Comedy has been an essential component of television from the very first. The privileged few that watched the onset of the BBC's regular high-definition television service on November 2nd 1936, would have enjoyed a song by Adele Dixon and a comedy dance routine by the black comedians Buck and Bubbles. Jovial Jupiter in Sagittarius was on the BBC's midheaven at this inaugural point, (approximately 3 - 3.30pm).
Over sixty years later, amongst a fashionable rash of polls that enlivened the end of the twentieth century, the BBC asked British viewers to choose their most memorable moments from fifty years of national television broadcasting. These were specific "moments" rather than entire shows or series in general, and in an attempt to stop things getting completely out of hand a shortlist of only ten in each category was given for our choice. The Comedy section offered to voters in 1999 included (in no specific order):
FAWLTY TOWERS. ("Don't mention the War"), 24 October 1975.
THE MORECAMBE & WISE XMAS SHOW 1977. (Dance routine with news presenter Angela Rippon), 25 December 1977.
DAD'S ARMY. ("Don't tell him, Pike"), 31 October 1973.
BLACKADDER GOES FORTH. (End of last episode: going over the top in the trenches), 2 November 1989.
ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES. (Del Boy falls through the bar), 8 January 1989.*
MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS. (The Parrot sketch), 7 December 1969.
HANCOCK - THE BLOOD DONOR. ("A pint? That's very nearly an armful!"), 23 June 1961.
NOT ONLY...BUT ALSO. (Peter Cook & Dudley Moore: sex fantasies of Greta Garbo), 23 January 1965.
PARKINSON. (Emu attack), 27 November 1976.
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS. (Edina falls into flowerbed - 1st episode), 12 November 1992.
It is interesting to note that talk show host Michael Parkinson and the attack on him by an Emu puppet was included for us in the 'Comedy' section. But the overall winner of the BBC Poll was Del Boy falling through a bar.

Currently the BBC is at it again but this time inviting us to vote for the nation's best ever television sitcom overall, devoting a Saturday night viewing slot to a different contender each week. Many of the same names as above are in this new Top Ten but now joined with other favourites. The full list of Britain's Best Sitcom (together with birth data of the individual shows) is as follows:
BLACKADDER. June 15, 1983. 9.25pm. London.
DAD'S ARMY. July 31, 1968. 8.20pm. London.
FAWLTY TOWERS. September 19, 1975. 9pm. London.
ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE. January 4, 1990. 9.30pm. London.
ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES. September 8, 1981. 8.30pm. London
OPEN ALL HOURS. March 25, 1973. 8.15pm. London.
PORRIDGE. April 1, 1973. 8.15pm. London.
THE GOOD LIFE. April 4, 1975. 8.30pm. London.
THE VICAR OF DIBLEY. November 10, 1994. 8.30pm. London.
YES MINISTER. February 25, 1980. 9pm. London.
A couple of these sitcoms from different ends of the spectrum are astrologically analysed below, not in an attempt to forecast the winner of this current competition but purely to observe how the content and character of a show is closely mirrored in its time and date of birth.

BLACKADDER
Wednesday 15 June 1983. 9.25pm. London.
Before Mr Bean, Edmund Blackadder was the best-known alter ego of comic actor Rowan Atkinson (born 6 January 1955). BLACKADDER, which could be described as a set of jokey past-life tales featuring a professional cheat, (Rising Neptune conjunct South Lunar Node in Sagittarius), ran in four separate television series - and two one-off specials - in the 1980s.

The whole damned dynasty
The BLACKADDER programme was unusual in that each series had the same character but born each time into a different pocket of history. The first incarnation, THE BLACK ADDER, was set in the dark ages of the 15th century. BLACKADDER 2 took place in Elizabethan times, BLACKADDER THE THIRD in Regency period, and BLACKADDER GOES FORTH in the trenches of the First World War. The Blackadder character also reincarnated as a cavalier in a fifteen-minute 1988 broadcast for the fund-raising charity Comic Relief, and as Scrooge (or Ebeneezer Blackadder) in a 45-minute Christmas Special also in 1988. After this the novelty seemed to have worn off - at least for Rowan Atkinson - and apart from endless repeats BLACKADDER has remained a pure product of the 1980s with its fascination for wealth and social climbing.
By general agreement BLACKADDER (the show) got better and better with each series and this may reflect the bounty of having Jupiter strong in its own sign and ruling the birth chart. The series finished when it was at its most popular and was never seen to grow old and stale. In retrospect the most shaky episodes were in the first series which the BBC had funded generously but had no plans to extend until the programme won an award and by a small margin was allowed a second run. After this the show became more confident, discarding expensive outdoor shots and putting Jupiter more where its mouth was. The Gemini wit was enhanced as comedian Ben Elton joined the writing team, and the verbal jokes flew thicker and faster while the character of Blackadder grew more smug and self-assured.
Chart-ruling Jupiter in Sagittarius also outweighed the darker elements of the Saturn-Pluto conjunction near the Scorpio midheaven. These macabre shades, most noticeable in the first series, were charitably described as "black comedy" or, as is now more fashionable, "grotesque", but the unfunny gory scenes had condemned the show to the outposts of fringe humour and in the subsequent series the horror element subsided as the wit grew sharper. Jupiter's Sagittarian horseplay expanded and the atmosphere brightened. Blackadder's Saturn-Pluto determination to manipulate cash and power was still there but the dark serpent of the Scorpionic midheaven was left to reside only within the character (and name) of the main protagonist.

A cunning plan, Baldric
With the Sun and North Node on the descendant - and the Sun in Gemini too - there had to be a double-act here somewhere. Blackadder's constant other-half throughout the entire series was his grubby manservant Baldric.
Service would play a big part in the plots with a 6th House crammed with planetary energy. Baldric served Blackadder; Blackadder served his superiors, and so on up the rickety social ladder. With a Gemini Sun-Node on the descendant, smart swindling Blackadder and grimy gullible Baldric were obviously karmic partners, Gemini twins through thick and thin. Why else would they have tolerated each other and kept reincarnating together? Baldric proved the perfect dull-brained foil to Blackadder's scheming connivance yet while Baldric was the butt of endless verbal and physical abuse he was thick-skinned enough to suffer less than his master in the long run. Other characters, usually higher-born up the social scale, also fitted into comic duos, and the banter between Blackadder and these mentally deficient chinless wonders was more like a vaudeville routine between cross-talk comedians. (Sun conjunct Mars in Gemini on descendant). The words were sharp (Mercury in Gemini), the metaphors high-blown and preposterous (Mercury opposite Jupiter), but funny (three planets and ascendant Sagittarius).
A theatrical flavour to BLACKADDER is noticeable through its Leo Moon. There were Shakespearean tones in the first and second series, and the credits to BLACKADDER 3 were presented as an "Entertainment", listed as characters in a play. Leo also reflects the obsession with lordly authority and the misuse of royal or hierarchical power that provided jokes in every episode. Blackadder is a status-seeking individual, often a soldier (Sun conjunct Mars), amongst aristocratic Leo figures to whom he must both fawn and outwit. Rowan Atkinson's own Capricorn Sun delighted in portraying the funny side of a 1980s' yuppie in a quest for power and recognition throughout time and space.
There is a lot of Fire and Air in the BLACKADDER chart, but no Earth or Water. The characters were full of hot air, mad schemes and cunning plans but little in the way of common sense, pity or remorse. Yet the whole series was working its way towards the expression of true feeling and sympathy at its end. In the trenches of the First World War it would finally display the most prominent feature of the entire birth chart - the exact Rising Neptune.

The Poppy Field
At first, being Neptune, it was easy to miss. But the dreamy planet of inspiration and deception was all-important, trining the Moon, sextiling Pluto and Saturn, opposing the Sun, and rising almost precisely on the ascendant. Neptune was therefore the signature of the show and with a chart that was highly mutable this only facilitated its chameleon changes in period and costume from one series to the next all the easier. Rowan Atkinson had a vehicle here to exploit any period of history that he wished, and a continuing licence to poke fun at actual historical figures and attitudes as if he were dreaming his way through them. In fact it was the rising Neptune that led the whole BLACKADDER series to climax and finish with a sacrificial and compassionate message.
The last episode of BLACKADDER GOES FORTH, set in the trenches of the 1914-18 War, ended in an uncharacteristically sober vein with our heroes facing certain death as they advanced into the futile glory of no-man's land. Even the wily Captain Blackadder could not worm his way out of this sad predicament. After so many laughs along the way the poignancy of this message was long remembered as the end credits faded into a field of Neptunian poppies. In real time it was the end of the 1980s and the right-wing reign of Margaret Thatcher. The divide between the privileged members of society and the remaining 'peasants' was another message that the alternative comedians of the 1980s were always ready to exploit, and the designer-label decade with its yearning to revert to old traditional values was finishing with many a moral to ponder.
We could also muse that the strength of Neptune led the BLACKADDER series to finish in the First World War as this conflict has been associated by some as being the last war of the Age of Pisces. Certainly The Great War, as it was once called, has Neptunian features in abundance. It was an imprecise and muddled affair marked with mud and gas and angelic visions, as thousands were sent into sacrificial slaughter.
Conventional television wisdom says that situational comedy set in retrospective historical eras is fine for a few quick sketches but difficult to maintain for long. The period jokes get exhausted quickly and the narrow parameters prevent room for character development. BLACKADDER avoided these problems by jumping across the centuries, landing in different circumstances each time and milking each for as many laughs as it could before moving on.
Mr Blackadder was usually killed off at the end of each run - in an off-screen Neptunian way - before floating in again in a new guise further down the river of time. Only in the very last episode of all did practically the entire cast dissolve along with him. (Their images literally dissolving on screen).
It was Neptunian to the end.

THE GOOD LIFE
Friday 4 April 1975. 8.30pm London.
Tom and Barbara Good were the married couple (Libra ascendant) whose suburban lifestyle was progressively different to the rest (Uranus rising and ruling the Aquarian 4th house cusp). They had given up their 9-to-5 jobs for a life of self-sufficiency and then converted their house and garden to that same purpose. And while just this basic scenario had good scope for many a comic moment it was lifted further by the inclusion of another couple: the Good's very upper middle-class next-door neighbours Margo and Jerry, who acted as a supportive counterbalance to the Goods. Doubly Libra!
In the BBC's Top Ten Sitcoms currently being presented for our votes, THE GOOD LIFE is generally seen as the gentlest, the nicest, the one that made you feel good. It's all very Libra - but also very real. There was a believability in the characters of these two couples that the four actors (Richard Briers, Felicity Kendall, Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington) superbly managed to convey. And this was enhanced by their individual astrological links to the Venus-ruled GOOD LIFE birth chart. Let's look at these one by one.
Richard Briers (14 January 1934. 12.30am. Merton, Surrey), playing Tom Good, was born with both Sun and Moon in Capricorn allowing him to empathize naturally with THE GOOD LIFE's angular Capricorn Moon. His portrayal of Tom Good, seen with the benefit of a few decades hindsight, held an old-fashioned heartiness and repartee reminiscent of Kenneth More in the 1950s. Tom Good reflected the Saturnian willingness to get back to basics and live without life's fripperies while slowly building to the Good Life of total self-sufficiency, (Moon conjunct 4th house cusp). A man of principles, Good was prepared to toil around the clock and not accept handouts from friends when the going got tough.
Tom Good's wife, Barbara, played by Sun Libran Felicity Kendall (25 September 1946. Birmingham), provided the lighter Libran face. As the ascendant of THE GOOD LIFE chart, Libra allowed this all to be viewed as light comedy, and Barbara was the Libran lens - prepared to bend for the sake of harmony, prepared to compromise with her more outwardly dominant spouse. Barbara Good was the sweet and patient other-half, the partner who had gone along with her other's determined ideas, and to some extent the 12-year age difference between the two actors who played Tom and Barbara made this ring truer. When the first series began in April 1975 Felicity Kendall was 28 and Richard Briers 41, spot-on incidentally for the character of Tom Good who turns 40 in the first episode and announces his great idea of giving up a well-paid job and going self-sufficient. But we could believe astrologically that for both Tom and Barbara two of life's great turning points had just hit them.
A Uranus Opposition fervour easily explains Tom Good's revolutionary bid for freedom, quitting the 9 to 5 grind and living outside the establishment, yet his wife was no doubt feeling the more difficult Saturn-Return obligation to knuckle down and help him. While their self-imposed life-style was hard on them both we somehow felt that Barbara had sacrificed most, perhaps because she represented a Libra going through a Saturn Return: no new clothes, no little treats, few feminine luxuries etc. But age differences and Sun signs apart, the Goods were a happy, devoted and evenly matched couple - as shown by chart-ruling Venus in Taurus in the 7th house.
Evenly-matched was not the first phrase that sprung to mind to describe their next-door neighbours the Leadbetters however; a couple who represented a dominant wife and an anything-for-a-quiet-life husband. Margo Leadbetter as played by the largely unknown actress Penelope Keith (2 April 1940. Sutton, Surrey), would arguably emerge as the star of the show. THE GOOD LIFE put her name on the map and typecast her forever as the lovable snob Margo. Penelope Keith's Aries Sun was only two degrees from the Sun of the show and there were more planets in Aries than in any other sign on THE GOOD LIFE chart. It was a show about Libran couples and Libran give-and-take but it had fiery, straight-forward Arian forces within those couples.
This was especially so in the character of Margo, who was in many ways the odd one out of the four. While her husband Jerry had a more natural understanding and admiration for what the Goods were trying to do with their life, Margo's need to keep up an acceptable social front belied a more vulnerable person beneath. The psychology of Margo would be explored more as the series progressed, giving the writers a rich vein to utilise when many of the self-sufficiency situations had already been mined. Here was a woman who formidably wore the trousers, and even became a kind of people's hero as she tackled petty bureaucracy and awkward tradesmen. Yet she was a sensitive and isolated individual who would touchingly admit to the others, after one too many homemade wines, that she could never understand jokes nor why people thought things were funny. She laughed as polite society required but never got the humour - an admission much to the tipsy hilarity of the other three. Apart from this trait however, we could see a lot of Aries in Margo's character and should not be surprised that she shone in this Aries/Libra show.
Paul Eddington (18 June 1927. London), played Margo's husband Jerry. The genial actor later gained greater starring success in the comedies YES MINISTER and YES PRIME MINISTER (also contenders for the Best Sitcom Award) before his untimely death in the 1980s. But in terms of the astrology of THE GOOD LIFE his Sun sign (Gemini) was less dominant than those of the other three whose Suns reflected the chart's Sun, Moon and ascendant (Aries, Capricorn, Libra). In a sense Jerry was the least knowable of the four main protagonists. As the hen-pecked nice-guy, his character may have drawn the shortest straw, but as the foil to Margo he was perfectly cast. Again there was a 12-year age difference between these two actors, which worked in an opposite way to that perceived in the relationship of the Goods. At the start of series Paul Eddington was 47, the eldest in the cast, while Penelope Keith had just turned 35. We may have interpreted their characters as the older man indulging his younger wife, and perhaps suspected that although Margo appeared to have the upper hand she might have married an older man for reasons of security and was more dependent on him than she seemed.
The Moon is at the root of this chart, conjunct the lower heaven, and it is without doubt a domestic comedy, a story about homes. The Sun is in the 6th house, the place of habitual work and service, a fitting signature (with the rising Uranus) for an alternative life-style of self-sufficiency. Mars in Aquarius in the 4th also backs up the same theme. More TV comedy show data (collected by Paul Newman):
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS. November 12, 1992. 9pm. London.
ACORN ANTIQUES. (See VICTORIA WOOD - AS SEEN ON TV)
THE ADDAMS FAMILY. September 18, 1964. 8.30pm. New York.
THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET. October 3, 1952. 8pm. New York.
AGONY. March 11, 1979. 9.15pm. London.
ALAS SMITH AND JONES. December 27, 1982. 8.05pm. London. (5-minute special. Full Series: January 31, 1984. 9.30pm. London).
ALFRED MARKS TIME. February 16, 1956. 8pm. London.
ALICE. August 31, 1976. 9.30pm. New York.
ALL IN THE FAMILY. January 12, 1971. 9.30pm. New York.
'ALLO 'ALLO! December 30, 1982. 8.25pm. London. (Pilot)
ALLY McBEAL. September 8, 1997. 9pm. New York.
THE ARMY GAME. June 19, 1957. 8.30pm. London.
THE ARTHUR HAYNES SHOW. January 2, 1957. 9.30pm. London.
AS TIME GOES BY. January 12, 1992. 8.35pm. London.
AUF WIEDERSEIN PET. September 11, 1983. 9pm. London.
BARRY HUMPHRIES' SCANDALS. July 12, 1969. 9pm. London.
BEN ELTON - THE MAN FROM AUNTIE. February 15, 1990. 9.30pm. London.
THE BENNY HILL SHOW. January 15, 1955. 8.45pm. London.
THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES. September 26, 1962. 9pm. New York.
BEWITCHED. September 17, 1964. 9pm. New York.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER. October 16, 1989. 8.30pm. London.
BLACKADDER. June 15, 1983. 9.25pm. London.
BLESS THIS HOUSE. February 2, 1971. 7pm. London.
BOOTSIE AND SNUDGE. September 23, 1960. 8.55pm. London.
BOTTOM. September 17, 1991. 9pm. London.
THE BRADY BUNCH. September 26, 1969. 8pm. New York.
BREAD. May 1, 1986. 9.30pm. London.
BRIAN CONLEY - THIS WAY UP. May 20, 1989. 7.30pm. London.
THE BRITTAS EMPIRE. January 3, 1991. 8.30pm. London.
BRUSH STROKES. September 1, 1986. 8.30pm. London.
BUTTERFLIES. November 10, 1978. 9pm. London.
CANDID CAMERA. August 10, 1948. 8pm. New York.
CANNON AND BALL. July 28, 1979. 8pm. London.
CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU? September 17, 1961. 8.30pm. New York.
CHEF! January 28, 1993. 9.30pm. London.
CITIZEN SMITH. April 12, 1977. 7.40pm. London. (Pilot)
THE COMEDIANS. June 12, 1971. 7pm. London.
COMIC RELIEF. April 25, 1986. 10.15pm. London.
THE COMIC STRIP PRESENTS...('Five Go Mad in Dorset'). November 2, 1982. 10.15pm. London.
COOL IT. (Phil Cool). August 30, 1985. 10pm. London.
THE COSBY SHOW. September 20, 1984. 8pm. New York.
CURRY AND CHIPS. November 21, 1969. 8.30pm. London.
DAD'S ARMY. July 31, 1968. 8.20pm. London.
THE DAVE KING SHOW. October 15, 1955. 8.30pm. London.
DESMOND'S. January 5, 1989. 8.30pm.London.
THE DES O'CONNOR SHOW. May 29, 1963. 9.15pm. London.
THE DETECTIVES (Jasper Carrott/Robert Powell). January 27, 1993. 8pm. London.
THE DICK EMERY SHOW. July 13, 1963. 8.05pm. London.
THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW. October 3, 1961. 8pm. New York.
THE DICKIE HENDERSON SHOW. April 6, 1957. 8.30pm. London.
DIFF'RENT STROKES. November 3, 1978. 8pm. New York.
DINOSAURS. April 26, 1991. 8.30pm. New York.
DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET. December 26, 1967. 5.25pm. London.
DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE. July 12, 1969. 7.35pm. London.
DROP THE DEAD DONKEY. August 9, 1990. 10.30pm. London.
DUTY FREE. February 13, 1984. 8pm. London.
EVER DECREASING CIRCLES. January 29, 1984. 8.35pm. London.
THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN. September 8, 1976. 9.25pm. London.
FAST AND LOOSE. (Bob Monkhouse). May 12, 1954. 9.25pm. London.
THE FAST SHOW. September 27, 1994. 10pm. London.
FATHER DEAR FATHER. November 5, 1968. 8.30pm. London.
FATHER KNOWS BEST. October 3, 1954. 10pm. New York.
FATHER TED. April 21, 1995. 9pm. London.
FAWLTY TOWERS. September 19, 1975. 9pm. London.
A FINE ROMANCE. November 1, 1981. 10pm. London.
THE FLINTSTONES (Cartoon). September 30, 1960. 8.30pm. New York.
FOR THE LOVE OF ADA. April 20, 1970. 9.30pm. London.
THE FOSTERS. April 9, 1976. 7.30pm. London.
FRASIER. September 16, 1993. 9.30pm. New York.
FRENCH AND SAUNDERS. March 9, 1987. 9pm. London.
FRESH FIELDS. March 7, 1984. 8.30pm. London.
FRESH PRINCE OF BEL AIR. September 10, 1990. 8pm. New York.
FRIENDS. September 22, 1994. 8.30pm. New York.
THE GAFFER. January 9, 1981. 8.30pm. London.
GAME ON. February 27, 1995. 9.30pm. London.
GEORGE AND MILDRED. September 6, 1976. 8pm. London.
THE GEORGE BURNS AND GRACIE ALLEN SHOW. October 12, 1950. 8pm. New York.
GET SMART. September 18, 1965. 8.30pm. New York.
GIRLS ON TOP. October 23, 1985. 8.30pm. London.
THE GLAM METAL DETECTIVES. February 23, 1995. 9pm. London.
GOING STRAIGHT. February 24, 1978. 8.30pm. London.
THE GOLDEN GIRLS. September 14, 1985. 9pm. New York.
A GOOD IDEA - SON! (Max Bygraves). May 9, 1953. 9.30pm. London.
THE GOOD LIFE. April 4, 1975. 8.30pm. London.
THE GOODIES. November 8, 1970. 10pm. London.
GOODNIGHT SWEETHEART. November 18, 1993. 8.30pm. London.
GOONREEL. (First 'Goon Show' on TV). July 2, 1952. 8.45pm. London.
THE TELEGOONS. (Puppets). October 5, 1963. 5.40pm. London.
GREEN ACRES. September 15, 1965. 9pm. New York.
HALE AND PACE. December 20, 1986. 9pm. London.
HANCOCK'S HALF-HOUR. July 6, 1956. 9.30pm. London.
HAPPY DAYS. January 15, 1974. 8pm. New York.
HAPPY EVER AFTER. May 7, 1974. 8.30pm. London. (Later renamed TERRY & JUNE from October 24, 1979. 8.30pm. London).
HARRY ENFIELD'S TELEVISION PROGRAMME. November 8, 1990. 9pm. London.
HARRY HILL. May 30, 1997. 10.30pm. London.
HERE'S HARRY (Harry Worth). October 11, 1960. 7.30pm. London.
HI de HI. January 1, 1980. 7.30pm. London. (Pilot).
HINGE AND BRACKET. March 31, 1978. 9.30pm. London. (First TV programme in Scotland: September 23, 1977. 12.30pm).
HOGAN'S HEROES. September 17, 1965. 8.30pm. New York.
HOME IMPROVEMENT. September 17, 1991. 8.30pm. New York.
THE HONEYMOONERS. October 1, 1955. 8.30pm. New York.
HOPE AND KEEN. December 22, 1965. 9.10pm. London.
HOW DO YOU VIEW? (Terry Thomas). October 26, 1949. 8.30pm. London.
THE HOWERD CROWD. (Frankie Howerd). January 12, 1952. 8.45pm. London.
HUDD. (Roy Hudd). July 15, 1965. 8.50pm.
I DREAM OF JEANNIE. September 18, 1965. 8pm. New York.
I LOVE LUCY. October 15, 1951. 9pm. New York.
IN LOVING MEMORY. November 4, 1969. 8.30pm. London. (Pilot)
IS IT LEGAL? September 12, 1995. 8.30pm. London.
IT AIN'T HALF HOT MUM. January 3, 1974. 8pm. London.
IT'LL BE ALL RIGHT ON THE NIGHT. September 18, 1977. 7.45pm. London.
IT'S A SQUARE WORLD (Michael Bentine). September 16, 1960. 9pm. London.
IT'S MAGIC (Tommy Cooper). March 12, 1952. 9pm. London.
THE JACK DEE SHOW. February 26, 1992. 10.30pm. London.
JEEVES AND WOOSTER.(Steven Fry & Hugh Laurie). April 22, 1990. 8.45pm. London.
THE JEFFERSONS. January 18, 1975. 8.30pm. New York.
THE JIM DAVIDSON SHOW. January 11, 1979. 7.30pm. London.
JUST GOOD FRIENDS. September 22, 1983. 9.25pm. London.
KATE AND ALLIE. March 19, 1984. 9.30pm. New York.
KEEPING UP APPEARANCES. October 29, 1990. 8.30pm. London.
THE KEN DODD SHOW. July 25, 1959. 8.20pm. London.
KENAN AND KEL. October 12, 1996. New York. (time not known).
THE KENNY EVERETT VIDEO SHOW. July 3, 1978. 6.45pm. London.
KING OF THE HILL (cartoon). January 12, 1996. 8.30pm. New York.
KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU...WITH ALAN PARTRIDGE. September 16, 1994. 10pm. London.
THE LARKINS. September 19, 1958. 10.15pm. London.
LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE. January 4, 1973. 8pm. London. (Pilot)
LAVERNE & SHIRLEY. January 27, 1976. 8.30pm.
LEAVE IT TO BEAVER. October 4, 1957. 7.30pm. New York.
THE LIFE OF RILEY. October 4, 1949. 9.30pm. New York.
LIFE WITH THE LYONS. June 29, 1955. 8.15pm. London.
THE LIKELY LADS. December 16, 1964. 9.55pm. London.
THE LITTLE & LARGE TELLYSHOW. December 20, 1976. 8.30pm. London.
THE LIVER BIRDS. April 14, 1969. 7.30pm. London. (Pilot)
THE LOVE BOAT. September 24, 1977. 10pm. New York.
LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR. April 13, 1972. 9pm. London.
THE LUCY SHOW. October 1, 1962. 8.30pm. New York.
MAMA. July 1, 1949. 8pm. New York.
MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE. August 15, 1973. 8.30pm. London.
MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN. April 5, 1987. 8pm. New York.
THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW. September 19, 1970. 9.30pm. New York.
THE MARY WHITEHOUSE EXPERIENCE. October 3, 1990. 9pm. London. (Pilot)
M.A.S.H. September 17, 1972. 8pm. New York.
MAY TO DECEMBER. April 2, 1989. 8.35pm. London.
MEET THE WIFE. December 28, 1963. 9.35pm. London. (Pilot)
MEN BEHAVING BADLY. February 18, 1992. 8.30pm. London.
MIND YOUR LANGUAGE. December 30, 1977. 7pm. London.
MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS. October 5, 1969. 10.55pm. London.
THE MORECAMBE AND WISE SHOW. (ITV). October 12, 1961. 8pm. London.
THE MORECAMBE AND WISE SHOW. (BBC). September 2, 1968. 8.50pm. London.
MR BEAN. January 1, 1990. 8pm. London.
THE MUNSTERS. September 24, 1964. 7.30pm. New York.
MY THREE SONS. September 29, 1960. 9pm. New York.
NEAREST AND DEAREST. August 15, 1968. 8pm. London.
NEVER MIND THE QUALITY-FEEL THE WIDTH. February 18, 1967. 10.30pm. London. (Pilot)
THE NEW STATESMAN. September 13, 1987. 10pm. London.
NO - HONESTLY. October 4, 1974. 8.30pm. London.
NOT IN FRONT OF THE CHILDREN. May 26, 1967. 7.30pm. London. (Pilot)
NOT ONLY...BUT ALSO. (Peter Cook & Dudley Moore). January 9, 1965. 9.25pm. London.
NOT THE NINE O'CLOCK NEWS. October 16, 1979. 9pm. London.
NOW - SOMETHING ELSE (Rory Bremner). March 3, 1986. 9pm. London.
THE ODD COUPLE. September 24, 1970. 9.30pm. New York.
THE OFFICE. July 9, 2001. 9.30pm. London.
OH NO - IT'S SELWYN FROGGITT. September 30, 1974. 8pm. London. (Pilot)
ON THE BUSES. February 28, 1969. 7.30pm. London.
ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE. January 4, 1990. 9.30pm. London.
ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES. September 8, 1981. 8.30pm. London.
ONLY WHEN I LAUGH. October 29, 1979. 8pm. London.
OPEN ALL HOURS. March 25, 1973. 8.15pm. London. (Pilot)
OUTSIDE EDGE. March 24, 1994. 8.30pm. London.
PARDON THE EXPRESSION. June 2, 1965. 7pm. London.
THE PAUL HOGAN SHOW. May 11, 1973. Australia. (time not known)
PAUL MERTON - THE SERIES. September 25, 1991. 10.30pm. London.
THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW (Sergeant Bilko). September 20, 1955. 8.30pm. New York.
PHOENIX NIGHTS. January 14, 2001. 9.30pm. London.
PLEASE SIR! November 8, 1968. 8.30pm. London.
PORRIDGE. April 1, 1973. 8.15pm. London. (Pilot)
'Q' (Spike Milligan). March 31, 1969. 8.50pm. London.
RAB C. NESBITT. December 31, 1989. 9.30pm. London.
THE RAG TRADE. October 6, 1961. 8.45pm. London.
RED DWARF. February 15, 1988. 9pm. London.
RHODA. September 9, 1974. 9.30pm. New York.
RIPPING YARNS. January 7, 1976. 9pm. London.
RISING DAMP. September 2, 1974. 8pm. London. (Pilot)
ROMANY JONES. February 15, 1972. 10.30pm. London. (Pilot)
ROSEANNE. October 18, 1988. 8.30pm. New York.
ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN. January 22, 1968. 8pm. New York. (Pilot: September 9, 1967).
RUNNING WILD. (Morecambe & Wise). April 21, 1954. 9.30pm. London.
RUSS ABBOT'S MADHOUSE. April 12, 1980. 6pm. London.
RUTLAND WEEKEND TELEVISION. May 12, 1975. 9pm. London.
SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH. April 7, 1996. 7pm. New York.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. October 11, 1975. 11.30pm. New York.
SECOND THOUGHTS. May 3, 1991. 8pm. London.
THE SECRET POLICEMAN'S BALL. December 22, 1979. 11.15pm. London.
SEZ LES. (Les Dawson). April 30, 1969. 10.30pm. London.
SEINFELD. May 31, 1990. 9.30pm. New York. (Pilot: July 5, 1989).
SHELLEY. July 12, 1979. 9.30pm. London.
THE SIMPSONS. (Cartoon). December 17, 1989. 8.30pm. New York.
THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR. February 5, 1967. 9pm. New York.
SOAP. September 13, 1977. 9.30pm. New York.
SOME MOTHERS DO 'AVE 'EM. February 15, 1973. 8pm. London.
THE SONNY AND CHER COMEDY HOUR. August 1, 1971. 8.30pm. New York.
SORRY! March 12, 1981. 8.30pm. London.
SOUTH PARK (Cartoon). August 13, 1997.
SPITTING IMAGE. February 26, 1984. 10pm. London.
STEPTOE AND SON. January 5, 1962. 8.45pm. London. (Pilot)
THE STANLEY BAXTER SHOW. May 18, 1963. 7.45pm. London.
THE STRANGE WORLD OF GURNEY SLADE. October 22, 1960. 8.35pm. London.
SYKES. (Eric Sykes). September 14, 1972. 8pm. London.
TAXI. September 12, 1978. 9.30pm. New York.
THE TED RAY SHOW. May 21, 1955. 9.15pm. London.
TERRY AND JUNE (See HAPPY EVER AFTER)
THE THIN BLUE LINE. November 13, 1995. 8.30pm. London.
3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN. January 9, 1996. 8.30pm. New York.
THREE OF A KIND (Lenny Henry/Tracey Ullman/David Copperfield). July 1, 1981 8.30pm. London.
TILL DEATH US DO PART. July 22, 1965. 8.50pm. London. (Pilot).
TONIGHT WITH DAVE ALLEN. July 9, 1967. 11.05pm. London.
TOPPER. 0ctober 9, 1953. 8.30pm. New York.
TO THE MANOR BORN. September 30, 1979. 8.45pm. London.
TURN IT UP! (Jewell & Warriss). September 29, 1951. 8.30pm. London.
TUTTI FRUTTI. March 3, 1987. 9.30pm. London.
2 POINT 4 CHILDREN. September 3, 1991. 8.30pm. London.
THE TWO RONNIES. April 10, 1971. 8.15pm. London.
UP POMPEII. September 17, 1969. 9.10pm. London. (Pilot).
THE VICAR OF DIBLEY. November 10, 1994. 8.30pm. London.
VIC REEVES BIG NIGHT OUT. May 25, 1990. 10.30pm.London.
VICTORIA WOOD-AS SEEN ON TV. January 11, 1985. 9pm. London.
THE VILLAGE STORE. (Mr Pastry). August 19, 1946. 8.30pm. London.
WHACK-O! October 4, 1956. 8pm. London.
WHO DO YOU DO? January 8, 1972. 6.05pm. London.
WHOOPS APOCALYPSE. March 14, 1982. 10pm. London.
WALLACE & GROMIT ('A Grand Day Out'-animation). December 24, 1990. 6pm? London.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE LIKELY LADS? January 9, 1973. 8.30pm. London.
WILL & GRACE. September 21, 1998. 9.30pm. New York.
THE WORKER (Charlie Drake). February 27, 1965. 8.25pm. London.
THE WORLD OF BEACHCOMBER. January 22, 1968. 8pm. London.
YES MINISTER. February 25, 1980. 9pm. London.
YES PRIME MINISTER. January 9, 1986. 9pm. London.
YOU BET YOUR LIFE. (Groucho Marx). October 5, 1950. 8pm. New York.
THE YOUNG ONES. November 9, 1982. 9pm. London.