NOT FUNNY.

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are you Australian then estela? that could be a factor really...i cant imagine many people outside the UK not finding the Young Ones funny at its time...even less so if they were over 25 (not sure if you were tho, no offence of course)...wasn't Blackadder HUGE in Australia tho? my old flatmate (a Kiwi) said it was in NZ

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 00:43 (twenty-one years ago) link

I stopped finding Blackadder funny by the time the fourth one was shown (the Baldrick insults seemed really really dull) and I was never sure if this was cause I'd grown out of it or if it genuinely got crap. I still have the idea that Blackadder II was good.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 00:46 (twenty-one years ago) link

Half the fun of League off Gents is the way they develop the characters and plotlines throughout the series'. The creators claim that this way of doing it was simply a way to fit in lots of jokes but I now watch it for the little hidden references to other things going on in the town etc. It's like a really good soap opera and a horror and a black comedy all in one. Nick, I think you need to watch it in order to get it. Series 2 was my starting point and I love series 3 cos it's so knowingly clever clever. Yes it's a shame people go round quoting it all the time, but i guess that happens to all great comedies.

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 00:48 (twenty-one years ago) link

age is such a huge factor in these things - e.g. i was 11/12 when Blackadder IV debuted and i loved it, but i knew it wasnt as anarchic as Blackadder 2 or 3 and was much safer and obvious - still very well written and performed tho

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 00:56 (twenty-one years ago) link

the Parrot sketch, the Cheese Shop sketch

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 00:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

No stevem I was in NZ then (I'm now in Australia) and The Young Ones was very popular, but I always thought it was lame (none of my friends agreed with me though). I do mainly blame Alexei Sayle for my dislike of it: I used to dread his entrances.

PS I was well under 25 and an unemployed socialist drunkard so I can see no sociological basis for my dislike.

― estela, Wednesday, 29 January 2003 01:20 (twenty-one years ago) link

I assumed stevem must have meant 'over 25 now'. I used to love the Young Ones when I was 10 and it was the only thing I was allowed to stay up late for. When I see it now it's really weird. I do think it's good, though a lot of it is v.dated. I still find Rik and Alexei Sayle funny and Neil as whipping boy. Viv I don't think I was ever very keen on. That kind of humour is what carried on into Bottom, which I always found awful. I think I decided that Mayall was no good as a writer.

When I was 10 I didn't really understand that they were students, or at least I didn't understand anything about student life. I don't really know what I thought they were doing in that house.

As a burlesque parody of 80s students I think Rik was pretty good.

And then the was.. Mike.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 01:28 (twenty-one years ago) link

hehe, no i didnt mean 'over 25 now' - admittedly that was a dumb thing to say - its just that i think the general consensus with the Young Ones was that it was a real split between the generations - most aged 7-25 would love it (the older ones would get all the political references, the kids would laugh at the nob gags) but i bet most parents and the elderly thought it was atrocious

i suppose i was obssessed with the Young Ones as a kid, and Blackadder also. Vyv was my favourite character in the Young Ones - didnt find Mike funny at all as with Sayle's skits tho. perhaps its so embedded deep in my humour psyche that i refuse to consider the possibility its crap...i mean i could watch it now and not laugh or smile at all because i know it so well, but that dont make it a dud in my book.

i also loved Bottom up until the middle of the third series where it went beyond formulaic, beyond self-parody and into...nothing. by that point i'd realised Mayall and Edmondson together were one trick ponies and didnt care, but from then on, it just stopped being remotely funny.

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 01:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

I used to watch the Young Ones every week. I can't work out why because I remember strongly disliking it at the time.

― David (David), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 01:37 (twenty-one years ago) link

What I'd love to see again now is 'Filthy Rich & Catflap'. It was panned at the time and maybe never repeated but I liked it at the time.

― N. (nickdastoor), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 01:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

Has anyone mentioned Phil Jupitus yet?

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 09:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

the young ones arnt really dated. its simple and absurd and i laugh and laugh when i watch. i like when neil is a cop and when vyv goes to narnia.

― chaki (chaki), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 09:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

sadly Chris Rock - i blame the movies,

Sadly Eddie Murphy - i blame the ladyboys

― james (james), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 14:52 (twenty-one years ago) link

Victor Lewis Smith was fantastic when he first started out - his inserts for Radio 4's "Loose Ends" were wonderful (though I didn't hear them at the time, I now have a bunch of mp3s of them) and his "Buygones" bits for the otherwise lamentable Channel 4 prog "Club X" (which we discussed here about a couple of months ago) were very funny. But then he seemed to get supersceded (sp) in the blink of an eye by Chris Morris, who did sort of the same thing (in fact, Morris was basically a carbon copy of Lewis-Smith at first) only much more highly advanced. By the time Lewis-Smith got his own TV series in 1993, he was starting to get in a rut, recycling his material and making endless poor puns. He's really detoriated now, but for a few years he was "the shit", as they say.

The Young Ones still holds up mostly, I think. A lot of people say it's dated, which is true in certain points (the references to Thatcher, etc) but there are loads of moments that are just plain silliness which continue to be enjoyable today - as Chaki said. Vyv going to Narnia, the whole thing in "Bambi" where the entire cast are amoebas or something which get eaten by an elephant, Rik writing to the lead singer of Echo & The Bunnymen because he thinks MPs are facists... and there are character-based lines which are just fantastic (Neil: "Open uuup, it's the piigs"). I love the exchanges between Rik, Vyv and Neil. But it's true those Alexei Sayle bits are pretty awful, except certain times when he's sticking to the script ("Oh no, some bastard broke your chair!" - the delivery of that is hilarious to me, for some reason).

Blackadder IV, though, is terrible drivel. They were repeating themselves by that point. The whole thing is just really lame.

― Chriddof (Chriddof), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 19:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

The Mind of A Married Man - HBO
Everybody Loves Raymond - so not funny, fucking annoying
Howard Stern - not anymore
Capitol Letters - NPR show

― Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 19:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

the criticism of Blackadder IV is harsh, only i cant really defend it now...other than to say i quite like the 'theatrical' aspect of it, enjoying the cheesiness even - and Steven Fry was excellent. its just one of those series that seems great when you're younger (like Fools & Horses and Harry Enfield) but you reach a certain age and it does seem not as good/funny i guess

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 19:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

i like how mike and vyv are like buisness chums

― chaki (chaki), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 20:22 (twenty-one years ago) link

I always thought the Alexei Sayle bits were the best, and I enjoyed the show generally.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 29 January 2003 21:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

"I always thought the Alexei Sayle bits were the best, and I enjoyed the show generally.

-- Martin Skidmore"

Surely a keeper for the DVD boxed-set cover blurb?

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 30 January 2003 00:24 (twenty-one years ago) link

Edward fucking Gorey

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 30 January 2003 00:49 (twenty-one years ago) link

one year passes...

gary shandling is hilarious!

― cozen (Cozen), Sunday, 16 January 2005 22:22 (nineteen years ago) link

LOL@TV not being funny

― MY FAVOURITE LIGHTER IS CHEESEBURGER (trigonalmayhem), Sunday, 16 January 2005 22:25 (nineteen years ago) link

one year passes...

Spaceballs.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Wednesday, 27 September 2006 01:48 (seventeen years ago) link

Dane Cook

― chaki (chaki), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 01:52 (seventeen years ago) link

Global Poverty

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 01:55 (seventeen years ago) link

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me

― jim wentworth (wench), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 01:59 (seventeen years ago) link

yah. Whadd'ya Know is way funnier! Except Tom Bodett the Motel 6 guy is funny1!!#@@!#@!

― chaki (chaki), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 02:13 (seventeen years ago) link

otm with spaceballs

― A Giant Mechanical Ant (The Giant Mechanical Ant), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 02:18 (seventeen years ago) link

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me is funny sometimes, like maybe 10-15% of the time or something. It's inoffensive enough at all other times that it makes ok weekend listening if I have to make a long drive for an errand or something.

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 02:24 (seventeen years ago) link

Bill Simmons

― nate p. (natepatrin), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 02:37 (seventeen years ago) link

FAMILY GUY.

― grady (grady), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 02:40 (seventeen years ago) link

grady on the motherfuckin' money.

― 100% CHAMPS with a Yes! Attitude. (Austin, Still), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 02:43 (seventeen years ago) link

WWDTM was where I first heard the story about Vladimir Putin stealing the N.E. Patriot coach's Super Bowl ring, which is VERY fucking funny.

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 02:51 (seventeen years ago) link

Drawn Together

― nate p. (natepatrin), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 03:02 (seventeen years ago) link

OTM

― Lazy Comet (plsmith), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 03:04 (seventeen years ago) link

Ok, now, Prarie Home Companion, not funny.

― A-ron Hubbard (Hurting), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 03:05 (seventeen years ago) link

Guillermo - the now very prominently featured "HAHAHAHAH IT'S FUNNY CUZ HE'S MESSICAN" character on Jimmy Kimmel Live

― ath (ath), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 04:14 (seventeen years ago) link

also yeah nate p. OTM: DRAWN TOGETHER what the shit is this shit? i finally get cable back last weekend after not having it for a great many months and i find out THEY GIVING IT A NEW SEASON??? IN ADDITION to some stupid ass new cartoon show about freaks or something that are freakishly physically deformed?

― ath (ath), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 04:17 (seventeen years ago) link

Ditch the fake news and the Chappelle reruns and Comedy Central is amazingly terrible*.

*disclaimer: 2 times outta 3 South Park is more irritating than funny to me

― nate p. (natepatrin), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 05:19 (seventeen years ago) link

Arrested Development

(just accept it.)

― GOD PUNCH TO HAWKWIND (yournullfame), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 05:24 (seventeen years ago) link

MIND OF MENCIA

― gear (gear), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 05:32 (seventeen years ago) link

JAY MOHR

― gear (gear), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 05:32 (seventeen years ago) link

French & Saunders

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 05:55 (seventeen years ago) link

family guy

― beverly sills ninja (Jody Beth Rosen), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 05:59 (seventeen years ago) link

family guy

― gear (gear), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 06:19 (seventeen years ago) link

METALOCALYPSE

― GOD PUNCH TO HAWKWIND (yournullfame), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 07:06 (seventeen years ago) link

doug benson

― chaki (chaki), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 07:08 (seventeen years ago) link

belgian's tragger happy *barf*

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 07:19 (seventeen years ago) link

Little Britain
most BBC Three shows
Modern Toss
Jon Culshaw
Justin Lee Collins

― Konal Doddz (blueski), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 09:18 (seventeen years ago) link

Jonathan Ross
Dermot O'Leary
Dara O'Briaiaiaiaiaian
Nick Hancock
Vic Reeves
Sean Lock
Dave Spikey
Russell Brand
Ross Noble
Life Begins
Time Trumpet
Rob Brydon
Extras
Kath & Kim
Will & Grace
Ant & Dec
Alan Carr
Graham Norton
Ariaiairaiaral O'Hanlon
My Family
Last Of The Summer Wine
All "comedy" plots in EastEnders

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 27 September 2006 09:24 (seventeen years ago) link

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