Television series
French and Saunders
- Parody
- Light-hearted
- Dip in and out
It's affectionate, elaborate spoof comedy — two best friends dressed as Thelma and Louise, or Sister Act, sending up whatever film or pop moment was inescapable that year. Big budgets, real sets, and total commitment to the bit. Warm rather than cruel. For anyone who loves impressions, costumes, and a friendship that clearly never got sick of each other.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy sharp, affectionate parody, where two performers send up films, celebrities and famous art with gleeful impressions and a willingness to look ridiculous.
Skip it if you want a plot that builds; this is sketch comedy, so the material is uneven and jokes land in short, unconnected bursts you may find scattershot.
What it asks of you: Half an hour a sitting, with no story to follow, so it rewards quick recognition of the films and faces being sent up rather than sustained attention.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Absolutely Fabulous1992
Jennifer Saunders spun this straight out of an F&S sketch, and it keeps that same delight in excess and disaster — just stretched across a whole sitcom instead of a five-minute bit.
But It's a sitcom with recurring characters, not a sketch show — if you want the anthology format, this commits fully to one joke.
The Fast Show1994
Same golden age of British sketch comedy, same appetite for daft catchphrases and instantly quotable characters, delivered at breakneck speed with real affection for its oddballs.
But Heavier on male performers and character comedy, lighter on the starry pop-culture spoofs that made French and Saunders' name.
Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV1985
Wood was working the same patch at the same time — sharp, warm, female-led sketch comedy that finds the absurd in ordinary British life rather than red-carpet spectacle.
But Gentler and more domestic — less interested in big-budget movie parody, more in queuing at the supermarket.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from French and Saunders
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Carol Burnett Show1967
Both shows proved a network would spend real money on elaborate film parody built entirely around one indestructible comic partnership — Burnett got there twenty years before Dawn and Jennifer did.
American, decades older, and shot in front of a live audience, but it invented the same trick — a beloved comic duo (Burnett and Harvey Korman) sending up whole movies with real sets and total commitment.
But It's variety-show TV from another country and another decade — big band numbers, canned laughter, a rhythm that takes some adjusting to.
More like this (8)
Smack the Pony1999
Another all-female sketch trio carrying the anarchic torch forward, with a stranger, more surreal visual imagination and some of the best deadpan sketches British TV produced in the 90s.
But Less pop-culture parody, more surreal vignette — you won't get the same starry impressions and film spoofs.
Monty Python's Flying Circus1969
The absurdist grandparent of the whole British sketch tradition — anarchic, surreal, and a direct influence on the generation of comedians who made French and Saunders possible.
But All-male, purely absurdist, and no interest in celebrity or pop-culture parody — a different comic engine entirely.
The Two Ronnies1971
A classic double act built on genuine warmth between its two stars, mixing wordplay, musical numbers and spoof sketches with the same generous, never-cruel spirit.
But Much gentler and more traditional — expect wordplay and variety-show charm rather than irreverence about modern celebrity.
Alas Smith and Jones1984
Another beloved double act from the same era, trading on easy chemistry and pop-culture spoof sketches, if you want more of that specific 80s Britishness.
But A male duo with a talkier, more understated style, and far less of the costume and set-piece spectacle.
Little Britain2003
The most direct descendant, using recurring characters and catchphrases to satirise British life and celebrity, and every bit as huge a cultural moment in its own decade.
But Considerably crueller in its targets, with jokes about race, class and disability that have aged very badly.
Big Train1998
A stranger, colder cousin — surreal sketches performed with total commitment by a starry ensemble, for when you want the format's discipline without the warmth.
But Much darker and stranger in tone — this trades the hugs and warmth for genuine unease.
Documentary Now!2015
Same devotion to technical, loving parody of a specific film or style, just stretched into a single American mockumentary story instead of a British sketch.
The same obsessive, loving commitment to nailing a specific style — except each episode is a full, straight-faced mockumentary parody of one real film or genre, played entirely deadpan.
But No sketches, no fourth-wall winks — it plays it completely straight, which some people find less immediately funny.
Bo' Selecta!2002
Both mine celebrity culture and prosthetic transformation for comedy — one does it with a hug, the other with a sneer.
Same DNA of British celebrity spoof and elaborate costume and prosthetics work, cranked up into something cruder, filthier and far more confrontational — a good measure of how far the genre could be pushed.
But Deliberately crude, sometimes genuinely tasteless, and missing entirely the affection that made French and Saunders' spoofs feel like love letters rather than attacks.
People
Cast
Recommended by
Tracey Takes On..., Absolutely Fabulous, Little Britain, Not the Nine O'Clock News, The Fast Show, The Catherine Tate Show, Come Fly with Me, Alas Smith and Jones, Filthy Rich & Catflap, Harry Enfield & Chums, Absolutely, Smack the Pony, Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, Chewin' the Fat, Happy Families, The Frost Report, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Three of a Kind, The Lenny Henry Show, Blackadder's Christmas Carol, Newman and Baddiel in Pieces