Comedy

[pedantic]

I'm currently watching a programme on BBC three "When comedy changed forever" and it's got me thinking. Is it me, or is comedy getting worse as time passes by ? I've seen loads of comedies through the years, and it seems to make me laugh (or not, as the case may be) less and less these days. Classic series like "porridge" and "rising damp" and "faulty towers" from the seventies. The eighties was top viewing too, with comedies such as "blackadder" and "only fools and horses". And comedies from the sixties was entertaining (although I haven't seen a great deal from that era) like "hancocks half hour" and "monty python".

are we short on comedy writers these days ? Or comedy actors ? Or both ?

In the eighties, the "in" thing, was "alternative comedy". Which to me is the alternative to comedy, not funny. With so much rubbish these days on tv, regarding comedy (imho) it's no wonder most of the people I know, only seem to laugh out loud when they see old re-runs on satellite/cable tv.

Opinions please

[skyblueheroes]

They are indeed all classics, but these days we have had...........

The Office
Smoking Room
Dinnerladies
Extras
Little Britain

Oh, and My Family

Theres been no fuinny comedies on British tv that are new or original since Red dwarf.

The office is ****e
Dinner ladies was ****e
I gave up watching because it was so bad, now I stick to monty pythonn and the series of porridge etc.

little britain is mildly amusing sometimes

[littld]

Little Britain is funny once - every episode is like a repeat of the last.

Two Pints is very good comedy.

Otherwise I agree with you - not much since Red Dwarf.

[PWS]

Green Wing.....Dr Alan Statham is my hero

The classic radio series, like 'Around the Horne', 'The Goon Show', 'I'm sorry I'll Read That Again', 'Hancock's Half Hour', were brilliant & in some cases translated well to television - 'I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again' being the inspiration for 'Monty Python's Flying Circus', for example.

Many 'sit coms' were populated with actors who had started out in radio, like June Whitfield & Terry Scott.

However, it seems that as TV became more prominent, that some of the spontaneity got lost - it would be difficult to do an 'ad lib' programme, like 'Does the Team Think', on the telly, for example.

I think it is the change from this kind of 'intellectual' humour to a more visual medium that we are seeing, now. Unfortunately, for me at least, with very few exceptions, it doesn't seem so humorous, any more.

There are some bad comedy programs out there that have been on our screens for years, look at coronation street, emerdale, eastenders.

Nothing like a bit of slapstick, and i'm not thinking of the unfunny benny hill, mr bean or charlie chaplin. i'm thinking of slapstip classics like bottom, and? and??... well, bottom.

IMO top gear (yes I said top gear) is one of the funniest programs on tv at the moment, everything else is utter ****e. mind you, we only have the basic 5 channel tv to go by. But when we did subscribe to all the other channels, the best comedies on them were all repeats!

anybody remember "soap" ?

[Mike]

Originally Posted by PWS

Green Wing.....Dr Alan Statham is my hero

I agreed

Comedy is as good as it ever was IMO. It has simply changed.

I like The Office and the simpsons, malcolm in the middle, scrubs.

Originally Posted by Damien

Comedy is as good as it ever was IMO. It has simply changed.

I like The Office and the simpsons, malcolm in the middle, scrubs.

It is a tad disappointing that 3 of those are American - that is not intended to be derogatory to Americans, but in the context of this thread would suggest that comedy has, indeed, 'changed for ever'.

[monkey2468]

Comedy changes all the time, if it didn't they would all be just rip-offs of each other. Some are funny, some are not, but I also think that it depends on your age and what the comedy is aiming for.

[Stuart]

The problems are twofold: money and the obsession with viewing figures present in the TV industry. Comedy is relatively expensive to make (I don't know why, but apparently it is). Most good comedies take a series or two to really take off. TV companies simply don't renew most series unless they are an immediate hit. I can think of a few examples of this: Blackadder (which wasn't funny until series 2), Cheers (which was apparently nearly axed after series 1 because of low viewing figure, but went on to become one of the most successful comedy series in history) and Men Behaving Badly (which was on ITV, was axed because of low viewing figures then went on to massive success on the BBC).

The problem is that a TV company can very nearly produce an entire series of a reality show for the cost of one episode of a good comedy. They can also be fairly certain that the series will get enough viewers for the series to make a profit. They don't have this certainty with a comedy, or indeed any non-reality TV series.

They are frightened to stick with anything new.

[budwieser]

What about " Never mind the Buzzcocks" and " Have i got news for you" and " Whose line is it anyway"?
I always thought they were funny.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Dodger444

anybody remember "soap" ?

http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/soap.htm


One of the best comedies ever, and brilliantly took the mickey out of every American soap, before some were even thought up..

Originally Posted by Stuart C

http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/soap.htm


One of the best comedies ever, and brilliantly took the mickey out of every American soap, before some were even thought up..

Thanks for that link Stuart, I never knew that they did 93 episodes... I've missed loads! Burt was one of my favourites, what a character.

I just found out that Richard Mulligan who played Burt, died in sept 2000 of colon cancer

EDIT: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0612321/