Comedy

[pomico]

Black Books is awesome, I have them all on DVD. Actually I had them all on DVD, disc 3 broke, so I bought them all again :P (It was part of a box-set and I'm obsessive compulsive over the completeness of box sets)

I love IT Crowd as well, and Blackadder, particularly seasons 3 and 4.

 

As for stand-up I've seen Dylan Moran live, he was quite good, and yes Michael McIntyre is great! I'd love to see Bill Bailey, I've seen his stand-up on DVD and it's brilliant.

 

I like a lot of panel shows too - Would I Lie To You, Mock the Week and QI are some of my favourites, I imagine there are some on youtube if you're interested. I think the "Scenes we'd like to see" game on Mock the Week is the best bit.

 

Cartoon-wise, I've never been able to stand Spongebob. I remember when I was young I watched Keenan and Kel all the time! Although now I've lost all respect for Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network... The most recent things I've watched on those are Fairly Odd Parents and Courage the Cowardly Dog. I think it's all gone a bit rubbish now really :/

 

Finally, American sitcoms: I have all of Friends on DVD, that still makes me giggle. Also I've been watching How I Met Your Mother and I think some of the episodes are great. I'm sick of Scrubs though. It's gone on far too long, they should have finished it after season 4 or 5. I've seen a few other sitcoms but don't really find them funny :/

 

So to summarise: Yes, comedy is still funny as long as it's original. Stand-up will always be original, as will panel shows as they involve the comedians themselves. Scripted comedy, however, isn't so great any more, unless it's written by comedians, e.g. Black Books has a lot of input from Dylan Moran. Cartoons and sitcoms have gotten a bit rubbish though.

[karmacow]

I love Courage the Cowardly Dog :D Even at the age of 29 I still find it funny. But I don't really think that cartoons could be considered comedy to be honest.

I remember really enjoying Black Books - do they still make new episodes?

[CAV of Gang Green]

I love Courage the Cowardly Dog :D Even at the age of 29 I still find it funny.

 

That show takes me back. If people are wondering, here are my top 5 ANIMATED Comedies.

 

1. Ren & Stimpy

2. Invader Zim

3. Anything by Hanna-Barbara (Tom & Jerry, Flinstones, etc.)

4. Pink Panther

5. Dexter's Laboratory

[karmacow]

I don't think anyone has mentioned The Office? The Office deserves a mention! I must admit that I prefer the American version, mostly because of Steve Carell (who is awesome) and the guy that plays Dwight. The guy who plays the boss in the English version (can't remember his name) is just too embarrassing in that role - but I do enjoy his stand up act.

[CAV of Gang Green]

I thought The Office is American. Besides, it doesn't look all that funny.

[Awesome_Paul]

I thought The Office is American. Besides, it doesn't look all that funny.

 

Originally British Ricky Gervais (the main star of the UK version) went to america to write the US version.

[karmacow]

I thought The Office is American. Besides, it doesn't look all that funny.

 

You saw wrong :P It's really friggen funny.

 

Funny moments from The Office

 

And pranks played on Dwight

[CAV of Gang Green]

Ok let's get back to the Comedy topic altogether. Not just the Office.

[Luciana]

Dude. Dude. You want a good and funny show? Adventure Time.

Seriously.

Adventure Time

 

Edit: Oh dang I forgot to mention The Soup too. The jokes get pretty raunchy, but Joel McHale is hilarious. Just watched it like 5 minutes ago. One of the best shows imo.

[Buffy Freak]

This 'stealing of material' and 'pointless references' you talk about is kind of the concept of postmodernism and well it can actually be funny if used properly...you're absolutely right though: movies like Meet the Spartans require O% intelligence to make and they're not funny, rather cringeworthy. Spongebob is for kids though so I'd give it the BoTD...and are you for or against Family Guy being funny? I'm confused x_x

 

You can still find some great comedy out there but you're right; the amount of bad-quality...stuff being produced that is supposedly comedy (*cough* hannah montana) is depressingly large :O

[Hannah B.]

I've never been able to tell British comedy and American comedy apart, so I wouldn't know, someone give me a couple of British comedies, and I'll look up episodes to see the difference.

I definitely second the UK version of the Office. I could never get into the American version, because although they got the general idea of the character right (i.e. he's an awkward, embarrassing person) they do it in a way that's just stupid. Repeating "That's what SHE said" is just NOT funny. Ricky Gervais was bumbling and awkward, but still tried to get everyone to like him, and idk, it was just done better for reasons I can't better explain. Steve Carrell just seems to be trying too hard to keep a straight face. He was much better in Little Miss Sunshine (which is a comedy that's kind of dark, but really funny and heartwarming. See that, too).

 

Another Brit comedy you might enjoy is Spaced. It's written by Simon Pegg and directed by Edgar Wright, the guys from Shaun of the Dead (another amazing rom-zom-com you should absolutely see if you haven't yet). There are a ton of movie/game references, but it doesn't just rely on that for laughs--they get the wacky personalities of various characters down to a T, and it's hilarious.

 

Getting back to the general topic of comedy... I can't stand to watch 90% of the new comedies that are released in theatres nowadays. I went to see The Hangover a while back, and while some of it gave me some chuckles, the bits that were supposed to draw big laughs were completely unfunny and borderline offensive to me. Two examples are the parts where an entire scene's joke is based on the fact that an Asian man is a homosexual, and another scene where a character was repeatedly tazered. Half the theatre was dying laughing, and I was stonefaced. That kind of stuff is NOT funny.

 

To me, silly and honest are funny. References, when done well, and puns/plays on words are good too. I laughed SO hard at Finding Nemo and The Princess and the Frog. But I also get a good laugh from raunchy jokes, so long as they're done right. When I saw Wedding Crashers a few years ago I was actually crying from laughter.

 

And The Simpsons was phenomenal at getting it right years ago. Jokes that tastefully poke fun at cultures and types of people, like when they go to a car expo (the episode with Mr. Plow I'm thinking?) and she comes up to a German/European booth and watches a slo-mo video of a car crashing with dummies in it... and then they start to get up and move, and she's like "heyyy, those aren't dummies!" And the guy comes up and goes "DIS EXZIBIT EES CLOSED" and shuts the curtains really fast XD like... so funny.

 

So, in conclusion... comedy is still alive and well, and it's good as long as it's smart, done right, and isn't relying on cheap gags.

[Meagan]

I feel like an oddball here... I actually enjoy pretty much all of the shows/movies you mentioned. o_O

[Gaia]

I like a lot of comedy honestly, but there is some stuff I just can't laugh at. I hate Dane Cook, because most of what he says isn't actually funny- he just behaves in a manner that is so ridiculous that you HAVE to laugh because the only other alternative would be to call 911 on the man.

 

But I still laugh at George Carlin and Mitch Hedburg when I hear their stuff on the radio.

 

Comedy today is in a weird place. People want to rebel against standards, but when they do, it feels too forced- like they aren't trying to be funny, they're trying to be edgy.

[CAV of Gang Green]

Dude. Dude. You want a good and funny show? Adventure Time.

Seriously.

Adventure Time

 

I've actually sat down to see it, and it seems a lot like most shows on Nick. Trying to be funny by being stupid. And it failed to do so, like most shows that attempt this.

[Luciana]

If by "failed" you mean "completely succeeded" yea, I completely agree.

It's really great to watch, especially when you understand some of the metaphors that gives the "stupid" parts some more meaning. Just wondering, what episode did you watch?

[Monster]

Spongebob has really gone down hill, the old episodes are the only funny ones.

 

As for other comedy I can't really say what's funny and what isn't since I'm more of a horror type of person. Family Guy is hilarious to me, probably because it's just so stupid and has no storyline what-so-ever. Flapjack is okay but I only like it because of it's 'uglyness'. I will always prefer the old to the new though, Courage the Cowardly Dog was funny to me when I was younger. It still is in a way.

Ren and Stimpy scared the crap out of me. :worried:

 

Hm.

Adult Swim cartoons are funny, I don't know why. I like The Mighty Boosh and Aqua Team Hunger Force?

I think random jokes, weird timing, crudeness, and stupidity is what comedy is (for me anyway).

[avat0r]

Monty Phytons Flying Sircus was and is still the best comedy ^^

(But Black Adder was also great XD)

Since I don't watch much TV anymore, I don't know many new series, but I liked

Scrubs and the IT crowd ^^

[Gaia]

Flying Circus was hit and miss. I liked black adder.

 

Scrubs isn't funny any more...it kind of lost it's appeal when it traded networks and tried to phase out the older character.

[Seliphra]

I rather enjoy satire like John Stewart and Steven Colbert. As for stupid funny, I do happen to enjoy Spongebob, but I think that it really depends on the person whose watching. My brothers both think Family Guy is hilarious but I think I laughed once in all the episodes I ever saw. Simpson's....ehh...they have some good episodes and some bad episodes. As for Monty Python, the Holy Grail was definitely the best movie I ever saw.