Quote: sootyj @ December 7 2010, 5:29 PM GMTWell to answer this question, what so damned good about the 21st century comedy?
How about the anarchic radio comedy that grew out of armed forces shows during the 1950s?
Shows like Round The Horne and The Goon Show were genuinely funny anarchic and original. Then leading into the massive comedy beasts of That Was The Week That Was and then Monty Python.An era of comedy originals unfettered by focus groups and a 1000 digital competitors. An era where if you were a Ronnie Barker or a Galton and Simpson you went off and wrote your damned comedy.
Or how about the Elizabethan age of comedy. When the theatre allowed social satire and bawdy humour as a mass media for the first time?
How about the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s? The Comic Strip Presents, Spitting Image and Not The 9 O'clock News. Punchy, relevant and impassioned.
Or the glory days of 60/70s sitcoms. When Porridge or Rising Damp or even Love Thy Neighbour could be funny, nuanced and acerbic social commentaries. In a way that modern dramatists only can wish after.
The current crop of comedy seems to be deeply mediocre. Good stand-ups tied to half-arsed sketch shows, toothless topical satire and endless sitcoms about wankers in flatshares or cheery middle class families.
The Office was some years ago.
How come you only go back to the 1950s. What about radio comedies of the 1940s such as the catchphrase loaded ITMA. Also, what about comedians on screen. For example, Will Hay, who was popular in the 1930s and 40s.