Miranda, Not Going Out, Outnumbered, Little Britain, Shooting Stars, Would I Lie To You? etc. All good comedies.
Edited by zooo, to add (14) capital letters.
Deterioration of comedy over the years Page 9
Miranda and My Family feel very much like 70s comedies.
If you sent them back there would anyone really find them that different?
One of them's even got that bloke out of Citizen Smith in it!
I like to think of my self as modern. I love The IT Crowd so found myself trying not to laugh at Miranda the other night.
The wife put it on against my will and cool hip edgy me laughed a lot. It was very simple broad, full of "humm there hasn't been a laugh now for a minute. I'll fall over" moments. But I enjoyed it all the same. (Or because of that?)
Don't tell anyone I like Miranda though. I'm trying to be super cool here!
Wasn't comedy described as the new RocknRoll a few years ago? If so, then I suppose like music, nobody likes absolutely everything. Horses for courses etc.
But I think that some comedy is hailed as 'timeless' for good reason. Will shows like Miranda, The Trip still be remembered in 20 years time like Only Fools, Fawlty Towers and others? Whether this is now the 'Golden Generation' remains to be seen.
I felt mildly depressed reading the latest newsletter - Frank Skinner being bigged up by the Beeb so that we'll soon be sick of the sight of him. Jasper Carrott returning to stand up. A programme about Tommy Cooper.
Yawn.
There are many satirical blogs online, e.g. Craig Brown's Diaries, Daily Mash and Charlie Gilmour's Diaries.
Would anybody remember the name of a comedy from the 1980s about a Cockney chap who turned supergrass and thought he was being relocated to hawaii for his new life but instead got sent to Reykjavik on a boat?
He was told no dogs were allowed and threw his beloved Trixie overboard only to be greeted by a pack of dogs when the ship docked. He was given £20,000 for cosmetic surgery but got a cheap job done for 3 grand. Took his bandages off in the street and frightened all the kids, then got TCP and poured it on and screamed. Brilliant stuff.
Got to his new secret address to find postcards from the mobsters he squealed on. Then to calm himself down went looking for a snooker club which took hours as he didn't speak the language and people were running away because of his scarred face. Then on finding a snooker club and carefully setting up the balls he opens his case to find only half a snooker cue. Classic comedy.
Would appreciate if anyone can shed some light on the name. I think it was a series of different sketches by 4 brothers on Channel 4 or maybe BBC.
Cheers.
Quote: Spleenal @ September 5 2011, 11:27 PM BSTMiranda and My family feel very much like 70s comedies.
If you sent them back there would anyone really find them that different?
With Miranda you most certainly would. Okay, on the surface it looks like a good old fashioned self aware sitcom with obvious cues and talking to camera, but much of the content, the dialogue, is very modern. In no way would you get all the sex talk and penis references in any 70s sitcom.
I would say a 'large portion' of the humour in Miranda is quite risque or smutty, definitely by 1970s' standards. Things like Are You Being Served? certainly hinted at such smut but couldn't express it in the way Miranda is allowed to. The show does still owe quite a lot to AYBS?, though. It looks similar, but sounds quite different. I'd say.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ September 16 2011, 12:39 PM BSTsex talk and penis references
I've been searching for a title for my new sitcom and finally I have it!
Quote: Lee Henman @ June 12 2011, 10:28 PM BSTThere's a lot of truth in that. I certainly laugh a lot less than I used to as a younger guy. In fact just this very evening I doused my buttocks in petrol and set them alight...not even a titter.
Were you at your wits' end?
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ September 16 2011, 12:39 PM BSTIn no way would you get all the sex talk and penis references in any 70s sitcom.
Not really a penis reference. But bollocks. 
Quote: Liam O'Loughlin @ September 15 2011, 6:47 PM BSTWould anybody remember the name of a comedy from the 1980s about a Cockney chap who turned supergrass and thought he was being relocated to hawaii for his new life but instead got sent to Reykjavik on a boat?
He was told no dogs were allowed and threw his beloved Trixie overboard only to be greeted by a pack of dogs when the ship docked. He was given £20,000 for cosmetic surgery but got a cheap job done for 3 grand. Took his bandages off in the street and frightened all the kids, then got TCP and poured it on and screamed. Brilliant stuff.
Got to his new secret address to find postcards from the mobsters he squealed on. Then to calm himself down went looking for a snooker club which took hours as he didn't speak the language and people were running away because of his scarred face. Then on finding a snooker club and carefully setting up the balls he opens his case to find only half a snooker cue. Classic comedy.
Would appreciate if anyone can shed some light on the name. I think it was a series of different sketches by 4 brothers on Channel 4 or maybe BBC.
Cheers.
I've no idea, but if you post it the on Sitcom forum you might get more info.
Quote: Spleenal @ September 5 2011, 11:27 PM BSTI like to think of my self as modern. I love The IT Crowd so found myself trying not to laugh at Miranda the other night.
The wife put it on against my will and cool hip edgy me laughed a lot. It was very simple broad, full of "humm there hasn't been a laugh now for a minute. I'll fall over" moments. But I enjoyed it all the same. (Or because of that?)Don't tell anyone I like Miranda though. I'm trying to be super cool here!
Is it uncool to like Miranda? I spit with disdain upon any such interpretation of 'cool'.
The perception of what's funny depends on many personal factors especially your experience of the world and its unspoken undercurrents.
For instance, Sgt Bilko was mentioned early in this thread. My parents used to curl up laughing at this show but my brother and I, being mere kids, couldn't get any of the jokes and thought it was terrible. And yet there are many younger than me who, having discovered Bilko in recent years, rate it as the best sitcom of all time.
I used to think that Seinfeld was OK with good slick acting and delivery but not very funny apart from Kramer. Then I read the scripts and I now think it is truly great comedy with some of the best scripts ever written. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you want to write a sitcom, read Seinfeld's scipts first.
Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld can get a whole episode by writing about virtually nothing and just seem to wait for a few trivial random ideas to turn up at some stage which they then write into the script before going back to filling in some time until the next trivial idea pops up from somewhere.
Consequently I think it's best to watch each show twice at least. It amazes me that the show proved to be so popular.
Moving on, I think that modern stand up comedians are almost light years ahead of the seedy old gits I watched when I was younger. There are a few exceptions but TV has meant that the comedians of today just have to come up with fresh material because once their act has been broadcast they can't use the jokes again.
Quote: Snork @ September 5 2011, 2:34 PM BSTEdited by zooo, to add (14) capital letters.
Quote: Don Kiddle @ October 9 2011, 10:12 PM BSTFor instance, Sgt Bilko was mentioned early in this thread. My parents used to curl up laughing at this show but my brother and I, being mere kids, couldn't get any of the jokes and thought it was terrible. And yet there are many younger than me who, having discovered Bilko in recent years, rate it as the best sitcom of all time.
Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld can get a whole episode by writing about virtually nothing and just seem to wait for a few trivial random ideas to turn up at some stage which they then write into the script before going back to filling in some time until the next trivial idea pops up from somewhere.
A slight aside: I was watching one of the new Curb epsiodes in which Richard Lewis's girlfriend tries indulge Larry David with a bit of transparent flattery.
Larry replies: "Oh Colonel you didn't tell me Marilyn Monroe was on the base, sir"
When observing the decline of comedy, we tend to compare with the 70s model, which, to me, brings up images of Bless This House and Robin's Nest. But the progression of comedy is a line that began in the 50s, and continued into the 80s and 90s.
It may be that the only TV shows I can bring to mind atm are things like the post-'Young Ones' series', and 'Fry&Laurie', but stand-up was reaching its cutting-edge zenith in the 80s and 90s. Never before or since has comedy had so much relevance to how people really think. It's not always pretty, but it's funny cos it's true.