A subjective question Page 2

'They' suspect there is plenty of groundbreaking comedy happening 'out there' but 'Corporate Jeremy Headupmyownarse' isn't interested in trying anything different or new and/or without a 'name' or 'names' involved.

'They' do say even The Beatles or The Pythons wouldn't make it now in the current music or comedy worlds.

Whether 'they' have any more of a f**king clue than anybody else is of course.. subjective!

I would say there are plenty of people prepared to accept *shit TV, it must be so, just look at the viewing figures..

*shit is of course a subjective viewpoint and to be fair only real shit is actually shit, but you probably know that..

Back to the drawing board..

I shall continue writing my crap stuff, regardless..

F**k 'em!

What a world

where the British Comedy Guide is mainly frequented by people who don't watch or care about comedy

As we all know comedy is subjective but OMG, Detectorists, IMHO is a complete laughter free show. Think I managed a few smiles whilst watching, maybe it was too subtle for my preference for slapstick comedy.

It may be well observed but funny NO

A lot of comedy is too low brow for me to give it longer than five minutes and that's not just British but also American comedy. Something with a fresh idea and with a top team of writers and actors is needed.

My take is You laugh with or you laugh at, theres multi hoots in everything.
you miserable sods

I am eagerly anticipating face2facesoftware http://visagetechnologies.com/face2face-live-video-editing-of-facial-expressions when it is released.
That has the potential to be a game changer - as well as legally toxic -
Dont know how impressionist will compete

I accept I am an old miserable sod, but I still think this topic is worth an exchange of opinions. The Detectorists achieved an audience of 640K for its last series. Dad's Army routinely attracted 18 million+. Eurovision got well over 8 million. Those executives who commission comedy are also saying new ideas are becoming ever more hard to find. Comedy is not just sitcoms. I can't sit through more than ten minutes of the current generation of badly written predictable joke free tripe. I find I watch the stand up comedy (mostly on Sky) because it's often pretty funny. Daily Mash has some bright spots as well.
I keep searching the internet but it's mostly adolescent males (of all ages) self indulgently laughing at their own supposed cleverness. I don't laugh.
I also accept that comedy (like music and art) are very subjective but isn't there some test of "popularity"? The Detectorists may be liked by some (as an example) but its audience is tiny, in absolute terms, and any number of made for coppers YouTube videos vastly exceed that. Is there anything we can do? What do others think?

I see where your coming from and the obvious antidote is happy pills/booze/bungee dumping - after which trawling the sacred groves of Nostalgia telly - Start with a little Harry Worth - perhaps moving on to Charlie Drake, Suffer a bit with 'Some muvver do ave em'
If you are determined to embrace old and bitter, theres nothing better than watching skate boarding fails. I hate those f**kers with a vengeance and watching thoes vids I get all religious and light a candle thinking maybe there is a god.

Or even do as I do - make your own amusement - if you can stand the pressure of being a piranha and moran
Happy to provide tips day or night - no job to big no job bla bla...

Declaimer:
I am an idiot
Thank you

I think I've already said that I love the Detectorists, although it lost its way a bit with the German plane business. Mackenzie Crook won a well-deserved comedy writer Bafta. It's totally different from a gag-filled sitcom like Not Going Out or Mrs Brown's Boys, but very funny nonetheless, and has a lovely elegaic feel. I've seldom seen such pared-down writing, with long virtually monosyllabic exchanges, for example between the heroes and Simon and Garfunkel, that work beautifully thanks to the fine characterisation.

Yep I love that show

Rather then lols-
Its a feel good show.
Everybody is likeable and happy in themselves.
Wistful and unpretentious + its summer in the English countryside

Edit

too much love

When The Inbetweeners was first on I would see snippets of it and think it was the most puerile show on TV so I never warmed to it. It's only years later when I buy Series 1 on DVD that I realise how funny it really is. There are a few I've been thinking I should check out and Detectorists is on my radar. I like comedy that is subtle like Saxondale.

Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 17th May 2018, 8:34 PM

When The Inbetweeners was first on I would see snippets of it and think it was the most puerile show on TV so I never warmed to it. It's only years later when I buy Series 1 on DVD that I realise how funny it really is. There are a few I've been thinking I should check out and Detectorists is on my radar. I like comedy that is subtle like Saxondale.

View original

Fully agreed, looking back on this forum's posts about any sitcom made during the time of the BCG, 2006 on, you just read the thread and see people dismissing it instantly, sometimes based off nothing more than the trailer. A lot of the people who bring up the relatively low audience figures for something like Detectorists are ironically also the sort of people who don't really give new comedy a chance

As for Saxondale it's a bit of a contrarian choice but yes, I agree

Quote: behminztur @ 16th May 2018, 4:51 PM

What a world

where the British Comedy Guide is mainly frequented by people who don't watch or care about comedy

View original

?

I think the opposite is true, surely..

You're unlikely to bother posting about something you don't care about..

And I think we're all watching some comedy aren't we?

I just watched 15 mins of a 'A portion of Jethro' on DVD so clearly I'm right in there with the cutting edge.. Mind you I had to lie down afterwards..

Quote: beaky @ 17th May 2018, 7:56 PM

I think I've already said that I love the Detectorists, although it lost its way a bit with the German plane business. Mackenzie Crook won a well-deserved comedy writer Bafta. It's totally different from a gag-filled sitcom like Not Going Out or Mrs Brown's Boys, but very funny nonetheless, and has a lovely elegaic feel. I've seldom seen such pared-down writing, with long virtually monosyllabic exchanges, for example between the heroes and Simon and Garfunkel, that work beautifully thanks to the fine characterisation.

View original

I think the thing about Mackenzie Crook is that he is a World class actor; and writer too. There aren't too many of them. What puts me off a lot of what I get glimpses of on TV now is not so much the scripts but what I perceive as mediocre acting and a lack of quality characterisation.

Take the Dad's Army or Only Fools And Horses or Porridge scripts (classic sitcoms) and reduce the quality of the acting and you would also reduce the amount of laughter..

I can't say I've watched, with any regularity, many British comedies in the last five years or so. Detectorists is probably the one exception and I love everything about that from the writing to the acting and the production. I *liked* People Just Do Nothing, but I wouldn't go as far as to say I loved it in the same way I loved The Office, Peep Show, The IT Crowd and The Inbetweeners.

Nowadays, I mostly watch - and this is in sharp opposition to what I would have said 10 years ago - sitcoms from the US as the levels of quality in all areas are much higher. I'm sure, at some point, British comedy will produce some sitcoms that draw me back in, but for now there's not much on the horizon that whets my appetite.

It comes down to commissioners and their desire to nurture and support comedy, competition is extremely high among broadcasters and the commissioners are treated as ten a penny, they're trying to stay employed. There are so many channels providing huge amounts of content. So commissioners are under pressure to make it cheap and pile it high, which means comedy is no longer treated as an art, but a commodity to be flogged, at the lowest price and at the lowest quality.

And so now we have panel shows, reality shows that are easier and cheaper to produce than sitcoms, the saddest part is that the talent is out there and is being ignored.

On a separate note, to compare Dad's Army with Detectorists in terms of figures to determine popularity is wildly inaccurate, because the former was broadcast at a time when there was only three television channels to choose from, whereas the latter is in a time when there are hundreds of channels and online streaming, the former came at a time when British values were not what they are today, it's not to denigrate the show but to put it in the context of the broadcasting mediums available at the time.

Back then television broadcasters made shows that were like John Lewis, of quality, now it's Primark.

This is isn't limited to television, look around its the same approach applies to everything, and anything that comes with a price tag and people have become the disposable consumers. I'm hoping there's enough people out there still who want to make a difference and create something that has heart and brilliance.