Perfectly understandable. I wanted to kill him watching Comedy World Cup.
And yes, it is sadly true. To our credit, we knew enough to dump the unfunny Rich Hall on the Brits.
I forgot about Whad’Ya Know? which has been picked up by the local Socialist station after years of being on our National Communist Public Radio outlet.
Although there certainly is a healthy tradition of both highbrow and lowbrow political satire in Britain (mind you, there is in America too), I see virtually no evidence of on HIGNFY (and only faint traces on Mock the Week). Those shows are mostly empty banter. Furthermore most of the other British panel shows have nothing to do with satire or politics at all. The main British comic tradition they tap into is the “low comedy,” sexual double entendre.
The nearest American equivalent of HIGNFY (actually a ripoff of BBC radio’s The News Quiz, of which HIGNFY is the TV version) is Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me on US public radio. In my opinion it is a lot smarter and funnier than either of the British shows (although its audience share is miniscule by comparison).
:eek:Have you ever heard an American conservative, or even a fairly apolitical but slightly conservative-leaning American, talk about their government? About half of America apparently believes that their government is at war with them, and will only vote for candidates who claim (usually falsely) to be political outsiders with no experience in government, and who promise to do their utmost to reduce the government’s power and its influence over their constituents lives. A large proportion of Americans hate and fear their government (even when teh party they voted for is in power), unlike the British, who only hate the party in power (or perhaps the opposition party, if they are very strong supporters of the party in power).
You will find plenty of evidence of this if you ever venture into the Great Debates or Elections sections even of this (by American standards) very liberal (which, in America, means, roughly, “welfare statist”) message board.
Look at any tabloid newspaper or magazine rack in Britain. There is plenty of celebrity worship here too. Having lived for a long time in both Britain and America I would be hard put to say that celebrity worship is more pervasive or fawning in America than in Britain. (Though at least America’ newspapers are not saturated in it the way that British tabloids are.) If there is a difference, it is that Britain does not have enough decent celebrities of its own, and has to fawn over American ones too!
This part is largely true, but you really have not explained why it is so.
[Incidentally, in my view the American political landscape might well be vastly improved if major American politicians were subjected to regular, tough and trenchant broadcast interviews the way that major British politicians routinely are. Robin Day, who instituted this tradition on British TV, and Jeremy Paxman, his successor, have done a great service to British democracy. They have no American counterparts. Unlike political satire, the tradition of the tough public political interview is something America does lack, and I do not know why. However, this is getting us way off topic.]
Oh good grief! :rolleyes:
I thought Ashley Pomeroy and Smeghead were trying to woosh us. I still think** Smeghead** is.
Sometimes I wonder if it has to do with the fact that you guys still listen to shows on the radio. A panel show is easy to do in both radio and TV formats, unlike a lot of other shows. Even our late night talk shows use a lot of visual gags–even The Late Late Show, which is probably the most British (as the host has actual conversations rather than just allowing promotions).
BigT-The fact he’s a Scot might have someting to do with that.
[quote=“GuanoLad, post:7, topic:642730”]
Presumably you’ve heard I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue. If not, you have 40 years of episodes ahead of you.[/QUOTEI acquired by alternative means a bunch from the '80s and listened during my commute. My, that was dreadful! Not because it was topical in Thatcher’s Britain–I’m familiar enough to get most of those jokes–but because the jokes were old, tired, and wouldn’t have been funny except to people’s grandmums. As the cast is much the same, I assume it is now aimed at those same great-grandmums, though I might track down one hosted by Rob Brydon because I like him.
I grew up with that gentle naughty humour, so I giggle at it a lot. Modern comedy for me is just a bit too crude and on-the-nose. Though perhaps that means I am now officially old.
When I first moved to London I was shocked at the language and subject matter on some of these shows…not in a prudish way but in a “wow they get away with that here?” kind of way. I’ve gradually become hooked on these shows. They have lost their bite over the years but I still find them amusing. When I was a teenager I used to fall asleep to Johnny Carson. Now I fall asleep to Mock the Week reruns on Dave.
I’ve gallantly soldiered on with my pirated ISIHAC and found some that were fairly easy to listen to (request for future pirates: don’t record programs for personal posterity with a portable cassette player and a microphone held up to the speaker). I was wishing today that I was more familiar with the geography of London I so, too, could play “Mornington Crescent,” a game that could be localized for commuters anywhere. I was saddened when I found out that it is intentionally nonsensical and that it is not a game one team trying to get to Mornington Crescent while the other team, in its turn, giving the first a bum steer.
My word! There are so very many of them!