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US comedy vs UK comedy

8 years ago
So, in watching US versions of UK TV shows like the Office and Inbetweeners, it seems you yanks have no idea how to handle them. Both shows become hugely less nuanced with their characters becoming bigger stereotypes of what they once were, with all nuance sucked out of it. Also, the American versions of things are much happier. David Brent was always a sad, pathetic man, while Michael Scott was a goofy but lovable boss. There's a faint scent of permanent optimism with US TV Shows. There are exceptions, of course, but it just seems like US humor is just... worse.

So, what do you (mostly) Yanks think? Do you share my hatred, or does your (inferior) cultural background make you prefer it?

US comedy vs UK comedy

8 years ago

Oh, no, it does suck. I don't watch TV for a reason. Our "Culture" has just been domineered by corporations who always struggle to avoid sending messages and stepping on toes. Every artform has to be tried and comfortable, or nobody will invest in it. Hence, the more dramatic comedies adapted from elsewhere are full of saccharine bullshit to make sure they'll appeal to the masses. Native shows get a little more leeway, but the problems remain the same.

It's like the reverse scenario with mystery stories. You've got all your classes and socialities working together at a dinner party, the murder is always due to a moral failure on the part of the murderer or the murderee, and everything's relatively cheerful. The body is almost considered an annoying disruption.

In archetypal American Mystery stories, everything sucks, and everyone sucks, and the world sucks, and no one is truly in the right. The detective is forced to mingle with the top and bottom of society and know that everyone's equally shit. There's only dark city streets and dogged persistance ahead.

US comedy vs UK comedy

8 years ago

That's interesting. I never even heard of any of those shows besides Hell's Kitchen, and I just assumed that it was based out of the UK, not that it was some sort of American knock off. Oh, and there is also Undercover Boss. Was nice for a little, but it eventually got repetitive and boring. Why the hell are these people spilling their guts out to some random guy they just met? Also, I highly doubt that none of those people weren't aware that they were on Undercover Boss (aside from the ones that obviously stated that they know something is up).

US comedy vs UK comedy

8 years ago

I was really hoping they'd make an American Monty Python. It'd just be really funny to see a bunch of washed up American Comedians trying to be surreal and nonsensical making fun of pop culture and shit, doing all the stuff that they do, except somehow missing the poin-... Oh, wait, we do have that, it's Adult Swim.

Wikipedia, you're missing Adult Swim!

US comedy vs UK comedy

8 years ago

The problem with most shows in the US is that they don't know when to end. The UK office lasted 12 episodes while the US office lasted 201. The first few seasons of the US office had a bleak tone (although UK office was always bleaker) but over time it became much more upbeat and of course the writers  ran out of ideas long before the series finale. 

US comedy vs UK comedy

8 years ago

I caught the end of some English show recently, I don’t know what it was called, but it had Gandalf and Claudius playing an old gay couple and Ramsay Bolton was their upstairs neighbor in it.