Okay, I don't feel like I can talk about this subject with any authority, since I have been out of England for more than six years (last time visiting was two years ago), but can anyone inform me whether the state of British TV comedy has hit the fan, like the preverbial shit? Your honor, I present for your inspection a terrible British comedy series I saw recently called Star Stories. I watched this at my mate's house the other day, because his friend (a stand up comedian) had written this piece of crap and had sent him the DVD of it. It takes the lives of the rich and famous, ie Posh and Becks, George Michael, Madonna and Guy, and transforms them into a piss weak satire. This is rubbish. How did it get made? This is not funny. This is as funny as an American sitcom. Please tell me British comedy has not gone to the dogs. Example of this pile of steaming dog turd here:
What happened to British comedy? What about the good old days? Does anyone remember Alan Partridge? The character of Alan Partridge is my favorite comedy show of all time. You cannot watch him without wetting yourself. For those who do not know who Alan Partridge is, he is a character created by Steve Coogan. Partridge, a former BBC chat show host, fired both for being a piss poor interviewer as well as for assaulting his Commissioning Editor with a chicken, is reduced to working the graveyard shift on Norwich radio and is desperately trying to get back on television in any capacity. Alan is a generally loathsome, narcissistic human being with very poor social skills, a largely empty personal life and a very high opinion of himself. This is one of my favorite shows of all time and if you have never seen it you haven't lived:
So, is British comedy dead? Does anyone know? If it is, I am never moving back to England. There may be some gems on UK TV at the moment, I just don't know, haven't been back for so long. Please inform me. This is something I am very worried about.
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The Monastery
6 hours ago
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29 comments:
In order to count as a proper British Comedy, schoolboys have to be shown to be memorizing whole shows and repeating them during lunch break.
The only programme presently meeting that exacting standard is "Little Britain" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/littlebritain/).
Steve Coogan has recently turned in a terrible pile of shite called "Saxondale" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/saxondale/)
Not current but huge since you left have been "the Office" and the execrable "Extras" and "The League of Gentlemen" (http://www.leagueofgentlemen.co.uk/) which I am pretty certain would simply cause most Americans to shoot the television but which was utterly inspired.
Also fantastic in a "Yes Minister" kind of way is "The Thick of it" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/thickofit/)
Evrything above is a BBC show. From Channel 4 came the inspired "Green Wing" (http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greenwing/index.html) which was the last non-BBC comedy I was determined never to miss. Think of it as a surreal version of Scrubs but actually funny.
PS "Star Stories" is wank and everyone knows it.
i wrote a whole spiel about how good Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant are (the office and extras), but blogger ate my comment
black books is good too
english humour is still there, and still very funny, you just have to look for it
little britain is the funniest and most disgusting show at the same time
I haven't watched an English comedy in donkeys so I can't really say whether they have gone to the dogs or not. I can tell you that there are two English people in the American sitcom The Class on a Monday night which is very funny, although they both put on American accents.
Alan Partridge was really funny, especially when the Geordie guy used to talk and Alan couldn't understand a word he said and would say "noise, noise"! There are several people here that I would love to say that too but it would just get lost in translation.
Coogan is a comedic genius.
Oh, well, yeah. Fantastic. ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’. What a great song. It really
encapsulates the frustration of a Sunday, doesn’t it? You wake up in the morning, you’ve got
to read all the Sunday papers, the kids are running round, you’ve got to mow the lawn, wash
the car, and you think "Sunday, bloody Sunday!".
Classic.
Well comedy like other things has its peak and troughs. I don't necessarily think that British comedy is in a rut, some stuff is pretty good at the moment but the classics, e.g. Only Fools and Horses, The Office, etc., now simply get americanised and thus instantaneously became unfunny simply because so much of British humour relies on the local context. I watched the US version of The Office and it was just lame. I can remember being in Barcelona and watching The Young Ones in Catalan - and I'm thinking to myself how the hell does the Thatcher era and all the jokes about her translate not only into a different language but a different culture! Going back to the original question asked by Emma, is it that British humour is changing? So much sarcasm keeps lost now.
Please let's not get too nostalgic about the state of British sitcoms and start waxing on about Benny Hill. Or that nightmare show Emma Thompson had on in the late 80s. Horrible. Just horrible.
Though Canadian, I do really like British comedy. Thumbs up to Little Britain, Ab Fab and Yes, Minister - all out of date but it takes a while for them to get on Canadian TV.
I've taken to watching My Family mostly so I can mock Zoë Wanamaker's hair, it changes every BLOODY episode! I also find Robert Lindsay's hair hypnotic. It is so dark, so uniformily dark - does he actually think it makes him look younger? I'd not bother at all with this show, but I really like Kris Marshall's character....yes, I know that is a shameful thing to confess.
Anyone else find it really hard to watch British shows because of the poor sound quality? I've heard that BBC (but not the private networks) have a lower standard for audio quality than US networks. I have to crank the volume for the show, and then get blasted across the room when the commericals come on.
I really can't stand Ricky Gervais. I don't find him the slightest bit funny and never did, even back in the days of the 11 o'clock show.
Anyway, I've been enjoying the sketch comedy Man Stroke Woman (possibly the only thing currently on BBC3 worth watching).
It's all shit.
Especially that Gervais bloke. He can fuck right off.
Spaced was good, but is OLD.
Peep Show is good but too much like The Office.
The only really good comedy is stand-up, and you can't really get that on the tellybox, so it's all a bit depressing really.
Even though I live in Britain, I tend to watch the american shows instead. There really isn't that much good brit stuff at the moment.
Couple of old favourites no-one has mentioned yet, Vicor of Dibley and of course, Father Ted.
I'm struggling to think of something currently airing but I really loved Green Wing that's already been mentioned.
Of late The Office and Extras have been pretty damn good, but then I'm a big fan of that kind of humour.
Overall though I'm inclined to agree, I could go into a silly nostalgic rant about it all, my loves are most certainly anything John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson (oh blackadder how I love thee), and of course Ab Fab.
You can still find some funny things here and there.
Not at all! There are gadzillions of great British comedy programmes. Unfortunately, the best ones, like Peep Show - get cancelled for 'poor ratings'. Alternatively, try Green Wing or a little wacky but you might enjoy it - The Mighty Boosh.
moobs...Oh well, I suppose Steve Coogan could never replicate the genius of Alan Partridge. The League of Gentlemen is quite funny, if a little unsettling. I will check out the others you mention.
kiki...I love Ricky Gervais's live show, Animals, makes me wet myself. check it out.
molly...I don't know what it was about Alan, he was so real to me I could hardly fathom that he was fictional.
eddie...how did you segue to that U2 song? I SERIOUSLY, yes SERIOUSLY used to think that song was about a depressing sunday morning, back when it came out when i was a teen. Ah, the shame of it!
jo...funnily enough, although i used to find it hilarious, The Young Ones seems kind of dated when one watches it today.
alpha dogma...you are so right, Benny Hill and Emma Thompson are dark secrets of British comedy history that are best forgotten.
yorksdevil...thanks I will check out Man Stroke Woman.
timbo...you are right...stand up is the only way to get a good laugh these days.
Vi...yes, Father Ted, brilliant, but about ten years old!! What is replacing it now?
franglaise...I love Ab Fab...but I think you are saying, alas, that there is not much good on these days.
anon dirty...thanks I will check that out!
morgan...at last a positive voice in the wilderness. I will go and look at The Mighty Boosh.
yeah, the start of it especially, with the lions. and the shady commentry
genius
I am currently in utter love over Green Wing.
I used to be able to quote entire episodes of Blackadder as a teenager.
What about Bo Selecta? I used to love that. It's hard to top Alan Partridge though, and like Molly I used to love his exchanges with The Geordie Bloke ("ah, you loveable...racist, you"). I also like Peep Show.
All the good British comedy seems to be on obscure BBC channels, and they don't seem to export it.
Father Ted has been replaced by the actor who played the young priest, playing an irish superhero in 'My Hero'. First series was ok, second dire.
I split my time between Paris and London and I don't get the time to watch a lot of TV, but, that said, when I am in London and not out drinking, I have noticed that the TV sucks. Just the Christmas "special" of Little Britain was enough for me to turn the TV off for three whole days. It's a sad sad state of affairs...
Blackadder(pre Mr Bean Rowan Atkinson)/Fools and Horses/Fawlty Towers/Red Dwarf/Absolutely Fabulous remain the pinnacles for me - of course that's because I lived there in the late 80's early 90's
There really is something to be said for a six episode season, then going on hiatus until 6 more perfect little episodes have been crafted...
Little Britain - fab - at least the first two seasons
If the state of British comedy is becoming a problem, it must be addressed immediately.
Come to Canada and once we hear your Brit accent, all we talk about is, "Oh you Brits have SUCH a sense of humour!" and "Oh your British TV shows are SUPERIOR to anything in North America."
Really. Test it out.
Don't let us down.
I find Little Britain weirdly compelling rather than laugh out loud funny. But kind of funny too.
I like Black Books. Dylan Moran is coming to Australia soon. Looking forward to it. Live comedy, when it's good, is the best. Switch off the telly and catch some live stuff.
Maybe British television comedy is going through a lull but it will probably pick up again - there just too many funny Brits around for it not to come good again (if it is in a lull at all). At least England has produced some absolute classics over the years. Australian TV comedy? Don't make me laugh.
British TV is so bad on the whole that I refuse to have a telly in the house. 'The Office' won best comedy award four years running or something like that: QED.
However, when a really good series comes along, one of our friends will always buy or lend us the DVD of the series because we absolutely have to see it.
The only good things among these DVDs are 'Spaced', a splendid portrayal of London life for going-nowhere past-it ravers in their 30s, and even better, 'Green Wing', which has already been recommended here and which I heartily second. I love it to bits.
But there is no modern-day Eric Morecambe, no Les Dawson with his piano, no Not the Nine o'Clock News. Bygone days. Sigh.
hmmm - i feel your pain. lots of uk comedy has (regrettably) gone post-modern ... which means it can be utter crap but it's still supposed to bo good - i'd include bo selecta in that category, along with star stories (or whatever it's called. yes - green wing (although the first series was best), spaced, or the more conventional father ted and one foot in the grave. for stand-up, al murray and harry hill are both disturbingly funny.
league of gentlemen totally gives me the creeps ... but to the point where i have to leave the room. brrrr
We're obviously missing a lot of Britcom out here. I like the sound of Spaced. I want to see it.
yeah, most of the ones i like have been mentioned already.
also i like these shows:
People Like Us
Coupling
The Worst Week Of My Life
cesca...yeah I absolutely love Blackadder, especially Baldrick.
pomgirl...I subscribed to BBC America for a while a few years back but the only comedy show they showed for hours and hours was Coupling which, in my opinion can hardly even be called a comedy show.
vi...I won't check that out if you say it's dire!!
jodie...so that's a categorical 'British TV sucks at the moment.' Good to know I'm not missing anything!
tag(carpet)bagger...i could watch Fawlty Towers a hundred times. I would be just like Basil Fawlty if i worked in a hotel, consumed with a barely controlled hostility towards the hotel guests.
mj...packing my bags for canada as we speak! at least someone will appreciate my superior wit.
quick...yeah, come to think of it I don't think I have ever seen any Australian TV comedy. So bad it never gets exported eh?
antonia...i will check out Spaced and Green Wing.
mad muthas...Yeah I like Al Murray too although he is a bit wierd.
fat ho....I don't know, Coupling, I have to say I thought that was terrible. I will however look into 'People Like Us' and 'The Worst Week Of My Life.'
I can't bear Little Britain, The League of Gentlemen, the Office or Green wing. All far too slapstick for my liking.
I think Never Mind the Buzzcocks is usually funny, as is Whose Line Is It Anyway? Worth tracking down.
There are some really good comedy podcasts around too - Russell Brand is not bad and Jason Byrne had me in stitches.
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