american appreciation of british humoUr (and the other way around)

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coming from this derailment:

100 songs whose entire lyrics consist of the title

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

What else do you like Cutty? Father Ted? The League of Gentleman? Alan Partridge? Sorry, this should probably be in ILE.

i love anything alan partidge or chris morris related. spaced. father ted. louis theroux.

i enjoyed what i saw of league of gentlemen when it was on comedy central here.

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 15:27 (twenty-one years ago)

i haven't seen the hated/loved bo selecta

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

little britian is on bbc america now.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 26 July 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

are you home from work again?

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

britain, rather.

xpost - nope.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 26 July 2004 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

was watching Jam yesterday (about 4 episodes back to back, it was a slow day) and have a few bones to pick with Jones about the subtitles. 'Cluck on my Gladys' indeed.

― koogs (koogs), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:27 (twenty-one years ago)

4 episodes of jam in a row might lead to temporary insanity

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:31 (twenty-one years ago)

also: best jam skit EVER is when the two guys bend over, stick guns up their asses, and pull the triggers. i forget what song is playing during all this but it's fucking brilliant.

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I'll return the favour and tell you what American comedy I like; Simpsons (obviously, though it's been in decline for about five years), Malcolm in the Middle (genius, much darker than it first appears), Larry Sanders, Futurama, the Coens, the Onion um...

I can enjoy mainstream American sitcoms like friends for their slickness and the tightness of the writing, but they seem a little generic and not nearly as idiosyncratic as most British humour.

― Wooden, Monday, 26 July 2004 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

what do brits think of curb your enthusiasm? (the current pinnacle of american comedy)

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:40 (twenty-one years ago)

and why do brits love malcolm in the middle? i don't know anyone here who thinks it's funny, but a lot of my u.k. pals thing it's hil-fucking-larious.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:44 (twenty-one years ago)

in france that damon wayans show was real popular. also "the nanny."

― amateur!st (amateurist), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:45 (twenty-one years ago)

France!

― George W. ILX (ex machina), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:46 (twenty-one years ago)

curb yr enthusiasm & malcolm in the middle:

I think they're funny : /

― cºzen (Cozen), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:46 (twenty-one years ago)

I've never seen Curb Your Enthuisiasm. Loads of people have told me Sienfeld is brilliant, but I've never really got it.

Is Malcolm really disliked in the States? It's much loved here.

― Wooden, Monday, 26 July 2004 16:46 (twenty-one years ago)

naw, lauren is generalizing. i don't watch many fox sitcoms, but when i catch malcolm i am always amused by its cleverness.

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

curb is better than seinfeld. seinfeld is great.

― cºzen (Cozen), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:48 (twenty-one years ago)

people will disagree.

― cºzen (Cozen), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:48 (twenty-one years ago)

don't tell me what i'm doing, cutty.

xpost - i agree with you. curb is much better.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:49 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't know anyone here who thinks it's funny

well, NOW YOU DO. ME. CUTTY!

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:49 (twenty-one years ago)

South Park! How could I forget about South Park?

― Wooden, Monday, 26 July 2004 16:53 (twenty-one years ago)

RENO 911 needs some more recognition. along with curb your enthusiasm, there isn't much else worth watching in the comedy arena.

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:55 (twenty-one years ago)

and why do brits love malcolm in the middle? i know one american person who thinks mitm is funny, but a lot of my u.k. pals thing it's hil-fucking-larious.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:56 (twenty-one years ago)

wonderful!

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 16:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Have you had Black Books over there yet? One of the Father Ted writers co-penned the first series with the star, the wonderful Dylan Moran. It's in a similar vein of humour, but wierder and a bit darker.

― Wooden, Monday, 26 July 2004 17:07 (twenty-one years ago)

there is a new chris morris show in the works isn't there?

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I heard something about CM co-writing a sitcom with Charlie Brooker, the man behing TVgohome.

― Wooden, Monday, 26 July 2004 17:11 (twenty-one years ago)

it's schlock-horror city for sure but Scrubs was my fave American show of last year. Ed was more nice than funny but occasionally hilarious. would like to see more leftfield American stuff shown in the UK tho, assuming it does exist.

― the neurotic awakening of s (blueski), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:12 (twenty-one years ago)

haha I like ed too :(

― cºzen (Cozen), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:13 (twenty-one years ago)

it does exist. if you could download episodes of reno 911, i high recommend it.

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:15 (twenty-one years ago)

season 1:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001XAODE/103-2060392-2465464?v=glance

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:16 (twenty-one years ago)

why so sad cozen? it's being repeated in the mornings on C4 again i think

― the neurotic awakening of s (blueski), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:18 (twenty-one years ago)

SLEDGE HAMMER is being released on DVD tomorrow!!!! wow.

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I like Reno 911, cutty!

"Xanadon't it"

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:22 (twenty-one years ago)

People in Britain like Malcolm In The Middle? It's news to me!

― Alba (Alba), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:22 (twenty-one years ago)

sucks, i've been missing most of reno 911 season 2. i have to catch a marathon or something.

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Black books was very funny - saw it when I was living in Norwich - but it hasn't, sadly, made its way over here yet.

― j.e.r.e.m.y (x Jeremy), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:23 (twenty-one years ago)

ok, fine. i was wildly exagerating. i'm totally full of shit. YOU CAUGHT ME, GUYS!

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:24 (twenty-one years ago)

sledge hammer might need it's own thread

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, me too, cutty! Let's make a date to watch the next marathon together.

― tokyo rosemary (rosemary), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:27 (twenty-one years ago)

yes!

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Is Ali-G British humoUr? Usually it's the unwitting American dupes who provide all the funny.

― briania (briania), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:30 (twenty-one years ago)

ali g interviewed british dupes for about 5 years before coming here.

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

there is also a new comedy central show called CROSSBALLS which borrows heavily from brass eye.

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

does hollyoaks count as humoUr? because i think it's really, really funny.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Did you catch the latest series of Hollyoaks: After Hours? Now that was funny.

― Alba (Alba), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:37 (twenty-one years ago)

example?

― the neurotic awakening of s (blueski), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't even know where to start.

― Alba (Alba), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:40 (twenty-one years ago)

my life is a hollyoaks- free zone at the moment. not by choice.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 26 July 2004 17:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 37 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

WHAT AM I FUCKING NODDY

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 11:00 (twenty-one years ago)

wtf are client-requested changes?

― ENRQ (Enrique), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 11:40 (twenty-one years ago)

when Channel 4 asks that no-one say fuck or bugger

― the neurotic awakening of s (blueski), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 11:44 (twenty-one years ago)

what's that to do with 'Gladstone/stein'?

― ENRQ (Enrique), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 11:47 (twenty-one years ago)

It's like when a whore is asked to suck faster.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 11:47 (twenty-one years ago)

changes requested by the client.

ie, they've asked you to do something for them, you do it. then they ask you to change it. lots of work thrown away because they've either changed their minds or weren't sure what they wanted in the first place. (spent a month recently porting everything from MySQL database to Postgres only to have them change their minds back to MySQL again. grrr) it's worst, like in the case above, when the changes they want are just wrong.

― koogs (koogs), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 11:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry, wrong thread.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 11:48 (twenty-one years ago)

what's that to do with 'Gladstone/stein'?

Koogs questioned the accuracy of some of the subtitling on jam, I pointed out that the errors he was seeing were 'corrections' requested by the client. It's all up there.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 11:53 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought this was going to be a thread about Mr Bean and Benny Hill.

― Madchen (Madchen), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 11:55 (twenty-one years ago)

yehbut why was that change requested???

― ENRQ (Enrique), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 11:56 (twenty-one years ago)

THEY DON'T KNOW.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 12:00 (twenty-one years ago)

As I said above, they were incomprehensible to me and everyone else who worked on it. But what the client says goes (I'm becoming more and more painfully aware of this as the nature of my role changes).

I have no idea why Morris (or whoever it actually was) wanted to introduce mistakes like this - whether it was just out of sheer mischievousness to fluster the pedants on internet message boards or what. It was part of a raft of alterations, most of which were supposedly clearing up our confusion over character names (and they, in the main, seemed OK).

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 12:04 (twenty-one years ago)

It being Chris Morris I'm sure he just did it to be contrary or something.

― marvin wang (marvin wang), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 12:08 (twenty-one years ago)

My wife is American and she loves Spaced, Alan Partridge, League Of Gentlemen, Brass Eye, Black Books et al. But she doesn't like Blackadder. Not even Blackadder II! I haven't worked out why yet.

In return she's introduced me to things like Upright Citizens Brigade and the Adult Swim cartoons, which are great. Other things too I'm sure but I can't think of any right now...

― marvin wang (marvin wang), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 12:16 (twenty-one years ago)

the whole UK six-episode series thing still confuses me though.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 12:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah my wife complains about the 6-8 episodes a series thing too. Is it because of lack of budget or maybe UK scriptwriters prefer to keep series short to avoid stringing the shows out too long and running out of ideas?

― marvin wang (marvin wang), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 12:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I've always presumed it's to do with the fact that British sitcoms are written by a single person or a duo and US sitcoms are penned by vast teams of gag-writers. However, Brit sketch shows have the floating-team-of-contributors model (often) and still show up in six- or eight-bite chunks.

An example of a BBC sitcom with a US-style approach to team scripting is My Family and that does have suitable lengthy runs (and also isn't any good).

I think it's true that in the old days - 60s/70s - UK comedies used to have longer runs (Steptoe, Dad's Army, etc).

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 12:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought this was going to be a thread about Mr Bean and Benny Hill.

benny hill scared me when i was a child. he scares me now, actually, but not quite as much.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 13:41 (twenty-one years ago)

benny hill was always on really late at night, and in my sleepy haze he would sort of blend in with the infomercials and other late-night atrocities into this awful awful stew of brazen indecency.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, exactly. leering, brazen, SCARY indecency.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 14:32 (twenty-one years ago)

was benny hill grave robbed?

hollyoaks: late night was...

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:36 (twenty-one years ago)

"In October of 1992, thieves dug up Hill's body, smashed in the coffin, and searched in vain for a "fortune in jewels" he was apparently buried with. Press accounts say that Benny's burial shroud was untouched, but if they did a real search, that would be unlikely. They reburied Hill with a new lid, and the solid slab across the top of the grave, that you see today."

[...]

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Michael Jones mentioned The Norm Show upthread. It's good to find I'm not the only person this side of the Atlantic who finds Norm MacDonald funny.
I saw his stand-up show on Tv once and thought it was possibly the funniest stand-up I'd ever seen. Then he was on some strange discussion programme that had two British and two American panellists. The other people on the panels were always so unfunny that I couldn't bear to watch it just for MacDonald. The Norm Show itself is frustrating too -you know he's so much funnier than the show.
Is he a big star in America?

― Joe Kay (feethurt), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:39 (twenty-one years ago)

what clem snide song is the ed theme tune?

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:40 (twenty-one years ago)

poor benny. undignified, even in death. it's fun, though, when you're doing something silly, to imagine a benny hill-esque tune playing in the background as you scuttle around idiotically.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I read a very moving, sad, article about benny hill in an issue of 'word' by his biographer. he had some queer habits.

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

poor benny. undignified, even in death. it's fun, though, when you're doing something silly, to imagine a benny hill-esque tune playing in the background as you scuttle around idiotically.
-- lauren (warmleatherett...) (webmail), July 27th, 2004 10:40 AM. (laurenp) (later) (link)

i actually hire a brass band to follow me around when i'm doing such things, as in emir kusturica movies. it's suprisingly inexpensive.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

i listen to the Benny Hill Theme over and over again as I read and post to ILX

― the neurotic awakening of s (blueski), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

i love Norm McD's voice. his turn in Family Guy as Death classic too.

― the neurotic awakening of s (blueski), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:43 (twenty-one years ago)

i can imagine benny as a tragic figure, almost too easily.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:44 (twenty-one years ago)

now, unfortunately, i can imagine the overwrought big-budget biopic starring a larded-up ewan macgregor.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:45 (twenty-one years ago)

it's a menacing humour, his.

x-post?

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:46 (twenty-one years ago)

it's sort of raging bull thing, you know, foul-mouthed sexist lout falls from grace, achieves redemption, has coffin ransacked by drunken idiots.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

it was menacing to me, at a tender age. i can feel a strange fever coming on... i'm going to spend all afternoon researching benny hill.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:47 (twenty-one years ago)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1857825454.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:48 (twenty-one years ago)

i put forward lynne ramsay to direct.

― lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

re: norm

Is he a big star in America?

unfortunately, since he left saturday night live (UHHHH, got any gum?) and made two films, he has fallen off the radar for sure. he is one of the funnier SNL alumni, but i think will ferrell is hard to beat these days. just go look at his profile on imdb and get ready for OVEREXPOSURE.

(although anchorman is probably the funniest movie. ever.)

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I have just seen Human Remains and I thought it was hysterical, although the first episode was the funniest.

I saw one episode of League of Gentleman and thought it was horrible.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

was benny hill scottish?

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

saucy
a film by lynne ramsay

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

league of gentlemen kind of needs to be watched in context with the other episodes. it's all very.. uhh.. episodic.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

benny hill is related to holly valance. his cousin is her grandfather.

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Does anybody else like the 'Benny Hill-The Ultimate Collection' CD. It's singles he made the sixties/early seventies when there was still a kind of innocence about his humour. 'Ernie' is the one people know, but there's loads of others in the same vein, including two where he does a Bob Dylan impersonation.

― Joe Kay (feethurt), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Benny Hill C/D?

― cºzen (Cozen), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 16:58 (twenty-one years ago)

how did 'the office' not get mentioned?

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 17:06 (twenty-one years ago)

good point. although i'm sure the topic of the office has been beat to death already. i do love david brent however. the christmas episodes were really a fantastic end to the series.

― cutty (mcutt), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 17:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I shed a tear when Tim and Dawn finally got together.

― Wooden (Wooden), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 17:35 (twenty-one years ago)

OH NO YOU GAVE AWAY THE...no, wait, everyone knew that was going to happen. Nevermind.

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 18:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Ooops, sorry it didn't occur to me that some colonials may not have seen it yet.

― Wooden (Wooden), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 18:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I was just joking, I've seen it. But it is true that while season 1 and season 2 have been released on US DVD, the holiday specials have not yet been given a US release (which is dumb, it seems like they could have packaged them with season 2).

― St. Nicholas (Nick A.), Tuesday, 27 July 2004 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

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