What's happened to the Great British comedy of the noughties?

Dots1982

Whether it was sitcoms such as Extras, the Office or Peep Show, sketch shows like Bo Selecta or Little Britain or panel shows like Big Brother's Big mouth (when Russell Brand was presenting), Britain produced some very very funny TV in the noughties.

I don't see it anymore to be honest. Where did it go?

Is the talent not there like it was then or is money put towards producing junk TV like Love Island/Geordie Shore?

Maximus Alexander

They're all busy taking themselves far too seriously these days.

Dots1982

The inbetweeners was probably the last really funny show on Uk tv? I know some people like celebrity juice but its not my thing...Graham Norton is fairly funny but a lot of its appeal is down to the huge celebrities they consistently book rather than it been all that funny.

maudgonner

The Last Leg is probably the best topical panel show at the moment, I think.

Taskmaster is very funny (it's on Dave though, so a lot of people don't see it). And anyone who thinks Horrible Histories is just for kids is really missing out.

Mec27

UK television can never compare to America despite their copes. Only Fools and Horses is a terrible show that has aged horribly, oh ha delboy hilarious antics yet again:rolleyes:

Inbetweeners is the only funny show.

LightsStillOn

Off the top of my head: The Inbetweeners, Him & Her, Catastrophe, The Thick of It, Psychoville, Cuckoo, Toast of London, Bad Education, Fresh Meat, Misfits, Episodes. Those are some recent-ish ones that are worth watching.

Catastrophe being the pick of the bunch, it's the best comedy series in a very long time.

Dots1982

Mec27 wrote: »

UK television can never compare to America despite their copes. Only Fools and Horses is a terrible show that has aged horribly, oh ha delboy hilarious antics yet again:rolleyes:

Inbetweeners is the only funny show.

Don't know, I've given park & recs and 30 rock a go and find them awful, Louie CK is about the only American funny man on TV that strikes home with me

DEFTLEFTHAND

Have noticed this also, British comedy has turned sh1te since the beginning of the 10s.

I would agree with one of above posters that the last decent thing to come out of there was the Inbetweeners.

Conall Cernach

Peep Show only ended a few months ago.

Maximus Alexander

Good shout on Catastrophe all right. It's one of those rare laugh-out-loud shows that really tickles me.

Dots1982

LightsStillOn wrote: »

Off the top of my head: The Inbetweeners, Him & Her, Catastrophe, The Thick of It, Psychoville, Cuckoo, Toast of London, Bad Education, Fresh Meat, Misfits, Episodes. Those are some recent-ish ones that are worth watching.

Catastrophe being the pick of the bunch, it's the best comedy series in a very long time.

I doubt any of those standup to the comedies I began the thread with. I would have heard otherwise. Catastrophe is meant to be funny but the concept is not really something i'd watch.

RayM

One of my favourite sitcoms of the '00s was Early Doors, which sadly seems to have been largely forgotten.

Lots of good stuff this decade though... Toast of London is very good. Rev is good too. Friday Night Dinner is very funny. Fresh Meat had its moments.

The 1990s were way better than the '00s anyway... Father Ted, The Fast Show, Big Train, Brass Eye, The Day Today, Alan Partridge, The Royle Family, etc...

maudgonner

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Have noticed this also, British comedy has turned sh1te since the beginning of the 10s.

You hear this all the time though. In the 00s people were lamenting the comedy of the 90s and how nothing was ever going to be as good as The Fast Show, Harry Enfield, Chris Morris and Alan Partridge.

Before that they were lamenting Ben Elton and Spitting Image, saying that nothing came close to that.

Just like music, every 10 years or so a generation becomes convinced that it's all gone to sh1t and it was better back in the day.

mfceiling

Dots1982 wrote: »

I doubt any of those standup to the comedies I began the thread with. I would have heard otherwise. Catastrophe is meant to be funny but the concept is not really something i'd watch.

Toast of London is definitely funny. I agree with you on the crap that passes for comedy nowadays.

Billy86

Dots1982 wrote: »

I doubt any of those standup to the comedies I began the thread with. I would have heard otherwise. Catastrophe is meant to be funny but the concept is not really something i'd watch.

You're clearly not as in touch as you think you are, I hate to tell you . Toast of London for one is hilarious I find, and I'm not sure if it's still going but the Thick of It was some of the best political satire ever, hence why Malcolm Tucker is now Dr Who and why James Gandolfini was in the movie they made, as a fairly major role.

Dots1982

maudgonner wrote: »

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Have noticed this also, British comedy has turned sh1te since the beginning of the 10s.

You hear this all the time though. In the 00s people were lamenting the comedy of the 90s and how nothing was ever going to be as good as The Fast Show, Harry Enfield, Chris Morris and Alan Partridge.

Before that they were lamenting Ben Elton and Spitting Image, saying that nothing came close to that.

Just like music, every 10 years or so a generation becomes convinced that it's all gone to sh1t and it was better back in the day.

I don't think it's ****e now but i do think its inferior to what was produced in terms of the noughties and the 90s...you had a lot comedic geniuses around in the last decade; Gervais, Sasha Baron Cohen, Walliams, Russell Brand and Coogan in the decade before ...they've all got rich and relatively inactive since.

This decade I don't really think there is anything like that caliabre. Its James Cordon and Jack Whitehall...not really at the same level at all.

The_Valeyard

Mec27 wrote: »

UK television can never compare to America despite their copes. Only Fools and Horses is a terrible show that has aged horribly, oh ha delboy hilarious antics yet again:rolleyes:

Inbetweeners is the only funny show.

Yes, Minister! May be the funniest and most realistic approach to politics and civil service of all time.

RayM

mfceiling wrote: »

Toast of London is definitely funny.

Even the names in Toast of London are funny... Steven Toast, Clem Fandango, Ray Purchase, Jane Plough (pronounced 'Pluff').

Dots1982

Billy86 wrote: »

Dots1982 wrote: »

I doubt any of those standup to the comedies I began the thread with. I would have heard otherwise. Catastrophe is meant to be funny but the concept is not really something i'd watch.

You're clearly not as in touch as you think you are, I hate to tell you . Toast of London for one is hilarious I find, and I'm not sure if it's still going but the Thick of It was some of the best political satire ever, hence why Malcolm Tucker is now Dr Who and why James Gandolfini was in the movie they made, as a fairly major role.

Didn't like the thick of it...will watch the toast of london but if something is good you tend to hear about it but howandever..

Hande hoche!

Toast of London is terrific. Fresh Meat probably went on one season too much.

maudgonner

Definitely agree with those above who mentioned Rev and Catastrophe. The Thick of It was bloody brilliant (but was from the 00s ).

The Detectorists is also one of the best things on TV.

DrumSteve

Still have a soft spot for the IT Crowd and Black Books.

maudgonner

Dots1982 wrote: »

I don't think it's ****e now but i do think its inferior to what was produced in terms of the noughties and the 90s...you had a lot comedic geniuses around in the last decade; Gervais, Sasha Baron Cohen, Walliams, Russell Brand and Coogan in the decade before ...they've all got rich and relatively inactive since.

This decade I don't really think there is anything like that caliabre. Its James Cordon and Jack Whitehall...not really at the same level at all.

Ah here, if you think all comedy has to offer us is James Corden and Jack Whitehall then I can see why you're disillusioned. But it isn't. (And James Corden was definitely from the 00s - he was never off the bloody TV then. Thankfully he's now been shipped off to the US so hopefully we'll never, ever hear from him again).

There's plenty of great standups & comedians now, they might not reach the stratospheric success of Ricky Gervais or Sasha Baron Cohen, but that might not be a bad thing. They get funny, they get famous, they get rich and then they stop being so funny, in general. (But I don't think Russell Brand was ever funny, so you may just have very different taste in comedy to me).

I love Reginald D Hunter, Greg Davies, Romesh Ranganathan, John Richards, Sean Locke, Miles Jupp etc etc. There's plenty of talent around. And there's plenty of guys like John Bishop and Jimmy Carr who make very good money selling out arena tours. If there has been a drop off in the amount of TV comedy superstars maybe that's why - there's an awful lot of money to be made in standup if you're successful.

Harry Palmr

Who can say comedy is dead when House of Fools is on air (it's not on air anymore)?

Apart from Peter Kays Car Share and Mrs Brown Boys (!) the age of the big hit comedy (or even the "popular" cult success) seems to be over as the market fragments like an exploding thing. But there are still laughs to be had with stuff like Toast of London, Top Coppers (BBC Three), Murder In Successville, Upstart Crow, Flat TV (BBC Three)

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

Peep Show was still making good episodes this decades, with the partial exception of the penultimate season.

riclad

The management at the bbc has changed ,they don,t understand
how to make comedys,
c4 uk makes more comedys even though they dont have much money compared with the bbc .
Its lot easier to make more costume drama,s , cop shows ,shows based on books .
than to make a good comedy ,and reflect modern life ,like peep show
.
Comedy is the hardest program format to make ,
Another cop drama about serial killers is much easier to make .
In the 90s the bbc made lots of comedys ,
something has gone wrong .
I think the management at c4 put a lot of work into making new comedys and hiring good writers ,actors ,
rather than making another mediocre crime drama .

youreadthat

I think a lot of time and talent is going into panel shows. To be fair, I like panel shows and some of the funniest TV I've seen the last decade has been on them but there are too many and too many mediocre comedians invited on.

Riddle101

As far as panel shows are concerned I really enjoy 8 out of 10 Cats(And Countdown), Mock the Week, Have I Got News For You, and Would I Lie to You. Sitcoms would include Inbetweeners, IT Crowd, and Mighty Boosh. Don't see much Sketch comedies anymore though, I think Little Britain was the last good one, but the likes of Harry Enfield, and the Fast Show are no more.

Dr Crayfish

I can't stand panel shows, they're just dick measuring contests and 100% scripted. I would agree that this decade hasn't brought much good comedy. I can't watch Sharon Horgan with her constant gurning and ridiculous accent.
The funniest thing on TV now for me is "Veep", Julia Louis-Dreyfus is immense as that character, as well as some of the supporting actors, Jonah especially. I don't know anyone else who watches it though.

Green Fella

riclad wrote: »

The management at the bbc has changed ,they don,t understand
how to make comedys,
c4 uk makes more comedys even though they dont have much money compared with the bbc .
Its lot easier to make more costume drama,s , cop shows ,shows based on books .
than to make a good comedy ,and reflect modern life ,like peep show
.
Comedy is the hardest program format to make ,
Another cop drama about serial killers is much easier to make .
In the 90s the bbc made lots of comedys ,
something has gone wrong .
I think the management at c4 put a lot of work into making new comedys and hiring good writers ,actors ,
rather than making another mediocre crime drama .

The Politically Correct lunatics took over the asylum at Channel 4 and the BBC, sadly they were the only TV channels that had any interest in comedy. Thats gone now, the only thing they have interest in now is "diversity".

The reason comedy is dying is because the "I'm offended" brigade who suck the fun out of everything. The last decent TV comedy was the Inbetweeners, it wouldnt even make Channel 4/E4 now they would claim it is sexist and there is "too many white faces". Even Channel 4s adverts are promoting this diversity liberal crap. The panel shows now are filled with unfunny Women, Black and Asian comedians there to tick boxes. That and safe,PC and painfully unfunny turds like Russell Howard.

LightsStillOn

Green Fella wrote: »

The Politically Correct lunatics took over the asylum at Channel 4 and the BBC, sadly they were the only TV channels that had any interest in comedy. Thats gone now, the only thing they have interest in now is "diversity".

The reason comedy is dying is because the "I'm offended" brigade who suck the fun out of everything. The last decent TV comedy was the Inbetweeners, it wouldnt even make Channel 4/E4 now they would claim it is sexist and there is "too many white faces". Even Channel 4s adverts are promoting this diversity liberal crap. The panel shows now are filled with unfunny Women, Black and Asian comedians there to tick boxes. That and safe,PC and painfully unfunny turds like Russell Howard.

Aye. Gone be with the days when panel shows were for white men and white men only. :rolleyes:

Green Fella

LightsStillOn wrote: »

Aye. Gone be with the days when panel shows were for white men and white men only. :rolleyes:

Yes its all the white mans fault as usual. Shame most of these minority or female comedians cant get anywhere on talent. Its because they have none. And the people see it isnt funny, and dont watch. Guess that must be whiteys fault too?

You and your "offended" SJW friends on this website, twitter and tumblr are part of the reason comedy is dying off. Is this you?

Dirty Dingus McGee

RayM wrote: »

One of my favourite sitcoms of the '00s was Early Doors, which sadly seems to have been largely forgotten.

Lots of good stuff this decade though... Toast of London is very good. Rev is good too. Friday Night Dinner is very funny. Fresh Meat had its moments.

The 1990s were way better than the '00s anyway... Father Ted, The Fast Show, Big Train, Brass Eye, The Day Today, Alan Partridge, The Royle Family, etc...

Early Doors was genius and doesn't get anywhere near enough attention it's up there with the Royle Family.

Billy86

Green Fella wrote: »

The reason comedy is dying is because the "I'm offended" brigade who suck the fun out of everything.

Green Fella wrote: »

Yes its all the white mans fault as usual.

I'm going to guess you prefer slapstick over irony?

Aurum

I remember Graham Linehan saying in a recent interview that the one piece of advice that he'd give to a younger TV comedy writer is to move to the US, there was no money at all in the UK. The comedy DVD market disappeared, there isn't enough money in repeats, so it seems that comedy writers are moving to other outlets. Standup is both very popular and lucrative at a certain level, and panel shows have minimum overheads and risk, and are guaranteed pretty high viewing figures. It's sad that there is nothing at all like the great, slightly surreal comedy series from 10/15 years ago like Green Wing, The Mighty Boosh, Black Books etc. No decent satire either, which is a shame, something like The Thick of It or Nathan Barley. There are some great satirists, like Andy Zaltzman, who should really be given a platform.

Are we on the 3rd page and no mention of the pinnacle of UK comedy in that era?

The first season of the League of Gentlemen. Just...incredible.

Billy86

Aurum wrote: »

There are some great satirists, like Andy Zaltzman, who should really be given a platform.

I'm surprised he hasn't been picked up somewhere (and think he might actually avoid doing so), if for no other reason due to John Oliver's explosion in popularity; the Bugle is/was absolutely excellent.

Green Fella

youreadthat wrote: »

I think a lot of time and talent is going into panel shows. To be fair, I like panel shows and some of the funniest TV I've seen the last decade has been on them but there are too many and too many mediocre comedians invited on.

Mock the Week was funny many years ago when Frankie Boyle was on. Died when he left and was replaced by the usual crap.

Boyle then basically went from Television and crap like Russel Howard, Jack Whitehall etc now have big gigs. Jack Whitehall is on TV because his father is a big TV Producer and agent.

El Chapo

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Early Doors was genius and doesn't get anywhere near enough attention it's up there with the Royle Family.

The two police men were comedy gold.

Craig Cash is an absolute genius.

El Chapo

Nought, noughties, thousands, zeros..

Who gives a bollocks?

FFS.

Dots1982

Watching and enjoying Toast of London but as good as the shows I mentioned from last decade. Not for me.

El_Duderino 09

Dots1982 wrote:

I don't see it anymore to be honest. Where did it go?

You're a decade older and your tastes have changed. Media changes but that type of comedy is aimed at people in their teens and 20s. I hate to break it to you OP, but you're no longer in that age group.

Oscar Bravo

Jim in the Royle family does make me laugh

mansize

Billy86 wrote: »

People were probably just used to decades ending in "ies" by 1999. I remember all the overblown nonsense about what the decade would be referred too, can't remember all the suggestions but 'noughties' is a bloody blessing compared to some if I recall!

I'd usually say 'two thousands' though, personally.

Would that not refer to whole bloody millennium though???

C4 always had a diversity charter btw.

mansize

Rovers on Sky1 for fans of Craig Cash isn't bad.

Its written by Joe Wilkenson

Sue Johnson plays the club barmaid

mansize

Green Fella wrote: »

Yes its all the white mans fault as usual. Shame most of these minority or female comedians cant get anywhere on talent. Its because they have none. And the people see it isnt funny, and dont watch. Guess that must be whiteys fault too?

You and your "offended" SJW friends on this website, twitter and tumblr are part of the reason comedy is dying off. Is this you?

The token female on the panel shows is never the weakest. Usually the whiney skinny white guy

pickarooney

Dots1982 wrote: »

I doubt any of those standup to the comedies I began the thread with. I would have heard otherwise. Catastrophe is meant to be funny but the concept is not really something i'd watch.

It seems like you'd rather be 'right' than discover some great new comedy. More fool you.

Strumms

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Early Doors was genius and doesn't get anywhere near enough attention it's up there with the Royle Family.

100% with you on that. The writing and casting was just sublime and the mix of different characters. It's so underrated also. I really can't for the life of me get why it finished. Was it getting poor viewer numbers ? Either way I can find nothing online or at least last time I checked. Love to see that being re-incarnated.

lawlolawl

People actually think that the Inbetweeners and the Jack Whitehall teacher thing are good?

I hadn't seen either until a few weeks ago until one of my housemates watched them when I was home. Utter ****, both of them. Bad teen gross out comedy.

El_Duderino 09

lawlolawl wrote:

People actually think that the Inbetweeners and the Jack Whitehall teacher thing are good?

They're based around the anxieties of school children. If you're not in school or college, they weren't made for you.

Hande hoche!

Harry and Paul's story of the twos was quite enjoyable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOlSHw_y0Lw