TV comedy - Any Good Ones?

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We all like a good laugh, but where do you get one these days? Certainly not from the rubbish we over here have picked up from our American cousins. Friends, Frasier, Spin City, the list is bloody endless.

-NB! this is not an invite for another US v the rest of the world slagging match, just an observation of what we get fed on TV these days that passes for comedy on the basis that a braindead audience laugh on cue in the background! I do find US comedy programs sadly sanitised. Sterile humour with good looking people with good looking friends (no pun intended) in perfect homes good jobs etc, etc. Realism? I think not!

So people, tell me what makes you laugh these days. What have I missed?

All I can say is thank God for repeats of Red Dwarf, the Simpsons and well, of reasonably new stuff that is about it really?

Cynical I know. Enlighten me.

 

Viking;

Gotta love the "NB" - hadn't seen that since grad school!

On the comedy note, I like the low-brow material MTV gives, such as Jackass or Celebrity Death Match.

HBO used to have the KIDS IN THE HALL, which was great.

You can also try ABC's "Whose Line is it Anyway" - a great rip-off from the UK.

 

Being from the states I think I have the right to say almost all US TV sucks. I think the problem is that we American think the actor is more important than the plot. It seams that we have dumbed down our shows to fit the stupidist segment of our population. We need to remember that smarter is funnier. That is one thing the UK appears to have a better hold on.

And BTW the UK version of "Who's line is it anyways" on comedy central is much better than the US version. The host makes all the different.

 

Hm... I saw something on the telly the other day; I think it was called "Banzai TV", and it's definitely one of the weirdest things I've seen in a while.
And I kinda liked "Yes, Prime Minister", but that was a long time ago, I suppose...

In defense of US TV (or at least the shows we're picked up over here in Noreg), I have to say that I'm not really a big fan of Norwegian ripoffs, either... (Basically the same ideas, only with writers and actors that suck)

 

Hey! I can't believe noone mentioned "Married with Children" series. It shows typical ******** family like Simpsons.

Note: *s are just to avoid flames, so don't claculate!

 

We have just tried to make our own sitcom here in Denmark. The good thing is, that we are not so political correct as the americans. For instance, one of the actors is a former pornactress, to which the show has a lot of puns.

 

Now I want to move to Denmark....!

I've always liked British and even CANADIAN comedy over that of the the US stuff...Other than the Simpsons, I hardly ever watch TV.

I caught Red Dwarf on PBS about 3 years ago...It was pretty funny! I got sucked into it...More and more I find myself watching older comedy shows like: Kids in the Hall, Fawlty Towers (did I spell it right?), M*A*S*H*, Python, etc... "The Classics!"

Which also shows that I'm an old fart too, I guess!

 

"Your mother waz a 'amster und your father smelt ov elderberrys!!!!!!!"

Any self respecting English speaking man would know what i mean!
Lets face it people noone will ever quite beat Monty Python!

Remeber the Martial art against fruit sketch!?

Remeber the 2 mount Kilamanjaro sketch!?

Remeber the funniest joke in the world sketch!?

Remember the sketch where Eric Idle reads the little childrens book!?

Those were the days! (granted i am only sixteen and needless to say was not born at the time when they were made. But i have all the films and have seen most of the sketches!
So although i wasn't there i expect they were still very good days indeed!)

ps i have heard that Eric Idle is now very famous in the US......is this true??

 

I always thought of John Cleese as the famous one. Terry Gilliam probably the most successful with movies like Brazil and 12 Monkeys. Eric Idle is merely doing a live touring show in the US that recycles old Monty Python songs.

Sir Belisarius, if you want porn stars and bad puns try Son of the Beach on the FX network. It's a take-off of Baywatch and has characters with names like B.J. Cummings and Notch Johnson to give you a taste of the humor. Personally I can't watch more than 5 mins. of it before I have to change the channel.

I may loose all the cool creds I have on this board by saying this (that is if I had any cool creds to begin with ) but this season I rebeled against the Friends/Survior wars on Thursday nights, and started watching Gilmore Girls on the WB. Sure it's a chick show about a mother and daughter, but it's got some of the funniest writing I've seen lately.

try...
"You seemed distracted in class today."
"I didn't think you cared."
"I don't. I was just making an observation."
"Great. They should build a dome around you and stick a telescope in your head."

or

"Excuse me, I'm going to the kitchen to get a Coke... or a knife."

 

I have no cool points, so I can agree.
Gilmore girls is BRILLIANTLY written. The dialouge is so damn snappy without being forced at all. Manages to be highbrow without beating you over the head with JUST how high brow it is.
It rates as best comedy/drama since northern exposure went off the air.

As far as british comedy, the one show I love and never hear anyone talking about is "chef". I love his tirades.

The half-hour sitcom, with a few exceptions like mash, has always been the lowest form of american television. It's a shame thats all they seem to export to other countries

I don't know about anywhere else, but the local PBS affiliate here shows british comedies on saturday nights, Everything from black adder to fawlty towers.

 

You have shamed me!

I, in my haste to slag everything off I forgot about Black Adder! Now pay homage boys and girls because THAT is a funny series (or 4 to be exact). Rowan Atkinson is fantastic.

My personal preference is the last series - Black Adder goes forth. That has to be some of the funniest telly ever made! If you haven't seen it over there or even round the rest of Europe, get the BBC video! 3 hours of laughs. You will not regret it. Can't go wrong with Rowan Atkinson, Steven Fry and Hugh Lorrie all in the same series.

Another programme worth an honourable mention is "Men behaving Badly" Not as good as it used to be, but then still 10 times better than the US remake if they actually do it (or have they already?). Just can't sanitise that sort of humor.

 

I always watch the Dutch soccer league... always lot's of fun hehe

 

Yep it's very sad at the moment on British TV. The only comedy I try and watch is the Simpsons and Frasier (both American imports). I suppose some of the comedy game shows can be funny (Have I got News for You, They Think its All Over and Never Mind the Buzzcocks) but it's not the same. In fact it seems like most of the stuff mentioned is all very old (though still being repeated and in some cases new episodes being made). Start dates being something like (I haven't checked these and am going by memory/guess):

Red Dwarf 1988
Simpsons 1992
Frasier 1993
Yes Minister 1978
Monty Python 1969
Black Adder 1983

To be fair I suppose it takes a few years for a programme to gain a following. Surprisingly, I was going to mention a show that I quite like and thought was more recent - 'Father Ted'. But a quick check shows that was first shown in 1995.

Oh well, maybe this year I won't bother to renew my TV licence.

 

Yes minister, I had forgetten that one, great show.
So was thin blue line.
One thing, why do so many GREAT british comedies have such short runs when crappy shows like "waiting for God" and ummm forget the name the show with the obnoxious woman named Bucket, Just go on and on and on?

I mean, theres only something like thirteen episodes of fawlty towers and the same with thin blue line.

 

Let's face it, even the funniest comedy would run out of steam and start looking like a tired self-parody after countless episodes. Could you imagine Fawlty Towers no. 100. Doesn't bear thinking about. The good ones stop when the makers realise doing more will destroy the reputation they had wiht the first lot. The bad ones go on milking the cash cow until it's dry.

 

Just an FYI - The Simpsons started in 1989. I've been following since before the Tracy Ullman show - It was originated from Matt Groening's strip cartoon "Life in Hell" - Which was pretty damn funny in its' own right!

 

well, thats sometimes true ironbeard, I mean, look at the crap fraiser has been since the fith season. But mash was pretty damn good until the last year. (too maudlin, and just not the same without radar)

Heh, i saw matt groening at the san diego comicon in 87, belisarius, and I was one of like three people to ask him for an autograph.

2 years later, he was hosting a forum about the start of the prime time simpsons show and there wasn't even standing room in the hall

[This message has been edited by jester1137 (edited June 01, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by jester1137 (edited June 01, 2001).]

 

Personally I'm not much of a TV watcher. To many other things lie work and soccer practice. But I do like a good comdey. Not many of them on US television. I am however a fan of Drew Carey's version of "Whose Line is it Anyways?" and I love Robin Williams. Other then that I pretty much stay away from TV.

~Essence~

 

Pure personal opinion. TV sucks. i get my kicks from my computer, books, hibernating, and the gym (i find the numbing burn to be quite exilerating!) i like the part where you wake up in the morning, realize youre late for work, and cant move from you jaw down... ah, memories...