The state of the British sitcom

[hummingbird]

Radio 4 programme.
Nothing that we haven’t heard before, but the comparison of viewing figures is interesting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7575000/7575032.stm

Although they do use the words ‘My’ and ‘Family’ in cold blood.
You have been warned.

Topic

[Andrew]

Interesting. Though putting The IT Crowd, Extras and Gavin & Stacy up against those 70s behemoths is slightly odd, cos none of them are known as ‘top rating’ comedies, not least because they have later slots and/or appear on the ‘secondary’ channels. (They’ve had a large cultural impact though, of course).

The ratings dip has happened, but is exaggerated by that comparison. The IT Crowd should be compared to other C4 comedies – only they can’t really do that if they’re using 70s ratings as examples.

Fairer, I guess, to put The Good Life and Fawlty Towers numbers next to those for My Family or…Christ is there another primetime sitcom around? I was going to say Benidorm, but even that’s on at 10pm. Still, they’re both numbers-grabbers – between 5 and 6 million. Still miles away from the 70s figures…but four times the number Gavin & Stacy gets.

[pfm]

I love that they used one of my favourite lines from The IT Crowd – ‘Yes you do, you’ve just used a double negative.’

[John Hoare]

I really love the line in context, but it really wouldn’t be the line I’d pick to represent the show! (It’s not especially obvious that it’s a character joke with Moss thinking he’s being really original and clever.) Not sure what I *would* pick, mind you – the catchphrase is the obvious, I suppose.

And I agree with Andrew totally about the viewing figures being dodgy comparisons. And as for Open All Hours being a “suburban idyll”, if the writer thinks the portrayal of Granville as a character that’s completely fucking *trapped* – and longing for a life that he will never have – is idyllic, then I seriously worry about them.

[Pete Part Three]

>I really love the line in context, but it really wouldn?t be the line I?d pick to represent the show!

You could say the same thing about their choice for Fawlty Towers (“Don’t mention the war! I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it!”). Admittedly, everyone knows the context though.

[Andrew]

I’m happier with those than I am with “Oh, what’s occurring.” – which isn’t a quote so much as a catchphrase. It’s not a joke, and it doesn’t really speak to the nature of the show.

> It?s not especially obvious that it?s a character joke with Moss thinking he?s being really original and clever.

Is that how it’s intended? I’m not convinced…

[John Hoare]

> It?s not especially obvious that it?s a character joke with Moss thinking he?s being really original and clever.

Is that how it?s intended? I?m not convinced?

It’s how I always interpreted it, although I admit there’s room for other interpretations. It’s just the way he looks so pleased with himself. It works better for me as a character joke than as a straightforward gag, anyway!

[Andrew]

> It works better for me as a character joke than as a straightforward gag, anyway!

Oh, I agree…yet I’d never taken that reading from it! But then, you ARE Moss. :-)

[pfm]

Of course it’s a character joke. You can tell that because if Jen, for example, had said it it would have felt wrong. To me it seems like something he probably says every time the song is sung.

[Phil]

There’s also the possibility that Moss doesn’t recognize the song, and is taking it as Roy’s own composition, or random muttering. He’s offering a condescendingly helpful critique. In fact, I’d be willing to bet Moss spends very little of his time listening to music of any kind, let alone solid classic rock.

[Author]

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