To get your attention.
Worked, didn't it?
Thursdays are Funny on BBC2 Page 2
Because uktvg2 sounds like the noise of someone throwing up.
Quote: Cinnamon @ October 19, 2007, 7:59 PMPython was so brilliant that there hasn't been anything truly original since.
I agree that The League and Vic & Bob have been truly original.
I think Lee & Herring were too.
Quote: Cinnamon @ October 19, 2007, 7:59 PMPython was so brilliant that there hasn't been anything truly original since.
Of course Python were great, but they werent original, no one really is as theyre drawing on other influences. Its well known that Python took a lot of inspiration from the work of Spike Milligan, who was doing similar things to Python in his Q series. Everyone is in debt to some degree to someone who came before, so nothing is ever entirely original.
Ooo, now here's a man who knows his comedy lineage. 
I think it should be on thursdays on bbc2
9.00 The Catherine Tate Show
9.30 not going out
10.00 birds of a feather [repeat}
10.30 The Peter Sarafinowics Show
Quote: jamie jones @ October 21, 2007, 4:33 PMI think it should be on thursdays on bbc2
9.00 The Catherine Tate Show
9.30 not going out
10.00 birds of a feather [repeat}
10.30 The Peter Sarafinowics Show
I think that seeing the reaction of people to the news that Newsnight had been cancelled to make way for repeats of Birds of a Feather would be funnier than some of the shows that you've mentioned. 
Quote: Matthew Stott @ October 21, 2007, 11:57 AMOf course Python were great, but they werent original, no one really is as theyre drawing on other influences. Its well known that Python took a lot of inspiration from the work of Spike Milligan, who was doing similar things to Python in his Q series. Everyone is in debt to some degree to someone who came before, so nothing is ever entirely original.
It's fair to say that Python took influence from the works of Spike Milligan and Peter Cook, but the linked sketches and animation was entirely original. The fusion of BTF's social satire with Milliganesque surrealism was also fresh to television. Of course nothing is entirely original but Monty Python was such a unique coming together of all the various strands of 1960's comedy - Q, At Last The 1948 Show, Do Not Adjust Your Set - that most comedy since has devolved back into character grotesque's and catchphrases.....God, I feel dirty after that.
Quote: Cinnamon @ October 21, 2007, 5:43 PMIt's fair to say that Python took influence from the works of Spike Milligan and Peter Cook, but the linked sketches and animation was entirely original. The fusion of BTF's social satire with Milliganesque surrealism was also fresh to television. Of course nothing is entirely original but Monty Python was such a unique coming together of all the various strands of 1960's comedy - Q, At Last The 1948 Show, Do Not Adjust Your Set - that most comedy since has devolved back into character grotesque's and catchphrases.....God, I feel dirty after that.
Well exactly, they took a bag full of influences, combined them, and added an ingredient or two of their own;the way most people do, though they happened to do it fantatically well and at just the right time. I think others have done similar things since Python, though obvioulsy not to the same world wide success and recognition, which is what makes Python stand out more than anything-that they got so big the world over, in particular in America, whereas others since (Vic And Bob, League Of Gentlemen for e.g.) have remained more of a local success story. So I would argue that there have been others who have pushed things forward and innovated like Python, but that they arent treated in such a religious fashion. I just always think that saying the last original comedy was Python is a lot like people who think music started and ended with the Beatles.
Well, it's a bit like it except that I think that there has been far more diverse music since The Beatles and far less diverse sketch comedy since Monty Python. Don't think that I'm pining for the 'good ol' days', I wasn't alive to see Fry and Laurie let alone The Flying Circus, but with a few exceptions - F&L, Not The Nine O'Clock News, Jam, Vic And Bob - all sketch comedy seems to have been tired retreads. What would be great is a return to dialogue heavy sketches that started with early Cook, Bird and Bron. All recent comedies have relied largely upon short, repeated one laugh sketches. Music has advanced since The Beatles, it hasn't gone back to rhythm and blues.
I realise that I should have said that it isn't necessarily a bad thing to be unoriginal, it's just dull to follow a stale formula.
Quote: jamie jones @ October 21, 2007, 4:33 PMI think it should be on thursdays on bbc2
9.00 The Catherine Tate Show
9.30 not going out
10.00 birds of a feather [repeat}
10.30 The Peter Sarafinowics Show
I actually just broke out in a fit of psychotic, hysteric laughter.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ October 21, 2007, 6:08 PMI just always think that saying the last original comedy was Python is a lot like people who think music started and ended with the Beatles.
The Beatles were, and shall remain, horrendously overrated, and often verging on the shit. IMO.
Quote: Cinnamon @ October 21, 2007, 6:11 PMWell, it's a bit like it except that I think that there has been far more diverse music since The Beatles and far less diverse sketch comedy since Monty Python.
Well I agree, but I think that there is less that can be done with sketch comedy than with music! You can innovate and change things to some degree, but theres a limit to what can be done with the format, I think, and if you do come up with something wild and different, you have to actually get someone to agree to make it! There hasnt been enough done to the sketch show in recent times, and thats a bad thing, and I think it really has a lot more to do with the people holding the purse strings rather than a lack of talent out there. I think Chris Morris did a lot of good things with the format, and I bet a lot of people wouldnt even think of shows like The Day Today really even being a sketch show. Morris is a prime example of a modern comedian bringing something a bit new to sketch comedy.
Quote: Aaron @ October 21, 2007, 6:23 PMThe Beatles were, and shall remain, horrendously overrated, and often verging on the shit. IMO.
Only verging on? Have you not HEARD Ob La Di Ob La Da?
Quote: Matthew Stott @ October 21, 2007, 7:06 PMWell I agree, but I think that there is less that can be done with sketch comedy than with music! You can innovate and change things to some degree, but theres a limit to what can be done with the format, I think, and if you do come up with something wild and different, you have to actually get someone to agree to make it! There hasnt been enough done to the sketch show in recent times, and thats a bad thing, and I think it really has a lot more to do with the people holding the purse strings rather than a lack of talent out there. I think Chris Morris did a lot of good things with the format, and I bet a lot of people wouldnt even think of shows like The Day Today really even being a sketch show. Morris is a prime example of a modern comedian bringing something a bit new to sketch comedy.
That is a fair example, Morris is a genius - I'll wait for his next project before putting was - and has certainly added greatly to the form. I uphold, however, that drastic change is needed in sketch comedy. Adam And Shelley, Little Britain or Catherine Tate anyone? Or how about a noose?
Quote: Cinnamon @ October 21, 2007, 7:22 PMOnly verging on? Have you not HEARD Ob La Di Ob La Da?
Ha ha, yes, quite.
Quote: Cinnamon @ October 21, 2007, 7:22 PMThat is a fair example, Morris is a genius - I'll wait for his next project before putting was - and has certainly added greatly to the form. I uphold, however, that drastic change is needed in sketch comedy. Adam And Shelley, Little Britain or Catherine Tate anyone? Or how about a noose?
Yeah, the last few years have been crap for new ideas in sketch comedy, though if you saw SNUFF BOX on BBC3, that was a show trying something a bit out of the ordinary. It didnt fully succeed, it seemed as though perhaps not quite enough time was spent fully rounding the concept and, crucially, it wasnt really funny enough, but it was an enjoyable show; largely because of its attempts to be different.