American Humour is Terrible

[TheNaut131]

...I'm sorry but when I saw this thread, I remembered this picture.

Spoiler

Okay then, I don't watch that much television, don't really give a fuck either way, don't find plenty of things funny, and am now going leaving another America-is-doing-it-wrong thread.

Good day.

 

[Doktor Sleepless]

So remember this, have a British wingman and you will go home with a lady.

Have a British wingman and you will go home alone. The babes love our crooked teeth and... tomfoolery.

But on topic;

In with the Flynns = Awful

In with the Flynns = British Comedy

This does not mean that British Comedy = Awful. You fail basic logic sir.

 

[Gerard Hughes]

OMG i thought i was the only one
i like Reba too

 

[easternflame]

South park isn't canadian, it's from colorado, I have a friend who's been there, it's a ghost town

 

[LHZA]

South Park's not Canadian.

 

[BSCCollateral]

You know what's worse? Generalizations based on two widely hated shows (of the same shitty genre). Try harder.

In the mean time, I'll be watching Arrested Development, Monty Python, and the Chasers War on Everything, not giving a single fuck what country any of them came from. Because that's silly.

I wish I could end the thread after this one, because you said everything necessary.

 

[zehydra]

I'm an American, and I love the American version of the Office. I don't like the British version of the Office.

I wonder why... Could it be that I'm not... British?

 

[spartan231490]

Big Bang theory is one of the funniest shows on television.
Two-and-a-half men, is also one of the funniest shows on television.

I really can't agree with your point.

 

[Tdc2182]

You've clearly never seen any HBO comedies. Nor have you seen Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

...South Park is NOT Canadian. At all. It's based on a town in America and is made in California.

 

[ZforZissou]

The show Community has arguably some of the best comedy I've ever seen in a show, and it's an American show.

 

[kaveradeo]

Community is the most hilarious show. So is Scrubs. Both American

 

[oktalist]

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.

If you're just talking about sitcoms, then in general, you are right, but there are several exceptions. Awful British sitcoms: "My Family", "Life of Riley". Good American sitcoms: "Scrubs", "Arrested Development".

 

[Xanadu84]

Because George Carlin, Mitch Hedburg, John Stewart, Steve Colbert, Arrested Development, XKCD, Penny Arcade, Kurt Vonnegut, Portal, Tina Fey, Richard Pryor, Being John Malcovich, Groundhog Day, Princess Bride, Spaceballs, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Blazing Saddles, Simpsons, Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Pink Panther, 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, Futurama, SNL, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Monkey Island...:eep breath:: are all dumb.

There's a list of excellent American comedies using the next best thing to no effort whatsoever. Name another country with a matching number of excellent comedies.

 

[Spookimitsu]

Daniel Tosh is German, the Concords are from New Zealand, Russell Peters is Canadian, both Matt Groening and Stephen Colbert have Canadian roots (Matts Dad and Stephen's Grandma!)

Daniel Tosh grew up in Florida. Do you really think he gets his humor from his time that he was in Germany?

 

[Spookimitsu]

I'm a big fan of British tv. I love watching Luther, Skins, Shameless, Hotel Babylon, Misfits, Dr. Who, Torchwood, The Shadow Line, and Spooks, but I can't watch shows like The IT Club, The Inbetweeners, Ideal, Monty Python and other comedies I'm forgetting. I wanted to like them, but British humor just isn't funny to me.

I guess Shameless is the exception, that show can be funny, because that family is so dysfunctional.

really, I thought the first two seasons of the IT Club were effing hilarious.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

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.

i think what you consider "intelligent" humor is completely subjective.

i don't like low-brow humor trying to appeal to the LCDs as much as the next guy but as long as something is popular, it will keep on going.

that's why Transformers can get 2 sequels (and more) and why Call of Duty and its clones KEEP GETTING MADE.

but making the generalization that all american humor is not mentally stimulating is like saying (as that person said in their picture) that just because you see one certain type of people doing one specific thing (in your case, one or more lowbrow sitcoms) you automatically place the blanket term "American Humor is terrible". It's probably just to get a lot of replies on your thread (hate-mongering, trolling, and posting LOW BROW NON-MENTALLY STIMULATING THREADS seem to be popular here... see the irony?) but you should reconsider your statement. High-brow comedy and shows rarely last long on public television due to it being inaccessible, no matter how smart or good it is (see: Arrested Development)

American Humor is different because it's a different culture born of different values and raised by different events and beliefs with different problems and different nationally adored things.

To say it is "bad" as though you're trying to make it hard fact is wrong, xenophobic, and damn near racist (even if you are American).

Because George Carlin, Mitch Hedburg, John Stewart, Steve Colbert, Arrested Development, XKCD, Penny Arcade, Kurt Vonnegut, Portal, Tina Fey, Richard Pryor, Being John Malcovich, Groundhog Day, Princess Bride, Spaceballs, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, Blazing Saddles, Simpsons, Marx Brothers, The Three Stooges, Pink Panther, 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, Futurama, SNL, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Monkey Island...:eep breath:: are all dumb.

There's a list of excellent American comedies using the next best thing to no effort whatsoever. Name another country with a matching number of excellent comedies.

what xanadu said.

 

[martin's a madman]

There is a common mistake made in assuming that intellectual humour is the only kind of humour that has merit.

There are so many forms and theories to comedy that to simply only allow wit and observation to dominate your view of it will make for damned sure you're only laughing during a small percentage of your time.


Intellectual theory is great, yes, it makes us look at things from different angles. But it's not the only reason we laugh.

One of the things I find most entertaining is just pure absurdity.

Daniel Tosh is German, the Concords are from New Zealand, Russell Peters is Canadian, both Matt Groening and Stephen Colbert have Canadian roots (Matts Dad and Stephen's Grandma!)

Daniel Tosh grew up in Florida. Do you really think he gets his humor from his time that he was in Germany?

Do you know what Schadenfreude is?

Schadenfreude: (German) Pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others.

Sounds like the Tosh's mission statement!

Yeah, except Superiority theory (so called Schadenfreude) has existed since the time of Aristotle and Plato from which all western civilisation has taken significant bits from.

You can't apply credit to Germans because humans naturally laugh at those less fortunate.

 

[Treblaine]

I like South Park (I know it's Canadian)

Trey Parker and Matt Stone were both born and raised in Denver, Colorado, USA. The show is set in Colorado and they are the chief artistic drives behind the show.

It IS an American show.

HOW could you think it is Canadian?

"America has scrounged genuinely good British TV series such as Shameless and The Office"

#1 The american takes of those shows did a very good job of doing their own unique and funny thing with the concept. Imitation is the highest form of flattery and this isn't plagiarism of jokes or characters, it's a plagiarism of the basic idea that they paid for.
#2 British TV does the same with other formats: http://anthonywindram.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/ten-american-tv-shows-remade-for-the-uk/

#3 America has some of the funniest TV shows that have been on TV in the past decade:
-Arrested Development
-Futurama
-Simpsons (back in the good old days)
-South Park (is American)
-Ugly Americans
-Robot Chicken
-that 70's show

There is actually a huge shortage in British comedy at the moment of actually funny TV shows. We have so many comedy "topical quizzes" but shows are thin on the ground and frankly not as witty as the topical quizzes.

I am a brit and love British comedy but find way too much of our stuff is in the past, like Blackadder and Monty Python.

I don't know, is Top Gear comedy? it's certainly hilarious.