Looking through the reviews, I see that one person scored this 1/10 and another gave it 2/10. I can only assume those two people are living in some kind of purgatory and loving it.When this series was made, there was a chemistry similar to The Beatles. The writers, actors and production crew came together and forged a masterpiece, and it was obviously made on a shoestring which makes it even greater. And the death of Dermot Morgan was an absolute tragedy, robbing us of further episodes of fabulous fun.Too many modern comedies are "clever" rather than funny, and are often over-rated. Father Ted is not just funny, it is non-stop hilarious: I have watched the whole lot at least 4 times and never get tired of it. Picking out "the best bits" would be a waste of time: there are 3 series of arguably the most side-splitting TV humour ever.

Yes, Father Ted is my favourite TV show of all time. In the UK and Ireland we quote this show as much as the rest of the world quotes The Simpsons, with so many lines and terms from the show becoming implanted into our psyche. I've been watching Father Ted since I was kid and even though I didn't get of any of the adult jokes back then, the wacky and surreal humour always had me in fits of laughter. I don't think there's been a month in the last 17 years that I haven't watched one of its 25 episodes, yet I still can't pick a favourite!Every joke in Father Ted works on so many levels. The setting of the fictional Craggy Island is surely the most backward ended place on Earth but this is all brilliantly downplayed. Whenever anything absurd happens, the characters react in an unsurprised or not surprised enough manner. For example, when Ted discovers Craggy Island has its own Chinatown. Just how does an island off the coast of Ireland have a significant Chinese population and how does a person living there not even know about it?! I could take any joke from this show and list on multiple levels as to why it's so absurd and surreal. The inconsistencies and even the odd plot hole just makes everything funnier.I suspect one of the reasons Father Ted became so successful is that it dispelled the notion that the Irish are completely oblivious to the outside world in the sense that the characters talk about popular culture just like people in any other civilized county would. Granted the characters in every other sense don't act like people in the real world but I believe this one aspect made the show more relatable to a wider audience, from references to bands such as Oasis and Radiohead to various film references (Dougal, we are not watching Aliens!). I'm from Ireland and even to this day I hear stories from Irish people who have gone abroad and meet people who think Ireland is technologically un-advanced country and that we all live in cottages. One story I always remember was an Irish guy telling me of how he told an American he owned an Xbox 360 and the American couldn't believe it.Allow me to hold up my cup of tea to Father Ted. May I continue to watch it for years, with Dougal and Mrs Doyle and Father Jack forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever...

Irreverent, politically incorrect, and absolutely hilarious, Father Ted is a phenomenal series about three priests living on Craggy Island in Ireland. Talk about an outpost - the opening shot shows a house with nothing around it.The late Dermot Morgan plays Father Ted, not above a shady deal or two. He lives with Father Dougal McGuire (Ardal O'Hanlon) an impossibly stupid young priest, and Father Jack Hackett (Frank Kelly) an old priest who hasn't drawn a sober breath in probably fifty years. Helping them out is Mrs. Doyle (Pauline McLynn), a somewhat unstable housekeeper. It's obvious the priests have been sent as far away as possible to dwell in obscurity.It's very hard to choose a favorite episode, but I'm partial to Speed 3. My favorite part of that is Ted working feverishly at the blackboard while lots of discussion is going on. One poster mentioned the stolen whistle - I just saw that one, and it is hilarious. I also love the raffle, when they raffle a car in order to fix their leaky roof. And the vacation episode is a classic as well.A no-miss. There are only three seasons of this wonderful show, all well worth seeing. Great when you need a laugh.

I wanted to be fair so I watched all episodes in the three seasons of this show and I only laughed once, while chuckling perhaps twice that in the 25 odd episode run. It's just not funny. The characters are completely one dimensional, and worse, extremely annoying. A few shows in, you know exactly what they are going to say, destroying whatever punchlines this poor excuse for writing had in store. Pretty much every episode is copy/pasted from the last one. You got Father Ted, who's the "normal" guy, and the other three. If your idea of hilarity is some dirty old man yelling "DRINK! FECK! ARSE! GIRLS!" all the time, then I guess this bland show is for you. In case you are wondering which episode I thought was actually funny, it was "A song for Europe," when Dougal and Ted are writing their song. None of the characters develop at all during the course of the show. The closest is when they give up their vices for lent, and you see a different side of Father Jack. It would have been nice if Dougal wasn't a complete "fecking" moron all the time. It's frustrating really, along with Mrs. Doyle. I've watched other Britcoms and I liked most of them (yes I know it's from Ireland). I started watching it to have a talking point with my European friends, since most of them love this show. I was hoping I would like it, but it turns out I didn't. A lot of people seem to love it, and good for them, but I feel it just isn't entertaining at all.