American Humour

There is a bit in Bill Hicks' autobiography about the various American comedians who toned down their stand-up routines or who gave up stand-up altogether when they scored the ultimate - their own situation comedy show.

I think the ELR guy was a pal of Bill Hicks, but that's the dream - to score a mainstream situation comedy...year after year...the Yankee dollar comes a-rollin' in...$$$$

Joan Rivers is the only American stand-up comic I ever found funny.
Rarely watch tv now so can't comment on comedy shows like Friends which I've never watched.

Andy Kaufman's the only one I can think of who was in a mainstream situation comedy...but sure didn't "sell out".

A poster on here was adamant and STAUNCH (a few years back) that there are no funny women, but there are loads : Victoria Woods, Julie Walters, Joan Rivers, Madeleine Kahn, Lucille Ball, F@nny Brice, etc.

That was maybe me but I'd forgot about Joan.
Apart from LB (I used to watch I Love Lucy) none of the rest do it for me.

What? Madeleine Kahn in Blazing Saddles, impersonating Marlene Dietrich...that is hilarious!

Lili Von Shtupp :  A wed wose. How womantic!

From Elsewhere :

"Madeline Kahn was supposed to have appeared in Mame with Lucille Ball, but was fired for giving a poor performance. Lucille Ball always thought Kahn had deliberately blown her role so she could work on Blazing Saddles instead."

I've never seen Blazing Saddles and never heard of MK, had to google.

Not so much stand ups but american comedy shows are often brilliant.
I watch many of them.

I watched 'I Love Lucy' and 'The Odd couple' when I was younger but have no time for tv nowadays.
News shows, sports and wildlife programmes are the only things I regularly watch.

Ain't seen Blazing Saddles -- !

WoW! THat was cr@p! Takes some going to set American comedy back..

Not my cup of tea. Now Zulu! There was a movie.
Saw that in the cinema, was awesome.

I think anyone who hasn't seen blazing saddles needs headed off at the pass.

I don`t like the modern Yankee comedy but there were some brilliantly funny shows years ago. The Odd Couple and Lucy like aka mentioned, and Bilko, Car54, Dick van **** Show, MASH, All In The Family, The Munsters, Adams Family, Honeymooners, Jack Benny Show, Beverly Hill Billies, Rhoda, Hogans Heroes, Bewitched, I Dream Of Jeannie, Taxi all classic comedy viewing, then also the animated series like Flinstones, Top Cat and The Simpsons, etc

Headed off at the pass. Reminded me of the cinema when it was at it's best.
Cowboys and Indians. My brother used to take me as a youngster and it was mainly that genre.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. Magnificent. In truth I can't be 4rsed nowadays with anything other than facts.

I forgot Bilco. Great show mac.

Yeah, Bilko was great...hee hee, Just Checking...do you speak Authentic Frontier Gibberish...??

Well blazing saddles is a parody of that sort of think aka.
That horn swaggling varmit velasquez will agree!

Consarnit! Yer darn tootin'!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke5Mr5eCF2U

Gabby Johnson - Authentic Frontier Gibberish

I think Call Me a Taxi had a part in Blazing Saddles. Wasn't he the look-out for the sheriff's approach? 

"The sheriff's a NI----" (GA_DONG!!)



"May I present to you this laurel......and hardy handshake..."

"Springtime For Hitler In Germany"

Mel Brooks was a funny guy.

Comminity is the only good current US comedy I can think of, and even that can be a bit preachy, the Dean Pelton character is especially good though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kam_2IZB8QQ
.

Not sure if AKA's mentioned it, but he doesn't watch much TV.

Big Bang Theory started off pretty sharp and funny.  But as soon as they started to run out of ideas and try to bring in new characters...It ends up trying to hard to 'entertain', and whole thing starts to look a bit stale.

This might have been on here before but ...

(Native) American humour

Red Indian goes into restaurant dressed in feathered headgear etc and asks waiter for a table.

Waiter says "do you have a reservation?"

Who says they aren't funny?

Other than curb your enthusiasm I've never seen a genuinely brilliant US sitcom.

Frasier sums it up.  An absolutely atrocious sitcom that is massively popular.  Not just with the gimps but with the critics too.

Other than curb your enthusiasm I've never seen a genuinely brilliant US sitcom.

Frasier sums it up.  An absolutely atrocious sitcom that is massively popular.  Not just with the gimps but with the critics too.

9 of the 10 most watched American television programmes are Superbowl finals.

The other one is the final episode of M*A*S*H.

Modern Family is quality.

Rob, I really liked Frazier. Also loved Mash and Curb and quite like Modern Family and BBT although I think each episode is very variable in it's quality but the early series of Frazier were superb.

Other than curb your enthusiasm I've never seen a genuinely brilliant US sitcom.

Aka seems to watch more tv than RD.

Of their time,i know,  here is a list of the funniest half hour American comedies ever.Mr Edd.Hogans Heroes.F.Troop.The Jetsons.Bewitched.My Mother the car.My favorite Martian.Gilligans Island.The Munsters.The Addams family.Get Smart.Beverley Hillbillies.Petticoat Junction.Green Acres.The Bullwinckle SHOW.MR Magoo.Road Runner.FTroop had MELL Brookes as a New York Jewish Apache,in what was a precursor to Blazing Sadles.Made me laugh anyway.Be Lucky Fred.

I generally stick up for the yanks humour wise.  Had a few half decent stand ups. some hilarious films (dumb and dumber, spinal tap etc) and the yanks I've met have been a good laugh.  They just don't get sitcoms.  Think people laugh because everyone else laughs, but they are not actually any good - emperor's new clothes and all that.  Regards canned laughter they all have that, It is sh1t and I hate it but even "I'm Alan Partridge" had canned laughter and that is the best sitcom ever.

90% of all tv is crap now. You should try watching the old American sitcoms. Aynbody that doesn`t find Bilko funny has obviously had a humour bypass.

Modern Yank sitcoms are awful (same as most Britsh ones) with a few exceptions - Frasier is brilliantly written and genuinely funny, though not in a belly-ache inducing way. For that impact, you have Curb Your Enthusiasm - some of the funniest comedy moments of all time are in that show.

Ken.

Not all 30 min comedy shows as sitcoms though?. I like a lot of the US stuff as I've said. The stuff on he E4 channel for example. There's a reason their good stuff is broadcast across the world, big bang for example is dubbed into god knows how many languages and the stars are absolutely loaded, it's not because everyone in the world is wrong.
No, I think maybe at one point we led the US in comedy in some ways but they've listened and learned, they're good at the surreal and wacky stuff as well now. I laughed a lot at Kick-Ass a week or two ago, I didn't expect to.

BBT was brilliantly clever, and funny, for the first five or six series. Definitely running out of steam, I`m just waiting for the episode where Sheldon discovers sex, probably the last one they`ll ever shoot.
Those earlier series, and Curb, in joint first place as the best ever.

Last two posts I just fundamentally disagree with you on every level.  Think I have more in common with ISIS than I do with you two.

BBT is aimed at teenagers, surely ?

American sit coms generally leave me stone cold with the exception of Married With Children and Two And A Half Men, the Charlie Sheen version of course.

Curb is/was brilliant and tbf Modern Family does make me chuckle.

Seinfeld (of course)
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Arrested Development
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Sgt Bilko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBBWO4_wLoY

James will do alrite imo

Americans are thick as sh!t and have no sense of humor.

The Larry Sanders Show is my fav ever US show , a work of genius.

Seinfeld was terrific , Cheers too.

Modern Family , Brooklyn 99 & Silicon Valley of active sitcoms are watchable.

loved Cheers.

Larry Sanders was absolutely brilliant.

It's also worth mentioning the excellent cartoons America have created - Simpsons, American Dad, Family Guy and South Park have all provided alot of laughs over the years and as good as the best sitcoms

Not to forget The Flinstones, Top Cat and Wait Till Your Father gets Home

Taxi
Cheers

Loved 'em.

1986 and the best cop spoof of all time...no laugh track either so didnt last long on US TV, was way ahead of its time...

"What you thinking Hammer?" "Invading Afghanistan" lol

Sledge Hammer! the writers went onto The Simpsons and Cheers...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R03Dtu1r6nk

...and his invention not a silencer...a loudner lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WKM9GDuX0Y

Perhaps not a TV prog but For anyone that's involved in an office job or has management/co worker issues I suggest Scott Adams' cartoon strip Dilbert.

doridoru that series was average at best imo.

'Babes on waves' .... Sam Malone. Cheers

Police Squad
Sledgehammer
Loaded Weapon

All great.