Green-eyed monster?

As I trawl through these boards every so often I find myself surprised at the amount of knockers (tee-hee ) there are for the following:

Gervais & Merchant
Gavin & Stacey
Peter Kay
Lead Balloon

And indeed many others that I just can't recall. It's as if traditional well written comedy has no place amongst some of the Young Turks out there. I often wonder is judgement in these matters directly proportional to success of the act / acts, as it seems that Joe Public rather likes these turns.

BTW this is not aimed at any posters in particular but it's a representation of a general feeling I get overall. I find this strange really as most on here are writers themselves and I would have thought that the quality of the writing and performances might have been sufficient to transcend what I often construe as being slightly sour grapes.

Please don't anyone look through previous posts and defend yourself because, as I say, it's more just a "vibe" (hey I'm soooo cooooool!) rather than a finger point.

I'm just surprised - that's all, what with being as we are a sort of comedy writers type thingy.

EDIT

Hmmm this may not be posted in the correct forum but I'm sure a MOD will do the needful if necessary

I would like Gavin and Stacey more if James Corden didn't overdo it so much, give himself the best lines or make himself the star of the show. I feel that it became too 'Smithy & Nessa' rather than 'Gavin and Stacey' for the 2nd series. If Corden appeared in it, but didn't write it, I'd think his performance was fantastic. At the moment I see it as a bit too "Oooh, look at me!".

As for Peter Kay, I'll just post this link... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7757262.stm
Look at that top 10! Unbelievable.

Quote: Blenkinsop @ December 7 2008, 5:39 PM GMT

Gervais & Merchant
Gavin & Stacey
Peter Kay
Lead Balloon

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All good to different degrees.

I want Peter Kay and Jack Dee in my sitcom, then again i want to shag Cheryl Cole. Corden and Gervais as stand ins only.[not for Cheryl]

Comedy is like sex and food, everybody knows what they like and dislike, and there is a lot of jelousy among chefs...

Also it depends where you are as a writer, if perhaps you are a pro writer and are paid to write for others and are instructed to stick to a format you are a wordsmith and you see it as a job, a bit like pro footballers, they never see football as a fan does.

It has been said to me by people that know that writing for a living starts as a dream, and ends up a job, and as for that Cheryle Cole, you would want to sleep if you were in bed with her, unless you want to talk about shoes, handbags, and the next WAG's lunch, she's as thick as one short plank, sawn in half, with a few inches planed off.

I think it's naive to assume all criticism is derived from jealousy. People dislike things for a myriad of different reasons. It's also worth stressing that people who aren't wannabe writers can be just as critical of things as the next man.

Of course I agree with that statement Chipolata but I suppose that I was referring to those who are wannabe writers (self included). Those who crit and who are non-writers have just as valid a point to make as the next punter - but that's not my point here.

I agree with your general point, Blenkinsop. I remember the reason I first logged on here was to defend Lab Rats, which was getting torn to f**king pieces by some on here.

I think there are those who post here who do take genuine delight at the perceived failure of a programme, either new or somebody acknowledged who appears to be suffering a backlash.

I like to think/hope those are in a minority. Most, I guess, just get bored with people/programmes, which is fair enough.

Or just find somebody/something unappealing in the first place. Like Alan f**king Carr, who all the Americans at the Comedy Awards seemed to cream their pants over.

Quote: john lucas 101 @ December 8 2008, 2:23 PM GMT

I agree with your general point, Blenkinsop. I remember the reason I first logged on here was to defend Lab Rats, which was getting torn to f**king pieces by some on here.

View original

To be fair, that was absolute shite and deserved to be torn to pieces.

Quote: chipolata @ December 8 2008, 2:30 PM GMT

To be fair, that was absolute shite and deserved to be torn to pieces.

View original

Ah, you'll all be sorry when it's in its 4th series and you're all wearing the t-shirt!

Quote: john lucas 101 @ December 8 2008, 2:38 PM GMT

Ah, you'll all be sorry when it's in its 4th series and you're all wearing the t-shirt!

View original

It's hard, aint it? I suppose what angers me the most is not the shitty program, but the masses of coverage they tend to get. The success of shitty programmes bother me because then the producers want more of the same.

Perhaps it's borne from writers starting off by writing for themselves - clever jokes, original concepts and then have to pander increasingly to what the masses want.

Pander to the masses? The masses can't take the blame for shite telly. The masses don't watch any comedy programme anymore. If a show is lucky it develops a cult following that helps with buzz and DVD sales.

The vast majority don't watch Ricky Gervais programmes.

If the masses don't watch any comedy programmes anymore then why have so many Christmas specials been commissioned?

That's the system. Audience figures are lower so for a show to be considered a 'hit' it's numbers don't have to be particularly high.

My point was just that writers can take the blame for themselves when their work becomes stale.