Daniel Tosh grew up in Florida. Do you really think he gets his humor from his time that he was in Germany?seniorsharptothetouch said:
American Humour is Terrible
- Thread starter Dr Red
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i think what you consider "intelligent" humor is completely subjective.Dr Red said:
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).
what xanadu said.Xanadu84 said: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.
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.
You can't apply credit to Germans because humans naturally laugh at those less fortunate.
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.
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.seniorsharptothetouch said:
You can't apply credit to Germans because humans naturally laugh at those less fortunate.
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.Dr Red said:
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.
Pretty sure all these points have been made, but:
1. Comedy is subjective
2. There is a wide range of comedy in America, not just crappy sitcoms.
3. South Park is funny, but its overrated in that everyone thinks it's this genius commentary on culture and politics. If you want real sociopolitical commentary, stay tuned for The Daily Show instead.
1. Comedy is subjective
2. There is a wide range of comedy in America, not just crappy sitcoms.
3. South Park is funny, but its overrated in that everyone thinks it's this genius commentary on culture and politics. If you want real sociopolitical commentary, stay tuned for The Daily Show instead.
hahahaha wow way to completely generalize the largest entertainment business in the world into two wonderfully bad shows! wonderful!
since when is south park canadian..? unless i am completely wrong.
i know anti american is so much fun on here, but this is pathetic, there are hundreds of shows out there, and your generalizing the whole damn comedy industry based in america on that?
i didn't realize humor was something that was decided by you, nor your region, hell i'm sure a good 50% of the jokes from your shows are culture/origin based on where you are, while the same runs for alot of american shows.
and in regards to your "intelligence" thing, stop being a fucking elitist prick, it doesn't generate anything beyond the fact that your making yourself look worse, and its all subjective on what kind of humor you find "intelligent", such as you mentioned south park which at the end of the day does end up to a bunch of dick and fart jokes at least half the time..
since when is south park canadian..? unless i am completely wrong.
i know anti american is so much fun on here, but this is pathetic, there are hundreds of shows out there, and your generalizing the whole damn comedy industry based in america on that?
i didn't realize humor was something that was decided by you, nor your region, hell i'm sure a good 50% of the jokes from your shows are culture/origin based on where you are, while the same runs for alot of american shows.
and in regards to your "intelligence" thing, stop being a fucking elitist prick, it doesn't generate anything beyond the fact that your making yourself look worse, and its all subjective on what kind of humor you find "intelligent", such as you mentioned south park which at the end of the day does end up to a bunch of dick and fart jokes at least half the time..
Granted, British humor is known for being a bit more edgy, and for that, we thank you Brits. On the other hand, there are some really good American humor shows out there, they're just not typically widely viewed. Have you ever seen Louie? Mr. Show? The Whitest Kids U Know? I find them to be on par with British humor.
Likewise. I also hold the opinion that Coupling was one of the most consistently funny sitcoms on television from any country.Spookimitsu said:
That being said, I still prefer South Park and Futurama to nearly anything else still playing, although How I Met Your Mother and old re-runs of Friends still make me laugh. I think when it comes to sitcoms, there is a bit of cultural divide, since one has to be invested in the characters and situations to find things humorous, and that's not always possible when the characters and situations are something that someone, being from another country, would never find themselves in.
bahahaha if your going to do it that way, you can take every single ************ from america and take their "roots" back to wherever they came from. outside of doing "amazing" things, people completely disband the fact of anyone using their "heritage/roots" as their source of awesomeness/power.seniorsharptothetouch said:
comedy doesn't just magically take flight from where you were born, it's what is around you and how you react with it, and if enough people find common occurrences its quite easy to make jokes and be funny.
To this I'd just like to add that I've scrubbed surgeries with a doc who loves the Hell out of the Legally Blonde movies, and while that baffles me, he is a doctor, not a bumbling Leslie Neilson charicature of a doctor, and he saves lives for a living with great proficiency.guntotingtomcat said:
To everyone else who's commented on Family Guy: perhaps you should check out the 1st three seasons, from before the show was cancelled and brought back. It's like a totally different show from what it is now, and it IS quite clever.
You know, it really just comes down to taste. Its not terrible just not your taste. I hate the taste of oranges, but I don't call them terrible. I love the taste of kim-che, but it smells terrible.
Also, South Park is American, not Canadian. Trey Parker and Matt Stone both grew up in Colorado, attending high school in Littleton, which is in the same school district as Columbine.Dr Red said:
Other than Wikipedia I also site this...
Seinfeld is American,how i met your mother is American,curb your enthusiasm is American....my point being OP there are ALOT of great American comedies out there stop generalizing.
All of those are still based and made in America. Daniel Tosh was born in German, but moved early in his life.seniorsharptothetouch said:
But if you're siting people's heritage and ethnics (or whatever you want to call it) as where their comedy comes from, then you COMPLETELY missed that Hugh Lorie (House) in actually a British Comedic actor, at least he was before he got the job as House.
^this and also watch some stuff by kevin smith, watch scrubs, watch arrested development. Also, from my experience, I've seen some really lowbrow british shows. Also, intelligence does not equal funny.yoshiru said:
Okay, some American comedy shows are good, however I would point out that not a lot of them seem to take very many risks and the ones that do are often ones that the BBC or Channel 4 sold to them.
When I say "risk" I mean tackling on dark humour or exploring sensitive subjects.
South Park and Family Guy seem to do this pretty well, but other than that there aren't a lot of others that try to take on this level of dark humour.
When I say "risk" I mean tackling on dark humour or exploring sensitive subjects.
South Park and Family Guy seem to do this pretty well, but other than that there aren't a lot of others that try to take on this level of dark humour.
Sorry to disappoint you, but that is funny every time I see it. The entire show is.
And no I am not an american.
And no I am not an american.
Clearly, TWO SHOWS are representative of ALL AMERICAN HUMOR.
ALL OF IT. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Based on that logic, I can discredit the entirety of British Humor because they gave us Fat Slags.
ALL OF IT. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Based on that logic, I can discredit the entirety of British Humor because they gave us Fat Slags.
Wait a tick. Are you saying that not every American comedy is intelligent or well written? Are you suggesting that some people are stupid and will watch stupid things? Please excuse me while I shit my pants in awe.
EDIT: I do believe that Monty Python, arguably the pinnacle of British comedy, has skits about detecting witchcraft by weighing a woman against a duck, two men arguing over whether or not a parrot is dead, and a song about a cross-dressing lumberjack. Last I checked, they were still hilarious.
EDIT: I do believe that Monty Python, arguably the pinnacle of British comedy, has skits about detecting witchcraft by weighing a woman against a duck, two men arguing over whether or not a parrot is dead, and a song about a cross-dressing lumberjack. Last I checked, they were still hilarious.