It's a hot potato and no mistake.
Citizen Khan - Series 1 Page 3
and so the backlash begins
I loved it and thought it very funny.
No worse than the Beeb's other family sitcom offerings.
Though having the studio audience laughing for no obvious reason like hyaenas on nitrous oxide does tend to predispose me to being stoney-faced.
I knew this reminded me of something: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjx2pclJQew#t=85s 
Quote: Renegade Carpark @ August 28 2012, 11:11 AM BSTWas looking forward to this after being introduced to the character in Bellamy's People and had high hopes that another great overly pompous sitcom monster had been spawned.
You weren't the only one, I thought he looked a winner; pompous patriach, Del Boy business capers, Tammany Hall politician. Instead we got one of Dick Emery's best forgotten characters.
Quote: Jasmine @ August 29 2012, 12:46 PM BSTIt's a hot potato and no mistake.
I thought a hot potato is basically something good. (Which doesn't get taken up for some reason).
It's a BBC1 comedy. It's about a Pakistani Family. It has jokes about arranged marriage and the Quran and racism and a Muslim daughter who leads a double life. Mild jokes, yes, but given the fact that we're all well-aware of how *ahem* sensitive a Muslim audience can be, I thought they got away with just about as much as they possibly could.
And even playing it relatively safe, there have still been 200 complaints about racial stereotyping etc. Which is absolute bollocks, of course.
There was a lot I liked about the show, plenty of energy, some funny one-liners and a couple of times I laughed out loud. A few jokes fell flat and I had a bit of trouble working out exactly who Mr Khan is personality-wise (there seemed a few mixed messages there) but I honestly think the show could be a grower, given the chance.
I have the feeling that, like countless comedies before it, it's one of those that just needs to bed in and find its feet.
Quote: Lee Henman @ August 29 2012, 11:44 PM BSTand a couple of times I even laughed out loud.
Racist.
I think you and I must have seen different shows, the Citizen Khan I watched was dull, old fashioned and not very funny. I know they are different countries / cultures, but it was very reminiscent of the Kumars, but without the same wit, satire or knowing winks to the audience.
Hopefully, some of the complaints were death threats by die hard fanatical Islamic nutters and the BBC will be forced to pull this show on the grounds of safety.
Quote: Renegade Carpark @ August 29 2012, 11:57 PM BSTRacist.
I think you and I must have seen different shows, the Citizen Khan I watched was dull, old fashioned and not very funny. I know they are different countries / cultures, but it was very reminiscent of the Kumars, but without the same wit, satire or knowing winks to the audience.
Well I think you're right in that the Kumars were a bit braver and more satirical but that show was a different beast surely, BBC Two for a start and not a sitcom. (Although the Kumars are supposed to be returning via Sky. I hope it's a straight sitcom and not a weird chat show / narrative hybrid.)
But as for Citizen Khan, all I really know is that I sat and watched it with my 10 year old son and we both giggled in the same places, and for me that's a good sign for a family comedy. (The chup chup bit had my lad in hysterics).
As for the cries of racial stereotyping that have been mentioned in this thread, I would reply but I feel a big yawn coming on.
Quote: gb901 @ August 28 2012, 11:32 PM BSTHas
Personally I found this "comedy" crass when we still have honour killings being carried out in Britain. I refer to the point where the wife announces that if the mosque isn't booked then she would be so ashamed as to kill herself. I thought this quite needless.
*reads again*
*reads one last time*
>_<
Quote: Lee Henman @ August 30 2012, 1:44 AM BST(Although the Kumars are supposed to be returning via Sky. I hope it's a straight sitcom and not a weird chat show / narrative hybrid.)
It's supposedly the same "weird hybrid" as before, just in an even less glamourous setting.
Anyway, I'm with you, Lee. Citizen Khan didn't blow me away but it made me laugh a number of times and I watched the rest quite happily entertained. I come from an incredibly multi-ethnic area, and the family reflected aspects of plenty of people I've known over the years, with exactly the same broad strokes and comical flourishes that we've seen applied to whites in almost every sitcom since the 1950s. I have no complaint about that at all.
I thought it was alright, to be honest. I laughed, which is the main thing. He doesn't seem nearly as funny as the Mr Khan of Bellamy's People yet, who was probably the highlight of that particular show, but it has been only one episode so far, so hopefully we'll see more of that guy.
Dan
Quote: Lee Henman @ August 30 2012, 1:44 AM BSTall I really know is that I sat and watched it with my 10 year old son and we both giggled in the same places, and for me that's a good sign for a family comedy.
Tell the BBC that's what it is, it's on after ten for some reason.
I just watched this on BBC iPlayer
To be fair it was pretty standard 70s sitcom. I even laughed a couple of times. Neat plot construction to end.
I agreed with the comments made about its schedualling, which should be 7 o'clock. Standard 'My Family time'. It's not going to set the world on fire. It's no worse than the rest of BBC's output at present.
It doesn't surprise me that the BBC find this stuff what they desire, given that the last script I had returned contained the advice 'could I write it more like Steptoe and Son..?'
I guess naively I always thought that the BBC was meant to be ground breaking and innovative and this is certainly an advert for losing the licence fee, which is possibly the current political objective?
So it's the BBC that's out of touch rather than this inoffensive sitcom. It will be interesting to see if this builds audience from its 3.6m. But that's about as interesting as it gets for now.
AP Scene
Quote: Punk Anarcho @ August 30 2012, 10:43 AM BSTIt doesn't surprise me that the BBc find this stuff what they desire, given that the last script I had returned contained the advice 'could I write it more like Steptoe and Son..?'
Steptoe and Son is still edgey compared to most of the Beeb output.
If only the Beeb really could find someone who could write like Galton and Simpson...