American Humour is Terrible

[Kurokami]

National Generalizations Based On a Handful of Things You Don't Like are Fucking Idiotic

You are only meant to use capitals for the first word of each sentence, proper nouns and the word 'I', including of course I'm, since it is just a contracted 'I am'.

But back on topic, yes. Generalizations are bad if you present them as fact.

 

[Arkham]

From what I can tell there are plenty of lowbrow shows and other media from all over the world. A lot of it is quite popular too. That's no reason to fling insults at each other, though.

 

[BGH122]

Let me just leave this here, it explains my thoughts.

You're right: girls do suck at maths.

There's some free British humour for you. See what I did there? I deliberately misunderstood the purpose of the comic for comedic effect. Funny stuff.

I don't think it's entirely fair to claim that the US is generally bad at comedy given that it produced Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm. The failure of Arrested Development to appeal to wide audiences might suggest that the US' audiences aren't fans of good humour (subjectively speaking), but I don't think the US itself is bad at humour; the studios are producing what the majority of people want to see. The problem comes from the fact that the majority of people in every country aren't too bright and don't tend to like humour that's overly complicated or takes too long to reach the 'punch line'.

 

[hooksashands]

The Boondocks

I can't think of a more American show. It's a cartoon that parodies American culture and politics, the action is slick and the jokes are bold and hilarious ("I sent that ***** a smileyface... bitches love smileyfaces.")

If Charlie Sheen's 20 minute lame-a-thon and similar weak material are the only examples that come to mind when you think "American humor," I pity your naivety.

 

[lovestomooch]

I would like to take this moment to firstly agree with the OP that yes, Big Bang Theory and similar shows are broad and unfunny and on first inspection American humour sucks... however, only fools and idiots take one look at something and make an overriding decision using stereotype and weak targets to further an entirely unfounded claim.
Shows like Curb your Enthusiasm and hell, even shows like the Wire are either excellently written or have such unexpected humour that this patently ridiculous claim is proven false. Perhaps a better starting topic would be that sitcoms written by unimaginative morons for unimaginative morons are simply not very good at all...
But then that would hardly be worth the debate, would it?

PS. Every country has both the good and the terrible, country is no judge on character.

 

[FuktLogik]

The funniest show ever though is Trailer Park Boys.

No. No it isn't. I'm Canadian, and utterly loath that show. There was one episode a friend practically forced me to watch, where they hijacked a bus full of people and forced them to trim pot, but that was the only thing I've ever liked out of the 7 or so episodes I've seen.

I dare anyone to watch Kevin Spencer (Season 5 and above) and not laugh.

Humor is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

I think America isn't doing as good with humor as it was in the past. America had some of the greatest names in both physical and spoken comedy. Ever heard of a man named Mel Brooks? (May he rest in paece), he wrote and directed Blazing Saddles, SpaceBalls, and Robin Hood Men in Tights, some of the funniest movies I have seen in my life.
I don't think I can tell ya how good we are now, but I can tell ya we were once great!

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

National Generalizations Based On a Handful of Things You Don't Like are Fucking Idiotic

You are only meant to use capitals for the first word of each sentence, proper nouns and the word 'I', including of course I'm, since it is just a contracted 'I am'.

But back on topic, yes. Generalizations are bad if you present them as fact.

I was parodying the title of the thread - thus the title case. If any criticism could be leveled, it would be that the capitalization was inconsistent among the short/function words. Though on the other hand, opinions on proper title casing remain largely divided with no universal standard in virtually any major dialect of written English.

Also, you forgot adjectives derived from proper nouns, numerous brands, days, months, languages, taxa, some common species names, nouns used to denote a class of things when they more commonly refer to a single entity (the Church when refering to all churches at once for instance), acronyms, honorifics, legal terms, and likely a number of other words too.

And certainly you must have better things to do than making unthinking comments about the capitalization of forum posts.

TL;DR: Your attempts at grammar trolling are cute.

 

[northeast rower]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsogswrH6ck

 

[sergnb]

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.

Sigh... just because there's a huge market of people that like silly sitcoms, it doesn't mean it's all america wants... I'm European and some of my favorite comedians are american. Chris Rock, Louis CK, Ricky Gervais, Seinfeld...

I don't like sitcoms either, they are REALLY cheesy. Big Bang Theory is ok for me because I like the characters, but it isn't really the kind of thing that makes me crack up. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot of great comedy in America in forms of stand-up, shows (wether they are animated or not) and other medium.

You should explore a little before stating such a generalist thing like "American humour is terrible".

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

There's witty American comedy out there. =p On top of other examples mention, the humour wielded in the 40s & 50s Looney Tunes and in the "Steven Spielberg Presents" cartoons like the Animaniacs and Freakazoid use plenty of cultural gags, sharp wit, and jokes you honestly wouldn't understand unless you're an adult, and suddenly you appreciate a piece of nostalgia for a whole new reason.

 

[OuroborosChoked]

I must remark here... perhaps someone can explain it to me...

Why is it, whenever someone brings this topic up, Monty Python is described as "intelligent" humor?

I mean, they had their moments, but it's VASTLY more silly than smart.

Silly voices, silly walks, silly men in dresses (THAT never gets old, Britain...), silly people, silly situations... They were occasionally subversive, but the majority of what they did was just absurd humor... being SILLY. And if we're talking John Cleese: yelling. Hell, they even lampshade it with the "Stop that! It's silly." bit.

I just know I'm going to get flamed over this... Please just answer rationally, if you feel compelled to answer at all. From experience though... challenging sacred cows like Monty Python and Half Life (especially) just never end well...

 

[Saviordd1]

Right, so because your opinion says something it is obviously true objectively. Right?

 

[unoleian]

I like South Park (I know it's Canadian) for it's witty commentary of current affairs.
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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.

Surprise, South Park the place and South Park the show were born here in Colorado. About 45 minutes from where I am right now, as a matter of fact. I can't comment on whether Parker and Stone work out of another country now, as I don't follow that sort of stuff as a rule, but they are most certainly from here and most certainly are responsible for everything that show ever was or is.
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I am really not a fan of Two and a Half Men. One thing it is, is heavily syndicated, always on somewhere, and usually in a time-slot where, for many people, the only alternatives are mind-numbingly boring talk and court shows. It's a victory of marketing and location more than a victory of humor. In my view, at least.

There's a litany of great US comedy out there, and I'm not going to post a laundry list of titles and comedians that I think you need to know about. Except The Venture Bros. That's a damn fine show, damn smart, damn funny, and definitely US. If you haven't seen it, you probably should.

 

[JonnWood]

1/10. Poor troll. If not a troll, then rather egocentric. There isn't even a question up for discussion, just a statement.

 

[Mr C]

Let me just leave this here, it explains my thoughts.

at least 80% of British humour involves America-bashing)

May I have sauce with my bullshit please?

 

[Last Hugh Alive]

It depends what you're watching. Family Guy is a bad place to start because the comedy can be a bit obnoxious. But there is plenty of other stuff that can be recommended. For instance, surely you've seen Seinfeld?

You should try getting into stand-up comedy as well. Pretty much all of my favourites are American, like Louis CK, Daniel Tosh, Dave Chappelle and, my idol, George Carlin.

 

[Dfskelleton]

"Hmm. I don't find these two sitcoms funny, and they're both from America... SURELY THAT MEANS ALL AMERICAN HUMOR ISN'T FUNNY! IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE! I MUST TELL OTHERS OF THIS SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN FACT ON THE INTERNETS!"
-OP

 

[Jedisolo75]

Yeah, because Red Dwarf and Hyperdrive were such intelligent humor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNn2b9IIA5A

HAHAHAHA. Did you see that? he put a cigarette in his ear! it's funny because most people wouldn't do that! Got to hand it to you Brits, that's hi brow stuff you got there.

By the way, I love British shows, especially Red Dwarf.

 

[Not-here-anymore]

Let me just leave this here, it explains my thoughts.

at least 80% of British humour involves America-bashing)

May I have sauce with my bullshit please?

Hyperbole. Sorry, sometimes I forget that one can't exaggerate on the internet.