British comedy - what happened to it?
DeVlaeminck
Posts: 9,108
There seems to be a dearth of it - we could all reel off a couple of dozen classic British sit coms and some laugh out loud sketch shows but anything British now seems very niche. The panel show seems to be the last stand of British comedy. My kids watch endless American TV like BIg Bang Theory (which is watchable) and HOw I Met Our Mother (which makes me want to smash the set in) but none of it really does it for me.
What has happened, is it out there hiding on BBC4, is there nothing that can break through and become part of our shared popular culture?
What has happened, is it out there hiding on BBC4, is there nothing that can break through and become part of our shared popular culture?
[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
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some of it is terrible. that jack Whitehall vehicle is rubbish.
House of fools is genius though. shame it got canned.0 -
To add Inside No. 9 and anything involving the League of Gentlemen fellas.0
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The traditional sitcom has been done to death, but there are still some good ones out there - Inbetweeners and Friday Night Dinner (first two series) are well worth watching on Channel 4.0
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On the other hand, watch most of those comedy shows today without the rose tinted glasses.
Most are nowhere near as funny as you remember nowadays.The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
On the other hand, watch most of those comedy shows today without the rose tinted glasses.
Most are nowhere near as funny as you remember nowadays.
Agreed, much of what passed for top drawer entertainment has not stood the test of time. I watched an episode of "The Young Ones" recently, or should I say I started watching an episode - utter drivel, yet essential viewing if you were a teenager in the early eighties. The Fast Show sort of falls into this category although some of this is still laugh out loud funny, to me anyway. "Only Fools & Horses" is another one, brilliant at the time and still some comedy gold moments but when you watch it now it's a bit meh!
Channels like GOLD and DAVE probably make a tidy profit from churning out repeats of successful comedies and expose themselves to little or no risk that the programmes will fail. It's the likes of BBC and Channel 4 who take the occasional risk with a new programme, sometimes they work, more often they don't though. Gavin & Stacey stands out as a recent(ish) success although i'm sure not to everyone's tastes. I think American sit-coms have a team of script writers, a committee almost, whereas British programmes tend to have a single writer or a duo in some cases. Perhaps production companies are more willing to spend more money on a programme where there is a team rather than taking a punt on what one or two people find funny.Bianchi ImpulsoBMC Teammachine SLR02 01Trek Domane AL3“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. “ ~H.G. Wells Edit - "Unless it's a BMX"0 -
IMO the funniest series for years was Cradle to the Grave, starring Peter Kay as a young Danny Baker's dad. Kay's cockney accent was a bit crap but the the series was hilarious.
Peter Kay's Car Share was funny as well, more for his co-star than him.0 -
I liked The Detectorists. I just like the whole innocent humor in it, and the fact it didn`t rely on anyone being a loud dickhead to try and raise a laugh.
Well written and brilliantly acted.Trek,,,, too cool for school ,, apparently0 -
I think one of the most original, well written, acted and produced comedies in years is The Detectorists. It's not a sitcom in the conventional sense. It's quirky, gentle, subtle and hilarious. Mackenzie Crook is a genius for creating this gem. The 2nd season starts this Thursday 29 at 10pm on BBC4.
Edit - Bikes N Guns, haha you posted whilst I was typing
tick - tick - tick0 -
Great minds etc etc
Just watched the first episode of S2,
" Yeh, nostalgia conventions aint what they used to be " Trek,,,, too cool for school ,, apparently0 -
The GB sitcom has died a death most likely because of the fear of causing offence. Safe comedy is the name of the game, hence awful vehicles for the likes of Miranda, and that dreadful Russell Howard thing which isn't a sitcom but just terrible.
Not Going Out was probably the last funny SitCom of the modern era that I watched but once Tim Vine left it went downhill.
Some of the stuff on the Radio is still excellent. I particularly loved the Bleak Expectations series, but this did not work at all when they tried to make a TV series.
I guess in answer to the OP question, it's all down to the quality of writing. Perhaps it just isn't there.Always be yourself, unless you can be Aaron Rodgers....Then always be Aaron Rodgers.0 -
Agreed, much of what passed for top drawer entertainment has not stood the test of time. I watched an episode of "The Young Ones" recently, or should I say I started watching an episode - utter drivel, yet essential viewing if you were a teenager in the early eighties.
I was said teen and it was essential. Looking back it wasn't all successful but they tried different and new stuff and at the time it was a game changer. Most of the new stuff it safe and formulaic.0 -
Agreed, much of what passed for top drawer entertainment has not stood the test of time. I watched an episode of "The Young Ones" recently, or should I say I started watching an episode - utter drivel, yet essential viewing if you were a teenager in the early eighties.
I was said teen and it was essential. Looking back it wasn't all successful but they tried different and new stuff and at the time it was a game changer. Most of the new stuff it safe and formulaic.
And, of course, you had to memorise bits of the script for school the next day.Bianchi ImpulsoBMC Teammachine SLR02 01Trek Domane AL3“When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. “ ~H.G. Wells Edit - "Unless it's a BMX"0 -
British comedy is in fine fettle, I witness it by the bucketful when I go down my local. Is that not true Random Man?Tail end Charlie
The above post may contain traces of sarcasm or/and bullsh*t.0 -
I enjoyed Car Share but as someone else pointed out, I suspect it's far easier to get executives with limited budgets to play safe with panel shows rather than take a chance on a (relatively more expensive) sitcom series. Let's face it, most of the good stuff always came from BBC originally and ITV comedy has always been poor. Many of the biggest hits struggled in their first series and would have got canned today. Also, most of the old classics might seem dated today but that's because we've seen them or the copycat efforts that followed so many times.0
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Has the rate of decent new comedies actually diminished, though? Looking back at earlier times, it might feel as if the TV was awash with quality laughs, but how often did good new comedies come out?
Since the start of the new century, I can make the following list of decent (IMO) comedies off the top of my head:
Black Books, The Office, Outnumbered, The IT Crowd, The Inbetweeners, Friday Night Dinner, Not Going Out, How Not To Live Your Life, Gavin and Stacey, The Peep Show, League Of Gentlemen, Detectorists, Spaced, Phoenix Nights, Extras, Newswipe.
So about one funny new comedy every year. Is that really any worse than the 1970s or 80s?0 -
You might be right, maybe the good stuff just doesn't break through to be mainstream now, possibly just that in the past we had 3-4 channels and so we all tuned in to watch whatever was on whether that was Porridge or Terry and June. These days we have hundreds of channels plus the internet competing for our time sat on the sofa.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0
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Political correctness and a morbid fear of causing offence has killed off the British sense of humour.
Can you imagine the BBC doing re-runs of 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum'?
IMHO a classic funny old school sitcom but BBC bosses would have a coronary thinking about repeating that one.
Or how about 'Mind Your Language'!? That was amusing but no one these days would have the balls to admit that let alone screen it.
Others include 'Till Death Do Us Part' and 'In Sickness And In Health'. Who'd have the bravery to repeat those?Outside the rat race and proud of it0 -
Political correctness and a morbid fear of causing offence has killed off the British sense of humour.
Can you imagine the BBC doing re-runs of 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum'?
IMHO a classic funny old school sitcom but BBC bosses would have a coronary thinking about repeating that one.
Or how about 'Mind Your Language'!? That was amusing but no one these days would have the balls to admit that let alone screen it.
Others include 'Till Death Do Us Part' and 'In Sickness And In Health'. Who'd have the bravery to repeat those?
Watched a programme last night looking back at 70s TV. It showed a clip from Fawlty Towers where the Major tells Fawlty how he had needed to instruct his lady friend about the difference between 'Niggers' and 'Wogs'. It was agreed that the scene was to show the outdated attitudes of elements of an elderly generation in the period. However, the scene has been cut from any reruns on BBC.
Cleese and Booth were not being racist, they were lampooning a racist element of society at the time. Should such scenes should be cut as they show the attitudes that were prevalent at the time.
Difficult. Yes there was racism, but by censoring it out, do we not give a false impression to the present generation that everything was sweetness and light years ago? Are we to be a nation of deniers?0 -
The trip season 1. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Great scenery, great food, great comedy, hits all the right notes.Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי0
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Political correctness and a morbid fear of causing offence has killed off the British sense of humour.
Can you imagine the BBC doing re-runs of 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum'?
IMHO a classic funny old school sitcom but BBC bosses would have a coronary thinking about repeating that one.
Or how about 'Mind Your Language'!? That was amusing but no one these days would have the balls to admit that let alone screen it.
Others include 'Till Death Do Us Part' and 'In Sickness And In Health'. Who'd have the bravery to repeat those?
I would suggest the reason that these shows are not repeated is that society has moved on.
However, I would not be averse to reruns of Francoise Pascal, who many a schoolboy, myself included, lusted after.
Edit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK65yYLZXoM0
