What is a hive mind? It's you, when I ask you to go digging for resources as a distributed group. :) Note that if you were to watch all of these, you'd probably have well more than an hour of viewing ahead of you. So, pick and choose, and we'll share a bit on Friday.
In the realm of sketch comedy, A Bit of Fry and Laurie (playlist link) was flagged as good viewing by Erin N. I liked the Song for America myself.
Following on in this theme, Steph pointed me to the League of Gentlemen, which I was not familiar with at all. Aqua Vita clearly involves beer (it looks like Stella Artiois or Budwiser to me), and the character Papa Lazaru is... stranger than I expected. (Here's two skits, and one of the cast talking about the character... which helped. Sorta.) The Catherine Tate show clip hit a bit closer to home, as I did actually meet people who spoke that way. (The French Oral skit is funny as well, tying nicely into the Brit's tensions with the French.) She also threw in some Maz Jobrani under duress... apparently, her roommate insists she watch Maz all the time. Her Psychoville links were fairly disturbing as well... clearly, Steph has a fairly dark sense of humor.
Emily D. sent along some Blackadder (Rowin Atkinson) which is a classic Brit comedy series. The Good Life is another classic series which may take a bit of time to work through. And back to the Atkinson, The Thin Blue Line is another series from the past. Clearly, Emily is a classicist when it comes to British comedy.
Emily M. also sent along some Fry and Laurie (Don't Believe the Hype, Your Name Sir?), a bit of Fawlty Towers (classic Cleese: Whose Fault is It?, Moving Tables), and a few favorites from the Flying Circus (Ministry of Silly Walks, an absolute classic, and Silly Olympics). The Drunken Room sketch (unknown source) was new to me, but definitely funny. Given her selections, we can safely say that Emily prefers the absurd to the dark.
Mike V. passed on Brass Eye, which was not a show I was familiar with. Animals might be about shock value (to some extent), and Mike cautions us that the episode Good AIDS vs. Bad AIDS is potentially a "bit more offensive." (I take that back... the show reminded me of Cake, a made up drug in England. It's the same group. So, I was familiar, but I didn't know it. Whoda thunk.)
Hannah K. sent us one of my favorite musical comedy groups, the Flight of the Conchords. Business Time, Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros, and The Humans are Dead are all excellent, although I think its a tie between the first and last as to which is the best. (No, they're not Brits, but we'll forgive Hannah for today.)
Genevieve went the more "intellectual" route, and focused on modern life in Britain. I received a selection of Little Britain sketches. Perhaps "intellectual" was the wrong word... certainly, there was a clear theme, so Genevieve gets three points.
Grant likes Keeping Up Appearances, but wasn't happy with the pickings on YouTube. Tough luck. -6.
Ryan pointed us at The Office. Not, mind you, the watered down thing that they show over here. No, this is the original, the thing that started it all. Tim's Birthday, Fire Drill, Midgets and Dwarfs (should that be dwarves?) and The Dance are all offered up for your consideration.
Hudson gives us some classic Python in the form of the Meaning of Life (the Autumn Years). From Spaced he sends us the Dance Scene, which was not one I was familiar with.
Lastly, Eric contributs some Harry Enfield, which is classic and, historically, very sexist.
