David Brent

It was my misfortune to catch the first episode over here of the Brit comedy HARDWARE.
It sounded promising - starring Martin Freeman, written by the writer of Men Behaving Badly.......but boy what a shocker!
Full of canned laughter, not a funny moment in sight and with such an awful script it was a total embarassement to watch.
How does a series so bad as this ever get made?
If this is the future of British comedy then I do not want anything to do with it.
A total lemon.
Dave.

Fellwanderer

I'll add the aural detritus to the visual. Why do programme makers need to insult the intelligence of their audience to the extent that pointers to the so-called funny bits are inserted. Probably, to make up for the complete lack of anything funny.

Glad I missed it from your account, David.

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arty-dave

I've never even heard of it

Fellwanderer

Neither had I - had to look it up on IMDb.

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Harbottle

I have to admit to watching a few of these. Rather as in years gone by it sometimes takes at least one series before a comedy series takes off..... I don't think it's going to happen with this one though.

samkydd

I think the programme maker was trying to "cash-in" on the popularity of Martin Freeman who had a good part in The Office. Unfortunately Martin is just an actor and not a miracle worker!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

A Pemberton

While I agree MBB and Hardware are complete rubbish would you not agree that the knob gag (sorry admin for language it wasnt me who started it is the extension of british comedy since the 60s film and television has been the bodily part /function double entendre and therefore is an extention of the mainstay of british comedy.
( so,is it knob gag extension or extension of knob gag?)

By the way the knob gag is miles better than the so called sophistication/smart alec comedy of americans

sanndevil

Yes, it was complete and utter khazi, but there is some good news - no second series was commissioned! Same story with Frank Skinner's sitcom thank god.

Fellwanderer

That's where The Comedy Playhouse was so good - gave the chance for one-offs that just might develop.

Some series seemed to be complete dross but I'm sure there was one that resulted in 3-4 real nuggets - though memory fails me and I'd probably have to check on IMDb.

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samkydd

Comedy Playhouse brought us Steptoe and Son in an episode called The Offer. Later on we had other one-offs like Prisoner and Escort which became Porridge, and I believe I'm right in saying that Til Death Us Do Part and Open All Hours were also originally one-offs.

When you write a 30 minute one off it takes a lot of skill to introduce the plot and characters quickly, and make the characters endearing to the audience. If it's then later on made into a series the same benchmark standard should be applied throughout, and that's probably why some we consider "classics" stand head and shoulders above the "also rans"!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Marky B

Anything with Ken Morley in deserves an instant miss - he has just carried on with the Reg Holdsworth role in anything he turns up in.
Ta Ta
Marky B

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

Jack Gurney

Well, I haven't seen HARDWARE, so I can't comment, but I loved at least three things that Simon Nye wrote- IS IT LEGAL, BEAST and yes, MEN BEHAVING BADLY. Anyone who thinks that programme was just about nob gags for lads is just missing the point.

However, I do wonder these days about the way in which the term 'canned laughter' is used. To me, canned laughter was the kind of stuff you used to hear on THE FLINTSTONES- obviously not real, as one could hear the end cut off far too quickly each time. The real laughter generated by a studio audience will vary, depending on (a) how many times they've had to see it filmed before the take was wrapped and ([img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif[/img] how funny it was in the first place. And there are different types of laughs- surprised laughs, shocked laughs, bad taste laughs, and my peronal favourite, where realisation slowly creeps up on the audience as they become aware of something the main protagonist isn't. A classic example would be where Rodney is being watched by Del Boy as he poses in the mirror at his girlfriend's place in the ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES episode 'Happy Returns'.

As we become aware of Del's presence in the mirror (signified by cigar smoke), even though we knew he was in the flat before Rodney arrived, our laughter creeps up upon us. Then when Rodney turns round to face him and is greeted by "You little plonk-aaaaah" it erupts. That still works in a good comedy, and is still preferable in my mind to programmes like THE OFFICE, which I never found funny in the slightest. On the other hand, if the programme's shit to start with, which HARDWARE may be, then it won't matter if there's a laugh track or not. But to call all laughter 'canned' is a misnomer- anyone who's ever been to see anything filmed will tell you that. And most of the best comedies ever, from THE LIKELY LADS and STEPTOE to SHELLEY and RISING DAMP, all had it.

"Whatever happened to Fay Wray?"

samkydd

I know someone who went to see Home to Roost being filmed and the laughter is genuine, even on the outside location filming it is played to the same studio audience as the live studio filming.

The worst example I can remember of actual canned laughter was when MASH was sold to some satellite company, and having never had a laughter track in the series at all, they went ahead and put a canned laughter track on it, which as far as I know will stay on it forever on video, DVD, and televison broadcasts! This act of vandalism has effectively ruined what was once considered a ground breaking comedy series in its day!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Fellwanderer

Definitely. I used to think MASH was great but when that canned laughter was introduced it totally spoiled it for me.

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cal. burton

Try watching two and a half men. Much better than anything british since OFAH