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Hungry? C4 to create comedy series...about the famine

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    #362
    Jawgap
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,297 ✭✭✭✭Jawgap


    Brian Friel's 'Translations' (yes, I know it's set in the 1830s, but it does mention the blight) gives an indication of how various forms of comedy can be extracted from around that period. It's ultimately a tragedy, but there's a lot of comedy (mostly at the expense of the British) along the way.

    EDIT: Just as an aside, but Translations is on the A-Level English Lit curriculum in the UK.


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    #363
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,258 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    Rhys Essien wrote: »
    If you are native Irish,has it occurred to you that your ancestors somehow survived this forced starvation so you could be here today typing this very question??.

    I wont use the word famine cause a famine it was not.

    Exactly. None of the Irish alive today are descended from the people who died or emigrated. There's as much chance that the average Irish person is descended from those responsible for the famine as those who survived it. Yet people always seem more reluctant to co-opt the guilt of others than they do their suffering


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    #364
    Sir Gallagher
    Registered Users Posts: 6,836 ✭✭✭Sir Gallagher


    pickarooney wrote: »
    Exactly. None of the Irish alive today are descended from the people who died or emigrated. There's as much chance that the average Irish person is descended from those responsible for the famine as those who survived it. Yet people always seem more reluctant to co-opt the guilt of others than they do their suffering

    :confused:


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    #365
    Saralee4
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,077 ✭✭✭Saralee4


    We don't know how they are going to go about it.

    Just because it is a serious topic does not mean that you cannot base a comedyaround it. It can be done in a way that is it not offensive. Whether it will be done that way or not we don't know yet.

    Mash was done well.

    Or think like "the royal family" comedy and how they did the episode of "nana's" death.

    Also it may highlight alot the things that were ridiculous that went on during the famine that people don't seem to know orquestion. For example how the British were involved.

    Some people believe that we just ate potatoes because we liked them but this comedy might highlight the fact that all our other industries like meat and fish were being taken over and essentially it was not just the blight of potatoes why people were starving.

    I think a serious issue as a comedy can work to educate people if done in the right way, just depends on how it's done.


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    #366
    Dirty Dingus McGee
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,631 ✭✭✭Dirty Dingus McGee


    Saralee4 wrote: »
    We don't know how they are going to go about it.

    Just because it is a serious topic does not mean that you cannot base a comedyaround it. It can be done in a way that is it not offensive. Whether it will be done that way or not we don't know yet.

    Mash was done well.

    Or think like "the royal family" comedy and how they did the episode of "nana's" death.

    Also it may highlight alot the things that were ridiculous that went on during the famine that people don't seem to know orquestion. For example how the British were involved.

    Some people believe that we just ate potatoes because we liked them but this comedy might highlight the fact that all our other industries like meat and fish were being taken over and essentially it was not just the blight of potatoes why people were starving.

    I think a serious issue as a comedy can work to educate people if done in the right way, just depends on how it's done.


    MASH the TV show was pure sh1te.


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    #367
    Saralee4
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,077 ✭✭✭Saralee4


    Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »
    MASH the TV show was pure sh1te.

    Yea but the theme song was good :)


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    #368
    Kermit.de.frog
    Registered Users Posts: 23,568 ✭✭✭✭Kermit.de.frog


    They should do a sitcom about 3 priests on an island back in famine times. Could be popular.


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    #369
    crockholm
    Registered Users Posts: 2,448 ✭✭✭crockholm


    Good luck finding a suitably skinny Irish cast


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    #370
    mal1
    Registered Users Posts: 811 ✭✭✭mal1


    Leap Year is on Film 4 now. Now that movie is offensive.


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    #371
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    The Irish American community seem to be finding this more offensive. You'll find they carry a lot more weight too.


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    #372
    Tarzana2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,553 ✭✭✭Tarzana2


    I'm really interested to see what this comedy is like. It could be excellent! It could be terrible. But the subject alone shouldn't designate it as terrible.

    It might even be sensitive and non-irreverent.

    Father Ted is a show which rips the piss out the Catholic church and Irish foibles but it never really feels irreverent and snidey, and this was the aim according to the creators.

    Maybe this will be the same.

    People who insta-dislike this are showing that they have no sense of humour about themselves.


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    #373
    Galwayguy35
    Registered Users Posts: 16,415 ✭✭✭✭Galwayguy35


    Ghost Buster wrote: »
    Are you 12? Scared to death that someone will make fun of you. Perhaps it will take one of the many other few dozen possible angles that those of us with a developed sense of humour can see.

    No I'm 40, you sound like you are 12 though, pissed off that people have a different opinion to yourself.

    Also I think more people might be in agreement with my thinking on this that you might like to admit.


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    #374
    Timberrrrrrrr
    Registered Users Posts: 25,457 ✭✭✭✭Timberrrrrrrr


    Galwayguy35 wrote: »
    No I'm 40, you sound like you are 12 though, pissed off that people have a different opinion to yourself.

    Also I think more people might be in agreement with my thinking on this that you might like to admit.

    Only 5000 signatures in a petition against it? Like a fart in a hurricane it will make no difference.


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    #375
    Tarzana2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,553 ✭✭✭Tarzana2


    Aineoil wrote: »
    1995 you told the forum that there was going to be an irreverent sitcom

    Mathews and Linehan weren't actually going for irreverence, as they said themselves. The overall feel of the sitcom is quite sympathetic and slightly affectionate towards the RC church whilst highlighting its many ludicrous elements. It's not really biting enough to be irreverent and this was what the show creators wanted.

    It's possible to have sensitive comedy show, this might be the aim.


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    #376
    osarusan
    Registered Users Posts: 16,585 ✭✭✭✭osarusan


    pickarooney wrote: »
    Exactly. None of the Irish alive today are descended from the people who died or emigrated.

    Ehhh, somebody could have had a kid and then died?

    Anyway, on the show itself, how can we really comment on it until we have seen it or at least know what it looks like? Now way of knowing until then. Could be horrible, could be brilliant.

    The article in the OP, and the entire one man show of a website, is a joke btw.


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    #377
    Galwayguy35
    Registered Users Posts: 16,415 ✭✭✭✭Galwayguy35


    Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »
    Only 5000 signatures in a petition against it? Like a fart in a hurricane it will make no difference.

    Just because people don't sign a petition doesn't mean they agree with it.


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    #378
    Jawgap
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,297 ✭✭✭✭Jawgap


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    The Irish American community seem to be finding this more offensive. You'll find they carry a lot more weight too.

    Most Americans (Irish or otherwise) do.....

    .....anyway I'm not sure how much sway the Irish American community will have over Channel 4.


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    #379
    Donkey Oaty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,533 ✭✭✭Donkey Oaty


    Pwindedd wrote: »
    Would you believe I've just seen Lee Nelson do an African Famine joke on BBC1. It wasn't outrageously funny, yet it wasn't insensitive either. It appears the limits are being pushed every day where comedy is concerned.

    Waitress: Are you finished?

    Tommy Cooper: Yes thanks, that's all I can eat.

    Waitress: It's such a shame to leave all that food on your plate, Mr Cooper, when there are millions of people starving in Africa.

    Tommy Cooper: Really? Name one!


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    #380
    Tarzana2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,553 ✭✭✭Tarzana2


    creolebelle wrote: »
    It seems like the element of empathy is lacking in many tv programs and films.
    *steps off soapbox*

    On the contrary, shows like South Park work because they have a heart at the centre of them.


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    #381
    Tarzana2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,553 ✭✭✭Tarzana2


    Pwindedd wrote: »
    I've always seen them as a very progressive channel.

    Well, they used to be. :( Not for a long time now, but hopefully that will change.


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    #382
    evolving_doors
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,812 ✭✭✭✭evolving_doors


    Q. How many potatoes does it take to kill an Irish man?

    A.
    None ...


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    #383
    Ghost Buster
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 5,172 ✭✭✭Ghost Buster


    Galwayguy35 wrote: »
    No I'm 40, you sound like you are 12 though, pissed off that people have a different opinion to yourself.

    Also I think more people might be in agreement with my thinking on this that you might like to admit.

    Ah. Mass popularity =:Right?
    There is a difference between a well voiced opinion and simply closed mindedly making your mind up on a programme which hasn't even been made yet and refusing to concede that there is any conceivable way it could confound all and be good, despite the fact that you have been given many examples of programmes and movies which have done just that.
    I don't give a fiddlers how many people you imagine agree with you. If they have a preconceived idea about something they haven't seen then they are wrong or potentially wrong.


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    #384
    Ghost Buster
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 5,172 ✭✭✭Ghost Buster


    Galwayguy35 wrote: »
    Just because people don't sign a petition doesn't mean they agree with it.

    Watched Life is Beautiful or The Ringer yet?


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    #385
    AnonoBoy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,559 ✭✭✭✭AnonoBoy


    Galwayguy35 wrote: »
    Just because people don't sign a petition doesn't mean they agree with it.

    Doesn't prove that they do either.


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    #386
    AnonoBoy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,559 ✭✭✭✭AnonoBoy


    Galwayguy35 wrote: »
    This idea that any subject should be up for being make fun of is a load of bollocks.

    Again - setting a comedy during the famine doesn't mean it will be making fun of the famine.

    People can't seem to wrap their heads around that simple fact.

    Blackadder Goes Forth didn't make fun of those who died in the WWI. Life is Beautiful didn't make fun of the victims of the Holocaust.

    It's possible to make a comedy about a tragedy with mocking the victims of that tragedy. It takes a skilled writer but it's doable.


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    #387
    Robsweezie
    Registered Users Posts: 3,434 ✭✭✭Robsweezie


    I think there is an element of martyrdom and victim complex that's holding people back from accepting this, maybe we should reserve judgement until transmission of the show before people start playing the 'precious paddy'' and throwing a strop because it's their turn to be parodied, all is fair game in comedy nowadays, you need only look at other cultures and events to see that. glass houses and all that...it's like the kid who spends all day slagging his crooked nose, or her spotty face, then runs to mammy when something is said about their weight. now you know how "de blacks" and "dem foreigners" feel.


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    #388
    Baggy Trousers
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,816 ✭✭✭Baggy Trousers


    Personally I feel that nothing should be immune to comedy.
    I look forward to seeing how they do this.


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    #389
    Allyall
    Registered Users Posts: 10,381 ✭✭✭✭Allyall


    Timberrrrrrrr wrote: »
    Only 5000 signatures in a petition against it? Like a fart in a hurricane it will make no difference.

    Online petitions aren't really worth cráp.
    When it becomes more mainstream news, then you'll see a proper commotion. There'll be tons of people against it (And tons willing to view it).
    Billy86 wrote: »
    Life is Beautiful was made in Italy, Hitler's closest ally in WWII. It obviously keeps getting mentioned because it shows that comedy can be made about tragic circumstances, and be very successful because of it.

    C4 is British of course, but the writer is Irish and/or has lived and studied for years in Ireland, and they made 'our' most sitcom of all time in Father Ted os Hiroshima isn't a perfect example unless it was made by a channel that had done something similar on Japanese TV, and written by a Japanese-American writer. It also doesn't help things that we have basically never produced a good comedy TV show domestically (off the top of my head, at least?).


    So, because Channel 4 made Father Ted, then that gives them some sort of allowance to film a comedy about the Famine?
    An American TV station wouldn't need to have made a comedy series laughing at Shinto or Buddhism.
    A comedy set during the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would most likely be considered the equivelant, and very bad taste. IT's likely that it wouldn't be made, regardless of whether or not they had made a comedy about Shinto or Buddhism on their TV station before.


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    #390
    pickarooney
    Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,258 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    The Irish American community seem to be finding this more offensive. You'll find they carry a lot more weight too.

    They're just big-boned!

    (No famine in that house.)


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    #391
    Conall Cernach
    Registered Users Posts: 1,933 ✭✭✭Conall Cernach


    AnonoBoy wrote: »
    Again - setting a comedy during the famine doesn't mean it will be making fun of the famine.

    People can't seem to wrap their heads around that simple fact.

    Blackadder Goes Forth didn't make fun of those who died in the WWI. Life is Beautiful didn't make fun of the victims of the Holocaust.

    It's possible to make a comedy about a tragedy with mocking the victims of that tragedy. It takes a skilled writer but it's doable.
    I think the fact that Shameless has been named as some sort of comparable type of show indicates that this won't exactly be the highest of browed stuff.


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