Quote: Lee Henman @ October 28 2008, 11:25 PM BSTWell for one thing, IMHO Inbetweeners is a beautifully-written, brilliantly-performed comedy and I don't really have a bad word to say about it. As for Coming Of Age I've not seen much of it yet and I suspect it's probably not for me, but I do know it's there to serve a particular audience, and as long as the viewing figures hold up, that means somebody's enjoying it.
Also your comments about your dislike for sex jokes are fair enough, but then you hold up "Fawlty" and "Fools" as paragons of virtue which they definitely weren't. They had their fair share of bawdiness too. How about the "Flowery Twats" sign in Fawlty? Or "Farty Towels"? Or the episode where Basil fondles that blonde's tit by accident? Or in "Fools" where Del and Rodders get into the scrape with the blow-up sex dolls? Or you can go further back to Steptoe and Son where it turns out that Harold's Dad used to be in porn movies, or the one where Harold's trying to get his leg over some big-titted blonde but Albert keeps screwing it up for him...all sex jokes. Sex is funny, period. (Although periods AREN'T funny. Period.)
And when you ask "Where did it all go wrong?" I'm assuming you mean British comedy in general. But you're forgetting fantastic recent shows that WILL go down in history as classics such as The Office, Peep Show, League Of Gents, Father Ted, Royle Family, Pheonix Nights, Partridge...
I personally think Britcom's been in pretty f**king good shape in recent years.
What he said.
