I's say it was more cute than funny, but that cat apparently walking on water was amazing.

Theres bad and good in both American and British comedy really. I think if you look hard enough you realise theres not THAT much difference.

A very easy generalisation to make would be that American TV comedy is over blown, over the top, over enthusiastic **** made more in the "typical" sitcom environment whereas British comedy is much more dry, cynical, wittier and pushes more boundaries instead of simply churning the same **** out over and over again.

There are certainly examples to be given to support such a therory. Will and Grace, Hope and Faith, Everybody Loves Raymond etc on the American side of the fence and the likes of Spaced, Black Books, Green Wing, Mighty Boosh on the British side of the fence. However I think it is just a generalisation and not really accurate.

The Brits seem to have an ability to make a comedy where absolutely nothing happens and more often than not relies on the strength of the script. The Royle Family, Early Doors, The Office etc spring to mind but really Seinfeld did that years earlier in the States with their earlier two or three seasons. Seinfeld would become more of a typical sitcom, bigger storylines, crazier ideas and more of a focus on physical comedy but the earlier shows were very much reliant on the strength of the scripts and were all about conversation.

The likes of Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, Scrubs etc all include a lot of what I used to describe as "Unamerican" humour, by that I meant they didnt follow the same formula as the likes of Cheers, Friends, Frasier and more conventional US sitcoms but I guess I cant really say that anymore as I dont think American humour is what it used to be.

I know a lot of people who view American comedy and American TV as the lowest form of comedy. They are mainly British because thats what British people do when it comes to Americans. I dont think there can be a clear winner though when America produces some of the God awful stuff I mentioned before and the Brits are responsible for such atrocities as The Mighty Boosh, The Thin Blue Line, My Family, The IT Crowd, 2 Pints of Lager and A Packet of Crisps and so many others I could mention.

Curb Your Enthusiasm is the nearest thing to British comedy the Americans have produced.
I don't dislike American humour, but from what I've seen, I have to say that Curb Your Enthusiasm is brilliant comedy and it's in a class of it's own.

I love it too. And I would have to agree that it isnt a million miles away from a lot of British humour. It takes the Basil Fawlty kind of character and runs with it. It doesnt include any canned laughter nor is it fimed infront of a live audience (although I realise these arent strictly American practices) and it has a very British feel to it. The earlier Seinfeld scripts that Larry David was penning were quite similar in some ways but in a much more American, traditional sitcom setting. For example there is one episode where the three main characters (Michael Richards wasnt in the episode) wait in a restaurant for a table in real time and talk to one another. Not too dis-similar to what you see in The Royle Family.

Aw man. It says I cant view that video in my country. I was quite intrigued as to the example you used to explain the brilliance of Black Books.

I like your analysis and I agree about Brits having the ability to make comedies in which nothing really happens. I'd say those shows rely also on the general mood/atmosphere they create as well as the scripts. Awkwardness is a common one in Britcoms; e.g. Peep Show, I'm Alan Partridge and anything with Ricky Gervais... the sheer awkwardness is absolutely palpable.

I prefer British comedy myself but I like some American shows too. I like the idea that a show can be humorous not just because of its jokes but because its overall approach is funny and the situations are ridiculous... as opposed to watching a show in which you're periodically poked in the ribs with a stick when you're supposed to laugh... as if the redundant plots, the acting and everything else are just glue for the punchlines.

Having said that, I do like the IT Crowd but as a software developer I'm probably a bit biased here. :D

:love:

Hehe I like the miming scene at 1:30 in this vid.

link since it won't let me embed it

Clerks (the cartoon) was American therefore I declare America the winner.

I'm surprised that you include Frasier in the list of conventional American humor since it's so clearly modeled on British farce. If anything I'd say it's far less American in style than a show like Seinfeld which had a distinctly New York sensibility to it.

Maybe I didnt word it too well really but I mentioned Frasier simply as an example of a more traditional American sitcom environment rather than the likes of Scrubs and Arrested Development. In that I mean the production, the sets, the filming etc.

A lot of American shows are really very idealistic and full of American pride and glorification to a rather sickening degree. Frasier doesnt really seem to include a lot of that and is certainy very easily accessible to a British audience used to a very dry wit in their comedy.

I've seen a couple of episodes of the IT crowd I enjoyed but it doesnt do much for me at all. Maybe I'd have to give it more of a try. I see The Big Bang Theory as a very similar American counterpart in many ways and although I think The Big Bang Theory is far from a great show, and at times I find it grating on me in the same way the IT Crowd does I don't mind it too much even though when I first saw it advertised it looked dreadful.

I hinted at mood and atmosphere in my post yet in a way I overlooked it. You are certainly correct. Steve Coogan mastered it as Alan Partridge as did Gervais in The Office. At times The Office really was not funny at all on paper, the scripts probably presented something that resembled the dullest half hour of television you could imagine but it was the acting and even the silences that made it funny in a way that you could barely even watch it it was so cringeworthy. Going back to the comments already made about Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David is absolute master at this too. Its one of the main reasons that show does have a genuinely "British" feel to it and probably why it was compared to Gervais' Extra's so much.

Hmm... American VS. British comedy?
There are definitely more American sitcoms that I watch, but... Quality > Quantity...
And usually the British ones are funnier.
Not always though.
Damn you! got me into a confusing argument with myself ;( *shakes fist*

Ah. I understand what you mean now. Although Seinfeld was definitely filmed in a similar way to some of the other shows you mentioned, on an obvious set, in front of live audience, etc. But I agree that there has been a huge shift in American comedies in recent years away from shooting on an obvious soundstage like they used to.

Can you give some examples? I can see the idealistic thing in some of the 80s family sitcoms like The Cosby Show, Family Ties, etc. but I can't think of anything with "American pride" as any kind of component unless I go back to the 50s or 60s (Dragnet, though not a sitcom, is the first show that springs to mind).

Janszoon, most American TV shows are about goody-goody-virgin-until-they're-married-and-boys-who-respect-it people.
:P
It's pretty silly and naive, but yeah.

Examples?

Most TV shows that aren't sitcoms.
I don't watch any of those *because* they are so naive, so no - can't give you an exact example.
But my sister always watches it, so... =\

It's seems to me right now most American shows that aren't sitcoms are crime shows like CSI, Law & Order, Criminal Minds, Bones, etc. or are reality shows. Honestly, I can't think of a single example that resembles what you are describing.

Nvm then, I might be wrong.
But from what I remember, a few years ago - you couldn't open the TV without watching one of these shows.

Can you give me the name of one? Like I said, I can't think of a single show that matches your description.

Full House, for example.
Oh - duh - even Beverly Hills was kinda naive.
(Yeah, not sexless, but still naive.)

Again I think maybe I'm needing to choose my wording a little more carefully. What I was intending is certainly best shown in some older shows and usually centre around family life or friendships and in the bigger iconic cities such as NYC. Where the shows can revolve around themes such as happy family life and seem, at least to me as a foreigner to portray places such as NYC and America proudly as the greatest places in the world. They certainly would never or rarely deal with some of the cultural issues such as war and gun crime etc and maybe even portray forgeigners in a very stereoptypical manner. Friends did this for a start. Im not saying its a problem or anything, its sitcom after all. I think the Brits appear to be a little more prepared to show the grittier sides of their culture. A lot of British sitcoms show life in this country from the more working class and poorer point of view and I can think of quite a few that deal with some of the more negative aspects of the culture such as football hooliganism which seems a common one. Whichever way you look at it a lot of British comedy is set in environments that are probably far from attractive and I dont see this happening much over there.

Seinfeld was of course set out in a very traditional manner for a sitcom. It was hugely different though on the basis of the content and especially the scripts. Maybe not so much as the show progressed but certainly in the beginning.

Full House was a sitcom. You said you weren't talking about sitcoms. I do agree that it sucked though. And even though I can't stand Beverly Hills 90210, I'd say it's pretty much the opposite of "goody-goody-virgin-until-they're-married-and-boys-who-respect-it people". So I'm still not sure what you're talking about when you refer to non-sitcoms that are about goody-goody people.

This is exactly what I was thinking. I had a feeling they were referring to the likes of Dawsons Creek and One Tree Hill but if so I would have to say what they were thinking and what they were posting were not exactly agreeing with one another.

Meh, doesn't matter.
You're right about Full House being a sitcom...
I'd say Neighbours, but like... It's Australian.
Come to think of it, it's not American TV shows that I despise, it's Aussie ones. ;P
(It's lack of sleep that's causing me to write like a moron, I'm not actually that dense.)

This thread is about comedy. Please stay on topic or open a new thread.

I can see what you're saying but I also think you're focusing on the 80s and early 90s which, honestly, is probably the worst era in American TV. During the 70s I think it was fairly common to find American sitcoms that dealt with the grittier sides of the culture, Good Times, M*A*S*H and Taxi come to mind as examples. Heck even in the wasteland of 80s and early 90s American shows you can still find shows like Roseanne and Married With Children which, while certainly not the greatest shows by any means, did have a heavy focus on the working class.

There are always going to be exceptions. Really my views are nothing but a very broad generalisation when you consider there are always exceptions, whatever the opinion. Whenever you have a trend you also have those working against it.

I rarely watch TV, but America had George Carlin, so we win. :D

I rarely watch TV but we had Tony Hancock, Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, Monty Python and Peter Sellers. :D

well I think im going to be rather biased as I am from the UK, but generally I think that there is a definate diference in humour betweek UK an American, how thats not to say that American comedy is bad at all most of my favourite shows are American but not always for the comedy factor.

Two of my favourite programmes are never mind the buzz****s and have i got news for you.

If you havnt you should check out Simon Amstell and Russell Howard for stand up. The only problem being that a lot of the humour does relate to being british.. but give them a go? you might like them?

Same for a lot of British stand up comedians. Probably limits their appeal outside of the UK.

I'm also probably biased because of the fact that I'm British

But I still have to say that British Comedy is better

Especially British Stand-up comedians
I mean I can't think of one American Stand-up comedian that can out do:
Bill Bailey
Billy Connolly
Michael McIntyre

(Well those are my three favourites anyway)

In fact the only American Stand-up comedian that I like actually lives in England, not America... that would be Rich Hall

Plus American comedy shows aren't nearly as good as Britain's are. They don't have:

Nevermind the Buzz****s
QI
Mock The Week
Have I Got News For You
Live At The Apollo
8 out of 10 Cats

Hmm, well a lot of my favourite stand up comedy is British too but do you know if the Americans have any stand up/improv/panel shows similar to the ones you mentioned?

Well I can never understand American TV anyway

The only popular things I can think of from American seem to be things like chat shows and interview shows, like The Jay Leno Show and Late Night with David Letterman
Or sitcoms designed to be funny... such as Friends, Seinfield, The Cosby Show
(Believe my knowledge of American TV is very poor)

There are very few American Sitcoms that I'll watch... I quite enjoy The Big Bang Theory. I enjoy pretty much anything that Seth MacFarlane has a part in.... that man is amazing.

8 out of 10 Cats doesn't deserve to be listed with those shows.

To be honest I've haven't actually watched it in ages
I just remember finding it somewhat funny the last time I was watching it


I was watching Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong and that made me laugh a lot

Though I don't know if that was because of Alan Carr himself..... or because I was watching the episode with John Barrowman on it.........:p:

I dont know if there are any similar shows in America to the ones in your list but I would imagine there would be. They may even be better.

You should maybe look into American sitcom a little more if you like The Big Bang Theory. Ive been watching that too but its not even close to approaching the better American sitcom's.

Oh and to Urbans comment - It's not that bad but does Have I Got News For You even really rank with QI and the likes?

In it's heyday it did.

If you think American comedy sucks, give Arrested Development a try. Brilliantly scripted television show, much in the same vein as Seinfeld (sans laugh track) or Curb Your Enthusiasm. The character development is fantastic.

One of my favorite characters, Tobias Funke:

Little Britain USA.
Awww, good show.

Have you ever seen Alan Carr's stand up? I shall re-enact it for you just incase you haven't:

Curtian goes up.....

Alan minces around on stage in an over enthusiastic camp manner in the style of Graham Norton and countless others. He may as well have the fact hes *** written on his forehead and that would save the entire first half hour of his act.

Alan will now undoubtedly talk about his father. "Im ***, therefore a disappointment." "My father hates me." etc etc.

Probably something to do with his dad wanting him to play football but he just loved to dance.

Curtain goes down. The end.

Come to think of it, it's a good job he's *** or he'd have no material.

Arrested Development is certainly one of the examples I would use of great American comedy. Great stuff.

And I can't even use the word g a y on this board?