American Humour is Terrible

[Yeager942]

I like South Park (I know it's Canadian) for it's witty commentary of current affairs. It actually takes issues of the day and makes some good jokes at them. Family Guy is just ok - I wouldn't watch it often, but it can be funny. The kind of American humour I really don't like is shows like the Big Bang Theory. Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmLQaTcViOA

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.

South Park was created by two Americans...

 

[Nimcha]

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.

You're not seriously arguing anything about the likes of Monty Python is intelligent? Hilarious, yes. Intelligent, not so much.

If you want intelligent humor, maybe you should try Frasier. A very American show.

 

[RoBi3.0]

generalized opinion is generally opinionated.

-Filler is I don't get a low content post warning.-

American humor is the same as humor anywhere else. Humor is linked to shared experiences. If you don't find something funny it is more then like not for you find something else to watch. As others have mentioned there are plenty of American shows that are funny some personal favorites of mine are.

Kitchen Confidential
Friends
The Guild
Saturday Night Live
How I Met Your Mother


Edit:

Can't believe I forgot to mention 30 rock.

 

[Kachiporra]

Dude, wach Community

 

[TheJesus89]

Damnit, how can you curse every Americans favorite TV show?

The show that is very indicative of how we act as a nationality.

We all LOVE everything by Chuck Lorre.

Seriously.

We do.

Also, sarcasm aside, didn't we get voted as the funniest nationality? Suck it, monty python. Suck it sooooo good.

 

[Fleeker]

So the purpose of this topic is to bash an entire nation for 4 or 5 TV shows the TC does not like.

 

[goldendriger]

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.

Simply put- Comedic value in USA is Family Guy "He's fat and says stupid things, its funny HA! Look! a dog!"
Where as UK has...well Idiot Abroad, Billy Conolly and geniune good jokes that involve more than just "You're such a ******" and expecting a laugh track.

 

[intheweeds]

It just isn't funny.

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.

Someone needs to copy-paste this post into any Jimquisition comments thread! Actually paste it into all of em, people get so mad over whether that guy is funny or not.

OT: There is always two groups making entertainment in (i assume) most large countries. The the big tv corporations who want to churn out pablum for the masses to consume and the smaller guys with great ideas who once in a while get picked up by the massive corporations who (to their credit) notice people like them.

Your confusing the intentional pablum side for creativity. TV corporations are a bit like big game developers in that they only want to put out 'safe' material, leading us to have a lot of similar shows (in the case of one show becoming huge, I'm looking at you survivor and your creation of the massive influx of reality tv) and shows which follow a tested comedy model (big bang theory, two and a half men, etc.). Its a tough game all over for innovators.

 

[Brandon Logan]

Is OP trolling? He's gotta be. South Park is Canadian.

Anyways my actual point. You don't like Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory.

So what? A lot of people don't. A lot of people don't like British humor and a lot of people don't like anime.

A large majority of people however do not generalize with all American shows are stupid, or all anime, or all British shows.

Humor is an art and like any art it is subjective. Some people like the Mona Lisa, some people prefer something a kid scribbled.

If you don't like a certain type of American humor then don't go on the internet and complain. We get enough of that on here.

 

[sneakypenguin]

Community, Parks and Rec, Chuck, Psych, HIMYM, Seinfeld, are all amazing. Community is great, it goes from crazy unrealistic, to sweet, to breaking the fourth wall( usually with Abed) to referential.

I personally feel British humor sucks, but that's 100% opinion just like the OP

 

[Wuggy]

I heard British people are snobbish and Americans aren't. Let me list out a couple snobbish British people and a couple of non-snobbish American people. Ta dah, an argument!

Yeah, no. There are plenty of bad British comedy as there are plenty of bad American comedy (and the US version of Office is a pretty darn awesome adaptation by the way). What you're doing is called a generalization. Those are generally bad, no pun intended.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

First of all, Sturgeon's Law [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SturgeonsLaw?from=Main.ptitle3tinj4tz] states that roughly 90% of any category of something is going to be shit, with only the remaining 10% being truly worthwhile. You're pulling examples from the shitty 90% of our programs when you say that American humor is stupid (your next thread will presumably be about how Americans are fat), but listing examples that are presumably from the 10% of goodness that comes from your country when bringing up a comparison.

If you compare our 10% of awesome to your 10% of awesome, the results would be evenly matched and really just boil down to a matter of personal preference. However, you are cherry-picking terrible examples from our selection and pitting them against (I assume) good ones from yours, and claiming that this is a direct correlation that confirms something that sounds an awful lot like an unimaginative national stereotype. Truthfully, I'm not cool with this; it's like if I tried to make a generalization about British people being less decent than Americans and backed it up by comparing Jade Goody to Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

We on the same page, now?


EDIT: Damn, someone beat me to the citation of Sturgeon's Law. Good show, sir.

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.

 

[KoalaKid]

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.

British comedy is just a man in a dress speaking in falsetto, I guess you can believe there is some underlining superior intelligence there and start your own comedy KKK, but in the end its just a man in a dress ha fucking ha.

 

[Fleeker]

Is OP trolling? He's gotta be. South Park is Canadian.

Anyways my actual point. You don't like Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory.

So what? A lot of people don't. A lot of people don't like British humor and a lot of people don't like anime.

A large majority of people however do not generalize with all American shows are stupid, or all anime, or all British shows.

Humor is an art and like any art it is subjective. Some people like the Mona Lisa, some people prefer something a kid scribbled.

If you don't like a certain type of American humor then don't go on the internet and complain. We get enough of that on here.

One thing I've learned from message boards is that a large part of the population (world population) is that if you don't think like me, act like me dress like me, eat like me, and like the same things as me then you are wrong and that is fact not opinion because I don't care what opinion means with things that I do, think, and feel.

Its ridiculous and wrong to think that way but its what the majority does, so topics like this exist because most people are incredibly closed minded and egocentric. Its their right to be that way but that is the only reason for topics like this....most people don't think the way you are stating here and that is just ashame.

 

[burhanr]

Well.. its true that american humour is kind of not good. But big bang theory is probably one of the least funny sitcom ever. Also, its true that British television wins comedy (Top Gear, IT Crowd, Little Britain)

But give em' a chance, Arrested Development is pure, pure genius. And Parks and Recreation features Ron Fucking Swanson, my ideal Commander Shepard.

 

[Meggiepants]

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

Um... no. Do you watch the show? It takes place in Colorado. I know, it's snowy. But just FYI, we have snow here in the United States as well.

 

[weker]

snip

Doesn't look like it to me
Care to enlighten me on how it shows or what they say?

 

[pspman45]

Family Guy is just a crappy TV show, and the Office is NBC, who just don't know the meaning of the word "funny"
there are other shows in the US you know, right?
Scrubs was great, one of my favorite shows ever
Invader Zim was pure genius, go check that cartoon out
and you have to admit, not all UK programming is good, you can't base an entire section of modern culture on a few crappy television shows.

 

[Fleeker]

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

Um... no. Do you watch the show? It takes place in Colorado. I know, it's snowy. But just FYI, we have snow here in the United States as well.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121955/

Scroll down to section that says details....next to country it says USA....rather than be a smug jerk and talk about snow this way I'll provide real evidence in a non jerk manner to make my point (ok ok so maybe I'm being a little bit of a jerk but my point is that it is better to provide a credible link than be a smug jerk to try and sound cool).