Thought rant: American comedy VS British comedy.

IDLEchild

Well-Known Member
Seriously, does anyone know why? Why are the British so damn geniuses at comedy whereas most American comedy relies on horribly predictable and most often physical humor? I mean the British also have physical humor (the god like Monty Python being an example) but why do they make comedy look so brilliant and effortless? Americans seldom do that and even then it mostly relies on loud or flashy techniques to get a genuine laugh...not the British....nope these guys will have their comedies based in the most mundane and every day surroundings and still put out genius comedy? how do they do it? For a country riddled in tradition and known for it's stuck up, pompous aristocracy it sure does understand the anthesis of its earnest mannerisms very well. For a country that suppressed 25% of the world in its heyday with its boring, forced ideas of civility and etiquettes it sure does manage to mock it in ingenious ways.

That brings me to another point; British comedies on average are far more potent and intelligent than average American sitcom comedies. That does not mean the characters portrayed are very bright individuals, in fact many British comedies have characters which are social goofs but even their dialogue, as absurd it may be, is far more engaging and interesting, than that of the average doofus in American sitcoms. The British seem to have human psyche pinned down and dissected ready for all to laugh at but not the Americans... nope, rarely a comedy here is human and faithful in its approach but the British focus their comedy on the characters and their nuances, how they interact with their environment, the little, little details whereas American comedies seem to want to put their characters through completely unrealistic situations in equally unrealistic surroundings and see how much they can endure before even the shoddy writers stop laughing at their own swill. British comedies: This is how you'd expect people to behave in real life. American comedies: [/I]If this is how people acted they'd be dead in real life.[/I]

What is it? Is the general American populace to be blamed for low ratings of engaging new comedies which are cancelled right away? The new comedy Arrested Development is brilliant, and follows a consistent plot line, is already suffering low ratings and facing possible cancellation. Many other comedies which actually made viewers think (Titus comes to mind right away...damn you FOX) face quick cancellation despite a cult following and endless critical success. Why?

Why are British so much better?

I need answers goddamint.....now *shakes fist*
 

Luis G

<i><b>Problemator</b></i>
Staff member
I have no answer but I understand your frustation 'cause our comedies are far better than spaniard ones. I'd like an answer too.
 

Inkara1

Well-Known Member
I shall answer with a little anecdote. I'm really going to miss Laurie when I move. Smart girl. Once, I was talking about wanting to live the American Dream: a house, a pool, and 2.7 kids. I then said that it's impossible to have .7 of a kid... although the Constitution says you can have .6 of a kid. She got the joke right away, with no explanation from me. I don't know many people that would get it that quickly, and people who don't get jokes that make you think wouldn't like comedy shows that make you think.
 

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
Why are the British so much better? They're not. This is individual, not national.

Steven Wright
Robin Williams
George Carlin to name but a few
 

Spunky

New Member
I suppose it relies on social factors, British sitcoms are made for a british audience who have different social rules or expectations to american audiences, Whereas the american sitcoms are made for american social environments, if you get my meaning.

I'm pretty sure theres some people out there who hate british sitcoms (the young ones sucks! as does bottom). And also hate american ones too (seinfeld is so dull!) ...

Quite a lot of shows are popular because of the hype ( friends ) or just because they have been running for a while, or are stereotypical of certain social circles (The young ones / MPython, were very popular at my uni, but no one really liked them, they all had them because of the stigma attached to the,m or because they were supposedly cool).

I don't know if anyone is understanding the point i'm trying to make so i may as well give up now, and thus in closing all i have to say is:


Cheese pasty. :lloyd:
 

IDLEchild

Well-Known Member
Gonz said:
Why are the British so much better? They're not. This is individual, not national.

Steven Wright
Robin Williams
George Carlin to name but a few

Comedies Gonz....not comedians...COMEDIES. On the whole British understand humor better than us when it comes to putting it in a sitcom form.
 

Rose

New Member
I've only seen a couple British comedies, but what I've seen I don't think I'd necessarily rank them any higher than most American comedies. The one that I can think of off hand is "Keeping Up Appearances". I dunno what it is with them, but they just aren't my cup of tea.

Although the husband and roommate really enjoy them. There's about three that are shown late Sunday evenings on OETA that they like to watch.
 

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
IDLEchild said:
Comedies Gonz....not comedians...COMEDIES. On the whole British understand humor better than us when it comes to putting it in a sitcom form.

ABC produces to crap to get a guffaw & pay some bills.
BBC produces crap to get a chuckle.

I think they both suck except for ocassional accidental spots of brilliance. Hollywoods biggest mistake is to hire stand-up-comedians to do the job of an actor.
 

chcr

Too cute for words
Gonz has a good point. It seems like there aren't as many good American comic actors as there used to be. Everyone wants to shove a stand-up comedian in that role, and it doesn't always work. One thing to remember, IC, is that the British shows that we see here in the states are the best of the best. I'm reasonably sure there is a fair amount of crap floating around British TV as well (it's where "reality" shows came from, after all).

James Whitmore from the one man show "Will Rogers" said:
Television used to be a vast wasteland. It's improved though, now it's only half-vast
 

BeardofPants

New Member
I used to have that POV that only brit comedy was worth watching. But brit comedy is stagnant. There hasn't been anything decent produced recently. All the brit stuff I like is OLD. And OTOH, there is Frasier, and Seinfeld. Both relatively new. I think the problem is, in NZ anyway, that there is a higher level of exposure to American comedies, and so there is an exposure to a lot of crap, and there's not so much exposure to brit comedies, and it's mostly classic stuff.
 

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
Squiggy said:
I dunno...:eh: i think Billy Crystal and Robbin williams have proven themselves worthy actors...

Robin was trained at Juliard. He then went into stand-up. Yes, they've both become fine actors but both began as comedians (less sure about Billy Crystal)
 

Oz

New Member
BeardofPants said:
But brit comedy is stagnant. There hasn't been anything decent produced recently. .


Totally agree, there hasn't been a sitcom that caught my attention for at least a couple of years. We seem to be going through a famine where good comedy writers are concerned :eh: (although there is some brilliant radio comedy being written and produced at the mo')

I don't know if Brit comedy is any better than the American stuff.......I've had some fantastic laughs at MASH, Cheers, Fraszier etc

What seems to have happened is that tv companies are now afraid to go out on a limb......some of our most popular comedy series.....Red Dwarf, Only Fools and Horses, Blackadder, The Young Ones, Comic Strip Presents etc.......were only expected to run for one series if they were lucky .......... but they were produced and aired anyway. Now it seems that unless comedy fits a specific formula (ie, give them something, anything, to laugh at every fifteen seconds in case they get bored at switch channels).....all comedy, if not all tv is now more concerned with pandering to the masses to get the advertisements/viewing figures as high as possible :eh:

It is a shame, there must be thousands of writers churning out good comedy out there........but unless they are prepared to knuckle down to the tv execs formulaic preferences......it just doesn't get aired.

(this is prolly the reason there is so much excellent comedy on our radio at the mo'.......writers are switching to a more accessable medium).
 

Spunky

New Member
One word for you all.

Spaced.

Available at play.Com for about a tenner i thoink for each series, Tres funny if you're a brit, but if ur american, then maybe just plain wierd....
 

rrfield

New Member
chcr said:
Gonz has a good point. It seems like there aren't as many good American comic actors as there used to be. Everyone wants to shove a stand-up comedian in that role, and it doesn't always work. One thing to remember, IC, is that the British shows that we see here in the states are the best of the best. I'm reasonably sure there is a fair amount of crap floating around British TV as well (it's where "reality" shows came from, after all).

One of my favorite American comedians, Mitch Hedberg, has a joke about this.

To paraphrase since I can't find the quote anywhere...

When you ask a comedian to act, you are asking him to do something that is not comedy, but it is related. It's like going up to someone who has worked really hard to become a really great chef and saying "wow, you are a great chef! Can you farm?"
 

Camelyn

New Member
Well-known Canadian comedians :canada::

Roger Abbott
Dan Akroyd
Dave Broadfoot
John Candy
Jim Carrey
Sean Cullen
Yvon Deschamps
Don Ferguson
Dave Foley
André-Phillipe Gagnon
Luba Goy
Tom Green
Ron James
Cathy Jones
Eugene Levy
Rich Little
Bruce Mcculloch
Kevin Mcdonald
Patrick Mckenna
Mark Mckinney
Rick Mercer
Colin Mochrie
Rick Moranis
John Morgan
Mike Myers
Leslie Neilson
Andy Nulman
Catherine O'hara
Gilda Radner
Martin Short
Steve Smith
Dave Thomas
Greg Thomey
Scott Thompson
Mary Walsh

Per capita, that ain't a bad output. Add to that some great Candadian variety comedy shows like: Kids in the Hall, The Red Green Show, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, SCTV and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and I find that Canada doesn't do too badly on the humour front.

Strangely though, I can't for the life of me name a single Canadian sitcom. Either they sucked so bad I never even heard of them, or they simply do not exists. Since I really hate sitcoms, I'm rooting for option B :D
 

chcr

Too cute for words
rrfield said:
One of my favorite American comedians, Mitch Hedberg, has a joke about this.

To paraphrase since I can't find the quote anywhere...

When you ask a comedian to act, you are asking him to do something that is not comedy, but it is related. It's like going up to someone who has worked really hard to become a really great chef and saying "wow, you are a great chef! Can you farm?"

I saw that special, I'd forgotten about it though. It's a good point. I heard Bobcat Goldthwaite (who holds no illusions about his acting ability) once say, "You just don't set out to make it the greatest talking horse movie anyone has ever seen." :lol:
 
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