+TheBattery AppleTrees Of course they don't it's past intellectual into the realms of surreal and nonsense, USA are still trying to grapple with intellect.
Hokku Hokku Contradicts himself from previously saying "I bet if I got it, it would have been really funny". 4 people aren't representative of all America though and however critical they were are at the end, watching it back, they laugh a fair bit #denial
Hokku Hokku You re so right. You see at the end, that the British comedy was so foreign to their mindset that they simly could not understand any of it. They were so literal-minded that they didn t realise that what described as "hammy" was intentional. That old clicé of the Americans not getting irony seems to be totally appropriate here.
The whole Vic & Bob thing was two grown men mucking about in public. The genius of Shooting Stars was having celebrities on for a quiz show, and then having a nonsensical quiz it was impossible to win, and completely upstaging the guests. So it was a joke against celebrity culture, in which if you came on, you were accepting being ridiculed and sidelined instead of celebrated. So, the clue was in the name.
Im English and it was one of my favourite comedy shows in my 20s. Its so nice an American has all the episodes. Shows some if you over the pond do get our humour.
yeah so now you've worked out that it's a joke taking the piss out of it self and normal british quiz shows you can see the funny side of it, but I can see how alot of people in USA might not get it if they take it seriously, even some English people still don't understand/get shooting stars, I didn't at first but once i did i thought it was hilarious as it's just supposed to be this ridiculous mocking of old fashioned british quiz shows and a big silly joke!
mc finn I have to admit that I didn't get it when I first started watching it many years ago and I'm English. I thought it was silly and then I realised it was genius. My favourite part was when they made a joke and there was an eerie silence. Took me a while to appreciate that.
"I get it, but I'm not laughing." Na, bud, you didn't get it at all which we saw when you thought he was doing a joke about penises when he was actually performing his Courting Dance to Sara Cox.
Amazing that they didn't realise Vic and Bob are not being serious about any of the entire show, that they misread them is bizarre to me. I was about 11 when I saw this first and I got it.
Reminds me of when I watched Big Night Out with some American visitors. They just rocked back and forth muttering, "but it's slapstick" over and over while we howled with laughter about painting the underside of a high wolf with a long stick.
I knew this would infuriate me! The whole problem is when people try to 'get it'. It's supposed to be silly and it's funny. But too many people need things to make sense in order to laugh. How boring!
Yeah I remember being at uni and some student girl kept saying how it's not funny because it doesn't make sense. Some people can only laugh at very straightforward, obvious and self conscious humour without seeing the absurdity of things and finding it hilarious which Vic and Bob do fantastically well.
omfg, I was just watching a different video about American vs British comedy and British people were saying that American comedy was "too silly" and "not witty enough" but then this happens... ugh I'm so confused
+Lily R I'm not really sure what those people meant by American comedy being "too silly", considering the fact that British comedy can be very silly; famous examples being things like Monty Python and Blackadder.
Vic and Bob went to Montreal to do a big theatre, recording for the televised stand up show called Just For Laughs. Most of the act was Vic singing a song about a roll of carpet. It went so badly, that on the way home they renamed it "Just Four Laughs" and decided not to return to North America to perform comedy ever again 😂
As a British American with an American wife, I can say that trying to explain Vic and Bob's anything goes comedy to her would be like a quantum physics professor explaining string theory to the average joe
"Is that CG?" "No, its a bird on a string..." At that point you realize their reactions would've been exactly the same if the show they were watching was Groucho Marx' "You Bet Your Life" from US TV in the '50s-'60s...
A few years back I made my Canadian girlfriend (now my wife, Dave) watch the Papa Lazarou episode. She literally had no idea what was going on, but at least now says "Hello Dave!" a lot
This is how I feel when I watch an American sitcom and I hear endless references to Gilligan's Island, Hogan's Heroes, The Jeffersons, The Honeymooners, Barney Fife and other ancient shows I know nothing about!
Like the windmills of your mind song: Badger with an afro throwing sparklers at the pope. And a family of foxes glowering at some soap. A piece of nazi nougat walking down the avenue, and a Tudor vacuum cleaner saying how do you do?
It was best when there would be an American celeb guest on Shooting Stars and they would just sit there bemused by it all with no idea what was happening around them
Yea, that silly cow that thought Vic was being creepy with his 'sexy' routine ... "he's just picking on her because she's a woman" ... oh fuck, how stupid can you get?
And, to be fair, the fun of the show is it's a series where similar things happen every week. Iranu and Uvavo. Dove from above. Vic rubbing his knees in a lecherous way at the pretty girl who is always in the same place. Then each week they tinker and toy with that structure. They all wouldn't get it from one sitting.
Shooting Stars is absolutely brilliant. The reaction of these 4 Americans had a little difficulty with it clearly illustrates the fact of 'two countries are separated, by a common language'. Not sure if they understand the concept of surreal humour either?
I think we Brits find absurdity and subtlety funnier than our friends across the pond. There are loads of American comedy shows that we love, but I don't think they 'get' shows like Shooting Stars, Father Ted, Peep Show, etc. Maybe I'm wrong?
*except but still his point is valid. The humour in Father Ted and Peep Show for example is very similar. Especially characters like Dougal and Jeremy.
They do have some great stuff and more so recently, Tim and Eric of course very much took the ball from Serafinowicz and of course they produce the Eric Andre Show which is quite oddly similar to shooting stars, if it were done 20 years later by a cool American molato kid. But no where near the bredth or depth of absurd comedy, we love giving new acts a tiny budget to prove themself, more so the likes of the league boys,klang, limmy etc they would never get an auteur series stateside!
+Matt Campbell Yeah same, I was pretty much raised on Vic & Bob, The Young Ones, Harry Enfield etc. They'd think I was a freak with some of the shit I come out with.
I reckon there would probably be some people for you there. They can't all be this drab and Buzzfeed culture column. Loads of Americans are obsessed with obscure British comedy, just listen to the Nerdist podcast.
2:14 - That seat on the panel would always be filled by an attractive female celebrity. Vic Reeves would at some point in the show hit on them in the manner shown. Some of them would "get" the show and play along, some of them would sit there with a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp. Also Ulrika Johnson (weathergirl and then later a presenter - the lady complaining about her buzzer not working) who was one of the *team captains* apparently did not know the show was a parody of a game show until about season 3 - in the early seasons she would be ultra-competitive and try and argue with the surreal questions/answers. The other team captain and show regular was Mark Lamarr (TV and radio presenter) and his schtick was for the most part to look completely fed up and dis-interested. The hosts would regularly lay into him for his 1950s-style hair.
I'm so glad I recorded quite a few earlier season episodes of Shooting Stars to VHS back in the day and now saved digitally. Some episodes will never ever screened again on TV because of controversial stars of today they naively had on the show back then.
Shooting Start, a dove from above ..... even English people have struggled to get this, as it's so weird!! I see it live once at the Brighton centre. Ouvavu!!! Brilliant... genius comedy duo these two.
+Clare Lindley I think they should be given a premise of the show in maybe 15 words or less. Alan Partridge - self-absorbed local radio presenter. Young Ones - student house share in early 80s. League of Gentlemen - where do you begin?
No surprise that the better American comedians / writers / creators were fans of British comedy , Trey Parker & Matt Stone are very British influenced , we do satire very well !!
its a new and stupid generation, sorry America but there are just too many americans that could be intelligent but lack some basic common sense. In this case looking for meaning where the only meaning of the show was its one purpose to make fun of the celebrity guests and be completely random and surreal with the humor, i loved it.
It's weird how their comments at the end contradict their reactions. They laugh at it then try and act all superior at the end. I do enjoy their response to Vic in the roundabout. But their overly PC response to some of Vic and Bob's antics was so ridiculous.
For the past 24 years, my mother and I have been calling each other up, and instead of saying 'hello?' one of us will say 'ovavo' and the other will have to reply 'iranu'. My mum is 71 next month and we're still doing this.
You just earned a subscriber! Please keep these coming. I'd suggest more shows like this that would shock and/or baffle Americans. Brass Eye, The Day Today, The Mighty Boosh, The League of Gentlemen etc. Anything dark or surreal. They don't have that kind of thing, right?
So Americans still don't get sarcasm. I like the bit when she says "So how many of these people are famous?... All of them!?" Yeah, there are people outside of California hun.
If you don't GET the show - you GOT it. It follows standard theme but in a mad way that usually doesn't make sense. 'The drummer' wore all types of outfits and just told the scores (that made no sense) in a totally silly way.
Oh fuck I remember this episode, in particular the leaving on a jet plane sketch and laughing so much my body went into spasms. This whole show was fucking immense.
@@neoboomboom Neil Hunt the Nonsense Potter is probably my favourite thing he's ever done. I was also skeptical about listening to it (and I love football) but now I listen to the same episodes twice. More people need to give it a go
Oh, they just don't get it, do they? A lot of American people don't get the very British eccentricities of a show like Shooting Stars - some do (and if you do, then thumbs up to you, my friend) but a lot don't.
they said they didn't get it. So why we're they laughing? To be honest though, it took me a while to get it. Some of the humour of it is surprisingly subtle such as the joke met by an eerie silence.
It's not that American's are "dumb", it's that subtle humour like this is so culturally specific, it does not translate. This is why they made an American version of The Office. Surreal humour especially uses extreme cultural nuances in juxtaposition for comic effect. For example, a grown man dressed as a baby, playing the drums, saying "Slag" is funny because of the cultural signifiers that each of those elements suggest. Their inability to exist within the same semiology creates a jarring juxtaposition and in turn, removes coherent context from them revealing their ridiculousness. This is where the humour comes from.
Well said sir! The cultural background is all, if it has to be explained what is funny about slipping a Caramac under a squirrel the thing is lost. Vic & Bob, thank you for the muesli xxx
The humour isn't rigidly culturallly specific - you can't take this specific reaction and assume the humour doesn't translate for other Americans. Rather, see your analysis as audience-specific. We shouldn't extrapolate beyond that. Watch the reaction to Shooting Stars from RUclipsrs 'Embrace the Suck'. Yes, there is a degree of cultural dissonance (but consider that many British audiences don't get Vic & Bob) however, the explanatory power of your theory cannot explain the Embrace the Suck reactors' guffawing. See Stuart Hall's Encoding/decoding model of Communication for some of the nuances to watch for when puzzling over TV audience interpretations of product.
@@cahillgreg I don't disagree with that at all. The groups by which specific humour resonates are much more complex than a simple binary US/UK etc. There are many factors to take into account beyond geographical location: generation, class, socioeconomic background, ethnicity, sexuality etc. All these factors change the life experience of a person and therefore what that person finds funny. There are even massive differences between seemingly quite similar people. For example, my Dad and I are fairly similar in class and political outlook. However, he finds Mrs. Brown's Boys hilariously funny, and I don't find it even mildly amusing. That being said, while each and every person has their own experiences and differences, there does tend to be trends in certain groups for a certain type of humour to resonate.
I remember teaching on a summer school in Oxford many years ago, and we had a lecture that included clips from The Young Ones. Now this was a multicultural audience and they all spoke very good English. Through my tears of laughter, I looked round at the others in the lecture. All of the British staff were doubled up. The foreign guests were just puzzled. Like these Americans, they wanted to get it, but it just didn't hit the funny bone. Go figure.
GingerInAsia that really wound me up too, the cheeky little fat tosser. He's probably never been out of America so knows nothing about anything apart from the brainwashing that America is best and they are the only 'free' country
@@freddyray6805Yup, then there was the mass slaughter of the indigenous population followed by the witch trials. Oh no wait that was the puritans, that's who America is descended from. Interestingly enough, the UK was having the renaissance at the same time. History is funny like that, so you might want to keep your points relevant and remove that chip on your shoulder. You might also wish to ask before you jump to a conclusion, since I was blatantly reffering to the musical 'British invasion' of the 60's.
It's not that alien is it? You wouldn't have a gaggle of Brits sat around a telly On 'British watching American TV: The Sopranos'. "Why am I watching an overweight middle aged man driving through jersey's industrial heartland? I don't get it!!!"-"Liam relax it's the title sequence"-"Why don't let you know it's the title sequence?"-"Wait are these guys gangsters? I'm so lost!"-"What does 'breaking balls' mean?".
no-one gets all of it that's the point. often the joke is purely in the absurdity of it... just like monty python. if you claim to 'get' it all then chances are you're probably a liar
Ben Mayhew - Interesting logic. Brexit voters voted to try and keep Britain as British as possible, by believing that Britain is strong enough to survive outside the E.U., that we can govern ourselves better than the unelected tyrannical heads of a an undemocratic overlord. Brexit voters have more faith in the British people and our way of life, but they don't get British humour? Care to explain?
Oh come on, as if anyone would "get it" being shown it once... most viewers in the UK would have seen other things from these two, so would be able to set it in some context.
I got it, im american, just not a twat, see these idiots dont get it because they dont think that such shows are worth spoofing because such shows is partly where they get their liberal propaganda. they love panel shows and take them VERY seriously, totally oblivious to the persuasion system being employed on them. but, they know everything and we're so dumb and trump is hitler yada yada yada.
They were laughing but when they commented it was just sad, they focused in on the pleased with themselves fist pump like it was a main part of the series, they possibly never do that again, one of them recognised Stephen Fry and Doc Martin (Martin Clunes) then asked if the guests were famous, but if there were American celebs like Belinda Carlisle (who did the show) bet they wouldn't know her either, it was kind of ignorant,show them the episode with the sketch of the incredible hulk going into a bakery in Sheffield.
This goes back to their days when they met upstairs in a pub and ran a comedy show with mates, just being themselves and not letting anything blur their lines of enthusiasm. They do this primarily for their own entertainment. The prefabricated written humour for financial gain is all well and good, but doesn't stand the test of time. These pair quite rightly appear odd ball..Britain is odd ball lol. They script write, but not for audience laughs
America in the 80 is like UK in the 90's? what comedy planet do you live on. The UK has been head and shoulders in front of the US in regards to comedy since its invention. The american comedy box office is full of racist and fat/mom jokes. aha. America 1400's - UK 1500's, oh wait, you didn't exist then.
The Americans on the panel weren't trying. They were just boring and smug about themselves instead of trying to go along and understand what was happening on the show.
Bob Mortimer is actually a trained lawyer. Years back Pulp's Jarvis Cocker & another guy had enough of an over the top, sugar slush performance by Michael Jackson during an awards ceremony & decided to storm the stage basically taking the piss out of Jackson & the whole ridiculous production. This didn't go down very well with Jackson's team & in particular his lawyers who threatened to instantly sue the pair. As Cocker was being held backstage with the possible realisation of the consequences of upsetting a multimillionaire Pop machine sinking in who should spring in screaming - *"I will help you out!"* but... Bob Mortimer who was also at the show. Apparently Cocker, who only knew Bob from this, just put his head in his hands & cried!
I love this Americans Watch Stuff idea. And also i like that the comedy kind of translates.. BUT! In order for you to really really get the show. You need to be brought up on a diet of Eric Bristow playing darts, Wolf on Gladiators, and just Ulrika-ka-ka Johnson by herself, her being on the show makes no sense. And yet makes loads of sense. And also the Mark Lamarr and Johnny Vegas being team captains is just fantastic.
Shooting Stars was a send up of every British game show going back to the 1960s. "I really want to see those fingers", was a catch phrase of Hughie Green, and Vic's poses refer to another Hughie Green show, "Opportunity Knocks" which once featured a gold painted muscle man who did bodily contortions to the same tune. Bizarrely I recall Green pointed out the dangerous nature of the act because he was "painted gold" (!?). Vic and Bob's comedy had lots of references and in jokes, from Laurel and Hardy to Tom and Jerry to French surrealism, with Vic playing the lounge lizard host to which female guests feigned attraction. Shooting Stars showed, if anyone was in doubt, that 1960s and 70s TV was full of pathological maniacs presented as normal by the novelty of television. Most of the British viewers and guests wouldn't have got the in-jokes, so the American public would have no chance. A man rubbing his thighs in front of an attractive woman would only seem hilarious to anyone steeped in British culture. For anyone else it would result in a call to the police and protests outside the studio.
It's freakin awesome, this is one of my favorite shows of all time! I love the randomness of it. Americans have to have everything spelled out for them.. They don't get sarcasm or quirkiness much. Plus they talk way slower than Brits, I think they need easy to follow scripted humour. The shooting stars river dance is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Vic, Bob, Ulrika & Mark are legends!! :-)
So you'd just be sort of fidgeting violently as you try to jump off a cliff while tied to a tree that's either rooted in the ground or way to fucking heavy to jump off the cliff with.
MAXimus LAWLESSnessTM . You may be entitled to an award! Did you ever take Payment Protection Insurance? Call us now on 0800 789 789 for an instant result.
I'll never forget when I first arrived in the US, telling a table full of Americans in a bar on the Cape the joke about the guy who gets three wishes and for his last wish he says he wants half his head to turn into a big fucking orange. Total crickets as I cried with laughter. Very awkward. I knew then I had to be a little more "literal" and "conventional" with my humor in future.
+lesterpiglet1 No, he said "it looks like 80s America which is 90s Britain". So he thinks Britain looked a decade behind. But I find even today if you watch an American gameshow it's so cheesy it looks like something from the 90s.
+datheman3780 He assumed that the dated, gaudy, cheesy look of it was what all British TV looked like in the 90s, when actually it was deliberate. His ignorance in other words. But no surprise that Americans didn't get Vic & Bob - quite a lot of English people don't get them either!
Made the mistake of listening to this on headphones. The difference in volume between the show and the Americans just about sliced the top of my head off.
To the Jonah Hill lookalike, you don't get it, that's why you're not laughing. One of the prime things that Americans don't get is the joy of the mundane, which is why they'll never get Alan Partridge.
To be fair we all had the same reaction when this first came on but then we'd had at least 10 years to get used to R&M before this show. It's a weird one to watch without context 😄
"I don't think people in the U.S like feeling dumb"
Well that's awkward.
It's true, they don't. That's why most of their humour is mocking other people. Where as British humour mocks themselves.
***** Yeah, i saw that as well.
anton101101 hilarious! :D
350 million of them.
ahahahahaha
So good of Jonah Hill to take time out of his schedule to watch some Shooting Stars...
Too bad he missed his soylent enema. :D
That's not Jonah Hill. He's not enough of a cxnt to be in a reaction video.
How do Americans get through life being so literal about everything?
It's why America has a space program, Marmite Breath. ;-P
Holdenon3 No, Nazi scientists are why you have a space program..
That's funny Pencilpauli. It shouldn't be, but it is.
And they need to make sense of absolutely everything, which means there's no chance they'll get Vic & Bob
+SnoodyMcFlude I dunno, Monty Python ended up being popular. Maybe a little more exposure could do the trick.
"I get it...."
No, mate .... You don't get it .... Not even close.
+TheFashionbugs - ahhhh, poor you, bristling over a random comment on the internet. Have a hug, you sad little gobshite.
+TheBattery AppleTrees Of course they don't it's past intellectual into the realms of surreal and nonsense, USA are still trying to grapple with intellect.
Mate this comment is exactly how I felt, what an utter yank spastic he was!
Hokku Hokku Contradicts himself from previously saying "I bet if I got it, it would have been really funny". 4 people aren't representative of all America though and however critical they were are at the end, watching it back, they laugh a fair bit #denial
Hokku Hokku
You re so right. You see at the end, that the British comedy was so foreign to their mindset that they simly could not understand any of it. They were so literal-minded that they didn t realise that what described as "hammy" was intentional. That old clicé of the Americans not getting irony seems to be totally appropriate here.
The whole Vic & Bob thing was two grown men mucking about in public. The genius of Shooting Stars was having celebrities on for a quiz show, and then having a nonsensical quiz it was impossible to win, and completely upstaging the guests. So it was a joke against celebrity culture, in which if you came on, you were accepting being ridiculed and sidelined instead of celebrated. So, the clue was in the name.
Spot on!
+Patrick Holt bang on there mate.
+Glenn Johnson British people didn't need it explained to them.
John Cornell hell fucking yes!
+John Cornell How I Met Your Mother must be the least funny thing I have ever seen on TV.
I'm a California native and I LOVE this show! I have every episode.
Also, Shooting Stars ran for eight seasons, not six.
Glad to see Vic & Bob are appreciated in the America somewhere!
Eranu! Have you got the pilot episode?
ruclips.net/video/3uuF-D9PWlM/видео.html
Im English and it was one of my favourite comedy shows in my 20s. Its so nice an American has all the episodes. Shows some if you over the pond do get our humour.
yeah so now you've worked out that it's a joke taking the piss out of it self and normal british quiz shows you can see the funny side of it, but I can see how alot of people in USA might not get it if they take it seriously, even some English people still don't understand/get shooting stars, I didn't at first but once i did i thought it was hilarious as it's just supposed to be this ridiculous mocking of old fashioned british quiz shows and a big silly joke!
So to recap, none of them even remotely got it.
cmomofilm and yet they were laughing.
mc finn I have to admit that I didn't get it when I first started watching it many years ago and I'm English. I thought it was silly and then I realised it was genius. My favourite part was when they made a joke and there was an eerie silence. Took me a while to appreciate that.
What Is there to get its crap.
@@MrsBobby-gy5of you joyless soul
They just couldn't get that it's crazy and ridiculous. That's why it's funny!
"I get it, but I'm not laughing."
Na, bud, you didn't get it at all which we saw when you thought he was doing a joke about penises when he was actually performing his Courting Dance to Sara Cox.
"In her defence... why doesn't her buzzer work?"
Well that would be the joke wouldn't it?
Kill me.
My favourite moment, is the dove from above. "is that cgi?" No mate this is a BBC show, with a BBC budget.
Amazing that they didn't realise Vic and Bob are not being serious about any of the entire show, that they misread them is bizarre to me. I was about 11 when I saw this first and I got it.
"When the time is up, you'll hear this noise!"
"SLAG!"
XD
Get them to watch a Brass Eye episode
+10100 11010 Then let's compromise and get them to watch The Day Today!
+eddie lasowsky get them to watch buzzcocks and frankie boyle
+eddie lasowsky brilliant!
+Kenobi43 hj haha
That'd be interesting . What about Nathan Barley?
Reminds me of when I watched Big Night Out with some American visitors. They just rocked back and forth muttering, "but it's slapstick" over and over while we howled with laughter about painting the underside of a high wolf with a long stick.
They didn't even get Ulrika shouting about the buzzer, they thought she was actually angry.
Good post. I was in the live audience of Shooting Stars when Larry Hagman appeared on the panel. I have never seen a celebrity so bewildered. Funny.
I knew this would infuriate me! The whole problem is when people try to 'get it'. It's supposed to be silly and it's funny. But too many people need things to make sense in order to laugh. How boring!
Yeah I remember being at uni and some student girl kept saying how it's not funny because it doesn't make sense. Some people can only laugh at very straightforward, obvious and self conscious humour without seeing the absurdity of things and finding it hilarious which Vic and Bob do fantastically well.
omfg, I was just watching a different video about American vs British comedy and British people were saying that American comedy was "too silly" and "not witty enough" but then this happens... ugh I'm so confused
+Lily R I'm not really sure what those people meant by American comedy being "too silly", considering the fact that British comedy can be very silly; famous examples being things like Monty Python and Blackadder.
*****
Ha,ha Yes..and George Doors "PEANUTS!!!" :))
*****
Please, please if you do that send me a copy to my channel. I would contribute a dimebag style guitar solo for mixing :))
Vic and Bob went to Montreal to do a big theatre, recording for the televised stand up show called Just For Laughs. Most of the act was Vic singing a song about a roll of carpet. It went so badly, that on the way home they renamed it "Just Four Laughs" and decided not to return to North America to perform comedy ever again 😂
As a British American with an American wife, I can say that trying to explain Vic and Bob's anything goes comedy to her would be like a quantum physics professor explaining string theory to the average joe
@GarryH: A what? A British American, no mate, no! That's an oxymoron!
"Is that CG?"
"No, its a bird on a string..."
At that point you realize their reactions would've been exactly the same if the show they were watching was Groucho Marx' "You Bet Your Life" from US TV in the '50s-'60s...
Show them The League of Gentlemen! Preferably the episode with Papa Lazarou.
They'll have no idea what's going on.
'hello dave'
'You're my wife now.'
A few years back I made my Canadian girlfriend (now my wife, Dave) watch the Papa Lazarou episode. She literally had no idea what was going on, but at least now says "Hello Dave!" a lot
I gave my friend a "Your my wife now" T-shirt to wear the morning after his wedding night. Fortunately his new wife didn't freak out too much!
We didn't burn him.
This is how I feel when I watch an American sitcom and I hear endless references to Gilligan's Island, Hogan's Heroes, The Jeffersons, The Honeymooners, Barney Fife and other ancient shows I know nothing about!
"So the giant glowing dove tells them categories?" "yes that is its prime function." absolutely priceless!
"0% of this makes sense".
At least she gets it...
Vic Reeves face and legs on the roundabout slayed me!
Classic lol
imagine if they watched smell of reeves and mortimer...
blow their tiny fucking minds
Wavy Davy and novelty island!
Uncle Peter: "Donkey!"
Like the windmills of your mind song: Badger with an afro throwing sparklers at the pope. And a family of foxes glowering at some soap. A piece of nazi nougat walking down the avenue, and a Tudor vacuum cleaner saying how do you do?
Masterchef! They'd need medical help!
Ye can't give a babeh booze!
I miss Shooting stars. It was a funny silly show where you could forget about the world for just a little while.
It was best when there would be an American celeb guest on Shooting Stars and they would just sit there bemused by it all with no idea what was happening around them
The episode with Larry Hagman was a marvellous example.
The episode with Larry Hagman is the only example. This only happened once.
@@DustyCustard yep, and he was totally lost!
I don't think they get that the show is a satirical parody of panel shows.
because they are so brainwashed by such shows that they think they are normal and not tedious propaganda
Yea, that silly cow that thought Vic was being creepy with his 'sexy' routine ... "he's just picking on her because she's a woman" ... oh fuck, how stupid can you get?
And, to be fair, the fun of the show is it's a series where similar things happen every week. Iranu and Uvavo. Dove from above. Vic rubbing his knees in a lecherous way at the pretty girl who is always in the same place. Then each week they tinker and toy with that structure. They all wouldn't get it from one sitting.
"They call a part of her body a Yorkshire Pudding?" You gotta love Americans - placed on this planet to make everyone else appear smarter.
Their total over the top attitude gives the rest of the world something to laugh at.
the biggest joke is shes from lancashire
America thinks Friends is funny, their sense of humour is fucking shit
@@steve40092 check out her Lancashire hotpots.
@@billybollockhead5628 extra spicy
Shooting Stars is absolutely brilliant. The reaction of these 4 Americans had a little difficulty with it clearly illustrates the fact of 'two countries are separated, by a common language'. Not sure if they understand the concept of surreal humour either?
I think we Brits find absurdity and subtlety funnier than our friends across the pond. There are loads of American comedy shows that we love, but I don't think they 'get' shows like Shooting Stars, Father Ted, Peep Show, etc. Maybe I'm wrong?
.... while accepting that father ted is an irish show from the minds of irish guys (of course paid for and broadcast originally by british tv)
*except but still his point is valid. The humour in Father Ted and Peep Show for example is very similar. Especially characters like Dougal and Jeremy.
They do have some great stuff and more so recently, Tim and Eric of course very much took the ball from Serafinowicz and of course they produce the Eric Andre Show which is quite oddly similar to shooting stars, if it were done 20 years later by a cool American molato kid. But no where near the bredth or depth of absurd comedy, we love giving new acts a tiny budget to prove themself, more so the likes of the league boys,klang, limmy etc they would never get an auteur series stateside!
They might get Father Ted as it rips the shit out of religion and there are lots from the old country over the pond
if you dont think peep is genius (even if you hate the politics) then you're just daft, im american
I've always wanted to live in America. Now I'm pretty sure they wouldn't get me
+Matt Campbell Yeah same, I was pretty much raised on Vic & Bob, The Young Ones, Harry Enfield etc. They'd think I was a freak with some of the shit I come out with.
I reckon there would probably be some people for you there. They can't all be this drab and Buzzfeed culture column. Loads of Americans are obsessed with obscure British comedy, just listen to the Nerdist podcast.
Same
They've got more accurate sights now...
2:14 - That seat on the panel would always be filled by an attractive female celebrity. Vic Reeves would at some point in the show hit on them in the manner shown. Some of them would "get" the show and play along, some of them would sit there with a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp.
Also Ulrika Johnson (weathergirl and then later a presenter - the lady complaining about her buzzer not working) who was one of the *team captains* apparently did not know the show was a parody of a game show until about season 3 - in the early seasons she would be ultra-competitive and try and argue with the surreal questions/answers.
The other team captain and show regular was Mark Lamarr (TV and radio presenter) and his schtick was for the most part to look completely fed up and dis-interested. The hosts would regularly lay into him for his 1950s-style hair.
I'm so glad I recorded quite a few earlier season episodes of Shooting Stars to VHS back in the day and now saved digitally. Some episodes will never ever screened again on TV because of controversial stars of today they naively had on the show back then.
+KittehHawk
I could easily do so. but youtube would eventually strike me with copyright issues so I can't upload them.
Ooh...I think I have too now you mention it! Somewhere...
Shooting Start, a dove from above ..... even English people have struggled to get this, as it's so weird!!
I see it live once at the Brighton centre.
Ouvavu!!!
Brilliant... genius comedy duo these two.
Americans make me so sad.
So much "I dont get it..."
Anyone would freak out watching them for the first time!
Takes a while to realise they are the reigning geniuses of British comedy.
Alan Partridge, Bottom, The Young Ones, Brass Eye, Peep Show, Nighty Night, The League of Gentlemen!
+Clare Lindley just did bottom ruclips.net/video/yd_JNdv8esY/видео.html
Awww yes!
+Matthew Thomas I'd love you to show them Peep Show. I'd really like to see how that kind of humour translates to Americans.
+Clare Lindley I think they should be given a premise of the show in maybe 15 words or less. Alan Partridge - self-absorbed local radio presenter. Young Ones - student house share in early 80s. League of Gentlemen - where do you begin?
Top drawer selection there! I doff my cap to you!
No surprise that the better American comedians / writers / creators were fans of British comedy , Trey Parker & Matt Stone are very British influenced , we do satire very well !!
How can they make films like Airplane but at the same time fundamentally not understand were the comedy is in shooting stars.
+Max Pheby I agree. Airplane is amazing well before its time.
Max Pheby
Don't forget naked gun that was quality lol
its a new and stupid generation, sorry America but there are just too many americans that could be intelligent but lack some basic common sense.
In this case looking for meaning where the only meaning of the show was its one purpose to make fun of the celebrity guests and be completely random and surreal with the humor, i loved it.
basically i wanted to say kids these days do not get satire and yet pretend they get it "i get it"
Police squad was awesome
It's weird how their comments at the end contradict their reactions. They laugh at it then try and act all superior at the end.
I do enjoy their response to Vic in the roundabout. But their overly PC response to some of Vic and Bob's antics was so ridiculous.
The 'Ham' is part of the joke. They are unsure if the jokes are jokes!! Its all a joke...that's the joke!
+Spencer De I think they are all dimebars.........
I get it
Thank god I was born in England so I get vic and bob’s genius. 😆
So, in 1992 I sold Vic's mam double glazing
ooo varvoo
iranu
For the past 24 years, my mother and I have been calling each other up, and instead of saying 'hello?' one of us will say 'ovavo' and the other will have to reply 'iranu'. My mum is 71 next month and we're still doing this.
I often carry a big stick with something hidden under it.
You lying get.
You just earned a subscriber! Please keep these coming. I'd suggest more shows like this that would shock and/or baffle Americans. Brass Eye, The Day Today, The Mighty Boosh, The League of Gentlemen etc. Anything dark or surreal. They don't have that kind of thing, right?
So Americans still don't get sarcasm.
I like the bit when she says "So how many of these people are famous?... All of them!?"
Yeah, there are people outside of California hun.
Also they knew Clunes and Fry, do they think they just put random celebrities with random members of the public?
If you don't GET the show - you GOT it. It follows standard theme but in a mad way that usually doesn't make sense. 'The drummer' wore all types of outfits and just told the scores (that made no sense) in a totally silly way.
How can people not laugh at the funniest thing to have ever been on TV!!
Oh fuck I remember this episode, in particular the leaving on a jet plane sketch and laughing so much my body went into spasms. This whole show was fucking immense.
Vic and Bob are my comedy heroes :) I have watched everything they have done since big night out. Legends.
I hope you've checked out Athletico Mince, arguably Bob's best work ever.
@@MrBaronCabron got it on my Spotify, wasn't sure about it because I'm not massively into football but I'm so glad I started listening to it
@@neoboomboom Neil Hunt the Nonsense Potter is probably my favourite thing he's ever done. I was also skeptical about listening to it (and I love football) but now I listen to the same episodes twice. More people need to give it a go
They don't realise that it is a parody of regular game shows! :)
Oh, they just don't get it, do they? A lot of American people don't get the very British eccentricities of a show like Shooting Stars - some do (and if you do, then thumbs up to you, my friend) but a lot don't.
they said they didn't get it. So why we're they laughing? To be honest though, it took me a while to get it. Some of the humour of it is surprisingly subtle such as the joke met by an eerie silence.
It's not that American's are "dumb", it's that subtle humour like this is so culturally specific, it does not translate. This is why they made an American version of The Office.
Surreal humour especially uses extreme cultural nuances in juxtaposition for comic effect. For example, a grown man dressed as a baby, playing the drums, saying "Slag" is funny because of the cultural signifiers that each of those elements suggest. Their inability to exist within the same semiology creates a jarring juxtaposition and in turn, removes coherent context from them revealing their ridiculousness. This is where the humour comes from.
Well said sir! The cultural background is all, if it has to be explained what is funny about slipping a Caramac under a squirrel the thing is lost. Vic & Bob, thank you for the muesli xxx
I hate unicorns
You are are David Brent...right, in real life, yer?
Time talk its not lol
The humour isn't rigidly culturallly specific - you can't take this specific reaction and assume the humour doesn't translate for other Americans.
Rather, see your analysis as audience-specific. We shouldn't extrapolate beyond that.
Watch the reaction to Shooting Stars from RUclipsrs 'Embrace the Suck'. Yes, there is a degree of cultural dissonance (but consider that many British audiences don't get Vic & Bob) however, the explanatory power of your theory cannot explain the Embrace the Suck reactors' guffawing.
See Stuart Hall's Encoding/decoding model of Communication for some of the nuances to watch for when puzzling over TV audience interpretations of product.
@@cahillgreg I don't disagree with that at all. The groups by which specific humour resonates are much more complex than a simple binary US/UK etc. There are many factors to take into account beyond geographical location: generation, class, socioeconomic background, ethnicity, sexuality etc. All these factors change the life experience of a person and therefore what that person finds funny.
There are even massive differences between seemingly quite similar people. For example, my Dad and I are fairly similar in class and political outlook. However, he finds Mrs. Brown's Boys hilariously funny, and I don't find it even mildly amusing.
That being said, while each and every person has their own experiences and differences, there does tend to be trends in certain groups for a certain type of humour to resonate.
I remember teaching on a summer school in Oxford many years ago, and we had a lecture that included clips from The Young Ones. Now this was a multicultural audience and they all spoke very good English. Through my tears of laughter, I looked round at the others in the lecture. All of the British staff were doubled up. The foreign guests were just puzzled. Like these Americans, they wanted to get it, but it just didn't hit the funny bone. Go figure.
The 90's was a fantastic time for British TV. I loved it, still do!
More of these I love seeing them try to comprehend english humour
'80's America, so 90s Britain'....Errr, is that why loads of shows on Adult Swim now looks like this? 10 years after the UK did this?
GingerInAsia that really wound me up too, the cheeky little fat tosser. He's probably never been out of America so knows nothing about anything apart from the brainwashing that America is best and they are the only 'free' country
I guess he's making the false assumption that America sets trends in Britain, he has probably never heard of the Beatles and the British Invasion.
@@brad_8711 and that small event called colonisation
@@freddyray6805Yup, then there was the mass slaughter of the indigenous population followed by the witch trials. Oh no wait that was the puritans, that's who America is descended from. Interestingly enough, the UK was having the renaissance at the same time. History is funny like that, so you might want to keep your points relevant and remove that chip on your shoulder. You might also wish to ask before you jump to a conclusion, since I was blatantly reffering to the musical 'British invasion' of the 60's.
Loved this!! Gotta do Brass Eye at some point...
'Is that CGI?' Lovely stuff.
It's not that alien is it? You wouldn't have a gaggle of Brits sat around a telly On 'British watching American TV: The Sopranos'. "Why am I watching an overweight middle aged man driving through jersey's industrial heartland? I don't get it!!!"-"Liam relax it's the title sequence"-"Why don't let you know it's the title sequence?"-"Wait are these guys gangsters? I'm so lost!"-"What does 'breaking balls' mean?".
Sopranoes was very popular in the UK. General US shows of good quality travel well.
I heard about Vic & Bob doing the Montreal comedy festival years ago & it not working at all because people just didn't get it.
It's ok. We don't get audiences screaming like kids when someone says "Jordan, you klutz. John caught his weiner in the faucett".
Bob Mortimer on "Would I lie to you" must surely get the yanks to laugh.
To be fair there are British people who don't 'get' Vic & Bob.
Exactly right
yeah,Brexit voters
Yeah, those who've had their funny bones forcefully removed.
no-one gets all of it that's the point. often the joke is purely in the absurdity of it... just like monty python. if you claim to 'get' it all then chances are you're probably a liar
Ben Mayhew - Interesting logic. Brexit voters voted to try and keep Britain as British as possible, by believing that Britain is strong enough to survive outside the E.U., that we can govern ourselves better than the unelected tyrannical heads of a an undemocratic overlord. Brexit voters have more faith in the British people and our way of life, but they don't get British humour? Care to explain?
Before I even watch this , I know the chance of any American understanding Shooting Stars is 0%
Oh come on, as if anyone would "get it" being shown it once... most viewers in the UK would have seen other things from these two, so would be able to set it in some context.
I got it, im american, just not a twat, see these idiots dont get it because they dont think that such shows are worth spoofing because such shows is partly where they get their liberal propaganda. they love panel shows and take them VERY seriously, totally oblivious to the persuasion system being employed on them. but, they know everything and we're so dumb and trump is hitler yada yada yada.
+Sew Me When an american uses the word "twat" correctly, theyre a special breed of american 😆
@@whiteeaglewarrior Trump supporter though 😰
It's not supposed to be slick, its supposed to look clunky. Plus Vic and Bobs self satisfaction is part of the joke!
Great idea. You should do more of this.
I'd suggest Alan Partridge.
+ElsieBoy new one just out ruclips.net/video/yd_JNdv8esY/видео.html
+ElsieBoy They really wouldn't get it at all. It's hard enough to get some of my mates to get into Partridge!
+Matthew Thomas
Do League of Gentlemen lol
HitManHey they would never understand that lol or psycho ville
Let's all call the dove from above coooo coooo! Absolutely epic programme.
They were laughing but when they commented it was just sad, they focused in on the pleased with themselves fist pump like it was a main part of the series, they possibly never do that again, one of them recognised Stephen Fry and Doc Martin (Martin Clunes) then asked if the guests were famous, but if there were American celebs like Belinda Carlisle (who did the show) bet they wouldn't know her either, it was kind of ignorant,show them the episode with the sketch of the incredible hulk going into a bakery in Sheffield.
This goes back to their days when they met upstairs in a pub and ran a comedy show with mates, just being themselves and not letting anything blur their lines of enthusiasm. They do this primarily for their own entertainment. The prefabricated written humour for financial gain is all well and good, but doesn't stand the test of time. These pair quite rightly appear odd ball..Britain is odd ball lol. They script write, but not for audience laughs
America in the 80 is like UK in the 90's? what comedy planet do you live on. The UK has been head and shoulders in front of the US in regards to comedy since its invention. The american comedy box office is full of racist and fat/mom jokes. aha.
America 1400's - UK 1500's, oh wait, you didn't exist then.
its like 4 robots programmed with windows 95 watching an advanced 20th dimensional Alien shitting on them
The Americans on the panel weren't trying. They were just boring and smug about themselves instead of trying to go along and understand what was happening on the show.
Bob Mortimer is actually a trained lawyer. Years back Pulp's Jarvis Cocker & another guy had enough of an over the top, sugar slush performance by Michael Jackson during an awards ceremony & decided to storm the stage basically taking the piss out of Jackson & the whole ridiculous production. This didn't go down very well with Jackson's team & in particular his lawyers who threatened to instantly sue the pair. As Cocker was being held backstage with the possible realisation of the consequences of upsetting a multimillionaire Pop machine sinking in who should spring in screaming - *"I will help you out!"* but... Bob Mortimer who was also at the show. Apparently Cocker, who only knew Bob from this, just put his head in his hands & cried!
Vic and Bob my comedy heroes I salute you.
This was amazing. Well done to all those involved,
I love this Americans Watch Stuff idea.
And also i like that the comedy kind of translates.. BUT! In order for you to really really get the show. You need to be brought up on a diet of Eric Bristow playing darts, Wolf on Gladiators, and just Ulrika-ka-ka Johnson by herself, her being on the show makes no sense. And yet makes loads of sense.
And also the Mark Lamarr and Johnny Vegas being team captains is just fantastic.
Last time I was in Vegas a taxi driver told me his favourite British comedy show was 'last of the summer wine'.
Would you make more of these?
+Rachelle Tregear I shot two more last week just editing them now. Expect something new in October. Anything you particularly want to see for future?
can't wait, i really enjoy these. do you mean tv show wise? if so then celebrity juice LOL
+Matthew Thomas Bottom! Make them watch Bottom! I wonder what they would make of comЯade Яichie's birthday.
or the royal family..(the tv series lol)
i have a lot of suggestions. maybe make them react to the inbetweeners
Shooting Stars was a send up of every British game show going back to the 1960s. "I really want to see those fingers", was a catch phrase of Hughie Green, and Vic's poses refer to another Hughie Green show, "Opportunity Knocks" which once featured a gold painted muscle man who did bodily contortions to the same tune. Bizarrely I recall Green pointed out the dangerous nature of the act because he was "painted gold" (!?).
Vic and Bob's comedy had lots of references and in jokes, from Laurel and Hardy to Tom and Jerry to French surrealism, with Vic playing the lounge lizard host to which female guests feigned attraction. Shooting Stars showed, if anyone was in doubt, that 1960s and 70s TV was full of pathological maniacs presented as normal by the novelty of television. Most of the British viewers and guests wouldn't have got the in-jokes, so the American public would have no chance. A man rubbing his thighs in front of an attractive woman would only seem hilarious to anyone steeped in British culture. For anyone else it would result in a call to the police and protests outside the studio.
When I need a laugh, I rewatch Harry saying “I get it”
It's freakin awesome, this is one of my favorite shows of all time! I love the randomness of it. Americans have to have everything spelled out for them.. They don't get sarcasm or quirkiness much. Plus they talk way slower than Brits, I think they need easy to follow scripted humour. The shooting stars river dance is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Vic, Bob, Ulrika & Mark are legends!! :-)
Tyler Fox tell me you are not British???!! You said- ('gulp') "freakin awesome" that's a huge Americanism! 😉
"Is that CG?" - jes man it's wasted on them
"Is that CG?"
Jesus wept. They're like fish trying to look outside their tank, gawping against glass.
Best comment 🏆
RIP Eric Bristow
This and TFI Friday were great 90s weekend TV. Used to watch them before heading out to the pub.
Their reactions wanna make me jump off a cliff while tied to a tree.
So you'd just be sort of fidgeting violently as you try to jump off a cliff while tied to a tree that's either rooted in the ground or way to fucking heavy to jump off the cliff with.
I wanna throw them off a cliff... no rope and no trees
"It would have been funny if I got it." There was nothing to get, just go with it
Aw, bless you Americans. So cute, innocent and culturally bankrupt. :* mwah :) x
When you go to comment on a video and find you already did, a year ago; and you said what you had to say. Thank you, me.
MAXimus LAWLESSnessTM . You may be entitled to an award! Did you ever take Payment Protection Insurance? Call us now on 0800 789 789 for an instant result.
Mᴀx Lᴀᴡʟᴇꜱꜱ want a hugh? XD
someone called them philistine s ! where's philistine?
I'll never forget when I first arrived in the US, telling a table full of Americans in a bar on the Cape the joke about the guy who gets three wishes and for his last wish he says he wants half his head to turn into a big fucking orange. Total crickets as I cried with laughter. Very awkward. I knew then I had to be a little more "literal" and "conventional" with my humor in future.
Dear Buzzfeed, if you want to entertain the internet get Americans to watch Brass Eye: Paedogeddon episode.
that would probably be gold,,, gun toting gold
I used to love this whacky show. Never missed an episode.
Good post.
The Americans would get it if they saw a few more episodes. They got Monty Python which is just as surreal.
Exactly!
I'd have said Python is even more surreal than this. Some of their sketches look like they were inspired by LSD...
+Chris Richards True, but they've had close to 50 years to get that particular show ;D)
did they? or did they just pretend to get it to avoid appearing weird?
Thankyou Atlantic Ocean
Funny what one guy said cuz when I see 90s America it reminds me of 80s UK.
I know, whenever I go to the U.S. it's like going back in time. Sometimes that is a good thing though.
+lesterpiglet1 No, he said "it looks like 80s America which is 90s Britain". So he thinks Britain looked a decade behind. But I find even today if you watch an American gameshow it's so cheesy it looks like something from the 90s.
+lesterpiglet1 Oh OK!
+datheman3780 He assumed that the dated, gaudy, cheesy look of it was what all British TV looked like in the 90s, when actually it was deliberate. His ignorance in other words. But no surprise that Americans didn't get Vic & Bob - quite a lot of English people don't get them either!
+creadcharles I know. wouldn't have been my first choice to show them British comedy.
Made the mistake of listening to this on headphones. The difference in volume between the show and the Americans just about sliced the top of my head off.
To the Jonah Hill lookalike, you don't get it, that's why you're not laughing. One of the prime things that Americans don't get is the joy of the mundane, which is why they'll never get Alan Partridge.
To be fair we all had the same reaction when this first came on but then we'd had at least 10 years to get used to R&M before this show. It's a weird one to watch without context 😄
True actually