I hate British Comedy (1 Viewer)

[Peter Kline]

Sorry you hate British comedy. Is there a purpose for this thread. Have you been captured by some Brits and forced to drink warm beer or something?

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Part of the problem in this thread is the notion that there is something called "British Comedy" or something called "American Comedy".

What is "British Comedy"? Monty Python? Peter Cook and Dudley Moore? (Stage act or movies? Very different) Benny Hill? Eddie Izzard?

If you think Benny Hill and Eddie Izzard can be put in the same category an appreciation of comedy is the least of your problems.

How about "American Comedy"? Are we talking about the comedy records of Bob Newhart, Lenny Bruce, Bill Cosby and Woody Allen from the 1950s and 60s (all of which are brilliant in their own way?) Or Richard Pryor? Gilligan's Island or Your Show of Shows? Neil Simon on Broadway, Mel Brooks in the movies? Preston Sturges? Is "American Comedy" Bob Hope or Pauly Shore? Robin Williams or Ellen Degeneres?

You simply cannot generalize about these things and it is silly to try. If you find you don't like "British Comedy" you either haven't been exposed to a wide enough variety of it to find the version that suits your taste, or you really do have a problem with the accents and you'll never find anything from the UK that makes you laugh - but the fault with lie with you, not the material. Ditto for those on the other side of "The Pond"

Regards,

Joe

 

[Ted Lee]

you don't like monty python *or* larry david?

my friend ... there is something wrong here.

seriously though ... where the hell is my spam?

 

[CharlesD]

The Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

European or African?



Joe

 

[Malcolm R]

I DON'T LIKE SPAM!!

 

[CharlesD]

 

[LarryDavenport]

You all miss the point.

Canadian comedy rules!!!!

 

[Joey Skinner]

I love some "British" comedy and some I don't care for but not because they are British. By the way, I consider Fawlty Towers the best sitcom ever made.

"She can kill a man at ten paces with one blow of her tongue!"

 

[John Watson]

Canadian Comedy!?!

Canuck Yuk Yuk?

and now for something completely different - Coronation Street was fascinating, but I could never see more than a minute of Days of Our Lives or something soap operas without choking on the crummy acting, pathetic dialogue, grotesque sets.

In fact Second City nailed that one years ago

 

[JustinCleveland]

I think, to say you don't like "X culture's X whatever" is pretty shortsighted. I don't like all American comedies, so to automatically discount all American comedies would be pretty pointless, because I'd miss a lot that I DO like. The same goes for British, or whatever. Just MHO

 

[Keith Mickunas]

The TV shows were just skits. What do you mean by this? Perhaps you're not watching the right stuff.

I love most British comedy. Coupling is IMHO without a doubt one of the best recent sitcoms anywhere. I also love My Hero, I've seen many people put that down, but I find it damn funny. Likewise I find Fawlty Towers to be particularly brilliant. I've enjoyed many American sitcoms also, but I do think that the British take on sketch comedy is much better than the American's. They cross the line into the truly bizzarre so often, and I think that's great. I just wish BBC America would start showing some of those more often again. I realize some of those series, like Big Train, Harry Enfield and Chums, and French & Saunders, either had short runs or haven't had anything made in a while, but I still enjoy watching those over and over.

The Office is subtle humor at its best. I had to give that a few episodes before I really figured out, now I love it.

 

[Eman_Ramos]

Oh you're no fun anymore...

OK, I'll stop with the one-liners...maybe.

Don't have much else to add, except that I like brit com. More so Python than anything. I was into Ab Fab for a little bit. but no longer. And I actually grew up with Benny Hill, which probably isn't the most appropriate thing to watch as a pre-teen.

 

[BrianB]

It needs repeating: The British generally view the American preoccupation with Benny Hill the way Americans view the French preoccupation with Jerry Lewis. We stopped finding Mr.Hill funny a couple of decades ago.

 

[Eman_Ramos]

Oh, I was just saying I grew up watching him. Didnt' think it was that funny, but I was just in awe of the...what's the word? Tackiness.

 

[MattBu]

I meant the movies. I've watched multiple episodes of the TV show (Is 10 enough to declare a hatred?), as well as the Life of Brian and Monty Python and the holy grail.

I hate Fawlty Towers, as well as upstairs downstairs (Is that even a comedy? What is it?), etc. etc. I dont need to relist.

I think it's asanine to imply that there is no style to British comedy, with no sound on I could watch a British television show and immediately be able to tell if it was british.

FYI it's not so much the accents that I hate (Though they grate on me) I LOATHED Coupling US, it sucked. The idea is bad, the dialogue is horrible.

As far as a point to this thread, why can't I decry my hatred of some THING? People all the time start threads on why they love something. No one would question an "I love British Comedy thread" aside from the teeth jab this thread has been completely impersonal, Im just discussing my hatred of British Comedy. I love British people, they are some of the classiest, most upstanding people in the history of the world. The stories of British soldiers kicking a soccer ball across the battle field during World War 1 bring a tear to my eye every time, ditto their sharing Christmas with the Germans across trench lines.

So that having been said, be thankful this wasn't a thread where I discussed the malady that is Kidney Pie.

 

[Bob Graz]

Monty Python Rules

 

[BrianB]

You just hate their sense of humour & accents, right?

 

[Brad Porter]

I think the only remaining question here is Matt, what do you think is funny?


Bloody arsekisser :p)

Brad

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I think you're the first person I've seen claim that they don't find Fawlty Towers funny.

And no, Upstairs Downstairs isn't a comedy.