The British Psyche

[Gordon Nore]

You hit the nail on the head there as to why these series were so good.

Thank you.

...They did what comedy is supposed to do, at it's core, by holding up issues buried in our society which are normally not talked about...

As I said in another thread... conflict. Conflicts makes for drama and good comedy. If there's interesting tension among characters -- which is something people relate to -- being funny comes more naturally.

The alternative to comedy is situation comedy, which works occasionally or until it's been bled to death with multi-year network contracts. I looked up the Doctor in the House (I saw only the original and Doctor at Sea when I was young) series on Wikipedia and realized there had been more incarnations of the show than I knew about. Makes sense. We get used to seeing the same characters on the same sets, so relocate them, give them truly new situations.

Instead, in US situation comedy, it's like nine years of the same people sitting in Monica Geller's apartment, swapping each other out like used parts.

 

[Tez3]

The thing about British comedy and probably it runs through most British people is that we have the ability to laugh at ourselves and to see the funny side in the most dire situations. We can send ourselves up and not take ourselves too seriously, I think that goes with the stiff upper lip in many ways. One doesn't want to make a fuss so you make light of the situation and make a merry quip lol! Roger Moore and Sean Connery as James Bond typify this, and Carry on up the Khyber!
I've been in a couple of situations in a past life that could be decribed as a bit perilous which could have turned out quite perilous. My companions were soldiers who managed to crack jokes, I have to say it's the best thing in the world for holding back fears, you can't start weeping and wailing when your companions who are highly professional manage to make funny comments as they work. Each of you feeds off the calmness projected by the other, none of you can fall apart if the others aren't, you can't let the side down after all! Thats a very big feeling I think we still have. Not letting the side down.
Afterwards of course you go away shaking for a very large whisky lol!

 

[myusername]

I really like this clip as it demonstrates a little of what I was suggesting in my earlier post about American and British humour not being that far apart. It's a clip of Ricky Gervais on an American program called "Inside The Actors Studio" which from what I have read is normally a rather highbrow show where leading thespians discuss their art in front of earnest students! In it Ricky Gervais endulges in good ol' British toilet humour and knob gags but watch how the American host just runs with it and totally gets it. I think British and American humour is very similar that's why American shows do so well over here.

http://video.bravotv.com/player/?id=831621

 

[myusername]

The thing about British comedy and probably it runs through most British people is that we have the ability to laugh at ourselves and to see the funny side in the most dire situations. We can send ourselves up and not take ourselves too seriously, I think that goes with the stiff upper lip in many ways. One doesn't want to make a fuss so you make light of the situation and make a merry quip lol! Roger Moore and Sean Connery as James Bond typify this, and Carry on up the Khyber!
I've been in a couple of situations in a past life that could be decribed as a bit perilous which could have turned out quite perilous. My companions were soldiers who managed to crack jokes, I have to say it's the best thing in the world for holding back fears, you can't start weeping and wailing when your companions who are highly professional manage to make funny comments as they work. Each of you feeds off the calmness projected by the other, none of you can fall apart if the others aren't, you can't let the side down after all! Thats a very big feeling I think we still have. Not letting the side down.
Afterwards of course you go away shaking for a very large whisky lol!

This is very true. The Gallows Humour. I see it in the mental health nursing field used to great effect as a coping mechanism for working alongside human tragedy and sadness. Some people listening in might consider the jokes/cynical comments in bad taste but I believe it to be extremely healthy.