television sitcoms were often filmed in front of a live studio audience using a multiple-camera setup , the latter of which continues in some modern productions such as The Big Bang Theory and Fuller House . Other formats make use of a laugh track or "canned laughter". Since

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1440-694: The various (mis)adventures of the British Ambassador Sir Jeremy Crichton-Buller (Francis) and his First Secretary Henry Pettigrew (Thornton) as they tried to keep smooth relations between Tratvia, Whitehall and the other Embassies ( China , the USSR and the U.S. ). Ronnie Barker, Stephen Murray, Lawrie Wyman and Leslie Phillips reprised their Navy Lark roles in two episodes. Frank Thornton also appeared in character as Sir Henry Pettigrew in one episode of The Navy Lark . Another Wyman creation, The Big Business Lark

1485-426: Was a martyr, especially when hearing about being under sailing orders. Ronnie Barker's versatile contributions were recognised and Laurie Wyman (later known as Lawrie Wyman) was asked by the producer to write more parts for Barker. Dennis Price returned for a guest appearance in the fourth series episode A Hole Lieutenant . Other 'guest stars' included April Walker , Norma Ronald and June Whitfield . The TV Lark

1530-399: Was always an extremely gormless and dimwitted delivery of " 'Ello, Intelligence 'ere" or "This is intelligence speakin ' ". Other recurring verbal features were the invented words "humgrummit" and "floggle-toggle" which served to cover all manner of unspecified objects ranging from foodstuffs to naval equipment. Unspecified illnesses include "the twingeing screws", an illness to which Pertwee

1575-564: Was broadcast as one series in 1969. It starred Jimmy Edwards and Frank Thornton The show is set in the boardroom of fictional company British United Plastics, and concerns the business machinations of the chairman, Sir Charles Boniface (Edwards), and his son and deputy chairman, Frank Boniface (Thornton). In 1959, a film version was released, also called The Navy Lark . Written by Laurie Wyman and Sid Colin and directed by Gordon Parry, it stars Cecil Parker , Ronald Shiner , Elvi Hale , Leslie Phillips and Nicholas Phipps . The setting

1620-401: Was changed where "The Island" was named Boonsey, a fictional Channel Island . According to Jon Pertwee's co-written memoir, published shortly after his death in 1996, the film was also supposed to star Pertwee and Dennis Price. However, according to Pertwee the film's producer Herbert Wilcox refused to employ Price "because he was gay." Pertwee was among those who objected to Price not being in

1665-464: Was continuity within the series, and sometimes a reference to a previous episode might be made. A normal episode consisted of Sub Lt Phillips, scheming Chief Petty Officer Pertwee, and bemused Lt. Murray trying to get out of trouble they created for themselves without their direct superior, Commander (later Captain) "Thunderguts" Povey finding out. Scenes frequently featured a string of eccentric characters, often played by Ronnie Barker or Jon Pertwee. Over

1710-927: Was criticized by several social commentators as inappropriately disrespectful to the office of the Prime Minister. The show nevertheless proved very popular with both television audiences and critics, becoming the most-watched Australian scripted comedy series of 2011. It was nominated at the 2012 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards for Best Television Comedy Series. Although there have been several notable exceptions, relatively few Canadian sitcoms attained notable success in Canada or internationally. Canadian television has had much greater success with sketch comedy and dramedy series. The popular show King of Kensington aired from 1975 to 1980, at its peak garnering an average of 1.5 to 1.8 million viewers weekly. The 1999 movie Trailer Park Boys

1755-530: Was followed up by a television series of the same name that ran from 2001 to 2018, airing in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K. Corner Gas , which ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009, became an instant hit, averaging one million viewers per episode. It has been the recipient of six Gemini Awards and has been nominated almost 70 times for various awards. Other noteworthy recent sitcoms have included: Call Me Fitz , Schitt's Creek , Letterkenny , and Kim's Convenience , all of which have been winners of

1800-461: Was intended to be a replacement for The Navy Lark starting with what would have been the programme's fifth series. This situation came about due to the head of light entertainment believing that "forces"-based humour had become dated and television was the next "big thing", so Lawrie Wyman was ordered to create a show with the same cast in an independent TV station situation. Alastair Scott Johnston and Wyman tried to stop this but were overruled: hence,

1845-468: Was made. The entire series is considered lost. The show was cut from 30 to 27 minutes by BBC Transcription services, then the discs were exported around the world except for South Africa. Springbok Radio broadcast to English speaking listeners from their Durban studios, but because it was a commercial station, the BBC refused to allow the station to re-broadcast the recorded shows. However, the station acquired

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1890-437: Was not comfortable with playing opposite his female co-star, who was tall and blonde. Already contractually protected, Walker was paid for the entire season but any monies earned at the BBC during the period of the contract were deducted. The role was re-cast with Elisabeth Sladen , who was not as tall as Walker and had dark hair. Although committed to not talking about the issue in her release agreement, Walker began to discuss

1935-559: Was the highest rating for a first episode in the history of Australian television, until the series premiere of Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities in 2009, which garnered 2.58 million viewers. In 2013, Please Like Me received an invitation to screen at the Series Mania Television Festival in Paris, was praised by critics, and earned numerous awards and nominations. Also in 2013, At Home with Julia

1980-546: Was the most-watched show on Mexican television and had a Latin-American audience of 350 million viewers per episode at its popularity peak during the mid-1970s. The show continues to be popular in Central America as well as in Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Spain, the United States, and other countries. Syndicated episodes average 91 million daily viewers in all its American markets. Since it ceased production in 1992,

2025-782: Was transmitted on the BBC Light Programme and subsequently BBC Radio 2 . It was produced by Alastair Scott Johnston . Jon Pertwee is frequently quoted as having suggested the idea of a forces comedy based on the Royal Navy, but Alastair Scott Johnston and writer Lawrie Wyman both contemplated an Air Force- and an Army-themed sitcom before going to the BBC with The Navy Lark . Wyman included ideas based on excuses for late return from leave and other misdemeanours from HMS Troubridge bulletins. He worked with George Evans (Pertwee's personal scriptwriter) from quite early on, but Alastair Scott Johnston did not want him named until

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