Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with TV and Comedy

Do you remember this series?

moorooka — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:23:14 -0800

What was the name of the British stop-motion/claymation series that was on Comedy Central about ten years ago, featuring vulgar, working-class type characters?

"He said I had a furry face. That can't be a good thing, can it?"

Ziggy500 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:57:59 -0800

Please help me find more comedies to fill the spectacular void that Green Wing has left in my TV viewing. There are some great Ask Mefi posts about TV comedy, and I've read through lots of them. So I don't think I'm repeating a previous question.

Essentially, I am looking for comedies like Green Wing - absurd, surreal comedy which has strong characters, and is heavily improvised and occasionally (gasp!) moving. While the comedy was often dark (incest and murder come to mind) it wasn't really disturbing. Here's a clip. The audio is NSFW.

I'm not an expert on comedy, and I haven't seen too many other shows like Green Wing. I enjoy the usual British comedy standards - Peep Show, Father Ted, Blackadders 3 and 4, The Office, Extras, The Inbetweeners and The IT Crowd off the top of my head. American comedies I like are 30 Rock and Arrested Development. What am I missing?

Cheers all

I Love Lucy playing golf...

dawson — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:24:32 -0800

Lucille Ball plays golf after aborted attempts at other sports.... she and Ethel are jealous of the time lost to Desi and Fred...they take up golf to be with the boys and the boys 'teach' them a silly way of 'playing'...haliarity doth ensue. I am, of course, looking for the episode, which most could find in 30 seconds, but I am having no luck..and, almost more importantly...is it on line anywhere?
I swan I just saw it on hulu..but alas, no dice...

Tell me the name of this British TV comedy

lometogo — Sat, 09 May 2009 06:44:18 -0800

Please tell me the name of this recent British TV comedy series featuring two guys and usually started with their walking down a long white hall and then opening a door and entering into a scene

Who will send me TV listings like the ones in TV Guide?

reenum — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 08:42:50 -0800

I want an e-mail or RSS update that tells me all the shows I want to watch that day and give me a brief synopsis of said episode. Is there anything like this out there? Back in the late 1990's, I had an Excite account. At the time, I could select my favorite shows, and on the My Excite page, I could see a short synopsis for that night's episode. They had this for reruns too, so I could figure which reruns I wanted to watch. Ditto for talk shows.

I have this feature on DISH Network, but I want it in my inbox for easier processing.

I'm currently subscribed to crapimissedit, which e-mails my inbox whenever a new show is on for one of my favorites. It does half, but not the whole job. I like that the site notifies me when a new show is on, but I'm not happy that I can't get a synopsis or info on repeats.

I also have an account with Zap2it.com, but find it too unwieldy, plus no e-mail or RSS updates.

Are there any websites where I can have an RSS update or e-mail sent to me that lists my favorite shows that day and gives a brief synopsis of them?

I Like A Bit Of Comedy, Me

Secret Life of Gravy — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 07:37:49 -0800

Can you help us with our British TV Comedy addiction? My husband and I have stopped watching American TV completely, instead we have become totally addicted to British comedies. We have about 40 minutes or so a day to watch TV but we are running out of comedies available on Netflix. We are crazy about The Office, The Royle Family, Spaced, Smoking Room, and Peep Show,. Other, lesser favorites, are Green Wings, Yes, Minister, , AbFab, Clatterford, and Ballykissangel. In our queue we have Black Books, Saxondale, Shameless, Doc Martin, and The Mighty Boosh. We hated Chef in large part because of the laughtrack. We also don't like Mr. Bean, Blackadder, Vicar of Dibley, Keeping Up Appearances, and a Bit of Fry and Laurie.

High on our wish list is the 3rd season of The Royle Family, Smoking Room (BBCAmerica only ran a few episodes) Phoenix Nights, and dinnerladies. The last two comedies we have heard great things about but this point, it looks like we will have to invest in a multi-regional player and buy the DVDs if we ever want to see them. Is it worth the investment do you think? Any idea if there will be a release of season 3 of The Royle Family? Are there any series that we are missing? Any suggestions or ideas are welcome, bearing in mind that, yes, we do watch other things such as American shows and non-fiction shows, but I'm really only asking about British comedies.

Can I watch Thom Yorke the depressive clown again?

daisyk — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:35:28 -0800

Does anyone remember the UK satellite music-and-comedy channel PlayUK? How about the short cartoons of music stars they used to play? Are they still preserved somewhere on the internet? Around 2000 my brothers and I used to watch a lot of PlayUK, which showed music videos, comedy programmes (including Rock Profile) and absurd short cartoon clips of rockstars.

The clips I remember:

- There were at least two of Thom Yorke, doing magic tricks whilst dressed in a clown costume and looking depressed. In one he pulled a giant match from his oversized trousers, set himself on fire and moaned, "I'm on fiiiiiire." In the other he set about making a balloon model of a noose, proclaiming, "It's a noooooose."

- At least one of Badly Drawn Boy, saying, "I'm Badly Drawn Boy. What's under me hat today? It's me home city of Birmingham!"

- At least two of Marilyn Manson, with a horse's head, playing a psychiatrist. In one he gave electric shocks to Craig David every time he referred to himself in the third person while relating the events of his day.

I've searched Google, YouTube etc and have found nothing about the cartoons and only scant mention of PlayUK itself, but I'd love to see them again and persuade people I didn't make them up!

Recommend me some Australian and Canadian comedy!

NucleophilicAttack — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:00:15 -0800

Similar to this thread, please recommend some Canadian and Australian comedy! I've seen so far Kids in the Hall, Little Mosque on the Prairie, and Corner Gas from Canada, and The Chaser's War on Everything from Australia. I have similar tastes as the previous poster.

Cheers!

Smart Britcoms?

kristi — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:45:26 -0800

Please recommend smart British comedies on DVD. I liked As Time Goes By and am enjoying Cold Feet - what else should I look for? Other shows I've enjoyed: Good Neighbors (a/k/a The Good Life), Jeeves and Wooster (I love Stephen Fry), Kiss Me Kate, Solo (yes, I like Felicity Kendal, too). Coupling was pretty good - 7 out of 10? A Bit of Fry and Laurie is funny but I'm looking for story and characters rather than sketch. Cold Feet is enjoyable but is a little close to dramedy for me. If Tom Stoppard wrote for TV, that would be right up my alley.

Looking for things that are readily available in the US on DVD (or are likely to be within the next year).

Ta!

Looking for Emma Thompson TV series

bartleby — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:11:46 -0800

Emma Thompson TV series? Late 80's? Did I hallucinate this? I could swear that in between between presenting episodes of A Bit of Fry and Laurie, French & Saunders, and Alas Smith and Jones for me 20 years ago, my magical televisual display unit once showed me several episodes of Emma Thompson's own series (likely short-lived). I think it might have just been called "Thompson", and used Brubeck's "Unsquare Dance" as its theme music.

Did I imagine this? Are recordings available? Region 1 preferred.

Wanted: information about this show.

phaded — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 13:17:30 -0800

I'm trying to find out the name of a British comedy show I saw on PBS once, but I only have a few details about it. About a year ago, while visiting my grandparents in Indiana, my dad and I caught a couple episodes of a British comedy on their local PBS station. We never learned the title of the show, and have been looking for it ever since. As such, I am turning to the hive mind for help.

Here's what I do remember: the show centered around a family consisting of a husband, his wife, and their (I think, anyway) three children--two sons and a daughter. One son's name was Nick, and he wasn't too bright. I remember an exchange between Nick and his father where Nick, upon telling his father that he was going to sell something on eBay, was called an "eDiot".

I can't remember very much else about it, and I know it isn't very much to go on, but I'm hoping someone out there has seen this show and knows what I'm talking about. Please?

Where do laugh tracks come from?

twine42 — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:16:42 -0800

Where do "laugh tracks" come from? Are they recorded especially or stolen from a genuine performance? Would it be possible to track laugh tracks in the same way that, for example, the Wilhelm Scream has been?

Doubly awesome

jourman2 — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 20:23:04 -0800

comedyfilter: So, a question about double acts . So there are tons of comedy acts on tv and in the movies that use the comedy foil technique. Think Leslie Nielsen in Airplane or Tracey Jordan from 30 rock (for the straight man part). I was wondering, though, if there are many movies/tv shows out there in which either part of a double act acknowledges the absurdity of the interaction. For example, Jon Stewart cracking up unintentionally while responding to some absurd statement made by one of his correspondents.

I suppose it's kind of a double act meets the fourth wall type scene. Any suggestions?

Funny movies dealing with investments...

Sreiny — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 14:32:09 -0800

Asking for a friend: Looking for a movie or tv show that deals with investing in a comedic way. The whole show or movie doesn't have to deal with investing, but maybe a part in particular. Are there any that you can think of that go about this in an interesting/funny/ironic way? Thanks.

Sitcoms without the laughter

destro — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 10:46:00 -0800

Are there videos of typical sitcoms that use canned laughter without the laugh track? Something on the order of Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, or older shows where the comedy is highly dependent on the canned laughter.

Ha! The TV Comedy Network

mykescipark — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 17:14:41 -0800

On an admittedly silly nostalgic whim, I'm looking to buy memorabilia relating to Ha!, the TV Comedy Network. These would most likely be items which were "internal" to the MTV/Viacom axis, like T-shirts, stationery, buttons, or even VHS tapes of bumpers and ads. Ha! went on to become the monolith that is Comedy Central, but I'm interested in items from that particular slice of time before the merger with The Comedy Network.

Quizzical comments doubtless to follow, but helpful leads also gratefully accepted.

"Veeeeery interesting" -- who?

alumshubby — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 11:08:16 -0800

Who was Arte Johnson parodying with his "veeeery interesting" shtick on Laugh-In? For those of you who've watched Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In: What's Arte Johnson's "veeeery interesting" Wolfgang character all about? Is the cigarette-and-German-helmet thing supposed to be a parody of someone? Who? Hans Hellmut Kirst, maybe? Or was it just random silliness?

Which is the best Red Dwarf: Books or DVDs?

brownpau — Sun, 12 Sep 2004 18:29:43 -0800

The "Red Dwarf" sci-fi comedy series. If I had to choose between just the books, or just the DVDs, which one should I go with?