Faulty Towers to be rebooted?

[Pickman's model]

I don't watch TV comedy so don't know if its still used in that format. Got any current example of successful TV comedy that's Farce?

Oh it still works but I'm not sure new ones are so successful

 

[Chz]

Thinking about why Laurel and Hardy has aged so well, comparatively, I think it's because the joke was always on them, never on anybody else? That avoids any issue with how the acceptability of comic targets can change over the years.

Dunno, I think the Marx Brothers are still funny and that's all about Groucho ripping the piss out of everyone else all the time. The only reason you can argue Duck Soup doesn't hold up well is because it's been mercilessly ripped off a hundred and one times since then.

 

[two sheds]

The Bowmans was a fine Hancock episode, and Sid James was great in lots of them. Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams, too. I am going to listen through them all again some time, along with the Goons which I think has aged superbly. There's stuff in there that wouldn't pass today but a lot was I think military humour which gets a pass from me.

 

[butcher]

Self indulgent, divorce addicted, psychobabble spewing twot.


I still enjoy a trip to my old childhood with the original series like a trip to a museum but why bother as it will be shit.

 

[Jennaonthebeach]

Dunno, I think the Marx Brothers are still funny and that's all about Groucho ripping the piss out of everyone else all the time. The only reason you can argue Duck Soup doesn't hold up well is because it's been mercilessly ripped off a hundred and one times since then.

I love the Marx Brothers. Silliest and funniest comedy there is imo.

 

[butcher]

I missed that. Sounds awful. Paul Merton as Hancock didn't work either. Why do they do these terrible things?

Merton is a turd too

 

[Mattym]

Old fart question. Stuff like Laurel and Hardy used to be on TV on Saturday mornings, iirc. Do kids today know about them?

I taught a boy (about 15 years ago) who had the entire Laurel & Hardy collection on DVD- absolutely loved them but think he was an exception.

 

[T & P]

I don't watch TV comedy so don't know if it’s still used in that format. Got any current example of successful TV comedy that's Farce?

The IT Crowd is relatively current or at least recent enough (2007- 2013), and it’s not just good but quite arguably the funniest British sitcom in the last the decades.

 

[Fuzzy]

I never found it funny first round.

 

[danny la rouge]

I don't watch TV comedy so don't know if its still used in that format. Got any current example of successful TV comedy that's Farce?

Does Count Arthur Strong count (don’t)? I loved it and I’m sorry it didn’t gain wider appreciation.

 

[AverageJoe]

I don't watch TV comedy so don't know if its still used in that format. Got any current example of successful TV comedy that's Farce?

It's literally scraping the edges of what would qualify as farce but "Not Going Out" written and starring Lee Mack is pretty close.

He's a very clever writer.

 

[krtek a houby]

Hancock is one of those series that professional comics fall over themselves to praise but I’ve always found it to be a bit of a curate’s egg and very much of its time. Ditto Fawlty Towers. Perhaps I’m just missing the genius part or I’m not clever enough to appreciate it - or I’m just a humourless cunt? My older brother corpses up at the Pink Panther films but, while there are some good moments, it just doesn’t elicit that reaction in me. Laurel & Hardy though - now that is amazingly funny

A Shot in the Dark is the funniest "Pink Panther" film, despite it being based on a stage play and not at all connected to the famous jewel.

Laurel and Hardy are eternally brilliant.

 

[Mumbles274]

Oh, I remembered House of Fools.. That was good imo

 

[Elpenor]

I think it will be at least as good as his Sainsbury's adverts

 

[Crispy]

The last time I found Cleese remotely funny was Life of Brian and the 2nd series of Fawlty Towers in the late 70s. Maybe Clockwise a bit - but then he made that other film whatever it was called and if it wasn't for Palin's contribution I don't think I would have laughed once.

A Fish Called Wanda? I have fond memories of it, but it's been a long long time. Strong cast.

 

[T & P]

A Fish Called Wanda? I have fond memories of it, but it's been a long long time. Strong cast.

I always complain to my OH how some popular films from the last few decades never seem to get shown compared with others. I can’t remember the last time I saw it being shown on either Sky or the terrestrial channels.

 

[A380]

I don't watch TV comedy so don't know if its still used in that format. Got any current example of successful TV comedy that's Farce?

BBC One - Party Political Broadcasts - Conservative Party

Party Political Broadcasts by the Conservative Party

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[A380]

A Fish Called Wanda? I have fond memories of it, but it's been a long long time. Strong cast.

It was ok . But did have one of the best one liners of any film as a reply to Cleases’s line “I used to box for Oxford’

“I used to kill for the CIA”…

 

[krtek a houby]

It was ok . But did have one of the best one liners of any film as a reply to Cleases’s line “I used to box for Oxford’

“I used to kill for the CIA”…

Kevin Kline was a hoot in it. "Why did he name his daughter after a car?"

Enjoyed Clockwise at the time, even if it was basically recycling the Basil Fawlty character.

 

[Storm Fox]

Does Count Arthur Strong count (don’t)? I loved it and I’m sorry it didn’t gain wider appreciation.

I couldn't stand Count Arthur Strong. For me, it would be one of the things I would be forced to watch in Room 101. But I know a lot of people love it.
I find it fascinating that people can find what they find funny so different.

Oh sorry, this is the internet, so ' danny la rouge, you are totally wrong. CAS is the worse thing ever, how dare you like something I don't? Blocked'
There I think that covers it.

 

[emanymton]

I couldn't stand Count Arthur Strong. For me, it would be one of the things I would be forced to watch in Room 101. But I know a lot of people love it.
I find it fascinating that people can find what they find funny so different.

Oh sorry, this is the internet, so ' danny la rouge, you are totally wrong. CAS is the worse thing ever, how dare you like something I don't? Blocked'
There I think that covers it.

You need to find out where he lives and get an armed police unit sent there as well, or you are not interneting properly.

And yes CAS is rubbish.

 

[Fuzzy]

I couldn't stand Count Arthur Strong. For me, it would be one of the things I would be forced to watch in Room 101. But I know a lot of people love it.
I find it fascinating that people can find what they find funny so different.

Oh sorry, this is the internet, so ' danny la rouge, you are totally wrong. CAS is the worse thing ever, how dare you like something I don't? Blocked'
There I think that covers it.

same here. never found him funny.

 

[Elpenor]

Assuming it’s as bad on tv as it is on the radio?

 

[Pickman's model]

I always complain to my OH how some popular films from the last few decades never seem to get shown compared with others. I can’t remember the last time I saw it being shown on either Sky or the terrestrial channels.

Last on bbc1 8 Dec 2022

 

[Cerv]

I always complain to my OH how some popular films from the last few decades never seem to get shown compared with others. I can’t remember the last time I saw it being shown on either Sky or the terrestrial channels.

AFCW pops up on the BBC regular still. Most recently December last.
But unfortunately past the month cut off for iplayer now.

BBC One - A Fish Called Wanda

Offbeat comedy in which a con artist uses her female charms to steal a stash of jewels.

www.bbc.co.uk

I think it still holds up as a great comedy. Not badly dated at all.

 

[keybored]

I couldn't stand Count Arthur Strong.

I've never seen in on TV (didn't even know there was a series) but the radio show was as insufferable as any other R4 "comedy".

 

[DotCommunist]

Why have I not heard of this before?

Why had I not heard of this before? Fuck me, the early 90s:

So You Think You've Got Troubles - BBC1 Sitcom - British Comedy Guide

A guide to So You Think You've Got Troubles, the 1991 BBC One TV sitcom. Ivan Fox, manager of a small tobacco factory in North London and an atheistic Jew, is reluctantly relocated to Belfast, Northern Ireland.

www.comedy.co.uk

Ivan Fox, a Londoner and non-practising Jew, is sent by his boss to Northern Ireland to run the Belfast branch of Drummond's Tobacco Co. Here he is confronted with age-old Catholic and Protestant attitudes. As a self-proclaimed Atheist, Ivan cannot relate and is dismayed when everyone attempts to categorize him by religion. Ivan is sought after by George Nathan,"The Jew-finder General", who is "singlehandedly trying to repopulate the Jewish community in Belfast." George's family is a good, solid Jewish one with one exception; his daughter is dating a Catholic ex-convict. On the work-front, Ivan must decide if he will hire some Catholics at the all-Protestant Drummond's. This is met by opposition from his Works Manager, Charlie Adamson...

no second series I note.

 

[krtek a houby]

Why had I not heard of this before? Fuck me, the early 90s:

So You Think You've Got Troubles - BBC1 Sitcom - British Comedy Guide

A guide to So You Think You've Got Troubles, the 1991 BBC One TV sitcom. Ivan Fox, manager of a small tobacco factory in North London and an atheistic Jew, is reluctantly relocated to Belfast, Northern Ireland.

www.comedy.co.uk

no second series I note.

Iirc, it got a bit of attention from media back home and the general consensus was "interesting premise, well intentioned but ultimately thin on the laughs".

Think I saw the first one, maybe the second and then bailed...

 

[two sheds]

I've never seen in on TV (didn't even know there was a series) but the radio show was as insufferable as any other R4 "comedy".

this may be true recently but I hope you're not including Hancock, the Goons and at a stretch ISIRTA (although that's probably dated and I was quite young at the time).

but yes Count Arthur Strong was indeed dire

 

[krtek a houby]

AFCW pops up on the BBC regular still. Most recently December last.
But unfortunately past the month cut off for iplayer now.

BBC One - A Fish Called Wanda

Offbeat comedy in which a con artist uses her female charms to steal a stash of jewels.

www.bbc.co.uk

I think it still holds up as a great comedy. Not badly dated at all.

Love it. Apart from Michael Palin's Rastafarian dog killer, which is very awkward.