Aaron
Tuesday 13th September 2011 11:10am [Edited]
Royal Berkshire
69,949 posts
Quote: Steve Charlie @ September 13 2011, 2:06 AM BST
Is 'period sitcoms' the right expression? I meant ones that were set in the past when they were made. It seems to me they don't date in a way. How many sitcoms can you think of that were period ones?
Ones that come to mind for me...
- Dad's Army.
- Hi-De-Hi!.
- You Rang, M'Lord?.
- High & Dry.
- Not Goodnight Seetheart as half of it was set in the 1990s when it was made.
- Oh Dr Beeching!.
Do you agree that they're less incline to date? Ones set in the future do tend to date. Come Back Mrs Noah looks pretty dated.
I've actually been thinking about this quite a bit recently. I certainly agree with that theory. I think there's some kind of law of time paradox: a contemporarily-set show dates in many ways, not least the minutiae of current life, getting in a reference to Facebook or a pop group or something else equally transient. Something period-set, meanwhile, is forced to only deal with things that have lasted in some way, that the contemporary audience will understand. And thus, likelihood is that a future audience will understand too. It's also the case that many period sitcoms deal with very specific, powerful time periods, notably WWII of course, and again there's a certain link back to that time that'll always be present, because we learn about those times in so much detail if we're not old enough to have experienced them, and there are constantly other TV dramas and documentaries on these big events in world history to keep reminding us.
I think, also, there's some kind of subconscious acceptance of far more mundane things like the differing picture quality. A 1970s-set show will have just as grainy and low-resolution a picture as Dad's Army, but the latter still somehow feels better; it's certainly not as noticeable. I'm not sure why. Perhaps we're just subconsciously used to seeing even worse pictures from those time periods?
The issue with the future dating is pretty clear cut, in that ideas of how advancements in technology and lifestyle will pan out can never really be accurately predicted. Come Back Mrs. Noah is a very notably different 'future' from Red Dwarf, which in turn is also quite different to Hyperdrive. The former two already look shockingly dated, and the latter will before long.
Anyway, some more titles.
The Legend Of Dick And Dom.
The Last Salute.
Over Here (slipping fare more into comedy drama now).
Just William.
Haggard.
Dark Ages.
Andy Capp.
Clarence.
Backs To The Land.
Red Dwarf.
Hyperdrive.
Plenty more on the radio, from Bleak Expectations to The Castle and Acropolis Now.
Quote: john lucas 101 @ September 13 2011, 11:04 AM BST
And look, it's out on DVD (thanks to the British Comedy Guide for that info):
[p=http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/20255651/Chelmsford-123-The-Complete-Series-1-2/Product.html]
And look! We are, quite literally, all over it!
this would add to an interesting sub genre which probably doesn't have enough things in it. An under exploited sitcom sub genre. Although Blackadder was very good, I reckon it probably did plunder a lot of material that other potential period sitcoms might have used, and maybe put some writers off going there. Perhaps.
