Hi - my name's Matt and I'm currently doing a PhD in British television political comedy. I'm looking at programmes from 'TW3' to 'The Thick of It' - so lots of material. One of the main parts of my research is based on what viewers (you guys!) think about political comedy.

I found this site a few weeks ago and wondered if you all might be able to help me with one specific chapter.

I'm looking for people to write to me about 'Yes Minister', 'The New Statesman' and 'The Thick of It'; this would then go into my Phd. You can write about whatever seems appropriate to you - I want to know any of your thoughts!

If you could write to me in this thread or personal message by 18th September I'd be really grateful - though latecomers will still be useful!

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Matt

Royal Holloway, University of London : Department of Media Arts

I'd like to help.

But really think you should get a job!

But I'm in one of those moods.

I expect you'll run the country someday - after Aaron has got bored with it.

I can't really think of anything of interest at present but wierdly I have been going through a phase of watching all of these comedies on YouTube and so when I am not so tired I am pretty sure I'll have quite a few oppinions.

Quote: Maettc @ September 10 2009, 9:03 PM BST

You can write about whatever seems appropriate to you

View original

Thanks for that! Though don't you think if you are looking for a PhD you should be a bit more structured? Is asking random strangers off the internet part of your agreed process with your supervisor, for example?

Hi Matt

At the risk of being helpful have you tried the search button on this site?

If you want random thoughts you'll find plenty on the shows you mentioned.

I agree with Badge though - if you had a set of questions you'd probably find a few more volunteers.

At the moment it's a bit like a girl asking her boyfriend "What are you thinking?" and getting a blank stare. If she asked him "Who made the best Bond?" she'd get a much better response I'm sure.

That's an example of the random thoughts I mentioned earlier.

Jx

Fair point, guys - a random request without any context is a bit of an ask... I was trying to avoid predetermining any answers but having *no* answers won't be very useful either...

Ok - revised questions:

I've been looking at the reasons that people like or dislike political comedy. I'm especially interested in Yes Minister, The New Statesman and The Thick of It.

Don't spend ages - just looking for your thoughts but don't feel like you have to footnote them!

Can you answer the following questions for Yes Minister, The New Statesman and The Thick of It.

----

*Yes Minister*

When did you first see it and what was your initial reaction?

Describe what you find funny about it.

Describe what you find unfunny about it.

How would you describe the series representation of politics?

What other words would use to describe the series as a whole?

Other comments:

Rinse and repeat for The News Statesman and The Thick of It. I do really want to know what you think - forward to anyone else you think might take fifteen minutes of their time to write some sentences.

----

Some PSs
- I do have a job but don't worry, running the country is not on my To Do list!
- Asking random strangers for opinions does have a history in audience/fan research - which is essentially what I'm asking you to help me with. I've got some material from the fora already but wanted to solicit some opinions for more evidence.

Thanks for the feedback - audience research is still a bit new to me so I'm finding things out as I go along!

Cheers,
Matt

Here's some threads you might find useful:

https://www.comedy.co.uk/forums/thread/2297

https://www.comedy.co.uk/forums/thread/6998

https://www.comedy.co.uk/forums/thread/3333

Cheers for that chipolata - had browsed through them before - one of the reasons I posted is that a forum discussion tends to be rather free-wheeling. (A thread on The New Statesman turns into a discussion on the nature of boxed sets!) That's cool - but not quite what I want to look at!

If you can't be arsed to skip a few irrelevant posts I am sure I can't be arsed to fill in a f**king questionaire. My opinions on how Yes Minister has shaped the political agenda are in a thread on here somewhere.

Quote: Jane P @ September 11 2009, 9:01 AM BST

At the moment it's a bit like a girl asking her boyfriend "What are you thinking?" and getting a blank stare. If she asked him "Who made the best Bond?" she'd get a much better response I'm sure.

View original

Daniel Craig. Closely followed by Sean Connery. Timothy Dalton had bad scripts to work with and was therefore underated, as was George Lazenby.

Does that help anyone with their phd?

Man, this thread's hard work!

I don't like being mean to Maettc but I am firmly of the view that PhD's should be about useful things – cure for cancer, putting men on Mars stuff like that!
How a couple of sitcoms have influenced life doesn't quite fit into that category.

I'm not a fan of over analysing stuff either – to me I like a painting or I don't, I don't like to look at the hidden imagery. It's the same with comedy I like it or I don't!

Maybe this makes me bad. Maybe this will mean my writing won't improve. But looking into meanings what the writer was looking to achieve – all that, it ain't me.

So Maettc go and do something useful – in ten years time your could be curing cancer on the moon!

If not you'll be hanging round here with us lot.

Quote: Maettc @ September 11 2009, 10:18 AM BST

Asking random strangers for opinions does have a history in audience/fan research - which is essentially what I'm asking you to help me with.

View original

No problem with that. But...

Quote: Badge @ September 11 2009, 12:21 AM BST

Is asking random strangers off the internet part of your agreed process with your supervisor, for example?

View original

Or is it just being lazy?

(I can't help by the way - I haven't watched much/any of two of the sitcoms you want feedback on and the other was quite a while ago)

Ah well - it was worth a try.

Now where did I put that cure for cancer...

Hi Matt,
Did you get my message? About suckling at Margaret Thatcher's teat?
Yum, yum.