Janszoon

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

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

Mojo

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.

right-track

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.

Mojo

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.

Seltzer

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.

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sleepy jack

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Seltzer

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

link since it won't let me embed it

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The Unfan

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

Janszoon

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.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

Mojo

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.