Comedy: Whats happend??

Have you ever thought that political comedy can be used to desensitize the public to a certain topic allowing politicians and public servants to get aways with stuff we normally would not?

Wouldn't it be easier to accept the president or prime minister ordering a fatal interdiction if there was a comedian actively making fun of political assassinations against "bad" foreign leaders?

Likewise don't you feel less like protesting when comedians are making fun of people who are marching in the streets and get beat up by cops?

A lot of comedy today seems to becoming almost engineered in this way. It makes it less funny and in fact I can count how often I see people laugh during supposedly "funny" sitcoms. Most of the time, I see my friends and family dumbly watching unseen people laugh at situations that seem engineered toward creating a sort of social apathy.

Jon

[edit on 5.29.2009 by Voxel]

No one's mentioned these 2 yet.



They are really good musicians as well if you listen to a lot of their stuff, and their TV series is almost painful to watch sometimes... You know because of all the cringe comedy that's getting used a lot nowadays - in fact another one that is heavy in the cringe is the Sarah Silverman show.

Wow, sorry for the late reply, i was busy being unconcious for several hours, but a great thank you to everyone who posted with names of comedy!

I am from England, so most of the names i havent heard of. A few i heard and forgot to put in my OP which i feel guilty for now (such as Black Books and Robot Chicken, i smeggin love them two! oh, and red dwarf,lol)

Sorry i didnt include stand ups, i was more on about TV and how its ruining the taste of comedy latley, stand up is one of those things thats always goin to be there down your local club, untouched and unspoiled. (heres a good guy for you, Frankie Boyle)





I just find it frustraiting that when there is a decent comedy show (like Black Books, Robot Chicken, Newswipe) they play it on like 4am on a channel no one knows of!

Like to say again, thanks everyone!!!

[edit on 29-5-2009 by Trolloks]

[edit on 29-5-2009 by Trolloks]

Editing so much trying to fix the god damm youtube video thingy


[edit on 29-5-2009 by Trolloks]

Originally posted by Trolloks
oh, and red dwarf,lol)

Did you think much of the new episodes (3 of them I think) that they did, it was on Dave, so Dave must of made them instead of the BBC.

I was a huge fan of the old ones - still watch them even though I have seen every one - I really did not like the new ones, driving around in a Smart car made to look like starbug?

Originally posted by Now_Then

Originally posted by Trolloks
oh, and red dwarf,lol)

Did you think much of the new episodes (3 of them I think) that they did, it was on Dave, so Dave must of made them instead of the BBC.

I was a huge fan of the old ones - still watch them even though I have seen every one - I really did not like the new ones, driving around in a Smart car made to look like starbug?

I thought they did a good job of it. Usely when a show does a comeback it can be pritty awful, but i recon this one was pritty good. Many people had problems with it not having a laugh track behind, but the jokes was still there (i loved the one about DVD's and going back to video because we found it impossible to put them back in the cases,lol)

Apparently the 3 episodes was just one big advert for more new series (hence all the refferences to season 9, even though it aint been made) so we can wait and hope they screen it, it has already been written, they just need someone to fund it, and i think that was what the special was for, to test the water

I'm so glad you mentioned South Park. I friggin absolutely love that show. And Family Guy too.

And you know, I think it's all a matter of opinion, really. I look around and I see funny everywhere. And I practically live off the Comedy Channel. I second what another poster said about watching the [adult swim] block on Comedy - personal favs are Robot Chicken and Harvey Birdman.

Otherwise Scrubs is hilarious, How I Met Your Mother I love, Kath and Kim is a huge hit here in Oz.. And I lmao at Dave Hughes, Carl Barron, Jamie Kennedy and a many number of other comedians. And have you ever heard of a popular little show called THE OFFICE? The British version, that is..

But I am just as much of a fan of older TV comedies, particularly British ones such as Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and TV to go, and Fast Forward from Australia. Two of my all time favourite theatrical parodies are Rinse the Blood Off My Toga and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

See, I don't think that comedy has gone anywhere.. It may have changed with the times but what else could you expect?? I'm a sucker for comedy and I still like what I'm seeing
But then again, it's really only opinion.

reply to post by Now_Then


The Conchords make my world a brighter place
They are truly hilarious, highly original and incredibly talented.

And speaking of the 'cringe factor', Britain's The Office is high up on that list. Ricky Gervais who plays the boss David Brent does a brilliant performance, so good you find yourself doing the 'i can't watch but can't look away at the same time' action. He's totally in character and entirely believable.
He's definitely cringe worthy.

[edit on 29/5/09 by pretty_vacant]

OP, this thread is spooky! I was thinking about writing something about the lack of comedy and rising star comedians just before I fell asleep last night. Then, boom, here it is. Thanks for taking up the idea.

reply to post by Trolloks


I have no idea why you are comparing the league of gentlemen to Little Britain. Little Britain is awful, at least League of gentlement was original and had a dark style to it.

You seem to have missed a few from the list of recent greats:

Allan Partridge, The Day today, Brass eye, The office, Peep show, Saxondale, Look around you, The new series of Harry enfield, Father Ted, World shut your mouth, Trigger happy TV, Jam, etc etc etc...

I don't see the problem.

Edit: Oh and Green wing.

[edit on 29-5-2009 by mr-lizard]

reply to post by mr-lizard


I couldnt realy name every single show, the list would be huge. But all them programs (if not the majority) have now ended, at the moment there is nothing left that is currently running. And sketch shows died years ago (actual decent ones, Little Brittans first season was good, but after that it turned awful)

reply to post by Trolloks


I can't believe you prefer little britain over league of gentlemen, a blatant and inferior rip off.

Peep show is still continuing for another series, Chris Morris has got the go ahead for his feature film 'four lions' (a comedy/satire about suicide bombers), an all female cast in 'pulling' is quite amusing...

Let's not forget that comedy tends to come in waves. Sometimes the better comedies slip under the radar and eventually hit cult status.

Have a search about and you'll find stuff.

reply to post by mr-lizard


i never said i prefer little brittan to leage of gentlemen, the leauge of gentlemen is far better (i have to say though, it did freak me out a lil first time i watched it,llol). Little brittan had one good season.

Can only hope some new talent comes through as you said in a wave, but i do think its time for a decent sketch show. The last new one i heard of was them two people from gaven and stacy, but my god it was awful,lol

reply to post by mr-lizard


The League of Gentlemen was mad, I love that one, excellent characters - the guy always trying to phone his mate cos he's staying at the house with the twins and everything, classic!

Side note did you know Royston Vasey is Roy Chubby Browns real name? I think he ahd a big part in writing it of something, he had a cameo as the mayer.

reply to post by Now_Then


Yeah, although Chubby Brown didn't write any of it, but he did appear as a cameo in the second series. The writers were a four piece writing in pairs (one of them never appeared on screen).

I've actually visited the town of Hadfield (were most of it was shot) and it's actually a pretty dull place.

Hehe, I know a bloke from Royston.

I agree tv comedy does seem to have gone downhill. I've never been much of a fan of US comedies (Scrubs being the major exception), but two and a half men and the US office did nothing for me. The UK office was a bit rubbish too.

I think we're in something of a slump at the moment, and I hope things pick up again soon. I want something to rival Blackadder and Red Dwarf!

I have to say I felt Black books was a missed opportunity. Aside from Bill Baileys Jesus moment, and a few others, it wasn't as funny as something with that amount of talented people in should be.

I ranted for about 50,000 character on this subject, here on ATS a couple of months ago. I think that comedy is one of the true measurements of change in a society - it can't really be faked, and it's been present in every culture in human history.

Check out the thread:
Humor In A Society Is The Truest Benchmark Of An Evolved Culture

Originally posted by Ian McLean

...That is, humor arises from an incompletely resolved difference between the expectations and mindset of the individual, and a broader, culturally-relative alternate explanation. A possible cultural change. Humor is the guidepost to new, unexpected avenues of change in a society.

Pay particular attention to the fact that humor requires a shared culture. There are two aspects to this: first, the cultural interpretation of the 'setup', or basis for the joke. This gets the audience on the same page, following along to the joke's script. Then there's the common understanding of the incongruity, the punchline. It reveals a new ways of looking at the subject, that is also understandable beyond the individual.

This process highlights an aspect of the listeners' culture that contains internal cognitive dissonance. Places where the culture claims both 'A' and 'not-A', and needs a jester to point out that the emperor wears no clothes. These very places are the locations where cultural change is occurring, and can occur.

So, what does a perceived decrease in the amount of humor say about a culture? That it's stagnating, in its public aspect. And also that new outlets, new changes, are inevitable. So smile - we have a barometer for hope.




[edit on May 29th 2009 by Ian McLean]

Originally posted by Perturabo
Hehe, I know a bloke from Royston.

I agree tv comedy does seem to have gone downhill. I've never been much of a fan of US comedies (Scrubs being the major exception), but two and a half men and the US office did nothing for me. The UK office was a bit rubbish too.

I think we're in something of a slump at the moment, and I hope things pick up again soon. I want something to rival Blackadder and Red Dwarf!

I have to say I felt Black books was a missed opportunity. Aside from Bill Baileys Jesus moment, and a few others, it wasn't as funny as something with that amount of talented people in should be.

I actually thought the American office was going to be a bit naff, but i watched series three the other day, and it was suprisingly good.

Black books is a kind of come home from the pub comedy methinks, and gets better after watching it a few times (there's a lot of subtle humour aswell as the obvious gags).


Did anybody watch Lab rats? I thought it was appalling...

Originally posted by Perturabo
two and a half men

Funny you should mention that - I thought this clip from cracked.com was great

Google Video Link

hope that embeds right

begger it... Just watch it here at cracked

[edit on 29/5/2009 by Now_Then]

www.youtube.com...

My favourite comedy sketch. and yes i admit it's a 90's comedy.

Sheer gold.

You know, although my previous post contained many great examples, I think I've come to the realization that the OP is..



CORRECT!

Comedic television programs that can actually make me laugh are few and far between.

My Lucky Louie example was stupid because it was cancelled.

Arrested Development - Cancelled

Curb Your Enthusiasm - it's on but since Lucky Louie was cancelled I will not subscribe to the premium channel "package" for just one show when I can rent the seasons.

The REAL Office - Cancelled (not that Steve Carelle crap)

Futurama - I don't know but I gave up when it started sucking.

TOUGH CROWD with Colin Quinn - was perhaps the best comedy ever...

Not only was it cancelled, but Comedy Central will not make a DVD and they will not let any clips on youtube or any other video site. It's truly a disgrace what they did to this show, and it is a small yet significant conspiracy involving political disagreement between Colin Quinn and Comedy Central. Colin and the other creators won't make a stink about it in the hopes that they might get another shot with Comedy Central Of course if you really wanted the episodes and you're computer savy I'm sure you could find a way.

People have mentioned Adult Swim here, which is actually pretty decent, but no one's mentioned their star player...