Funny, How?

Another weekend, another list from Channel 4. On the heels of The 50 Greatest TV Dramas came The World’s Greatest Comedy Characters.

Whereas the former was voted for by industry professionals, this latest list was compiled through “a combination of viewers voting on [the Channel 4] website, industry experts, and critical opinion.” Right.

I dipped in and out as the evening progressed, typically viewing the results with more and more despair. Larry Sanders at 43. Captain George Mainwaring from Dad’s Army only reaching 29. Porridge’s Norman Stanley Fletcher coming ninth.

The top five were, in reverse order: Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office’s David Brent, Edmund Blackadder, the wonderfully grotesque Alan Partridge and, on top of the pile, Basil Fawlty.

Once again, it was the omissions that proved to be more interesting. In case I had missed them during the channel hoping, I checked Channel 4’s website for the full results to see who I’d missed. They hadn’t been posted. But I did discover the A-Z of Nominees that people had cast their votes from.

Although the title didn’t give it away, it was comedy characters on television. Which explains the absence of Stan and Ollie. While Jerry from Seinfeld was amongst the nominees and made the list at number 24, where was George Costanza? Or Hank or Artie from The Larry Sanders Show?

More importantly, where the fuck was Sgt. Ernest G. Bilko?

In the end, the biggest jokers had to be the complete and utter ass clowns who compiled the nominations.