American Humour is Terrible

[Polaris19]

So?

Excuse my bluntness but so?

If the jokes aren't intelligent then....what? They aren't jokes anymore or something? There are plenty of shows and movies made in America that have clever humor. And even the ones that don;t can be funny. Millions of people think Family Guy is funny, and they aren't that clever.

I also find it hilarious that you like South Park when that 'witty commentary' often devolves into poop and fart jokes. THAT is funny...

 

[Not-here-anymore]

Let me just leave this here, it explains my thoughts.

It depends what the limits are! If it's between 0 and 1/3*the cubed root of pi, all's good!
[/mathematical pedantry]

However, yeah, what that guy said. Just because some shows suck doesn't mean they all suck, and just because you think they're rubbish, doesn't mean other people do. Evidently some people like 2 1/2 Men, because they're still making it even without Charlie Sheen.

As for the ritual disembowelling of various British shows... Meh. Different cultural senses of humour. What's funny in the UK market may not be in the US (Perhaps because at least 80% of British humour involves America-bashing)

 

[EvilPicnic]

I don't necessarily agree with your broad statement (because 'Americans aren't funny' is a lazy stereotype, and just plain wrong) but I do agree that the majority of sitcoms that get churned out in the US are fucking awful.

In fact, other than the cartoons (cos South Park and Futurama are still hilarious), the only US sitcom I've recently enjoyed has been Community.

But all British sitcoms aren't stellar either, I mean Two Pints of Lager was utter shite.

So, swings and roundabouts, grass is greener etc. etc.

 

[guntotingtomcat]

It just isn't funny. Not because it isn't my sense of humour, but there is no intelligence to the jokes involved. America has scrounged genuinely good British TV series such as Shameless and The Office, and ruined them in an effort to bring them to the American market.

My point is American humour is unintelligent and boring to watch. It is juvenile, and I find it actually almost painful to see shows like Two and a Half Men doing well when they are so full of utter crap.

I believe what we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is an opinion. So called because it is unique to one individual. You can easily recognize an opinion, because when you see one you will get bored and angry, especially when someone tries to pass off their own personal feelings as fact.

Sorry if Two and a half Men isn't smart enough for you, but The Office and Shameless aren't all that high brow themselves.

Remember Sturgeon's law. It applies just as well to British comedy as it does to American comedy, and it all depends on personal taste.

What annoys me about you is the implicit suggestion that you are more intelligent and mature than anyone who enjoys the shows you don't. In fact, you remind me of the insecure child who tries to act mature in the playground to impress his friends.

 

[Pinkamena]

It is true that Two and a Half men is shit. And so is big bang theory. But there's also some fun stuff coming out of USA. I really like the daily sow, for example.

 

[SilentCom]

America has a lot of humor, it's part of our culture, however not everything is good or intelligent. Many sitcoms are horrible, which is why I don't watch them. I prefer dark humor and witty comments over most of the comedy programs in the U.S.

 

[Kargathia]

Ahhhh.... humour and tv shows. You're being really funny now, you know that?

Seriously, this is akin to declaring classical music "shitty" after listening to a 30kb/s phone recording of the school orchestra playing the 1812 march.

 

[surg3n]

I don't know why people are so down on Big Bang Theory, I find it very funny - in fact I defy anyone to watch the episode where Sheldon is in the ball pool and not at least smile.

I like Family Guy most of the time, and I used to be really into South Park. But that's about as far as my appreciation for US comedy goes. Titus got cancelled and that was damn funny, I kinda loose faith in American TV, because anything I get into gets cancelled after season 1. Either that or they go downhill, like My Name is Earl. Shows like How I met your mother just annoy me to the point where I've never made it through a whole episode.


The funniest show ever though is Trailer Park Boys. They need to bring that back, hold their families hostage if need be, threated to kill all cats and ban liquor - we need TPB. I know it's Canadian, and this thread is about US shows, but it does make you think about how tired TV is becoming. I can flick through 200 channels of fuck all every night of the week.

 

[weker]

but not all American humor is bad. Arrested Development, for example, is fucking hilarious.

Agree Arrested development is EPIC but in a place so large you can expect there to be some good comedy. I find that American Humor (as in the public not the writers and such) is not as advance as British humor, as brilliant shows like arrested development gets cancelled, meanwhile crap like Two and a Half Men and Everybody love Raymond live long and prosper.

Apart from that the tendency for American media to add pretty colors, digital graphics and be told what to think shows their demographic.

snip

I think you made your post see like too much of a generalization.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I agree, because one's ability to write witty humor inherently comes from their country of origin.

 

[Anaphyis]

My point is that the jokes involved are less intelligent than those in British shows. Go watch Peep Show. That is genius. Compare it to any widely viewed American comedy show. I'm not arguing which is subjectively better, I'm arguing that British comedy is more intelligent. Please read my post and understand it before replying.

1. What is "intelligent" in the context of a comedy show? Can it solve calculus problems? Maybe you should define your terms before throwing something ill-defined into the room and then condescend towards the very people who waste their time answering you.

2. Peep Show isn't "widely viewed", not by a long shot. Your argument is flawed, work on that before taking the piss out on others.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

Other people like American humor. It's called an opinion. You're not right, and neither are they.

My point is that the jokes involved are less intelligent than those in British shows. Go watch Peep Show. That is genius. Compare it to any widely viewed American comedy show. I'm not arguing which is subjectively better, I'm arguing that British comedy is more intelligent. Please read my post and understand it before replying.

Firstly, props on Peep Show it is indeed a very funny show as is The Thick of It which contains some of the same chief writers. Secondly, I am British and the xkcd comic holds a valuable point, you can't attribute the awful humor of something to it's nationality alone. Your problem seems to be with laugh-track sitcoms with predictable archetyple jokes that hammer on characters gimmick for an entire episode. Things in the vain of Friends, Fraiser, the aformentioned Big Bang Theory and so forth. The point is your hammering on a certain type of comedy show that we are not above making either (see the IT Crowd), while there are also plenty of American shows with a drier sense of humour such as Metalocalypse, Daria, Californication and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Furthermore, a comedy show being intelligent doesn't necessarily mean that it will be funny.

 

[AlAaraaf74]

1st, South Park's not Canadian.
2nd, the shows you mentioned are bad, but saying all American humor is bad is generalizing too much, like how my mom says that British humor is all dry.

Then again, there are a lot of bad shows on T.V. right now that shouldn't have been green lit...

 

[b3nn3tt]

There is plenty of unintelligent American comedy, but there is also a lot of unintelligent British comedy. There are also good examples of intelligent comedy on either end. I reckon that overall, the two are probably about even in terms of how intelligent the average is.

At the end of the day, no-one's forcing anyone to watch anything. You don't like a particular brand of comedy, don't watch it. Some people do like, and enjoy watching it. Leave them to it. One person's opinion on a TV show is equal to another's.

 

[Avaholic03]

South Park is not Canadian. Matt Stone and Tray Parker are from Colorado (where the show takes place). They just make fun of Canada from time to time.

Also, every country has some "stupid" humor. Can you honestly tell me that Jeremy Clarkson is intelligent humor? How about Russel Brand? Those guys are idiots, and their "stupid humor" is the only thing that makes them so popular. If shows want to be "smarter", they end up with a smaller audience because they alienate some of the viewers. Case in point: Friends was always more popular than Frasier.

 

[Look-a-Hill]

The best three comedy shows in my opinion to come out in the last 10 years are all American. Arrested Development, South Park and Curb Your Enthusiasm all all better than anything British comedy has produced since Brass Eye and I'm Alan Partridge.

 

[Woodsey]

Other people like American humor. It's called an opinion. You're not right, and neither are they.

My point is that the jokes involved are less intelligent than those in British shows. Go watch Peep Show. That is genius. Compare it to any widely viewed American comedy show. I'm not arguing which is subjectively better, I'm arguing that British comedy is more intelligent. Please read my post and understand it before replying.

Peep Show isn't widely viewed. At least, it wasn't for a very long time - not sure about now. And South Park's an American show.

 

[PeePantz]

My point is American humour is unintelligent and boring to watch. It is juvenile, and I find it actually almost painful to see shows like Two and a Half Men doing well when they are so full of utter crap.

For every Two and a Half men, there are shows such as Californication, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Bored to Death, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Archer. These shows blow the door off of South Park (American, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are both American) and Family guy. We can't help if you only are getting/watching shows that appeal to the lowest common denominator, but I could easily make a broad statement about English humor using a couple of popular shitty shows as examples.