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Father Ted or Mrs Brown's Boys?

aca101

Two great Irish comedies in their own right, Father Ted was completely original and groundbreaking at the time but looking at back at it now it feels like the gags became repetitive as the series went on.

Mrs Brown's Boys is seems to be underrated here in Ireland, I'll no doubt get dog's abuse from the Father Ted fanatics but given the recent phenomenal success of MBB I think it's a touch and go as to which of these two is the greatest Irish comedy series. What say ye?

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kowloon

Just looking at this again now. I voted Fr. Ted but I'm still a little surprised at how one sided the vote is.

caustic 1

I have no funny bone, don't find any of them even remotely funny, just cringeworthy.

Tony EH

Father Ted or Mrs Brown's Boys....which do you prefer?

You're kidding, right?

:pac:

PropJoe10

72 people that have visited this thread must fall over a lot.

buyer95

caustic 1 wrote: »

I have no funny bone, don't find any of them even remotely funny, just cringeworthy.

If I had no funny bone I doubt I'd get out of bed in the morning. Laugh my good man, laugh at our Taoiseach who can't answer a serious question without backpedalling and falling over a flowerpot, laugh at the self congratulatory b.s after we exited the bailout when we were always going too, chuckle at the head of the ESB union being as Red as Stalin and a Castro worshiper but most importantly laugh at Father Ted!

sligojoek

Tony EH wrote: »

Father Ted or Mrs Brown's Boys....which do you prefer?

You're kidding, right?

:pac:

BLUR

Pang

I don't get Mrs Brown's Boys at all. Father Ted never ceases to make me laugh no matter how often I have seen it.

DeanAustin

Pang wrote: »

I don't get Mrs Brown's Boys at all. Father Ted never ceases to make me laugh no matter how often I have seen it.

The only thing about Father Ted which helps me understand why some people don't like it is how one-dimensional and gimmicky the main characters were.

Dougal was stupid.
Jack was a perverted piss head.
Mrs Doyle was an exaggerated version of a sterotypical Irish woman of a certain vintage.

Those three characters were all one trick ponies although Ted had some complexity in fairness.

The characters were not real in many ways and so the show had a limited life span. Some of the episodes reflected this. On the whole though, the writing was so good and surreal that they managed to overcome the limitations of the characters to create what was an iconic show.

e_e

DeanAustin wrote: »

Dougal was stupid.
Jack was a perverted piss head.
Mrs Doyle was an exaggerated version of a sterotypical Irish woman of a certain vintage.

Those three characters were all one trick ponies although Ted had some complexity in fairness.

This was key to the show's success imo. Ted is the straight man in these absurd situations and he grounds it when things get almost too crazy.

Ash.J.Williams

aca101 wrote: »

Clearly Father Ted has gathered a massive cult following over the years, not saying that MBB is deserving of being equated to FT but I wouldn't rule out a scenario in 10-15 years where MBB has a similiar following and is held in equally high regard by the Irish public.

Granted the humour in MBB is slightly cruder and more infantile but at the same time I don't think the two shows are a million miles apart in terms of content; they're both based largely on farce.

no it won't

DeanAustin

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

no it won't

Couldn't agree more. Ted didn't gather a cult following over the years. Once it became popular (which was during repeats of the first series IIRC), each series and episode was an event that couldn't be missed.

The closest thing I've seen since is the buzz around Love/Hate. MBB has never and will never have that.

e e wrote:

This was key to the show's success imo. Ted is the straight man in these absurd situations and he grounds it when things get almost too crazy.

I agree. But I can see why people might not like that and why that sort of comedy had a limited life span.

Ash.J.Williams

i don't want to take anything from the success of MBB...fair play to them....I even watch it myself sometimes.....but there is no artistic credibility there at all...none...

rob316

Its not even a matter of opinion which is the better show, its common sense. Father Ted hands down. Brendan O Carroll is just a cheap vulgar comedian, nothing more.

Father Ted has stood the test of time, if I'm flicking through the channels and I see it, I watch it, no matter how many times I've seen it. IMO it can stand up to all the great British comedies aswell.

bucketybuck

I laughed louder at the idea that somebody thought this was a genuine question than I ever did at Mr's Browns Boys.

mark17j

caustic 1 wrote: »

I have no funny bone, don't find any of them even remotely funny, just cringeworthy.

You sound like great fun :rolleyes:

SterlingArcher

The poll says it all really. Ted was my cup of tea.... Mb boys is more two girls one cup.

But sure I don't expect everyone to like what I like. Hell the late late show bored me to tears. And doctor who? See what I did there hardy har har.

Just to clarify my answer. Mbb lowest common denominator.

fryup

there's a certain charm to FR Ted

there's no charm to MBBs its crude for the sake of cheap laughs

its the comedy equivalent of cracking a nut with a sledgehammer

fg1406

Father ted by a light year. That's a show that's actually funny. Mrs Browns Boys makes me want to start digging my own grave.

cloud493

Mrs Brown's boys is a comedy?

Shout Dust

The amount of thanks on the first page of the thread is a sight to behold. I'm amazed there's 74 people that voted for mbb

BBDBB

Im amazed at how serious people are taking their comedy

omb0wyn5ehpij9

I've never been a fan of Mrs Brown's Boys. Still enjoy watching Father Ted these days though!

krudler

catallus wrote: »

There is no trolling involved in stating a preference for either one; I mean did we all not laugh our heads off when Ted kicked the guy in the purple robes in the bum? Were we not all in hysterics at the old priest guy who sat in the chair and said nothing but "feck" all the time? The more I look at the structure and scripts of each show the more the similarities become unignorable.....

The difference is even though FT did have slapstick humour and one liners, it also had razor sharp satire on Irish culture and small town parish mentality and oddball behaviour. Plus it's actually funny.

Ash.J.Williams

eg there's so much more to the kick in the arse, than the actual kick in the arse!

Green Giant

Father Ted is simply untouchable in the great comedy stakes

krudler

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

eg there's so much more to the kick in the arse, than the actual kick in the arse!

Bishop Brennan running across the field towards the house with this gigantic cape still makes me burst out laughing. Some of his lines are fantastic as well. "They've even coming from Gidansk to see the film!" never fails to make me laugh, Jim Norton's comic timing is brilliant in the role.

nc6000

Is this for real?

Green Giant

krudler wrote: »

Bishop Brennan running across the field towards the house with this gigantic cape still makes me burst out laughing. Some of his lines are fantastic as well. "They've even coming from Gidansk to see the film!" never fails to make me laugh, Jim Norton's comic timing is brilliant in the role.

He has some excellent lines indeed!

"Nothing is your area, Crilly. You do not have an area. Unless it is some sort of play area with sandcastles and buckets and spades! Now do what you're told, right?!!!"

"I'll be over tomorrow to check the security arrangements, and Crilly? If you ever try to bull$hit me like that again, I will rip off your arms."

e_e

krudler wrote: »

Bishop Brennan running across the field towards the house with this gigantic cape still makes me burst out laughing. Some of his lines are fantastic as well. "They've even coming from Gidansk to see the film!" never fails to make me laugh, Jim Norton's comic timing is brilliant in the role.

"What do ya think I am Crilly? A pony?!"

krudler

Green Giant wrote: »

He has some excellent lines indeed!

"Nothing is your area, Crilly. You do not have an area. Unless it is some sort of play area with sandcastles and buckets and spades! Now do what you're told, right?!!!"

"I'll be over tomorrow to check the security arrangements, and Crilly? If you ever try to bull$hit me like that again, I will rip off your arms."

"Oo is zis? Zere is no Crilly eere!"

Or him talking about the pair of them in the photo "There's you, there's Forrest Gump!"