Maybe so, and vice versa too perhaps!
The Café - Series 1 Page 2
Quote: Shandonbelle @ November 24 2011, 10:47 PM GMTI agree, just ask Marc P.
That lucky bastard.
Quote: Tim Walker @ November 24 2011, 7:19 PM GMTConversely, not all gag-laden sitcoms are funny just because they have loads of overtly "funny" lines in them. In fact, most are painfully unfunny.
The point is, style of sitcom is no barometer of whether an audience will find it funny. People who bang-on about "Whatever happened to the good old British sitcom?" would do well to remember that.
All very true. It doesn't change, however, that there appears to be an entirely new sub-genre of 'amusing serial' that is unfairly labelled 'sitcom'. It does the genre of sitcom no good as it propagates the "whatever happened to...", "death of the..." arguments, and it does the shows in question no favours as the audience come to them with unrealistic expectations. There's rightly a place for all of these forms of narrative comedy on television, but we shouldn't confuse them.
Quote: Tim Azure @ November 24 2011, 7:29 PM GMTNot for me, I'm afraid Tim, sorry. Make it interesting to watch first, then make it funny. I know this seems like argument for the sake of it, but it's no good having the funniest jokes you can, if your first thoughts after watching it are: "That's half an hour wasted..."
Most people sit down to watch a sitcom to laugh. If you're thinking you've wasted half an hour, you're wearing your writer's hat, not one that reflects the majority of the audience. If a viewer laughs, then by proxy it's not a waste of time. True enough that they might not like individual characters, plot points, etc, but that's a different argument I think, and doesn't mean that the time has been wasted.
Quote: Aaron @ November 24 2011, 11:00 PM GMTAll very true. It doesn't change, however, that there appears to be an entirely new sub-genre of 'amusing serial' that is unfairly labelled 'sitcom'. It does the genre of sitcom no good as it propagates the "whatever happened to...", "death of the..."
Now that is a really interesting point...
Kinda like the old one about dramedy vs sitcom.
I'd wonder if it is that there's only so many good sitcom gags, tropes etc.
And it's a case of innovate badly or repeat ones self?
Everything's repetition and reinvention of something else, conscious or not, if you look closely enough. It can be as simple as the setting (a slightly dead-end, struggling café with only a small core of regular customers - Angelo's, The Café) or plotlines, character traits, and individual jokes (Life's Too Short an obvious example). And everything inbetween. It's just a question of how much you reinvent, what you take from where in mixing it up, and factors like the performances acting as the glue binding it all together.
A large part of how and why comedy works is of course by recognition of things from our own real lives, whether it be broad character traits of people we know or individual situations; and there are only so many different variables amongst those that are a) broad enough to be recognisable to more than 3 people in the country, and b) have comic potential of any longevity. All of those archetypes have been used umpteen times already.
But that's another discussion for a separate thread.
Quote: Tim Azure @ November 24 2011, 7:29 PM GMTNot for me, I'm afraid Tim, sorry. Make it interesting to watch first, then make it funny. I know this seems like argument for the sake of it, but it's no good having the funniest jokes you can, if your first thoughts after watching it are: "That's half an hour wasted..."
But this has been advertised as a comedy, and with the track record of the cast, writers and director I wasn't expecting serious drama. Why should anyone wait a few episodes for a series to be funny? If you are content to sit through something for a few weeks on the offchance then you're probably in a small minority.
It's not a situational comedy because not much happens or gag-heavy (quite the opposite) and funny so what is it? Even a dramedy (like Shameless) has a more comedy elements than this has. It wasn't remotely funny and not very interesting either.
Just caught up with first two episodes. Thought it was lovely, and funny.
Quote: AJGO @ November 25 2011, 2:20 PM GMTJust caught up with first two episodes. Thought it was lovely, and funny.
I agree with AJGO. it was pleasant and safe but I found the characters engaging and believable. No big belly laughs but very easy to watch. Some of the dialogue was reminiscent rhythmically of The Royle Family but I shall carry on watching it.
Quote: AJGO @ November 25 2011, 2:20 PM GMTJust caught up with first two episodes. Thought it was lovely, and funny.
No offence is there anything you don't like?
Quote: sootyj @ November 27 2011, 2:45 PM GMTNo offence is there anything you don't like?
Besides Sootyj's micro penis