We plug anyone who does good things in comedy.
British comedy is no longer funny Page 9
Quote: Mark @ January 26 2012, 4:28 PM GMTIdeal, Outnumbered, How Not To Live Your Life, Psychoville, This Is Jinsy, Pete Versus Life, Him & Her, Rev, Mongrels, Sorry, I've Got No Head, Burnistoun, Horrible Histories, Totally Tom, Not Going Out
Almost half of that lot's been cancelled now.
Quote: Aaron @ January 26 2012, 4:33 PM GMTLizzie And Sarah. No. It's a new series. https://www.comedy.co.uk/news/story/00000734/julia_davis_new_sitcom_hunderby_sky_atlantic/
So wanted to see that. New stuff looks good though
Clearly our tastes are very different.
Meow! Looks like a new concept, bit of a change from all the happy family stuff that's so popular at the moment, looking forward to checking it out
Quote: AJGO @ January 26 2012, 5:02 PM GMTbit of a change from all the happy family stuff that's so popular at the moment
So it's not just me then!
There are always trends in anything, at the moment channels, especially BBC, want to capitalise on the success of Miranda because it was so different from the previous few years' fashion. I didn't like Miranda at first and once I got used to it I did. I don't think the standard of comedy is declining, just that there will be phases (that seem to last a long time) where stuff isn't especially to one's taste.
Quote: Bob Hicks @ January 26 2012, 4:22 PM GMTAs far as I know you now need a TV licence if you don't have a TV but do have the internet.
I am going to move back to the UK from Spain and I was not planning on getting a TV licence (or a TV) but a friend told me I would need one if I wanted to have the internet.
Rubbish.
Quote: Bob Hicks @ January 26 2012, 4:22 PM GMTI am going to move back to the UK from Spain and I was not planning on getting a TV licence (or a TV) but a friend told me I would need one if I wanted to have the internet.
I suppose if you had an aerial with the computer that allowed you to use it as a telly then you'd need one
Yes, that is correct; or if you were watching live British television online, such as the BBC streams.
Fair enough. Good to know. Thanks for clearing that up for me 
Don't want to wander off-topic from the BBC-licence debate, just want to say I still think British comedy's fairly healthy - it's the constant stream of reality stuff that winds me up.
If Alan Partridge pitched 'Inner-City Sumo' or 'Monkey Tennis' today the modern-day Tony Heyers would respond with - "Hmm, I'm listening..."
I think that the idea of handling 'bad taste' subject matter to give the comedy an edge seems wrong. I get Renegade Carpark's argument that it can be funny when handled by gifted comedians, but gifted comedians can make anything funnier - except perhaps when they handle this kind of subject matter.
There was a time when the level of bad taste was deftly handled, but now it seems that there is a frenzy to scrape the bottom in an effort to be innovative. Incidentally, the best working comedians rarely do this and when they do, they often cop a lot of flack from their own fans - because they simply do not need to indulge in this kind of purile shock value to be funny.
British Comedy, actually, has the maturity to handle the difference between 'bad-taste-as-edgy-comedy and 'bad-taste-shock-value'. American Comedy, yes, has done some great stuff over the last few years - but the really great writing has been in shows like "Arrested Development" and "Community" - rather than (often animated) sitcoms that handle their subject matter with all the subtety of a battering-ram and usually just wheel out something uncomfortable for the quick cheap thrill of hearing it mentioned on television - rather than exploring it on any intellectual level that could truly be called subversive. 'Distasteful' and 'Subversive' have different meanings.
Consider the early days of Dame Edna - when she was Mrs. Everage of Mooney Ponds, Melbourne. She (Barry Humphries underneath, of course) would sit in front of an audience and tell them, in great detail, about her house, what she was cooking and her family activities - with such accuracy that her audiences recognised themselves in her. When she casually referenced her cosy prejudices, materialism and complacency - the audience found themselves looking into a very uncomfortable mirror - but were able to laugh, nonetheless.
Humphries's other creations worked (and work) similarly.
Lots of swearing? No. Scraping the barrel of bad taste? No. Subversive - most definitely!
The best comedians working today can still do the same - if anything, we need more of that!
I think this thread makes more sense when you realise he's missed out the third word - "guide" - from the title.
Quote: ToddB @ January 27 2012, 1:02 AM GMTBritish Comedy, actually, has the maturity to handle the difference between 'bad-taste-as-edgy-comedy and 'bad-taste-shock-value'. American Comedy, yes, has done some great stuff over the last few years - but the really great writing has been in shows like "Arrested Development" and "Community" - rather than (often animated) sitcoms that handle their subject matter with all the subtety of a battering-ram and usually just wheel out something uncomfortable for the quick cheap thrill of hearing it mentioned on television - rather than exploring it on any intellectual level that could truly be called subversive. 'Distasteful' and 'Subversive' have different meanings.
definitely!
I agree with most of your points ToddB, but televised British comedy doesn't even have the freedom to be distasteful anymore, never mind subversive. Frankie Boyle being thrown off Mock The Week was a portent to where we are headed as a collective audience. A dystopian Orwellian nightmare helmed by the ghost of Mary Whitehouse.
Comedy is the new punk rock, comedy is the new rock and roll, except now comedy is the latest packaged boy band - bland, inoffensive and your Mum likes them too.