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Post by everso on Apr 7, 2010 17:29:25 GMT
Can't stand the likes of Roy Chubby Brown but love The League of Gentlemen. However, Roy CB has appeared in the LOG and in fact his real name is Royston Vasey (the name of the town that it's set in). I loved Fawlty Towers way back when, and I enjoy Gavin and Stacey (mainly because Alison Steadman's depiction of an Essex woman is so bloody accurate). It's set in Billericay, which is quite a nice town but too near Basildon for comfort - although it couldn't be more different. I enjoy QI and I like Stephen Fry, Alan Davies etc. They did a 'best of' the other evening and I loved it. I also like Ricky Gervais, especially The Office and Extras. Never heard of RCB, never seen G&S ( had the impression it was set in Wales) but anything AS does is first class. Can't stand Gervais. I've got a 1960s book about brewing beer somewhere, written by somebody from Basildon. In the blurb they call it Boozledon. Hoho. In Holland I worked with a Welshman from Harlow for a year or two. He sounded like an Essex man from Wales. Lives in Vienna now. It's set partly in Billericay and partly in Wales. Gavin is an Essex boy and Stacey is Welsh and they seem to spend their time travelling back and forth. Alison Steadman is brilliant and is soooo Essex. You just can't help liking her. Why can't you like Ricky Gervais? |
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Post by riotgrrl on Apr 7, 2010 17:41:44 GMT
There is a real sweetness to Gavin & Stacey; it's not a cruel comedy.
The Nessa character (the hefty Welsh girl) is fabulously funny.
I agree that the Essex family are absolutely hilarious. To me they epitomise what I imagine Essex families to be like. So I guess they're probably stereotypes . . . sorry Ev.
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Post by riotgrrl on Apr 7, 2010 17:44:35 GMT
What about Father Ted? Surely we can agree it's genius, but is it low brow or high brow?
I also like Scrubs and My Name is Earl (the Joy character is a . . well, she's a joy.)
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Post by everso on Apr 7, 2010 17:53:08 GMT
There is a real sweetness to Gavin & Stacey; it's not a cruel comedy. The Nessa character (the hefty Welsh girl) is fabulously funny. I agree that the Essex family are absolutely hilarious. To me they epitomise what I imagine Essex families to be like. So I guess they're probably stereotypes . . . sorry Ev. Don't apologise Riot. You are very correct. I know lots of Essex families just like that. And, yes, it's a sweet comedy but not overdone. And it's well acted - something that lots of sitcoms aren't. Yes, the Nessa character is brilliant. Let's face it, you'd never get a U.S. show in the same style. The only good looking one is Stacey for one thing. In a U.S. comedy of the same type everyone would have to be good looking - even Uncle Bryn. |
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Post by tarzanontarmazepam on Apr 7, 2010 18:31:51 GMT
Father Ted was superb? However Steptoe is the greatest ever.
I think comedy is a bit like music.
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Post by betty on Apr 7, 2010 19:23:24 GMT
love father ted, but steptoe always left me cold.....though when i see the odd clip now i do appreciate the brilliance.
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Post by Weyland on Apr 7, 2010 19:56:32 GMT
Why can't you like Ricky Gervais? Can't quite pin it down. Up his own arse, or something, but it's not that simple. I don't find him funny at all. Can't stand Fools & Horses either, because Jason gets up my nose. Personalities, I guess. Nothing to do with snobbery, I can assure you. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2010 13:58:51 GMT
was watching a repeat of gavin and stacey the other night, and i noticed a lot of the time the things we were laughing at were not 'funny' per se.. i think its more that you get to know the characters and what they are like, so you laugh at the things they do or say in the same way you would a beloved family member..its a bit like a soap opera with all the nasty taken out. and its refreshingly gentle, for a sitcom i think, when nowadays there is a lot of dark humour and black comedy about ( which i really like too) but i think G & S made a refreshing change to that. And Alison Steadman is genius in it.  AND yes, i know Essex families like that too. |
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Post by aubrey on Apr 8, 2010 17:08:01 GMT
The snobbery thing's bollocks.
I have enjoyed Chubby Brown and Brass eye and Father Ted and Ed Reardon, and not liked Gavin and Stacy. I like You've been framed when it's been do0ne by Harry Hill, not the others who have done it. I get Viz every month.
As Frank Skinner said: There's a kind of purity about a knob joke.
I have also liked The Royal Family, but now the BBC seem to be trying to push them as loveable, rather than people you would not want much to do with in real life.
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Post by everso on Apr 8, 2010 23:14:22 GMT
We used to like the Royle Family. Not because they were 'lovable' (they weren't) but because they made us feel so much better about ourselves!
There was one episode where Antony has a new girlfriend and goes round her house to pick her up for a date. He has to stand in the girlfriend's front room and be inspected by her father and brother. I remember Mr. E. saying how much like his teenage years that was. How he would arrive at a girlfriend's house and her mother would be all ultra friendly and welcoming, and then he'd be taken into the front room (they were always 'front rooms' not lounges or sitting rooms - there may not always have been a 'back room' either) where the girl's father and possibly older brother would sit and stare at him and not ask him to sit down or anything.
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