If I watched Little Britain in a vacuum, viewing the first episode having heard nothing about it, would I still despise it?
In reality, my first viewing of Little Britain was simply an epilogue to the story titled "Stefan Stands Bemused as All Around Him Bark Catchphrases as Quickly and Loudly as Possible Before Laughing Like Drains". See? Even the fictional story based on the experience sounds ungainly and uninteresting.
My repeated queries of "what is that from?" were met with a detailed retelling of the sketch, including any and all catchphrases.
When I eventually saw the show, I was to busy thinking "hmm, that's where this 'dust' thing comes from" to get any laughs out of it. It was a bloodless experience, beaten to death before I even saw it.
It had its moments but I feel it fell far short of the hype. An episode in isolation elicited laughs, but subsequent installments contained the same sketches, and gave the impression that I was watching an exercise in drilling catchphrases into the minds of the masses rather than an ongoing sketch comedy program.
I have to wonder though, is this the fault of the show? Or did it's popularity simply weigh it down before I jumped aboard? How many songs have I loved to death before repeated airplay turned me against them? I suppose I'll never know.
When I was in high school my friends would alternate between quoting Monty Python and wondering why we had no friends. I no longer wonder.
Stefan tells stories, writes about stories and tells stories about stories.
2 comments:
The difference is, Python is smart. Shite like Catherine Tate and Little Britian is that stupid humour which they're getting from dumb American comedies. It's a shame, before this normally most British comedy was a little more high-brow than others.
Little Britain was something Lou and I caught onto late as well - we got loaned a couple of seasons from a friend. It wasn't until about three episodes in that it started to become funny. It's something about the repetition of the sketches and characters that isn't funny until you know what's coming. You start to anticipate the punch-lines with a smile already on your face - still, it is one of those shows that is sometimes funnier to explain to someone than it is to actually watch.
Disagree with Terry - there have always been smart and dumb comedies either side of the ditch. The Office and Extras from the UK are equivalent to shows like Arrested Development and Curb Your Enthusiasm from the States. Likewise, we've got dumb stuff like Little Britain from the UK and Two And A Half Men from the US.
And there is no way anyone would call 'Are You Being Served' highbrow!
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