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comment by johnnyFive

I think it's just what the cultural bandwagon is on right now. Sad sacks have always been funny, being outrageous is sometimes funny, but being an asshole is becoming less and less so. So rather than making fun of other people all the time, it's about making fun of ourselves.

Some people can pull it off without being annoying (Dan Harmon comes to mind), but it's rare.

I saw a couple clips on YouTube. As an aside, using a European VPN server + that search means I'm now getting UKIP stuff in my recommended videos. The sacrifices I make.

I'm reminded of this great show called The Young Ones. Not in terms of the humor, because the Young Ones was funny. But they had random musical acts in the middle, and did it only because the BBC gave more money per episode to variety shows versus straight-up comedy. It seems like this is what happened: no one would go see what this actually is, so it's couched as a comedy special for advertizing purposes. But then she had to try to include jokes, and they're bolted onto the side rather than an integral part.

    Note to future self: if the content you are about to watch is referred to as "important", "vital", and "game-changing", but not the primary adjective you associate with that genre, e.g. "funny", steer clear.

This is a good rule.





goobster  ·  1864 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The Young Ones are still one of the finest comedy shows ever. The musical acts as a non-sequitur in the middle of scenes. Adrian's mindless and pointless anarchism. Rik's Portland Hipster 20 years before Portland was founded. (heh.) Neil's drippy hippy. Just priceless archetypes, so perfectly realized. Loved that show.

And the phenomenally shitty puppetry. Puppets are always best when they are really shitty.

johnnyFive  ·  1863 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I love The Young Ones.

Supposedly the musical acts were done because the BBC would give more funding per episode to shows that were "variety" rather than just a comedy.

edricarica  ·  2033 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    , using a European VPN server + that search means I'm now getting UKIP stuff in my recommended videos

I also use both a British VPN and that search, and get no UKIP content. Have you been bulk-buying union jack bedlinen on Amazon or something? :D

bhrgunatha  ·  2034 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    But they had random musical acts in the middle, and did it only because the BBC gave more money per episode to variety shows versus straight-up comedy

Haven't heard that before, but it was very common for comedians or poets and other "performance artists" (I don't know a better term... educate me!) to support smaller bands and vice versa. The early days of "alternative comedy" in the UK was more like an experimental variety movement.

johnnyFive  ·  2034 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That's possible, but they had some big enough acts on there (post-Ace of Spades Motorhead, for example), that I doubt that was the motivation.