Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

manchester_england2004 Britain has a long history of sitcom making that dates all the way back to the late 1950s. The heyday of British sitcom production was probably the 1960s and 1970s, with such TV shows as STEPTOE AND SON, DAD'S ARMY, ARE YOU BEING SERVED?, ON THE BUSES, GEORGE AND MILDRED, MAN ABOUT THE HOUSE, RISING DAMP, PORRIDGE and countless others being very popular examples.Since the heyday of British sitcom production, there have been big changes. Whilst British sketch shows and stand-up comedy shows have still been going strong over recent years, the situation comedy has fared less well. The past 20 years has seen a notable decline in the standard of British sitcom production, with MR. BEAN being a notable exception.MY FAMILY symbolises the decline in British sitcom production. It is simply an abuse of the word "comedy" to pass it off as such. On dozens of occasions, I have tried to view an entire episode of this TV series and have never succeeded. I've endured a few clips every now and again whilst going through channels but simply cannot bring myself to see an entire episode of this show. Even MY HERO, another modern sitcom, fares better than this rubbish. And that show isn't much better.The biggest problem with this excuse for a comedy is Robert Lindsay. His acting is bad enough as I found out from a really terrible TV show named Jericho, which not surprisingly disappeared into total obscurity after one short series. But, his comedy skills are even worse. He is simply not funny and his presence on the screen is incredibly annoying for most of the time. His character merely seems to appear on the screen during the middle of a very mildly entertaining scene and utter ridiculous remarks that are simply not funny and completely out of context with what is happening, but are strangely always followed with the obviously canned laughter. He basically utters insults at his family and the audience is expected to find this tripe funny. His character is not in the least bit likable and nearly always contains expressions on his face that are kind of a cross between misery and sarcasm. See the show and you'll get my meaning.Zoë Wanamaker might be good as an actress, but comedy is clearly not her forte. Having said that, she is much less annoying than Mr. Lindsay and probably manages to say one thing funny in an entire episode. In fact, I long for her presence on the screen during Mr. Lindsay's scenes just so her character can send him off somewhere.The other characters are not really worth talking about. They are supposed to represent fragments of a "disfunctional" family. Instead they come across as total morons who no one wishes they were unfortunate enough to have as relatives. The actors playing them clearly have little talent and have made very limited career progress outside of this TV show. One of them got out after a few series and has done some acting in very boring "drama premieres" aired on ITV 1. Two others have worked on the TV soap opera, EastEnders. As for the actor playing Michael, he looks like a Harry Potter reject who missed his way.The scripts for this show are absolutely terrible. Let's just say that whoever penned them is no John Cleese. As another commenter has said, the individual episode plots are terrible and focus on very simple objectives such as "what should I do this weekend?". The individual jokes and gags (if you can call them that) are all predictable, poorly-timed and poorly-executed.Overall, MY FAMILY symbolises the Americanisation (read dumbed-down culture) of British sitcom production and is not worth the time or the effort of even the most die-hard fans of traditional British comedy.

michaelrustage Having read that there are more series of My Family on the way I can't help but be concerned. The show has been rapidly declining with each series and has unfortunately already past it's peak point. With the show now heading dangerously close to the edge of ridiculousness and the majority of people fast losing interest I personally think that the BBC should think very carefully before proceeding with more episodes. It was OK up to about series 3 but since then it has just headed further away from reality and with each series there seems to be less and less family. Series 6 was a huge mistake. Only half the number of episodes and Robert Lindsay missing from most of them. What was the point in making it? The show is very soon going to come to an end because people no longer enjoy it which is a shame. The reason is because like I said, it's unreal and very unoriginal. Think about it. A dentist called Ben who doesn't understand his kids and he has an eccentric wife who can't cook. We've seen it before. Remember a sitcom called Butterflies? Also, the majority of jokes have also been done before. Remember when Ben is looking for the spider and he thinks he's spotted it but it turns out to be a black woolly glove? - same thing happened to Victor in One foot in the grave. I hope people continue to enjoy this show but I personally think they should call it a day as I and many other people are now ready to move on to something else.

chris manley my family has to be one of the best comedy's that the world has ever seen. the cracking story lines and acting given by some of the best performers make this brilliant. Kris Marshall is (i think)one of the greatest comedy actors ever and the role is brilliant for him, its just a shame that he didn't stay around for all 6 season. the Christmas specials are also great to. bringing back previous actors (such as Janey) to give this great comedy an added spark. there are times when the storyline is a bit stupid, but the laughs still come out all the same. I'm glad that they will all be out on DVD by the end of the year, so that i will be able to complete my collection, including all the Christmas special which are coming out in November. its just a shame that the American audience don't get them out on DVD as much as us, because they are missing out on this great British comedy. it stands out with comedy's such as only fools and horses and faulty towers. this is easily one of the best comedy's of the 21st century.

saffym My local PBS station just recently started airing My Family as part of its Saturday night lineup of British comedies. I've only seen about half a dozen episodes from series one, but I already love it. Being a huge fan of all kinds of British comedy from Fawlty Towers to The Vicar of Dibley to Mr. Bean to The Office, I was eager to see something new and I haven't been disappointed yet. Ben Harper's grouchy, sour view of everything and everyone around him is very funny without being grating or annoying. Like many others, I absolutely adore Nick, his facial expressions alone are priceless. It looks like My Family went on for quite a few years and I for one am glad to know that I'll be able to see new (to me, at least) episodes for some time to come.