Americans watch Father Ted [VIDEO]

MakeEmLaugh

Buzzfeed have uploaded a video of some of its American staff members watching Father Ted (specifically The Passion of Saint Tibulus - the episode with the famous 'Down with this sort of thing!'/'Careful now' exchange).

Needless to say, they don't get it at all.

Here are some choice lines.

- “Irish people... they're always wearing turtle-necks.”
- “Are we supposed to laugh at that?”
- “I don't think it's funny at all, so far. Am I going to offend a lot of people by saying that?”
- “She [Mrs Doyle] does not take 'no' for an answer.”
- “Those Irish have a dry sense of humour.”
- “I'm definitely attracted to him [Dougal].”

Overheal

I will be the judge of how accurate this is :cool:

Yeah, the people in that video seem legitimately naive to the greatness of Father Ted. Shame. Damn feckin' shame.

Jhcx

Down with this sort of thing

kneemos

Wouldn't expect them to get it,but what school of PC were they in?
Is this the future?
Are these my feet?

One eyed Jack

MakeEmLaugh wrote: »

Buzzfeed have uploaded a video of some of its American staff members watching Father Ted

Hardly a representative sample of the general population now, are they in all fairness?

It's like when they tried to make an American version of the In-betweeners, that was absolutely dire, not even the Americans themselves could watch it, it was that bad!

I've no doubt there are many Americans would totally get Father Ted, it's just a matter of pitching it to the right audience...


not Buzzfeed staff obviously.

Subcomandante Marcos

BBC America showed Fr Ted for a few months but had to stop because gob****es in Boston and New York complained that it was offensive to Irish people and Catholics.

MiskyBoyy

The 2 girls together seemed to kind of get it.

When the Sun Hits

I've found that older Americans generally don't find it very funny, whereas those under 25 do. Anyone I've talked to from the UK finds it hilarious.

J. Marston

They'd probably be rolling about laughing if you put Big Bang Theory in front of them.

CarrickMcJoe

Love the way the hairy guys headphones don't touch his mop...

mass_debater

'Mercans, say no more!!!

Skerries

that would be an American matter!

Bigus

They were getting there, they ,just need a few more episodes,

would there be anything to be said, for another mass ?

S. Goodspeed

I'm not sure I'd even find it funny if I started watching it from a random episode like them.

Ea-mon.

mad muffin

J. Marston wrote: »

They'd probably be rolling about laughing if you put Big Bang Theory in front of them.

Nowt wrong with TBBT :mad:

Akrasia

Father Ted is funny because it plays off the stereotypes of irish people and our relationship with the catholic church.

If you didn't already understand these concepts then it's just slapstick and not particularly funny

I know people who grew up in S. Africa and they just don't get Fr Ted at all.

nullzero

"Any time I see an Irish sit com I don't know whether to laugh or shove it up my ass".

Such a thing American humor is.

falan

I never really got into father ted. overated IMO. ..blasphemy I know.

kfallon

I remember watching the first episode the night it debuted on Channel 4 and thinking it wasn't very good! By about episode 3 I had completely changed my mind on it!

Should have shown them Speed 3 or the episode where Ted is a racist.

Medusa22

As Akrasia said, Father Ted is about Irish stereotypes and the Catholic church and so the humour is often lost on foreigners. I think that Irish films reflect our unique sense of humour which I particularly enjoy. My OH is German and when she moved to Ireland she tried to watch Father Ted because a friend was raving about it but she just did not get it. It was the same for her with Irish films at first but now she understands the humour and enjoys the films.

humanji

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Boring username

Awful lot of butthurt Father Ted fanboys here.

Crooked Jack

Boring username wrote: »

Awful lot of butthurt Father Ted fanboys here.

To be fair youre kinda right here. Some people do get fiercly defensive of it. Im actually surprised the show went over as well as it did in England, i mean it's a uniquely Irish thing. i love it myself but I'd take Black Books over Father Ted (or any sitcom ever) any day.

Faith+1

mad muffin wrote: »

Nowt wrong with TBBT :mad:

Are you for real? They have to use a laugh track to remind the viewers to join in. It's embarrassing to watch.

Crooked Jack

Faith+1 wrote: »

Are you for real? They have to use a laugh track to remind the viewers to join in. It's embarrassing to watch.

"You've dispersed H20 molecules from the vessel I was employing across the surface area adjacent to me"
"what?"
"you knocked his glass over"
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

"Hey, are you coming over?"
"There's a Star Wars marathon on with previously unheard commentary from George Lucas."
"I was at victoria's secret today" (or some other sexual innuendo)
*Runs out of room*
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Repeat for 50 million seasons

kneemos

kfallon wrote: »

I remember watching the first episode the night it debuted on Channel 4 and thinking it wasn't very good! By about episode 3 I had completely changed my mind on it!

It was a flop at the start here as well.
The references would be lost on Americans though.

J. Marston

mad muffin wrote: »

Nowt wrong with TBBT :mad:

Everything is wrong with it.

Its existence is an affront to humanity and the creators and cast should be put on trial for crimes against comedy.

"But people have different tastes in comedy...." I hear you say. I say no! Big Bang Theory is the drizzling shíts and that's not opinion, it's fact.

kneemos

J. Marston wrote: »

Everything is wrong with it.

Its existence is an affront to humanity and the creators and cast should be put on trial for crimes against comedy.

"But people have different tastes in comedy...." I hear you say. I say no! Big Bang Theory is the drizzling shíts and that's not opinion, it's fact.

Sheldon's girlfriend is a class actor,the shining light of the show.
The rest not so much.

MiskyBoyy

The laughter track in the background for Two and a Half men is seriously cheesey.

TheIrishGrover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRHL3Y_zYFc

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

Ted's 20 years old so it's even harder to translate to any 'new' audience, especially an American audience who would be lost on many of the shows references.

Sure funny is funny but So much has changed in that time. I love Ted but one of the things that made it such a massive success here was our strange relationship with the church. It was more than simply a comedy in many respects.

Paramite Pie

I don't think their comments were that harsh... they were coming around to it by the end.

I think a few more episodes would do it.

DanielODonnell

It is offensive to Roman Catholics but that is the problem with modern Irish-Roman Catholics, they don't take it seriously. My priest isn't a fan of it.

On another matter, the "Irish Catholics" in USA aren't technically Irish Roman Catholics as they are not members of the Irish Roman Catholic church.

DanielODonnell

Plus Irish people who aren't Christians anymore are not Irish Catholics, just because you were baptised in a Roman Catholic church doesn't make you a Roman Catholic for life.

locum-motion

Since when did Catholics refer to themselves as 'Roman' Catholics at all?

AFAIK, most Protestant churches consider themselves to be 'catholic', and they use the term 'Roman Catholic' to describe those that believe in the Pope etc.

DanielODonnell

My church is the Roman Catholic church, not Anglican or whatever

locum-motion

DanielODonnell wrote: »

My church is the Roman Catholic church, not Anglican or whatever

Yeah, and I bet your country's flag is green, white and gold, rather than green, white and orange, right?

Seriously, I suggest you do a little research into your own religion!

SimonTemplar

J. Marston wrote: »

They'd probably be rolling about laughing if you put Big Bang Theory in front of them.

Sheldon is a pale imitation of Niles Crane
His girlfriend is a pale imitation of Lillith Crane

Snickers Man

J. Marston wrote: »

They'd probably be rolling about laughing if you put Big Bang Theory in front of them.

Yeah but who doesn't find TBBT funny?

Snickers Man

Sheldon Cooper is the most brilliant comic creation since Basil Fawlty.
Big Bang Theory is the best written, best acted best observed sit com since Frasier.

Father Ted had some moments of bizarre surreal hilarity but basically it was an overrated poorly acted farce which went down well in Britain because it was not afraid to poke fun at rural Irish Catholic stereotypes and we are still so ****ing insecure that we take anything positive the Brits say about us as a ringing endorsement of its high cultural merit. Even when it's nothing of the sort.

Go on go on go on go on go on.

Dickerty

Snickers Man wrote: »

Sheldon Cooper is the most brilliant comic creation since Basil Fawlty.
Big Bang Theory is the best written, best acted best observed sit com since Frasier.

Father Ted had some moments of bizarre surreal hilarity but basically it was an overrated poorly acted farce which went down well in Britain because it was not afraid to poke fun at rural Irish Catholic stereotypes and we are still so ****ing insecure that we take anything positive the Brits say about us as a ringing endorsement of its high cultural merit. Even when it's nothing of the sort.

Go on go on go on go on go on.

Not sure if you are being ironic?

All of the best British comedies play up to stereotypes - The Office, Only Fools and Horses, The Royle Family. What makes British and Irish humour great is that we can laugh at ourselves.

Sheldon Cooper is no funnier a creation that Niles Crane or Cosmo Kramer.

the_monkey

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

BBC America showed Fr Ted for a few months but had to stop because gob****es in Boston and New York complained that it was offensive to Irish people and Catholics.

Yep, and it was f*cking CUT anyway !!!

These dopes watching it probably think The Big Bang theory is hilarious too.

Snickers Man

Dickerty wrote: »

Not sure if you are being ironic?

Deadly serious actually.

Dickerty wrote: »

Sheldon Cooper is no funnier a creation that Niles Crane

I'd give Sheldon the edge but at least you're crediting him with some worthy company.

Dickerty wrote: »

or Cosmo Kramer.

I'm supposed to know who Cosmo Kramer is, right?

Google informs me he was a character in Seinfeld, which I could never watch because of that ****ING bass guitar continuity jingle. Who thought that was a good idea?

If you must have that sort of divider between scenes just put in a silent or near silent swoosh like BBT or That Seventies Show does. (Even they are totally unnecessary.) But that "Me-e-e-n" doo wop ****e in Two and a Half Men or Seinfeld's bass bollox.........

Sorry I'm ranting.

I'm sure Cosmo was very funny.