The Puritans wanted to oppress other people. In Britain we were to tolerant for them, so they wanted to go somewhere where they could persecute others. The ironie is wonderful 😂
America tells it's children "you can be anything you want to be", which is absolutely not true. The more accurate statement would be "You can be anything that you are capable of being, given a lot of luck and a ton of hard work." Rick Derringer put it rather well in a song, "They say that we're all equal and I could be a king, but that just goes to show ya that they don't know a thing."
The US Office is like a childish, comic book version of the world, and a really funny escapist sitcom. The original UK Office is a sheer, undiluted lesson in grim realism. Which I feel the American sensibility can't fully embrace in a laugh out loud comedic sense. I always feel like their society's social problems (incomparable incarceration rates, low life expectancy & higher infant mortality compared to here, horrific healthcare system, unique school shooting rate/gun issues) are directly related to their unwillingness to find grim realism funny. The two complement each other sadly.
Watch the uk version of Ghosts is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC One from April 2019 to December 2023. It follows a group of ghosts from different historical periods haunting a country house while sharing it with its new living occupants. It is written and performed by the collective group Them There, who had previously worked together on productions including Horrible Histories and Yonderland.
Yes- UK Ghosts is unusual because it has 6 writers - a huge team for a British show. But as you say, they are acttually one very close knit collective of writers, not a 'Writers' Room' in the US sense.
BBC Ghosts is, in my opinion, the best British comedy of the last five years. So heartfelt and sweet, but also has great comedic writing with a very high joke-rate. Growing up on Horrible Histories (hence my profile pic lol) definitely increased my enjoyment though
Or to put it another way, American comedies feel they need to smack their audience round the head or they won't get it. (Probably right.) British comedies know that if they smack their audience round the head, the audience is going to smack them back. (Probably right.)
Only Fools and Horses.... is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until the end of the show in 2003.
'Who's line is it Anyway?' is actually a British show. Even the American version that you see now is. Its still made by the same production company that made the original, mist of the comedians on it are mainly the same as they were on the original, Colin Mockrie, Ryan Stiles etc and a lot of the production team too. Its not really changed from it's original format, other than changing hosts and a few newer comedians its still the same show it was from when it first came about around 35 years ago. I will say that it was, and still is a very "Americanised" British show, compared to other British shows of it's time. It's also from the same team that made the panel show 'Mock the Week' too.
@@slashdisco apart from the fact I'm partially sighted and blind in one eye, and rely on auto correct to correctly apply my speech to text, I don't think I have done too badly.
It's a classic Frank Spencer is one of the best comedy characters of all time and I don't think I have seen anybody react to that show yet possibly because there is just so much British comedy for them to get through.
Aah yes, but they couldn't get it commissioned in Ireland. The idea of a show ridiculing the Catholic Church wasn't possible in Ireland. But Channel 4 would do it, and it first became popular in the UK, and was them taken back to Ireland. So as Irish as the show is in so many ways, with almost every Irish comedian of the era appearing in it, it is still defined by that Irish-British connection.
It may also be worth considering that a lot of British comedies are made for the BBC, which is non-commercial, allowing opportunities for comedies to be made with more creative freedom rather than having to write for commercial success
We have super strict advertising laws in general in the uk. In the USA there's about 6-8 minutes of ads on every 30 minute show, I'm not joking. @@adamaalto-mccarthy6984
@@razmataz13drums you might be right. The only ones I can think of are Blackadder, Only Fools and Horses, Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones, Bottom, Monty Python, Absolutely Fabulous, The Office, Harry Enfield, Red Dwarf, The Fast Show, Not the 9 o'clock News, The Two Ronnies , The Mighty Boosh, The League of Gentlemen, Inside No 9, Little Britain, Psychoville, Are You Being Served, Dad's Army, Gavin & Stacy, The Royle Family, Big Train, The Thick of It, 15 Storeys High, Alan Partridge, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Limmys Show, Ideal, Monkey Dust, Nighty Night, Open All Hours, Porridge, This Country, QI, The Vicar of Dibley. There may be some others too. But maybe most of the famous ones are on other channels
Porridge is a British sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977. The programme ran for three series and two Christmas specials. A feature film of the same name based on the series was released in 1979.
I worked in a prison for a couple of years, and the guys told me that although 'Porridge' was pretty sanitised from the brutal realities of inside life, it really captured the vibe, and told a relatable story :)
@@dcmastermindfirst9418 and then, when he eventually got high enough qualifications he went to Queen's College Cambridge....it's where he met |Hugh Laurie, and was in the Cambridge Footlights.
@carolineskipper6976 Lol you don't just "get" good enough qualifications mate. You need to be highly intelligent to get into those Universities. Fry is a pseudo intellectual who just sounds smart. The guy is a Geordie for fuks sake.
Absolutely Fabulous (often shortened to Ab Fab) is a British television sitcom based on the French and Saunders sketch "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.
I think the main difference between English and American comedy is we the English take a ridiculous scenario and play it straight and Americans take a straight scenario and paly it ridiculous. I like both styles of comedy. Pineapple Express is so funny as Shaun of the Dead.
02:50 - now there is a concept JJ, reacting to one's own videos, cool !🤔😉. 14:20 agree about UK not having a 'writers room' - take Monty Python, each member came up with an idea individually (usually) & then the team would vote as to whether it was a good sketch or not (that's my understanding).
Galton and Simpson were a British comedy scriptwriting duo, who wrote for radio, television and film, consisting of Ray Galton OBE (17 July 1930 - 5 October 2018) and Alan Simpson OBE (27 November 1929 - 8 February 2017).
Fawlty Towers, Keeping Up Appearances, To the Manor Born, HIGNFY (Paul Vs Ian), WILTY (David Vs Lee), OFAH (Del Vs Boycie), Citizen Khan, Not Going Out, Steptoe & Son, The Good Life, Inbetweeners, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, Yes Prime Minister, even Porridge with Fletcher and Grouty or against the Prison Officers, Are you being served I could go on and on
Completely wrong about the underdog story part, That is very much UK lots of Characters can prove this. Mr Bean, Baldrick, Basil Fawlty, Del Boy and Rodney. Whereas in US you have the characters who are the smartest in the room. Their jokes are most of the time putting someone down a few steps. Stephen fry says it best "American characters walk into a room with the biggest penis, British characters probably forgot their penis"
You've gotta consider that during a 'filmed before a live studio audience' show, the audience is told when to laugh with light-up signs. You know it's not funny if you've gotta be told when to laugh!
You have to remember that the American Office is still Gervias and Merchant. We tend to have single writers or pair writers mainly. Attempts at the "Writers Room" thing was tried on things like "My Family". It is said that single & duo written stuff has more "Heart" than the other stuff. We had "Whose Line is it Anyway" here, with British, American and Canadian comedians. It was a British show that America bought (and other countries). There are many American shows that Americans don't realize are remakes of British shows. Falwty Towers -> Payne Steptoe & Son -> Sanford & Son Till Death Us do Part -> (whatever the Archie Bunker thing was called) Man About the House -> Threes Company (I think) Ghosts -> Ghosts US And more ... A lot of remakes don't work, like the Inbetweeners, Gavin & Stacey etc. Then there are shows were the writers have said they are British influenced like Frasier. Another thing to note is that Jewish humour / comedy is closer to British comedy than the rest of American comedy. Apart from "Panel Shows", I think we have more surrealist humour here, like "The Mighty Boosh". I would also put Vic & Bobs' work into that category. If you really like the downtrodden, everything bad happens to ... - You should review One Foot in the Grave It ran for about 10 years, Eric Idle sings the theme tune. A lot of comedians / comic actors wanted at least a cameo in it. And it ended in a way that would NEVER happen in America !
Went to school with Luke. He's been a RUclipsr for at least 12 years. Was strange watching someone get some traction that was still in school. The Whose line mention is interesting as despite being a British show originally, almost all physical comedy has disappeared from our gameshows, with the exception of Taskmaster.
I think the way Michael Scott changed after the first season of The Office speaks to how the American audience needs the lead character to be the hero, so therefore he has to be likeable. In the UK whether its the Victor Meldrew, Basil Fawlty, or Blackadder or Alf Garnet or Rigsby from Rising Damp, or Porridge or Young Ones or on and on, we are eperfectly happy for the lead character to be weird and gross and enjoy when the situation goes horribly wrong for them, and also be secretly be rooting for them, because deep down we know we are f'd up and insecure and would like to be obnoxious too.
both counties have comedy waves where the preferred comedy type shifts like in Britain in the 80s when the working men's club comics were replaced on tv by alternative comics like the comic strip.
First things that spring to mind when Leeds is mentioned: (1). The 1980s Leeds music scene which included Sisters Of Mercy, March Violets and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, plus "by extension" Mekons/Three Johns; (2). That sex-toys shop with the sign above the door reading "remember there is also a rear entrance"
We have one panel show which is like a British panel show "Whos line is it anyway". No, I think you'll find it's a British show brought over to the States...
In America, stand up comedians eventually make comedy shows/ sitcoms (Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Newhart, Christopher Titus, Ellen DeGeneres, Jim Gaffagan, etc.) and therefore the focus is on them as an individual character. In the UK, stand up comedians either turn their stand-up routine into a show (Al Murray, Bill Bailey) or frequent comedy panel/quiz shows (Nevermind the Buzzcocks, QI, Who's Line, Have I Got News For You, Countdown, 8 Out of 10 Cats, etc.) so in the latter category, the focus is on the interaction and generation of comedy between the comedians as a whole group.
One thing that neither of these kids will know. The idea that anything 'done by committee' will end badly. Original ideas come from the actual writers, often also acting in the actual sit-com. Many of the current popular sit-coms in the UK are written by pairs.
7:47 Yeah but I think many sitcoms from the USA, Friends for example…those people and that situation is much more ‘what people wished they were in every day life’ as opposed to ‘realistic situations and people’
Its absolutely true that we dont really have writers room, and he gave a good example of James Corden and Ruth Jones, the writers of Gavin and Stacy. Ours are more like playwrites that last 1-3-6 seasons, whereas yours can go for many many years, as the writers must meet the quota of the amount of gags and jokes.
There's so much great comedy in the UK, some of my faves include Black Books, The Green Wing, Shooting Stars, The League of Gentlemen, Red Dwarf, Miranda, and After Life.
Mate you disagreed with your first two words and then.. agreed with your next line? 😂 Generally, American comedy is optimistic - whereas ours isn’t, was the point. Maybe I should’ve written “things will get better/things will get worse”?
Some puritan sects were different than others. The Pilgrims were a group of puritan separatists who were trying to establish a “city on the hill” . That was taken from a verse in the Bible which they interpreted literally to mean create an actual city on earth that reflected the behaviour of Jesus to the world .The Pilgrims were tolerate of others with different beliefs , Quakers, or whoever. They also respected and had a very good bond with the local Native American tribes. They shared a lot with each other. There is a reason why we celebrate Thanksgiving . However, the other sects of puritans were a mixed bag . Some were kind Christian types, but many were extremely intolerant. They would kill ,and slice the tongues and ears off of Quakers and anyone from other religions who dared to set foot in their settlements. They also ran off the nicer people of their own sect and constantly harassed and declared war on the Native Americans. So, you would be very correct about those folks ,in particular, harassing other religions in the UK.
I think American humour is more like what British humour used to be like 20 years ago. There’s a lot more sarcasm, cringe and finding humour in awkward situations coming through now, which a lot of American stand up comedians have grasped and do really well.
Something I cry out to be mentioned is the relatable factor, like the realism vs escapism that was sort of mentioned. We can see ourselves, our friends, and our experiences within the characters of each inbetweener character, or Basil Faulty, the Gavin and Stacy characters. In comparison, american comedy really leans into that fiction. No one in real life is really like Barney Stinson and Ted Mosby, or Joey in Friends, or Seinfeld. We joke through utter embarrassing real personal issues, because we can make light of a band situation and say, "That's like what happened to me!"
Arrested Development is by far my favourite US comedy. I've watched it so many times! Maybe it is because it's sort of British in it's humour. Plus, it has Jason Bateman in it. I do prefer our comedy shows though. Spaced has Simon Pegg in it, maybe you could react to an episode or more?
The biggest difference in our comedies, and well what I hate in terms of the american side, is Stand Up. Americans stand up comedy is just wet, and incredibly unfunny like, Ahhhh dont you just hate it when your running and you fall over aahhhh hahahahah its just so flat, drab, and incredibly unlaughable. Every single american stand up comedian ive watched i have never laughed at. Brits however is undeniably the best in the world.
I would like to a make a point about the cartoon comedy topic. It's true, we dont have that here in the UK. However, an individual australian made a sort of 'home-made' cartoon comedy called 'The Big Lez Show', and it was only ever uploaded to RUclips by the creator. Its adult content, its outrageous, and although its australian, it caters extremely well to the british sense of humour as we are much more similar in cultures than UK-US. Eventually a spin off did make it on to Comedy Central.
Who's line is it Anyway? started on BBC Radio 4 I know improv on a sound only medium. Laughter tracks were mentioned, when MASH was bought by the BBC to be shown in the UK they requested a version with the laugh-track be removed, helped it being so successful at least here. There seems to be a difference between comedy shows that are recorded live in front of a studio audience that require continual one-liners and zingers to those filmed and produced without the audience. Compare The Big Bang Theory with Young Sheldon, the latter having more humour and jokes based on character development and interactions.
Exactly. I was talking to a yank and he asked if we had that show in England. I said mate that show started in England Then he got all defensive and I made him Google it. He was shocked!!
The American Dream. Dream is the keyword, only the few will have that dream most will go through their life trying to get there and then realise how much life has been wasted trying. The American economy works by keeping the population searching for the dream. Brits realise that we can't all be millionaires so do our best to have a balanced life. We definitely don't just sit back and accept our lot. We just don't dream. American comedy is manufactured where British comedy is based on real life situations with artistic licence.
There’s the American remake of One Foot in the Grave with, er, Bill Cosby 😬 in the original theres a scene were a tortoise burns to death in a garden leaf burning session. In the American remake the tortoise escaped its terrible doom. A pretty good microcosm of the difference i think
Here's something they (and presumably you) didn't know, Whose Line Is It Anyway? started as a radio show on BBC Radio 4 here in Britain before being taken up by (our UK) Channel Four TV channel. And then it migrated to the US.
Writers’ rooms only really exist for panel shows and things like that, Russell Howard’s Good News too, the only British sitcom to really use a writers room was My Family and it was of patchy quality
It isn't at all so simple that we British supposedly think, 'Whatever lot in life you were born into, that's just how it is.' In fact I think that our entire history indicates a willingness to prepare thoroughly... and then learn from things that we hadn't originally known about. We tend to believe that hard work for good reasons is LIKELY to be rewarded with positive results... but really might go terribly wrong at any moment for reasons that one cannot possibly have anticipated... so you get up and go round again, having learned something useful. Some segments of American culture (at least as portrayed abroad) seem still to enshrine an idea of 'manifest destiny', meaning that it is just OBVIOUS that energetic American optimism (however dumb or blinkered) will naturally result in 'success' by some definition or other. Not everybody goes along with that line of thinking, even within the USA... but of course it still influences worldwide perception of American culture.
Saying they came from Oxford less these days is wrong unless this video is from the turn of the century. UK entertainment reverted to being full of toffs after a brief blip in the 90s and 00s because unemployment benefits became unlivable and they don't have the cushion to work on their craft anymore, plus the BBC became far more institutionally Tory after the 08 crash.
I’m English, can quote every episode of only fools word for word, BUT curb your enthusiasm is on my favourite ever comedy series Larry David is hilarious, I started watching it years ago when it was only on HBO and would download the eps from Pirate bay 😂 same as arrested development, which was also good, but curb is so so good, Ricky gervais is even in an episode
Love the US Office but it does feel very discounted The US Office is a sitcom where a documentary crew are ostensibly making a documentary, but often all the logic of that is thrown out the window and it just informs the visual language - but it’s still lit like a sitcom. With the UK Office you’re watching the documentary about what is supposed to be a real office, where the behaviour of the people is influenced by the presence of a documentary crew Animated comedy in the US was traditionally closer to British comedy stylistically but there’s so much of it now it’s harder to make that comparison
I'm Scottish. I'd grown up hearing all about how unfunny American stuff is. But some of the funniest shows are It's Always Sunny, Curb, Seinfeld, I Think You Should Leave, Tim & Eric, Eric Andre. All hilarious. But they're generally more cynical in nature. Then I watched some SNL sketches and I immediately understood why people said American studf isn't funny.
As for 'writers rooms' ... that is kind of true, but it depends on the show. There are many British comedy shows going back a long way that employed multiple joke writers, usually sketch shows and stuff. The Day Today, Brasseye, The Fast Show, Big Train, Spitting Image and so on all employed large teams of joke writers. However, sitcom style comedy was usually left to one or 2 writers only. That said, Blackadder was written by Ben Elton, Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson but it is well known that, as it was a series full of talented comedy actors, they would have a roundtable involving much of the cast who effectively adapted the scripts or occasionally rewrote them in order to make them funnier.
I agree, but I think the difference is that although there were groups of comedians that worked together on a show, like Not The 9 O'Clock News or The Fast Show, even Monty Python these were groups of comedians that all knew each other and put forward the show, and if one or two of them left or moved on the show finished. Whereas in the US I got the feeling there was a core concept and then they brought in the best comedy writers to work on it, probably because if it became a hit and one of the writers moved on he could be replaced without really impacting the show. I'm sure there are cases on either side of the Atlantic where it worked the other way, especially in the UK more recently, but I think generally this is how it is.
I think some American comedy is quite smart and I do like it but one thing I notice is that in American comedy the live audience whoop and applause for nearly every joke even if they’re not that funny whereas Uk Sitcoms audiences appreciate the jokes as they are and really show their enthusiasm for the classic moments such as Only Fools and Horses ‘chandelier crash’ , ‘ Batman and Robin’ and ‘The bar scene’ I think also American humour is a bit censored especially in something like Whose line US where they bleep words that UK audiences wouldn’t bat an eyelash at.
My first UK Sitcom=1961 from my 70 years in London. I liked GS and Ally McBeal=Comedy/Drama. Love Groucho Marx's wit but the only 3 I REALLY like were 3/Phil Silvers in 144 of Sgt Bilko(though dated now) from THe Late 1950s but often repeated. JOINT FIRST Curn Your Enthusiasm: Larry David(Co-Writer of Seinfeld) and VEEP(All 12 (?) Series. Hated smart-ass Jerry Seinfeld, ironically.
UK animated comedies: 2DTV Monkeydust Bob and Margaret I Am Not an Animal Stressed Eric Rex the Runt Crapston Villas Modern Toss Full English There was definitely more about in the nineties/naughties, it seems. There was other stuff that would generally be released on VHS and rarely (if ever) aired on the telly (Viz etc.)
I was surprised to learn Andy Parsons went to Cambridge. I knew about a lot of the post-Oxbridge comedians, but I wouldn't have picked Andy as one of them.
Never seen these fellas before, but I liked them. Gonna check out their channel. Being a Brit, culturally I enjoy British humour more on the whole. But US comedy that I love is My Name Is Earl, Family Guy, Bill Hicks, Dennis Leary and of course Soap. Friends didn't work for me, but Big Bang Theory really did. As for British comedy. Red Dwarf, Garth Marenghi, Black Adder, The Day Today, Brass Eye, Jam, The League of Gentlemen, The Mighty Boosh, Bottom, The Young Ones, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, and anything by Ricky Gervais. Gervais is a masterful writer who can genuinely make you cry with laughter in one scene, and make you just cry in the next. And as a Brit, we embrace Cringe, so I will be checking out The Curse. P.S. Why do all Americans, (Yes, including you!) always do an impression of Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins when they do a British accent. Not one single person in the whole of The UK speaks like that! And, how long did you rehearse the ending? 😆Thanks again for a great video Mucka!
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
Wasn't 'Whose line is it, anyway?' British first?
Yes! a British show from the 80s which crossed the pond.
I think so as well from 1988 with Clive Anderson and a few American comedians with British.
@@Doesnotcare12 Tony Slattery, Josie Lawrence, Greg Proops, Mike McShane etc
@@Doesnotcare12 The two big names were Canadians. Ryan and Colin. Canada punches above it's weight in comedy. I blame their british heritage.
Yeah it also had multiple different versions made and was a segment on NMTB (never mind the buzz…) or something like that
The Puritans wanted to oppress other people. In Britain we were to tolerant for them, so they wanted to go somewhere where they could persecute others. The ironie is wonderful 😂
Came here to say exactly that!
Yes the Puritans were encouraged not to stay in Britain after a lot of religion-based upheaval
America tells it's children "you can be anything you want to be", which is absolutely not true. The more accurate statement would be "You can be anything that you are capable of being, given a lot of luck and a ton of hard work." Rick Derringer put it rather well in a song, "They say that we're all equal and I could be a king, but that just goes to show ya that they don't know a thing."
The US Office is like a childish, comic book version of the world, and a really funny escapist sitcom. The original UK Office is a sheer, undiluted lesson in grim realism. Which I feel the American sensibility can't fully embrace in a laugh out loud comedic sense. I always feel like their society's social problems (incomparable incarceration rates, low life expectancy & higher infant mortality compared to here, horrific healthcare system, unique school shooting rate/gun issues) are directly related to their unwillingness to find grim realism funny. The two complement each other sadly.
Pure cringe
Americans (Europeans who stole land from the natives that they genocided!) just don’t understand or like depictions of real/true life!
UK office never made me laugh 😂
American humour is for children.
British humour is for adults.
Watch the uk version of Ghosts is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC One from April 2019 to December 2023. It follows a group of ghosts from different historical periods haunting a country house while sharing it with its new living occupants. It is written and performed by the collective group Them There, who had previously worked together on productions including Horrible Histories and Yonderland.
Yes- UK Ghosts is unusual because it has 6 writers - a huge team for a British show. But as you say, they are acttually one very close knit collective of writers, not a 'Writers' Room' in the US sense.
BBC Ghosts is, in my opinion, the best British comedy of the last five years. So heartfelt and sweet, but also has great comedic writing with a very high joke-rate. Growing up on Horrible Histories (hence my profile pic lol) definitely increased my enjoyment though
I've always found American sitcoms require a punchline, our often leave you to fill in that blank because it's assumed you're smart enough to get it.
Or to put it another way, American comedies feel they need to smack their audience round the head or they won't get it. (Probably right.) British comedies know that if they smack their audience round the head, the audience is going to smack them back. (Probably right.)
Only Fools and Horses.... is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until the end of the show in 2003.
Best sit com ever.
'Who's line is it Anyway?' is actually a British show. Even the American version that you see now is. Its still made by the same production company that made the original, mist of the comedians on it are mainly the same as they were on the original, Colin Mockrie, Ryan Stiles etc and a lot of the production team too.
Its not really changed from it's original format, other than changing hosts and a few newer comedians its still the same show it was from when it first came about around 35 years ago. I will say that it was, and still is a very "Americanised" British show, compared to other British shows of it's time. It's also from the same team that made the panel show 'Mock the Week' too.
"Whose". And you got your "its" and "it's" the wrong way round. Don't let the British side down, man.
@@slashdisco apart from the fact I'm partially sighted and blind in one eye, and rely on auto correct to correctly apply my speech to text, I don't think I have done too badly.
@@JacknVictorhave the same problem could touch type 35 words a minute plus until I developed Neuropathy.
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em is a good example of british comedy
It's a classic Frank Spencer is one of the best comedy characters of all time and I don't think I have seen anybody react to that show yet possibly because there is just so much British comedy for them to get through.
@@WinstonSmith19847Yes! please the runaway down the road Ep.
Father Ted is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews
Aah yes, but they couldn't get it commissioned in Ireland. The idea of a show ridiculing the Catholic Church wasn't possible in Ireland.
But Channel 4 would do it, and it first became popular in the UK, and was them taken back to Ireland.
So as Irish as the show is in so many ways, with almost every Irish comedian of the era appearing in it, it is still defined by that Irish-British connection.
It may also be worth considering that a lot of British comedies are made for the BBC, which is non-commercial, allowing opportunities for comedies to be made with more creative freedom rather than having to write for commercial success
Channel 4?
We have super strict advertising laws in general in the uk. In the USA there's about 6-8 minutes of ads on every 30 minute show, I'm not joking. @@adamaalto-mccarthy6984
I don't think I agree with that at all, most UK comedies I can think of aren't BBC
@@razmataz13drums you might be right. The only ones I can think of are Blackadder, Only Fools and Horses, Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones, Bottom, Monty Python, Absolutely Fabulous, The Office, Harry Enfield, Red Dwarf, The Fast Show, Not the 9 o'clock News, The Two Ronnies , The Mighty Boosh, The League of Gentlemen, Inside No 9, Little Britain, Psychoville, Are You Being Served, Dad's Army, Gavin & Stacy, The Royle Family, Big Train, The Thick of It, 15 Storeys High, Alan Partridge, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Limmys Show, Ideal, Monkey Dust, Nighty Night, Open All Hours, Porridge, This Country, QI, The Vicar of Dibley. There may be some others too. But maybe most of the famous ones are on other channels
@@chrisnorman1902😂😂😂
Porridge is a British sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977. The programme ran for three series and two Christmas specials. A feature film of the same name based on the series was released in 1979.
It also had a sequel called "Going Straight"
My favourite sitcom. Ronnie B is a legend. 🥰🥰🥰
I worked in a prison for a couple of years, and the guys told me that although 'Porridge' was pretty sanitised from the brutal realities of inside life, it really captured the vibe, and told a relatable story :)
I'm sure there was a story that one prison changed their mealtimes because the inmates were skipping tea so they could watch it.
Next video is definitely going to be “American reacts to JJLA reacts” 😂
The most loved comedy in the UK is Only Fools and Horses, which was written by one man.
Only Fools and Horses isn’t the most loved comedy in the UK, not sure why you would say that
@@lounolastname4477 But but.. Del Boy fell through the bar. And Trigger made a face!
I think those actors were at Cambridge (Footlights Society) not Oxford.
Stephen Fry went to Cambridge Uni. Not Oxford.
Yes - Python were a mix of Oxford and Cambridge- but it's the Cambridge Footlights that spawned a lot of our great comic performers.
I imagine he meant Oxbridge
No he didn't.
He went to s Community college.
He wasn't good enough to pass an entry level course at Cambridge
@@dcmastermindfirst9418 and then, when he eventually got high enough qualifications he went to Queen's College Cambridge....it's where he met |Hugh Laurie, and was in the Cambridge Footlights.
@carolineskipper6976 Lol you don't just "get" good enough qualifications mate.
You need to be highly intelligent to get into those Universities.
Fry is a pseudo intellectual who just sounds smart.
The guy is a Geordie for fuks sake.
A man saying he wants kids so he can have a friend is just creepy and weird and that automatically makes him unsympathetic to a Brit.
Absolutely Fabulous (often shortened to Ab Fab) is a British television sitcom based on the French and Saunders sketch "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.
I think of Curb Your Enthusiasm as an American One Foot In The Grave with Victor Meldrew moving in fancier circles.
I think the main difference between English and American comedy is we the English take a ridiculous scenario and play it straight and Americans take a straight scenario and paly it ridiculous. I like both styles of comedy. Pineapple Express is so funny as Shaun of the Dead.
Red dwarf crossing the pond springs to mind
That Pink Floyd line is the most accurate line ever written
thats what i thought about too. its basically script for script but i dont find the american one as funny
@@AdamTheHammer If I remember correctly RD was tried twice in the US and they couldn’t get it right
02:50 - now there is a concept JJ, reacting to one's own videos, cool !🤔😉. 14:20 agree about UK not having a 'writers room' - take Monty Python, each member came up with an idea individually (usually) & then the team would vote as to whether it was a good sketch or not (that's my understanding).
Galton and Simpson were a British comedy scriptwriting duo, who wrote for radio, television and film, consisting of Ray Galton OBE (17 July 1930 - 5 October 2018) and Alan Simpson OBE (27 November 1929 - 8 February 2017).
Hancocks Half Hour brilliant 😊
If you think that Hot Fuzz can be overanalysed, you're under analysing it
British comedy has class embedded throughout it with characters knowing their place, and despite wishing to better themselves they never do
Blackadder is a perfect example of this.
Fawlty Towers, Keeping Up Appearances, To the Manor Born, HIGNFY (Paul Vs Ian), WILTY (David Vs Lee), OFAH (Del Vs Boycie), Citizen Khan, Not Going Out, Steptoe & Son, The Good Life, Inbetweeners, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, Yes Prime Minister, even Porridge with Fletcher and Grouty or against the Prison Officers, Are you being served I could go on and on
The American remake of The Inbetweeners was an abomination.
Friends is on Channel 5 in the early afternoon....."Hello!" "How are you? "I'm well" The laughter track is insane and embarrassing.
Very true, absolutely awful and unfunny show
@@WookieWarriorz Says a great deal about the comedic taste of many Americans...
Completely wrong about the underdog story part, That is very much UK lots of Characters can prove this. Mr Bean, Baldrick, Basil Fawlty, Del Boy and Rodney. Whereas in US you have the characters who are the smartest in the room. Their jokes are most of the time putting someone down a few steps. Stephen fry says it best "American characters walk into a room with the biggest penis, British characters probably forgot their penis"
Exactly, not sure what that chap was thinking saying that.
Fry (and Laurie) were at Cambridge.
You've gotta consider that during a 'filmed before a live studio audience' show, the audience is told when to laugh with light-up signs.
You know it's not funny if you've gotta be told when to laugh!
Whose line is British which is why it's reminiscent of British panel shows 😅
Seinfeld and Curb, when you analyse them, look like British style comedy. Who's line is it anyway started in the UK in the 1980s.
Never watched Curb, but his description sounded like One Foot In The Grave.
You have to remember that the American Office is still Gervias and Merchant.
We tend to have single writers or pair writers mainly. Attempts at the "Writers Room" thing was tried on things like "My Family". It is said that single & duo written stuff has more "Heart" than the other stuff.
We had "Whose Line is it Anyway" here, with British, American and Canadian comedians. It was a British show that America bought (and other countries).
There are many American shows that Americans don't realize are remakes of British shows.
Falwty Towers -> Payne
Steptoe & Son -> Sanford & Son
Till Death Us do Part -> (whatever the Archie Bunker thing was called)
Man About the House -> Threes Company (I think)
Ghosts -> Ghosts US
And more ...
A lot of remakes don't work, like the Inbetweeners, Gavin & Stacey etc.
Then there are shows were the writers have said they are British influenced like Frasier.
Another thing to note is that Jewish humour / comedy is closer to British comedy than the rest of American comedy.
Apart from "Panel Shows", I think we have more surrealist humour here, like "The Mighty Boosh". I would also put Vic & Bobs' work into that category.
If you really like the downtrodden, everything bad happens to ... - You should review
One Foot in the Grave
It ran for about 10 years, Eric Idle sings the theme tune. A lot of comedians / comic actors wanted at least a cameo in it. And it ended in a way that would NEVER happen in America !
Oh my god that James Acaster impression was so good 😂. I'm not sure if you'll 'get' him, but you should deffo check him out
Went to school with Luke. He's been a RUclipsr for at least 12 years. Was strange watching someone get some traction that was still in school.
The Whose line mention is interesting as despite being a British show originally, almost all physical comedy has disappeared from our gameshows, with the exception of Taskmaster.
I think the way Michael Scott changed after the first season of The Office speaks to how the American audience needs the lead character to be the hero, so therefore he has to be likeable. In the UK whether its the Victor Meldrew, Basil Fawlty, or Blackadder or Alf Garnet or Rigsby from Rising Damp, or Porridge or Young Ones or on and on, we are eperfectly happy for the lead character to be weird and gross and enjoy when the situation goes horribly wrong for them, and also be secretly be rooting for them, because deep down we know we are f'd up and insecure and would like to be obnoxious too.
We had a wonderful comedy series in the UK called SORRY staring Ronnie Corbett which features a wimpy hapless character
both counties have comedy waves where the preferred comedy type shifts like in Britain in the 80s when the working men's club comics were replaced on tv by alternative comics like the comic strip.
Who’s line is it anyway was originally British, Clive Anderson was the host and it was a channel 4 production
Two people who know very little about the history of comedy, try to define comedy.
Spelled correctly, with a U
First things that spring to mind when Leeds is mentioned:
(1). The 1980s Leeds music scene which included Sisters Of Mercy, March Violets and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, plus "by extension" Mekons/Three Johns;
(2). That sex-toys shop with the sign above the door reading "remember there is also a rear entrance"
We have one panel show which is like a British panel show "Whos line is it anyway". No, I think you'll find it's a British show brought over to the States...
Who's line is it anyway started in the UK 😂
In America, stand up comedians eventually make comedy shows/ sitcoms (Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Newhart, Christopher Titus, Ellen DeGeneres, Jim Gaffagan, etc.) and therefore the focus is on them as an individual character.
In the UK, stand up comedians either turn their stand-up routine into a show (Al Murray, Bill Bailey) or frequent comedy panel/quiz shows (Nevermind the Buzzcocks, QI, Who's Line, Have I Got News For You, Countdown, 8 Out of 10 Cats, etc.) so in the latter category, the focus is on the interaction and generation of comedy between the comedians as a whole group.
One thing that neither of these kids will know.
The idea that anything 'done by committee' will end badly. Original ideas come from the actual writers, often also acting in the actual sit-com.
Many of the current popular sit-coms in the UK are written by pairs.
7:47 Yeah but I think many sitcoms from the USA, Friends for example…those people and that situation is much more ‘what people wished they were in every day life’ as opposed to ‘realistic situations and people’
Three's company was a remake of 1970's British comedy Man About the House
Whose line is it anyway started on BBC Radio 4. Quite a lot of comedy comes from radio first.
Its absolutely true that we dont really have writers room, and he gave a good example of James Corden and Ruth Jones, the writers of Gavin and Stacy. Ours are more like playwrites that last 1-3-6 seasons, whereas yours can go for many many years, as the writers must meet the quota of the amount of gags and jokes.
There's so much great comedy in the UK, some of my faves include Black Books, The Green Wing, Shooting Stars, The League of Gentlemen, Red Dwarf, Miranda, and After Life.
American comedy: “things could be better!” British comedy: “things could be worse!”
No no.
British humour is like, things are shit. Get used to it.
Mate you disagreed with your first two words and then.. agreed with your next line? 😂 Generally, American comedy is optimistic - whereas ours isn’t, was the point. Maybe I should’ve written “things will get better/things will get worse”?
I like Curb Your Enthusiasm and Friends was OK Ross was my favourite character his reactions were priceless.
The Pink Floyd track you were thinking of was "Time"...
You should watch 'Inside No 9'....British comedy at it's absolute best.
Did they ever have the iconic dance by David Brent in the American version?
Curb Your Enthusiasm is the best comedy series from the US " EVER"
Some puritan sects were different than others. The Pilgrims were a group of puritan separatists who were trying to establish a “city on the hill” . That was taken from a verse in the Bible which they interpreted literally to mean create an actual city on earth that reflected the behaviour of Jesus to the world .The Pilgrims were tolerate of others with different beliefs , Quakers, or whoever. They also respected and had a very good bond with the local Native American tribes. They shared a lot with each other. There is a reason why we celebrate Thanksgiving . However, the other sects of puritans were a mixed bag . Some were kind Christian types, but many were extremely intolerant. They would kill ,and slice the tongues and ears off of Quakers and anyone from other religions who dared to set foot in their settlements. They also ran off the nicer people of their own sect and constantly harassed and declared war on the Native Americans. So, you would be very correct about those folks ,in particular, harassing other religions in the UK.
I think Brooklyn 99 was based on UK thin blue line, it has Rowan Atkinson in it.
I think American humour is more like what British humour used to be like 20 years ago. There’s a lot more sarcasm, cringe and finding humour in awkward situations coming through now, which a lot of American stand up comedians have grasped and do really well.
Something I cry out to be mentioned is the relatable factor, like the realism vs escapism that was sort of mentioned. We can see ourselves, our friends, and our experiences within the characters of each inbetweener character, or Basil Faulty, the Gavin and Stacy characters. In comparison, american comedy really leans into that fiction. No one in real life is really like Barney Stinson and Ted Mosby, or Joey in Friends, or Seinfeld. We joke through utter embarrassing real personal issues, because we can make light of a band situation and say, "That's like what happened to me!"
Am surprised no one mentioned the in-betweeners which is my fav show
Arrested Development is by far my favourite US comedy. I've watched it so many times! Maybe it is because it's sort of British in it's humour. Plus, it has Jason Bateman in it. I do prefer our comedy shows though. Spaced has Simon Pegg in it, maybe you could react to an episode or more?
Thin Blue Line with Rowan Atkinson would be the closest to Brooklyn 99 I can think of - I highly recomend.
Arrested Development is one of my very favorites. I love Dirk Gently too.
The biggest difference in our comedies, and well what I hate in terms of the american side, is Stand Up. Americans stand up comedy is just wet, and incredibly unfunny like, Ahhhh dont you just hate it when your running and you fall over aahhhh hahahahah its just so flat, drab, and incredibly unlaughable. Every single american stand up comedian ive watched i have never laughed at. Brits however is undeniably the best in the world.
I would like to a make a point about the cartoon comedy topic. It's true, we dont have that here in the UK. However, an individual australian made a sort of 'home-made' cartoon comedy called 'The Big Lez Show', and it was only ever uploaded to RUclips by the creator. Its adult content, its outrageous, and although its australian, it caters extremely well to the british sense of humour as we are much more similar in cultures than UK-US. Eventually a spin off did make it on to Comedy Central.
Who's line is it Anyway? started on BBC Radio 4 I know improv on a sound only medium. Laughter tracks were mentioned, when MASH was bought by the BBC to be shown in the UK they requested a version with the laugh-track be removed, helped it being so successful at least here. There seems to be a difference between comedy shows that are recorded live in front of a studio audience that require continual one-liners and zingers to those filmed and produced without the audience. Compare The Big Bang Theory with Young Sheldon, the latter having more humour and jokes based on character development and interactions.
Whose line is it anyway started in the UK lol. These Americans assume everything started there.
Exactly. I was talking to a yank and he asked if we had that show in England.
I said mate that show started in England
Then he got all defensive and I made him Google it.
He was shocked!!
These young folk need to go watch the Gary Shandling Show. Criminally overlooked, but a favorite of comedians all over
The American Dream. Dream is the keyword, only the few will have that dream most will go through their life trying to get there and then realise how much life has been wasted trying. The American economy works by keeping the population searching for the dream. Brits realise that we can't all be millionaires so do our best to have a balanced life. We definitely don't just sit back and accept our lot. We just don't dream.
American comedy is manufactured where British comedy is based on real life situations with artistic licence.
There’s the American remake of One Foot in the Grave with, er, Bill Cosby 😬 in the original theres a scene were a tortoise burns to death in a garden leaf burning session. In the American remake the tortoise escaped its terrible doom. A pretty good microcosm of the difference i think
Here's something they (and presumably you) didn't know, Whose Line Is It Anyway? started as a radio show on BBC Radio 4 here in Britain before being taken up by (our UK) Channel Four TV channel.
And then it migrated to the US.
Stressed Eric and Monkey Dust are two British cartoon comedies i can think of. Both very dark.
Loved stressed Eric!
Writers’ rooms only really exist for panel shows and things like that, Russell Howard’s Good News too, the only British sitcom to really use a writers room was My Family and it was of patchy quality
Rising Damp, Steptoe and Son, Porridge.
3:03 it’s like watching inception lol 😂
It isn't at all so simple that we British supposedly think, 'Whatever lot in life you were born into, that's just how it is.' In fact I think that our entire history indicates a willingness to prepare thoroughly... and then learn from things that we hadn't originally known about.
We tend to believe that hard work for good reasons is LIKELY to be rewarded with positive results... but really might go terribly wrong at any moment for reasons that one cannot possibly have anticipated... so you get up and go round again, having learned something useful.
Some segments of American culture (at least as portrayed abroad) seem still to enshrine an idea of 'manifest destiny', meaning that it is just OBVIOUS that energetic American optimism (however dumb or blinkered) will naturally result in 'success' by some definition or other. Not everybody goes along with that line of thinking, even within the USA... but of course it still influences worldwide perception of American culture.
james acaster is funny as hell really funny on would i lie to you worth a watch
Saying they came from Oxford less these days is wrong unless this video is from the turn of the century. UK entertainment reverted to being full of toffs after a brief blip in the 90s and 00s because unemployment benefits became unlivable and they don't have the cushion to work on their craft anymore, plus the BBC became far more institutionally Tory after the 08 crash.
Who's line =British. Created by Dan Patterson.
I’m English, can quote every episode of only fools word for word, BUT curb your enthusiasm is on my favourite ever comedy series Larry David is hilarious, I started watching it years ago when it was only on HBO and would download the eps from Pirate bay 😂 same as arrested development, which was also good, but curb is so so good, Ricky gervais is even in an episode
Love the US Office but it does feel very discounted
The US Office is a sitcom where a documentary crew are ostensibly making a documentary, but often all the logic of that is thrown out the window and it just informs the visual language - but it’s still lit like a sitcom.
With the UK Office you’re watching the documentary about what is supposed to be a real office, where the behaviour of the people is influenced by the presence of a documentary crew
Animated comedy in the US was traditionally closer to British comedy stylistically but there’s so much of it now it’s harder to make that comparison
Isn’t britains the thin blue line kinda like americas Brooklyn nine nine
Can you react to Evan Edinger’s video on weird school subjects and clubs.
I'm Scottish. I'd grown up hearing all about how unfunny American stuff is.
But some of the funniest shows are It's Always Sunny, Curb, Seinfeld, I Think You Should Leave, Tim & Eric, Eric Andre. All hilarious. But they're generally more cynical in nature.
Then I watched some SNL sketches and I immediately understood why people said American studf isn't funny.
if you want to watch british panel shows, 'would I lie to you' is a great place start
But avoid the American version.
If three remakes were made, it’s also true that two were made.
As for 'writers rooms' ... that is kind of true, but it depends on the show. There are many British comedy shows going back a long way that employed multiple joke writers, usually sketch shows and stuff. The Day Today, Brasseye, The Fast Show, Big Train, Spitting Image and so on all employed large teams of joke writers. However, sitcom style comedy was usually left to one or 2 writers only. That said, Blackadder was written by Ben Elton, Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson but it is well known that, as it was a series full of talented comedy actors, they would have a roundtable involving much of the cast who effectively adapted the scripts or occasionally rewrote them in order to make them funnier.
I agree, but I think the difference is that although there were groups of comedians that worked together on a show, like Not The 9 O'Clock News or The Fast Show, even Monty Python these were groups of comedians that all knew each other and put forward the show, and if one or two of them left or moved on the show finished. Whereas in the US I got the feeling there was a core concept and then they brought in the best comedy writers to work on it, probably because if it became a hit and one of the writers moved on he could be replaced without really impacting the show. I'm sure there are cases on either side of the Atlantic where it worked the other way, especially in the UK more recently, but I think generally this is how it is.
If you want the UK's Brooklyn 99, try 'The Thin Blue Line' with Rowan Atkinson. Well funny in the 90's. I bet Simon Pegg watched it ;-)
I think some American comedy is quite smart and I do like it but one thing I notice is that in American comedy the live audience whoop and applause for nearly every joke even if they’re not that funny whereas Uk Sitcoms audiences appreciate the jokes as they are and really show their enthusiasm for the classic moments such as Only Fools and Horses ‘chandelier crash’ , ‘ Batman and Robin’ and ‘The bar scene’
I think also American humour is a bit censored especially in something like Whose line US where they bleep words that UK audiences wouldn’t bat an eyelash at.
gary shandling show was best us show i seen
My first UK Sitcom=1961 from my 70 years in London.
I liked GS and Ally McBeal=Comedy/Drama. Love Groucho Marx's wit but the only 3 I REALLY like were 3/Phil Silvers in 144 of Sgt Bilko(though dated now) from THe Late 1950s but often repeated. JOINT FIRST Curn Your Enthusiasm: Larry David(Co-Writer of Seinfeld) and VEEP(All 12 (?) Series.
Hated smart-ass Jerry Seinfeld, ironically.
Basildon is a town in Essex "BasVegas" is an ironic name, Essex is a city in England
Essex isn't a city. it's a county. Places like Basildon are in Essex.
@@chadUCSD yeah your right, my bad
I loved Seinfeld and I'm British.
Seinfeld is stupid.
It's based on ignorance
UK animated comedies:
2DTV
Monkeydust
Bob and Margaret
I Am Not an Animal
Stressed Eric
Rex the Runt
Crapston Villas
Modern Toss
Full English
There was definitely more about in the nineties/naughties, it seems.
There was other stuff that would generally be released on VHS and rarely (if ever) aired on the telly (Viz etc.)
I was surprised to learn Andy Parsons went to Cambridge. I knew about a lot of the post-Oxbridge comedians, but I wouldn't have picked Andy as one of them.
Have I Got News for You - 1990 ‧ News ‧ 65 seasons
Never seen these fellas before, but I liked them. Gonna check out their channel. Being a Brit, culturally I enjoy British humour more on the whole. But US comedy that I love is My Name Is Earl, Family Guy, Bill Hicks, Dennis Leary and of course Soap. Friends didn't work for me, but Big Bang Theory really did. As for British comedy. Red Dwarf, Garth Marenghi, Black Adder, The Day Today, Brass Eye, Jam, The League of Gentlemen, The Mighty Boosh, Bottom, The Young Ones, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, and anything by Ricky Gervais. Gervais is a masterful writer who can genuinely make you cry with laughter in one scene, and make you just cry in the next. And as a Brit, we embrace Cringe, so I will be checking out The Curse. P.S. Why do all Americans, (Yes, including you!) always do an impression of Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins when they do a British accent. Not one single person in the whole of The UK speaks like that! And, how long did you rehearse the ending? 😆Thanks again for a great video Mucka!