Alan Partridge was a creation of pure genius. I think I still prefer Knowng Me... to I'm Alan Partridge. I also like Rob Brydon but he rarely seems to find a vehicle as good as Human Remains.
Catherine Tate is like nails down a blackboard to me.
I'm beginning to think i'm in a minority of one because over the last few years some comedies and comedians have been around that everyone finds hysterical,everyone but me.I've honestly given this list a try but i just don't get it!
I've never been one to run with the herd but i can't be the only one not to get it,can i?
THE OFFICE
ROB BRYDON
ALAN PARTRIDGE
CATHERINE TATE
THE MIGHTY BOOSH
LITTLE BRITAIN
Come on,own up to it,you think they're rubbish too!I'm never wrong but sometimes i'm not right.![]()
Alan Partridge was a creation of pure genius. I think I still prefer Knowng Me... to I'm Alan Partridge. I also like Rob Brydon but he rarely seems to find a vehicle as good as Human Remains.
Catherine Tate is like nails down a blackboard to me.
The Office was funny. Alan Partridge is a superb creation and all his incarnations were laugh out loud funny.
The rest I find about as funny a wet afternoon in Sudbury.
Comedy is almost always an individual's taste and I thought my taste was pretty Catholic until I turned on the tv late the other night and caught an episode of PULLING.
Seemed promising at first if a bit generic. Most sitcoms fall into four categories: workplace, family, relationships and spoofs. This was - or appeared to be - a relationship comedy; feisty young women saying lots of outspoken things about sex (see ACCORDING TO BEX, FOUR PINTS OF LAGER, LOVE SOUP etc etc). I was even thinking about setting the machine to record it next time.
Then there was a plot strand where one character adopts a stray cat which seems to be bleeding anally. She takes it to the vet and discovers it has cancer. Is horrified at the price of an operation. Decides to have it put down. Is horrified at the charge for this too. Instead, holds it down while her friend bashes its head in with a brick.
Am I missing something here? Is the audience for this "hilarious" piece of business some section of the young and trendy demographic that mutated without me noticing until they have share the same taste in humour as the Waffen SS?
Actually I have a problem anyway with cats being used as comedy objects - booted across the room with a comedy sound effect etc - but for me this sunk to a new low. For the first time, I feel genuinely reactionary about comedy topics and I can't say I regret it either.
I don't watch any of the so-called comedy shows around today, so I haven't seen this episode. However, if this is what passes for comedy now, I'm glad I'm no longer involved in it!
Pam
I find it hard to believe that there aren't more fans of The Mighty Boosh. But as sippog said, comedy is a very individual thing. You can't expect everyone to laugh at the same things. Maybe it helps if you've been following the Boosh for a while, like since it was on the radio.
I generally like Rob Brydon. I thought that Marion & Geoff and The Keith Barret Show were both very clever and very funny. He's also very good in Gavin & Stacey. But his Anually Retentive didn't even make me smile.
The Catherine Tate Show has it's funny moments, as does Little Britain, but like any sketch comedy there are different parts that appeal to different people. When they're good they're very very good
Alan Partridge is a brilliant comedy creation. I loved Knowing Me, Knowing You and I'm Alan Partridge. I also really like Saxondale but Paul (& Pauline) Calf do nothing for me.
But I'll agree with you about The Office, and I'll add Extras or anything else Gervais does to the totally unfunny list.
Steve
name='batman']The Office was funny.
The rest I find about as funny a wet afternoon in Sudbury.
........ which would be the ideal time and place to watch it (). Most of my friends think I must have a missing synapse because it leaves me cold. But then I enjoy 'Dallas' so I'm a fine one to talk
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Rob Brydon was excellent in a straight role as Stanislav Freron, the tormentor of Napoleon Bonaparte in Heroes and Villains: Napoleon. I've not actually seen him in anything comic.
And from the list provided by knobbykins, i can't see any comedians mentioned. Alan Davies has been enjoyable in his acting roles, such as Jonathan Creek, The Brief and Roman Road. I also found him amusing as the canine hero of the radio show About a Dog, and he's good in QI.
The only programmes that I've watched anything on BBC 3 have been the Doctor Who Confidential programmes. The so-called comedy shows just aren't funny. And the same goes for the Channel 4 shows - they're just crude and crass. Although at least Crass had a sense of outrage in their heyday in the early 1980s (it's an old punk thing, from the days when my brother used to live in squats)!
Nick
If you haven't watched the comedies on BBC3, how do you know they aren't funny?Gavin and Stacey is terrific! And it has very little crudeness. Rob Bryden is great in it.
The trouble with sketch shows is you often have to watch several episodes to get the point (even the Fast Show took a while to get going). So if you just watch the first 15 minutes of episode one and then give up, you can miss a real gem. Of recent sketch shows, I thought Armstrong and Miller's last series was superb but you do need to see them a few times to recognise to characters and catchphrases.
name='Nick Dando']Rob Brydon was excellent in a straight role as Stanislav Freron, the tormentor of Napoleon Bonaparte in Heroes and Villains: Napoleon. I've not actually seen him in anything comic.
And from the list provided by knobbykins, i can't see any comedians mentioned. Alan Davies has been enjoyable in his acting roles, such as Jonathan Creek, The Brief and Roman Road. I also found him amusing as the canine hero of the radio show About a Dog, and he's good in QI.
Nick
I was lumping everyone in together;comedians,comedy writers,comedy actors,etc.However you want to describe them...they still aren't funny.
I agree with you about Brydon's straight role,he was excellent,best thing in it!
Also,i love QI but even there he seemed very measured and always looking at the camera at the punchline.But comedy's very subjective and i'm glad we don't all agree!
...even though most of you are wrong...![]()
name='CaptainWaggett']If you haven't watched the comedies on BBC3, how do you know they aren't funny?Gavin and Stacey is terrific! And it has very little crudeness. Rob Bryden is great in it.
As i've said,i've given these people/shows a good chance already and i'm not going out of my way to be repeatedly disappointed by them just on the off chance of a snigger in episode 4 of season 89!I don't watch a lot of tv anyway i prefer BRIT MOVIES!
At the risk of annoying a few more of you i'll add THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMAN...![]()
I have to say the old ones were the best some of the so called comedians around today they are just not funny but as you say people now a days find them funny, the office for me was pure rubbish how anyone can sit through such rubbish is just mind boogling.![]()
name='Carmel']I have to say the old ones were the best some of the so called comedians around today they are just not funny but as you say people now a days find them funny, the office for me was pure rubbish how anyone can sit through such rubbish is just mind boogling.![]()
AT LAST,one sane voice among many!!
...but boogling sounds fun!![]()
I quickly tired of Ms Tate and Little Britain - catchphrase comedy (rather cleverly parodied in Extras) does little for me after the inital novelty wear off.
But I do find these totally irresistable and never tire of seeing them:
League of Gentlemen (with special mention to the Christmas Special)
Human Remains
Nighty Night (Series One far superior to two)
name='knobbykins']AT LAST,one sane voice among many!!
There have lots of sane voices on this thread!
Most of the people who have posted have listed their likes and dislikes from your list and it would be a dull old world if we all liked the same.
I think that most 'modern' comedy is not for me, I like mainly old stuff. I prefer the writing and performances of such shows as Hancock, Steptoe, Dad's Army, Porridge et al.
Most 'modern' comedy shows are IMHO poorly written and performed and are about as much fun as having a pin stuck in your eye.
I enjoyed The Office but I think that and the 1st series of Extras are the only decent things Gervais has done. I like Coogan in Partridge and Saxondale but the rest of his output is mediocre at best. The rest of your list I agree with.
You see, sanity in action.![]()
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name='batman']You see, sanity in action.![]()
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It'll never catch on![]()
name='Straff']It'll never catch on![]()
Thank God for that ..... I'd be out of a job!![]()
name='knobbykins']I'm beginning to think i'm in a minority of one because over the last few years some comedies and comedians have been around that everyone finds hysterical,everyone but me.I've honestly given this list a try but i just don't get it!
I've never been one to run with the herd but i can't be the only one not to get it,can i?
THE OFFICE
ROB BRYDON
ALAN PARTRIDGE
CATHERINE TATE
THE MIGHTY BOOSH
LITTLE BRITAIN
Come on,own up to it,you think they're rubbish too!I'm never wrong but sometimes i'm not right.![]()
No - you are not alone!
Ta Ta
Marky B
name='knobbykins']I'm beginning to think i'm in a minority of one because over the last few years some comedies and comedians have been around that everyone finds hysterical,everyone but me.I've honestly given this list a try but i just don't get it!
I've never been one to run with the herd but i can't be the only one not to get it,can i?
THE OFFICE
ROB BRYDON
ALAN PARTRIDGE
CATHERINE TATE
THE MIGHTY BOOSH
LITTLE BRITAIN
Come on,own up to it,you think they're rubbish too!I'm never wrong but sometimes i'm not right.![]()
I am in agreement with the exception of The Office, but I must qualify that by saying that first time round it was funny! Unlike normal sitcoms like Dad's Army, Steptoe and Son, The Likely Lads and other classic favourites it is not something that you can watch over and over again. The cringeworthy factor only works once, after that it becomes tedious.
Catherine Tate to me is just not funny, Alan Partridge was dated even in the early 90s and I just do not understand why anyone thinks that Rob Brydon should wear a comedy hat. In fact much of this newish style of snide comedy was nicked from The Office, and Little Britain seems to have taken a lot of its ideas from The League of Gentlemen comedy series !
Maybe her humour doesn't appeal to me,but I find Catherine Tate quite sexy - not her characters,just Ms Tate herself!
Ta Ta
Marky B![]()