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Little Britain sucked near its end.

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 1:45 am
by Junker_05
I don't know if people in the States watched this or even got this on the air, but it was a great little comedy, and it was one of the most original things I'd seen until halfway through series 2 and all of series 3. (The old lady pissing herself uncontrollably and subconcioiusly was pretty funny, though). My reasons are:

* The jokes were repeated too much (Emily "I'm a lady" Howard's quote, Daffyth Thomas' clinging to the belief that he was the only gay in the village, and Anne, that mental patient just got real old, real fast. Which is a shame, because the first skits of her were fucking hilarioius.)

* It got too mainstream and everyone started watching it and overquoting it, as people did with The Simpsons and Family Guy

* People could NOT impersonate them while quoting for shit.

* Matt Lucas and David Walliams ran out of ideas and the skits weren't funny anymore.

*Horrible ending of the series...

What do the rest of you think?

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 10:00 am
by Marc
Being from the country, I found it funny - what I happened to catch on TV, anyway. Some of the characters were so true (sadly). "I want that one!"

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 10:41 am
by 87th
I got sick of it when I found out every episode was the same (e.g. the second time I watched it).

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 4:57 pm
by Rick Deckard
I think at some point after the first series Lucas and Walliams either realised that they could continue churning out the same sketches with the same punchlines and just got lazy, or they found themselves so desperate to maintain the massive fanbase they'd accumulated so far that they changed as little as possible as they went on. It's sad, really, considering the quality of stuff they've produced in the past, and it's really quite extraordinary that the show continues to hold on to much of its popularity. I guess it's all financial really - they can't kill a cash cow as substantial as this one, they've got to milk it until it's dry and chaffing. I'd say the ongoing hype does seem to have died down somewhat now, and it doesn't seem that likely that they'll knock out another series. Definitely a Christmas special or two, though. All said, I don't rate the first series particularly highly anyway, although it has its moments.

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 6:09 pm
by Junker_05
If they do release a Christmas special, there will be no excuse for shit sketches.. they've had enough time to think about it.

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 10:12 pm
by Modnar
Im so clueless on what you guys are talking about.........damn foreigners.

Sounds funny, I want to see...hear...it...im kinda lost on what it is.

Posted: Sat Jul 15, 2006 1:18 am
by Junker_05
Search for it on the BBC website. It's freakin' hilarious up to halfway through Season 2.

Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 9:38 pm
by ratperson665
As an American I can safely say that I have never heard of it. I do like British comedy though.

Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:31 pm
by Junker_05
You should be ashamed of yourself for not having seen it, yankee.

You watch now!

Seriously.

Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:54 pm
by ratperson665
Junker_05 wrote:You should be ashamed of yourself for not having seen it, yankee.

You watch now!

Seriously.
Did it ever even air in the USA?

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:52 am
by Junker_05
Uh, not to my knowledge. You can probably find it on LimeWire or BitTorrent. Or a DVD shop.

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:57 am
by ratperson665
Junker_05 wrote:Uh, not to my knowledge. You can probably find it on LimeWire or BitTorrent. Or a DVD shop.
Thanks.

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:57 am
by Junker_05
Sallgood, chief.

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:23 am
by Rick Deckard
Don't bother - there are a million better British comedies, and if you're not overly familiar with British comedy in general, Little Britain isn't the place to start. It's possible you'll like it, but it's not worth bothering with more than one episode since it's all incredibly samey. I'd check the following out, if you haven't already:
  • A Bit of Fry and Laurie
    The Day Today
    Lee & Herring's Fist of Fun
    Brass Eye
    This Morning With Richard Not Judy
    Father Ted
    One Foot in the Grave
    Peep Show
    Look Around You
    Big Train
All of which are from the last fifteen years or so, roughly in order of importance to watch. There's also a lot of radio comedy I'd recommend, if you're interested in that sort of thing (I realise a lot of people don't have a tolerance for sitting down and listening - they're not sure what to do with their eyes). There's also plenty of much older stuff that's worth checking out - Flying Circus of course, Rutland Weekend Television, Innes Book of Records and all that... and anyone who's even remotely interested in comedy should give the Bonzos a listen - far from just a comedy joke band, their music is excellent and they just happen to be incredibly funny.

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:23 am
by Junker_05
I recently got introduced to Black Books. It really appealed to me - all the gags were hilarious, and Dylan Moran happens to be my favorite stand-up comedian. At that, has anybody seen Dylan Moran's "Monster"? That was the funniest stand-up show I'd seen EVER.

EDIT: 200th Post! Huzzah!

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 7:43 am
by Rick Deckard
I don't know if you're familiar with Lee & Herring's '90s work, Junker, but Stewart Lee's stand-up is excellent, particularly the fairly recent commercial release he got: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000 ... UTF8&s=dvd

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 10:10 am
by ratperson665
Rick Deckard wrote:Don't bother - there are a million better British comedies, and if you're not overly familiar with British comedy in general, Little Britain isn't the place to start. It's possible you'll like it, but it's not worth bothering with more than one episode since it's all incredibly samey. I'd check the following out, if you haven't already:
  • A Bit of Fry and Laurie
    The Day Today
    Lee & Herring's Fist of Fun
    Brass Eye
    This Morning With Richard Not Judy
    Father Ted
    One Foot in the Grave
    Peep Show
    Look Around You
    Big Train
All of which are from the last fifteen years or so, roughly in order of importance to watch. There's also a lot of radio comedy I'd recommend, if you're interested in that sort of thing (I realise a lot of people don't have a tolerance for sitting down and listening - they're not sure what to do with their eyes). There's also plenty of much older stuff that's worth checking out - Flying Circus of course, Rutland Weekend Television, Innes Book of Records and all that... and anyone who's even remotely interested in comedy should give the Bonzos a listen - far from just a comedy joke band, their music is excellent and they just happen to be incredibly funny.
I own Father Ted on DVD. It's a great show.

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 11:13 am
by Rick Deckard
It is, yes. Linehan and Mathews contributed to Brass Eye and The Day Today (although not to any huge extent I don't think) and wrote Big Train, a sketch show with the same sort of humour as Father Ted. There's a bit of a quality drop after the first series since Linehan left, and both series generally contain a fair bit of filler, but it's still worth a look. Certainly a lot better than Little Britain, anyway.

Edit: I've actually been watching some of these repeats and I think I've been a little harsh on Little Britain. The shop sketches are joyously ABoF&L-like, particularly the one just now with the David Baddiel cameo and all the really-quite-satisfying reasonably obscure British comedian references (not a comedian obviously, but 'Terry Waite's beard' was a particular highlight) and of course Tom Baker's narration is terrific (despite being somewhat of a lifted Lee & Herring idea - Lionel Nimrod is a wonderful character - the only line I can remember at the moment is that Anne Bancroft was a bear in a woman suit or something like that, but you get the idea).

Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 7:32 pm
by ratperson665
Rick Deckard, you just recommended some comedies from your country, so I'll recommend some from mine:

Family Guy

King Of The Hill

Will and Grace

American Dad

The War At Home

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 12:17 am
by Junker_05
Everyone knows them.

NOW - The Top Five Best Australian Comedies!

#1 -

#2 -

#3 -

#4 -

#5 -

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 12:47 am
by ratperson665
Junker_05 wrote:Everyone knows them.

NOW - The Top Five Best Australian Comedies!

#1 -

#2 -

#3 -

#4 -

#5 -
You didn't wright any down.

Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 4:49 am
by Rick Deckard
ratperson665 wrote:Rick Deckard, you just recommended some comedies from your country, so I'll recommend some from mine. . .
Well, thanks - I do love about as much American comedy as I do British. Can't say I'm much of a fan of American Dad, Will & Grace (was that a joke entry?) or Family 'a bit like the time I...' Guy, but I've not seen or heard of The War At Home. Looking at the site, it does look uncomfortably similar to yer generic family sitcom, but I might give it a whack when I've run out of things to watch. Some newer American comedies I'd personally recommend:
  • Arrested Development
    Mr. Show (well, this isn't new)
    It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
As for Australian comedy, maybe CNNNN, Kath & Kim and The Late Show to start with?

Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:24 am
by OtakupunkX
Rick Deckard wrote:Can't say I'm much of a fan of American Dad, Will & Grace (was that a joke entry?) or Family 'a bit like the time I...' Guy, but I've not seen or heard of The War At Home. Looking at the site, it does look uncomfortably similar to yer generic family sitcom, but I might give it a whack when I've run out of things to watch.
The War At Home is an exteremely generic family sitcom. Bleh.

One of the best American comedies I've ever seen is Wonder Showzen. Pure brilliance.

Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:49 am
by Rick Deckard
Heh, I knew I was forgetting something! Yes, Wonder Showzen is terrific - consistently funny and truly experimental in the way so many comedies are not.

Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:05 pm
by ratperson665
OtakupunkX wrote:The War At Home is an exteremely generic family sitcom. Bleh.

The war at home is a very adult oriented show. It's not a family friendly comedy. And in answer to your question Rick: yes. Will & Grace was a joke entry.