For Your Viewing Pleasure: No Politics! Quiz

Answer: Terribly British

This British sitcom was created by Steve Coogan and Amando Iannucci, initially, as a spoof for BBC Radio 4 in 1991, featuring on their comedy programme "On the Hour". It was developed for television in 1997 and ran for six episodes. A second series, which also ran for six episodes, was released in 2002.

The show focusses on Alan Partridge (Coogan) as an inept broadcaster who is seriously lacking in diplomacy. To add to his woes, his wife leaves him and then the BBC dumps him. That's when the laughs begin.

Answer: Terribly British

Created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, this science fiction-styled comedy ran for twelve seasons between 1988 and 1999. The show is centred around David Lister (Chris Burrie) who is a technician of low rank on board the mining ship the Red Dwarf. Here's where the fun starts... he's just woken up from suspended animation, where he has been asleep for three million years and finds himself as the only human being left alive.

Answer: Terribly British

This programme is black comedy at its best. Put together by the writing team of Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, and actor Andrew O'Connor, it follows the lives of Mark Corrigan (David Mitchell), a socially awkward loans officer, and Jeremy Usborne (Robert Webb), a total slacker, who share a flat together in South London. First aired on Channel 4 in the UK, it did not extract ratings of any significance, but it was maintained thanks to a healthy dose of positive reviews.

It soon developed a cult following which allowed it to run for nine seasons, making it one of the longest-running comedies for Channel 4.

Answer: Terribly British

This anarchic comedy sprouted from the great comic minds of Rik Mayall, Ben Elton and Lise Mayer. "The Young Ones" was broadcast by BBC Two in two installments. The first in 1982 and the second in 1984. It has been labeled an "alternative" comedy that not only relied on its slapstick style humour but also introduced puppets, breached the fourth wall (regularly), and attracted musical guests into each episode to perform their popular numbers.

The comedy is built around four disparate undergraduates, sharing a house together that could best be described as squalid.

Answer: Terribly British

"Spaced" was the brainchild of the great Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson. The pair also play the two main characters, Tim Bisley and Daisy Steiner, who wind up sharing a house together despite the fact that they have only just met. The skillful writing and direction saw both series earn BAFTA nominations. It was first screened on Channel 4 in 1999, with the second series airing in 2001.

Answer: North American

This is an animated adult sitcom created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis Lynn. It ran for five seasons between 1997 and 2002 on MTV. The series was a spin-off from "Mike Judge's Beavis & ButtHead" (1993-97). Tracy Grandstaff reprises her role as Daria from that series, as a cynical teenager with a highly acerbic mouth (a lethal combination if ever there was one).

The show is built around her observations of the world at large, along with her best friend Jane Lane.

Answer: North American

"Scrubs" is set, and follows the goings on, in the teaching hospital known as Sacred Heart. The story is seen through the eyes of the main character, and narrator, Dr. JD Dorian (Zach Braff), who starts out in the hospital as an intern. The show received great critical acclaim, which is deserved.

This is a brave comedy in that it will show painful and touching scenes, yet still manage to play for laughs. Nine seasons of this fast-paced and ironic comedy were created, running on the NBC and, later ABC, between 2001 and 2010.

Answer: North American

This is a 1977 sitcom that began on the ABC, where it ran for five seasons until 1981. Set in the fictional town of Dunn's River, Connecticut, the show follows the lives of the sisters Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmund) and Mary Campbell (Cathy Damon). Both are well-to-do and are nowhere near being faithful to their loved ones. Created as a parody of daytime soap operas, the show sticks to its theme by introducing significant philandering, caskets of secrets, and even murder.

It comes as no surprise that the series garnered its fair share of controversy with calls that series was too raunchy and unfit to be shown on television.

Answer: North American

Dan Levy and his father Eugene were the masterminds behind this Canadian sitcom that aired on CBC Television from 2015 to 2020. It follows the trials of the Rose family who are a very wealthy lot. That is, until, their business manager absconds with all of their fortune and leaves them broke.

Their only option is to relocate to the town of Schitt's Creek which they had purchased, as a joke, back in the days when they did have money.

Answer: North American

A dark-ish comedy that is built around an upper-class black family and how they cope with a string of personal and sociopolitical issues. It features Anthony Anderson as the "Dre" Johnson, the father of the household, and Tracee Ellis Ross as Rainbow, his wife.

The acting of the two leads received great praise with the pair being nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards on eleven occasions, between them. Created by Kenya Barris, it aired on ABC from 2014 to 2022. It also led to two spin-offs; "Grown-ish", which premiered in 2018, and "Mixed-ish", which launched in 2019 and ran for two seasons.

A third spin-off, "Old-ish", was tossed around, but did not get off the ground.

Answer: Somewhere Down Under

"Bluey" is an Australian animated TV series that launched on ABC Kids in 2018. Created by the very clever Joe Brunn, the show is aimed at small children but, such is the cleverness of the writing, that adults also get a kick out of the show. The series is built around the imagination, curiosity, and adventures of Bluey, a six-year-old anthropomorphic blue heeler (dog), her sister Bingo, father Bandit, and mother Chilli.

The show won an International Emmy Kids Award in 2019.

Answer: Somewhere Down Under

This is the name of a comedy duo created by New Zealanders Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie. Their live comedy act proved so popular it became the basis for a radio series on the BBC in 2005. From there it evolved into a HBO television series between the years 2007 to 2009.

It is built around the pair's adventures in New York City as they go about getting their act accepted and trying to win fame and fortune.

Answer: Somewhere Down Under

Created by Jane Turner (Kath) and Gina Riley (Kim) the show examines the relationship between a mother and her daughter, chronicling their personal struggles while they enjoy a banal suburban existence. The comedy arises as the pair are constantly making silk purses out of sow's ears.

There were four seasons of the show, initially running from 2002 to 2005 on the ABC before Network Seven adopted the rights.

Answer: Somewhere Down Under

This is a gentle Australian comedy that tackles the rather sensitive subject of growing old and caring for someone who is suffering increasing memory loss. Ruth Cracknell is brilliant as the aging mother and Garry McDonald chimes in as her doting son. A winner of numerous Australian awards, it aired on the ABC for six seasons between 1984 and 1994.

Answer: Somewhere Down Under

This left-of-centre comedy was crafted by Andrew Zwar, Jason Gann, and Tony Rogers. It started life as an award-winning short film that was released in 2002 before being adapted for television. Season one aired on SBS One in 2007 and this was followed by season two in 2010.

It follows the lives of Wilfred, a dog, his owner Sarah, and her boyfriend Adam. Here's where it goes left-of-centre... Adam, the boyfriend, can only see Wilfred as a man dressed in a dog suit.