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Why does American comedy suck compared to British comedy? or am I watching the wrong shows.

Dude500X

By Dude500X,
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Dude500X

Dude500X

Posted
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I swear there is only 2 live action comedy's from America that I find funny and they are Fraiser and Cheers.

 

I've seen Friends, Sienfield.. and others and honestly they are TRASH!  Come on! What is so funny about it??  Its childish!

 

Now, British Comedy.. THAT is creative and funny!

 

Here are some examples of excellent British comedy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is just a taste.

 

Anyway, I have yet to see any good American comedy.. apart from Cheers and Fraiser.

 

What comedy type do you prefer?

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Dmouse52

Dmouse52

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Posted

well there is a lot of "concern of appropriate content" in america that you don't get in the UK so anything that could be seen as politically incorrect like not enough ethnic representation, anti-religious comments (and a lot stuff said in British comedies can be construed and mis-construed as just that). We are talking about pressure groups who want to see wholesome values represented...or their personal idea's of what they should be. We're talking some groups who wanted the teletubbies banned because it promoted gayness in minors (still can't my head around that one). So a lot of pressure, stick to their cartoons it seems they're not under the same pressure.   They did try to make an "americanised" version of men behaving badly and that sucked too so make mine south park and celebrity death match challenge

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Guest Plastrader

Guest Plastrader

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I've watched Frasier, Cheers, Seinfeld and Friends.

Both Frasier and Cheers are good, but Seinfeld and Friends kind of went passed their "funny date" and the shows fell into decline.

 

I think America excel in the "cartoon sitcom" department, if not being alone doing them.

The Simpsons

South Park

Family Guy

 

I'm not sure if you had those in mind lord_dweedle.

 

Now for British comedy*...

Monty Python - The Flying Circus.

Blackadder

Red Dwarf

A bit of Fry and Laurie <- Seriously if you haven't seen this, please do because Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are brilliant!

Young ones

 

I have some ideas and thoughts why America is better with cartoons and why the British are better on TV.

But that's for another time...

 

And I guess it's like with most things in life.

Either you like one thing or you don't.

 

* For anyone reading my blog here I guess you knew my answer to this already.

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Veta

Veta

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Posted

First of  all  I want to say how much I hate anything that has background laughs , it just seems to me as if they are telling me when to laugh ( and there are some really irritating laughs ) . As for the western comedies being trash , credit can only be given to their high ratings( people who watch them) .
 The best american comedy is South Park , it may at times be grotesque and disgusting , but genuinely funny writing and up to date satire keeps it on my number one .

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Mana Yakushima

Mana Yakushima

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I don't get your argument, british people like british humor, americans like american humor. it's not like one is superior to the other, its just different. Also, South Park is no where close to what it used to be. It's kind of in that sort of spot Simpsons is in. I don't understand why either of them are being made still, they're both empty shells of their former selves.

 

With that said it seems like you may like the stuff [as] shows. I don't particularly watch sitcoms at all but I loved Happy Endings for the first season or so, haven't seen it since though.

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Veta

Veta

Posted
Posted

You guys are being overly hard on both the simpsons and south park just because of nostalgia , you can't expect every episode to have the same quality . Take Futurama for example , it is up there with south park for me ,one of the best , and some episodes are perfect yet others are just distasteful .

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ZaZ

ZaZ

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I Grew up with " Allo Allo , Black Adder , Mind Your Language  , Bean " Those were more Good times ,

These Days  More into American Sitcoms , Meh  Southpark Simpsons Family Guy BBT /  HIMYM  / And so Forth , they are funny and fun to watch at times .

 

As for Which is better , Its More on Perspective , Age ,location  and other Factors , You cant Generalize this kinda medium , its not fair .

 

Cheers

 

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Dmouse52

Dmouse52

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A good indicator of what great humour is irrespective of nationality is can you laugh at yourself? i've seen some damn good american comedy and it's when they laugh at themselves. it is just great and it does show americans can match anyone else. South park and the simpsons for my money illustrate it perfectly and a lot of comedy in america seems to fall flat because someone is toning down content because of dire need to not offend very active and vocal people with no sense of humour. One show not a comedy but I do find it humouress is NCIS. Tony denozzo is just so wrong and so is Gibbs and Abbey too and so I keep watching it

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DoctaSax

DoctaSax

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There's more to comedy than sitcoms, sketch shows & cartoons. What the British also excel at are panel shows - the likes of Mock the Week (especially when Frankie Boyle was on it), Never Mind the Buzzcocks (esp. when they had Simon Amstell presenting it), Have I got News For You etc. Americans used to have the upper hand when it came to stand-up comedy, but the British have caught up with that.

 

Not sure if the difference in quality can solely be attributed to 'political correctness' (there's a word I hate to use), but it does factor in. Even the British shows I mentioned above have occasionally had to let somebody go due to outraged people who never even watched them so the quality dropped, I think, the last five years. But without that, there was still a difference.

A major factor is simply that the BBC is such a powerhouse, and there's no American equivalent for it. When all you have are commercial stations, few stations will take a risk with sharp and/or unconventional humor in the way that the BBC can or at least used to be able to. Over time, that just makes for a more fertile comedy scene.

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Dmouse52

Dmouse52

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or at least used to be able to.....hmmm much as i hate that idea Doctasax i have a bad feeling that the BBC is going to be subject a lot more politcal pressure probably to the point to be becoming "state Television" were accountability to the public (via parliament of course) over how the liscence fee is spent and shows like mr's brown boys, the young ones,not the nine o' clock news will be the thing of cherished memory

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Kamen Rider Kuuga

Kamen Rider Kuuga

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Mystery Science Theater 3000 is about a man and some robots are trapped on a space station and are tortured by being forced to watch bad movies, which they make fun of in order to stay sane.

 

The show began in 1988 as a public access show in Minnesota and ran until mid 1989, where it was picked up by The Comedy Channel (later Comedy Central) where it ran for seven seasons and one motion picture, being cancelled in 1996. It was then picked up by The Sci Fi Channel, which then aired three more seasons starting in 1997 before coming to an end, with a grand total of 197 episodes.

 

The cast and crew have gone on to do various thing, such as making comedy tracks for Shout! Factory, RiffTrax and Cinematic Titanic.

 

It's a fine show, and it's something anybody who loves bad movies, comedy and those who like to make fun of bad movies should watch.

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