09-03-2006, 12:05 AM
My point is that it's not all crossdressing. A list on themes can be found on Wikipedia's British Humour page. Further, though we do go after the great belly laughs, we also chase chuckles and titilate titters. We don't need to make people laugh out loud, we just need them to enjoy themselves. I'll bet you were similing internally for most of it, right?
We've only had channel Five for a little while, and Channel Four popped up in the '80s. It's only been this year that Digital Television has expanded our veiwership with an entire collection of new channels. Not so many people had satilite and cable as in the US: only a fraction of population has such a luxury. In America, however, there are so many channels that you don't take a look at the TV guide one evening and see if there's any good telly on. There are so many channels, it would take to long. So people flip through channels, seeking to get into something in ten seconds or less. Therefore, American comedy will make a joke once every thirty seconds, or at least run a laughter track, in order to catch the veiwer's attention. If you didn't have a laughter track, people wouldn't realise it was a comedy they're looking at, and go to the next channel.
However, because British television has only had five terrestrial channels, the last of which came in last decade, we don't have a channel-flipping culture. It's "Oh, something good's on BBC 2. Put it on for us, there's a good lad."
There's a programme I've seen on YouTube, originally aired on the freeveiw channel BBC 4, called "Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe". There was an American special, where he went to the states and looked at American telly, and made Americans look at ours. There first part of this episode can be found here. However, that's mostly an introduction to American telly for Britons. Half way through there's a thing on censorship from someone who does something called "The Daily Show", and then it gets onto British exports to the US. Americans would be better off to start on the second part here, where halfway through the focus group is unleashed on Bullseye, a gameshow where people play darts for prizes. They move onto anagram game Countdown, where a selection of letters and put up on a board and then make words out of it. It's for old ladies, really. What American elderly get to watch, I have no idea. You'll know what Springwatch is all about. The full comedium of parts can be found here.
That was Stephen Fry in his early days at the Cambridge Footlights Revue. He's become a bit of a national treasure because he's such a loveable quaint intellectual. Arse bandit?
We've only had channel Five for a little while, and Channel Four popped up in the '80s. It's only been this year that Digital Television has expanded our veiwership with an entire collection of new channels. Not so many people had satilite and cable as in the US: only a fraction of population has such a luxury. In America, however, there are so many channels that you don't take a look at the TV guide one evening and see if there's any good telly on. There are so many channels, it would take to long. So people flip through channels, seeking to get into something in ten seconds or less. Therefore, American comedy will make a joke once every thirty seconds, or at least run a laughter track, in order to catch the veiwer's attention. If you didn't have a laughter track, people wouldn't realise it was a comedy they're looking at, and go to the next channel.
However, because British television has only had five terrestrial channels, the last of which came in last decade, we don't have a channel-flipping culture. It's "Oh, something good's on BBC 2. Put it on for us, there's a good lad."
There's a programme I've seen on YouTube, originally aired on the freeveiw channel BBC 4, called "Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe". There was an American special, where he went to the states and looked at American telly, and made Americans look at ours. There first part of this episode can be found here. However, that's mostly an introduction to American telly for Britons. Half way through there's a thing on censorship from someone who does something called "The Daily Show", and then it gets onto British exports to the US. Americans would be better off to start on the second part here, where halfway through the focus group is unleashed on Bullseye, a gameshow where people play darts for prizes. They move onto anagram game Countdown, where a selection of letters and put up on a board and then make words out of it. It's for old ladies, really. What American elderly get to watch, I have no idea. You'll know what Springwatch is all about. The full comedium of parts can be found here.
rorancrystalwolf Wrote:I thought that was amusingI wouldn't mind watching a whole show of his but he wasnt extemely good ( IMO ) However I need to see more of his stuff.
That was Stephen Fry in his early days at the Cambridge Footlights Revue. He's become a bit of a national treasure because he's such a loveable quaint intellectual. Arse bandit?