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WHEN DID AMERICAN TV GET GOOD?

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mgb:
I'm not really a big television fan but if you wanna watch a great show, watch Breaking Bad. Awesome show.

I always found British comedies interesting. It's just completely different to here in the us. Of course being a different part of the world with different slang words and all, sometimes things can just go over your head.
A couple uk shows I've always liked are

Keeping up appearances
Monty pythons flying circus
Mr bean
And I love the Young Ones
I loved it as a kid and I still look it up online from time to time.

I gotta say that the US version of whose line was a lot funnier than the uk version.

Malenko:
No Benny Hill?

mgb:
Oh yeah.
Can't forget Benny hill

TheChairmanH2K:
the british version of Shameless beats the US version hands down.

Maximus:

--- Quote from: Howard_Casto on June 19, 2013, 01:27:22 am --- I think that's why American adaptations of British comedies always turn out so good.  Yeah the concept for the comedy is usually good.... now if we take that concept and add some... I dunno...humor... it might be successful.

--- End quote ---

I seriously hope this was written in a sarcasm font.

American TV humor has barely evolved beyond the slapstick basics of the Benny Hill Show, save for the odd bit of genius like Seinfeld. As for American adaptations of English comedy, the only one in recent history I can think of that had any success was The Office and that was only because it was watered down severely from the original English version.

Having lived in the States for 15 years now I understand that the cultural differences around humor are vastly different (never assume because another country speaks the same language that they are in any way similar to your own). Quality English humor (not Benny Hill or Mrs Browns Boys) tends to be very deeply based in sarcasm and 'slight of hand (tongue)', burying the joke and then giving subtle cues for the viewer to find it themselves. American humor is very much a set-em-up knock-em-down delivery method in a short span, the only American show that has been recognized to break this norm was Arrested Development and people can't stop yabbering on about how 'revolutionary' it's humor was...........erm no.

So yes to each their own, but comparing American humor to English humor is pointless. To this day I still struggle to find anything funny on American TV, yet shows like 'Extras', 'Father Ted', 'The IT Crowd', 'Fawlty Towers' and 'Black Adder' have me rolling around laughing within minutes - but hey that's my cultural background showing through.

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