Laughing at the 80s

[Tarka Dal]

Did anyone catch this?

It didn’t really tell us anything new, but did emphasis what a bloody shame it is that Spitting Image is no longer around.

Anyway, the reason I mention it is that out of all the people connected with Spitting Image they could have interviewed the one they actual went for was Chris.

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[Jonsmad]

Yes I saw it. As you say to the likes of us around these parts, who probably have a fair amount of dvd’s relevant to the era, it wasnt full of new things. But beyond Chris Barrie, I enjoyed Rik and Ben’s brief look at the pilot script for the young one in the pub, and being the big Madness fan I am, the black and white photo of Ben with the band during his short mention of their aborted Sitcom plans made it worth tuning in for this remembering of 80’s and it’s comedy.

I really think though that in the 80’s they did fucking hate the likes of Tarby on the TV etc, when he was writing Flithy, Rich, and catflap, and it’s only looking back now and having to go interview Jimmy nearly 30 years later that really he’s understanding or adjusting to the fact that nearly every kind of comedy has it’s place in history or peoples tastes, now that’s he’s established himself, with his slippers under the table in showbiz land.

[Tarka Dal]

It surprised me that it was tucked away so late in the schedule. I wonder if it’s an indication of how far interest has fallen in Ben Elton, or a reflection on how much he is apparently despised.

It was quite interesting to hear the 80s generation talking about new comedy. Harry Enfield and Victoria Wood seemed to have accepted there twilight years, whereas Ben himself seemed pretty critical of attitudes in modern stand-up. The return to cheap shots at minorities, stereotypes etc. I’m not sure if he had a bit of a point or had simply become one of the mainstream/establishment acts he was once the alternative too.

Alistair MacGowan made an interesting comparison in that we once had Spitting Image, we now have Mock the Week. That can’t be progress.

[Tanya Jones]

Ben Elton and Victoria Wood seemed to be talking about modern comedy as if they’d never seen any. I suspect that may well be the case. Anyone who either went to Edinburgh 2011 or is a regular on the London ‘scene’ knows that there’s loads of intelligent comedy out there. Which was the whole point of alternative comedy; an alternative to the hackneyed stuff that was getting on the telly in the 70s. Not that all the light entertainment was rubbish by any means, but there wasn’t necessarily room for anything really different.

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