Can you be more specific? Where have you seen the "gay plot" used several times recently?
And why is it used for "cheaper laughs" than a wedding/funeral etc?
Thanks
The Obligatory Gay Plot Page 2
Quote: David H @ June 9, 2007, 12:54 PMI came across the gay plot several times recently
Oooo err!!
American shows on Paramount, ABC, DVD. You should know that a gay plot is a cheaper laugh due to the titillation factor.
Can you be specific about which shows?
Your suggestion that a gay plot is a cheaper laugh is ridiculous. A good laugh is a good laugh, and it usually comes from good writing and good acting.
Quote: David H @ June 9, 2007, 12:54 PMI didn't say gays should be made fun of. That was another post.
Sorry, got my Davids confused.
And I'm not homophobic. Maybe I've just seen a number of different shows in a row that have the gay person chasing the straight person and I'm just rolling my eyes thinking, "Again?"
Ricky Gervais was saying on his interview with Larry David that he went to some comedy stores and all the comedians were saying were "What the f**k!" And he was thinking, you know, try something else. That's all I'm saying.
The obligatory wedding, the obligatory funeral do frustrate me. But, as I say, I came across the gay plot several times recently and it's a device used for cheaper laughs than a wedding/funeral etc.
Well, I can understand the frustration if you've seen several shows recently using the same plot - as you say you do think "Oh they did this in ...", but I still don't understand why one type of repeated plot is worse than another.
I too am surprised that a "gay" plot should garner any more attention than a wedding plot or any other facet of life. If I may widen this discussion.
I have noticed of late around these parts that the cry of "unoriginal, lazy and slack writing" is going up generally. It too puzzles me.
Most things have been done to death and it's very hard to get something that is truly original. Only a very few examples come to my mind in comedy over recent years. IMO, some notable ones being The Office, Extras and Peep Show.
Compare and contrast these well written in depth comedies to the three most popular sketch shows on telly at present. Little Britain, Catherine Tate and Ronni Ancona.
I have said this before but I can remember a time when a sketch show was a half-hour of stand-alone different sketches about all sorts of things. 6 weeks by 6 or more per show equals 36 different ideas minimum.
Nowadays the same 5-6 characters in all three top sketch shows repeat the same punch lines week after week and yet it seems that they are TV's Holy Grail. Certainly they must be the Golden Goose for the writers.
6 or so gags stretched out wafer thin for a six week run and then two more six week runs on subsequent years. The phrase money for old rope springs to mind.
I do not accept that unoriginal is not commercial any longer as the facts speak for themselves.
That's not to say that we shouldn't strive to be as original as we can but perhaps we are, by a process of osmosis, becoming conditioned not to think about working as hard as the previous generation of writers have done.
Two and a Half Men is really guilty of this, I think. I think it's an all right type of show but Alan's wife leaving him because she's a lesbian, been done before but okay. Then there are so many throwaway lines, set-up, set-up, "He's gay! It's just so tiring hearing these lines. Then in another episode his former girlfriend is now a fella and gay.
They said Seinfeld was 'about nothing' but by God was it original. Plots about glasses were hilarious, you don't have to go down the same well worn route as everybody else.
As I said, the classic gay plots featured in Frasier were absolutely brilliant, but then everyone tries it and it ain't so good. Perhaps I'm being harsh measuring everything up to Frasier's high standard, but too much of anything is dull IMO.
As a child, were you bitten on the leg by a gay person?
Quote: Alan Alexander @ June 10, 2007, 10:18 AMAs a child, were you bitten on the leg by a gay person?
I think Comedy based on life is top dog. Gay people share this world with us like different races & sexes. Not only are they incredibly funny in themselves (I have never met one without a sense of humour especialy about their sexual orientation), they are also amazing fun.
I dont think you have to have an obligatory gay you dont have to have an obligatory anything. Just have a funny sitcom. Put in what you want. Personaly I love a little camp.
David, out of interest are you gay or straight ?
I smell a poll!
Straight.
Extras, by the way, had two gay plots in the first series, then touched on it again in the second series. They only wrote 12 episodes. If you took all the camp material out of Graham Norton's act, what would be left? He relies so heavily on it.
Anyway, I think there's an over-reliance on gay jokes to get cheap laughs, you don't. Let's call it a draw.
Take the camp out of Graham Norton and you'd be left with empty skin.