Hardy Bucks - THE TV SERIES

rtron wrote: »

I think the comedy stepped up a notch this season, in terms of the story lines its bit like its always sunny...Philadelphia.

price690 wrote: »

Is this Brian Ormond?

bajer101 wrote: »

But it is supposed to be a comedy! WTF is funny about this show. Could someone please tell me?

Is it meant to be traditional sit com or obscure Goonish or Pythonesque? Is it modern satire? Where are the parts that we are supposed to laugh or even chuckle? I just don't get it. Someone please, please tell me - how is this funny!!!!

The Talking Bread wrote: »

ok. you have made your point. you don't like it. best you don't watch it though. Finding out why other people like it won't make it funny to you. A joke loses its humour if you have to explain it

One thing worth noting is that when analysing comedy and what is funny, it is almost like it is only visible out of the corner of your eye. As soon as you try and look directly at it and analyse it too much... all of the funniness disappears..?

I don't even agree that it is purely a country humour either. Its more a depiction of human personalities. They just happen to be from the country this bunch and their personalities entail a lot of small town no hoper lads just living but going nowhere. You live in an urban fishbowl if you can't recognise the personalities it is reflecting.

Your posts contain no humorous qualities and in a way that is humorous also. Its like the out of touch person who needs to be explained a joke. In a way that has a certain humorous entailment!

There is no simple answer to why something is funny... Something is funny because it captures a moment, it contains an element of simple truth, it is something that we have always known for eternity and yet are hearing it now out loud for the first time.


Mockumentary stereotype comedy works because we immediately recognise the character and so we are familiar with what sort of person this is without too much information needing to be given. Add in a story arc, the interaction with other characters and put them in precarious positions and it just works. That is what The Hardy Bucks is. Of course the characters are exaggerated for comedy purposes but there has to be a balance between 'overdoing their personalities or making the story arc over complicated ' and just 'keeping the character traits simple and consistent and thd similarly so with the setting and storyline'. Deviate from this balance and the comedical originality and uniquity of the particular mockumentary programme loses its humour through over exaggeration or becomes tired and mundane through repetitiveness.

Thus far, apart from a few exceptions, the Hardy Buck writers and actors have got this balance bang on and the popularity of the programme, with exceptions like yourself and Brian Ormond, reflect this!

As I said though some comedies are not for everyone but that doesn't make them not funny. Like some people aren't attracted to other people doesn't make the latter unattractive. Comedy, humour attraction are just nouns. They aren't scientific formulas. They can be expressed but not manufactured and acquired.

Also with mockumentary or character driven comedy familiarity with the characters is important. whether you familiarise yourself by already knowing the type of characters they are depicting through daily experience or you familiarise yourself with them by getting to know them through watching the show. That is why, with The Hardy Bucks so many people need to watch it a bit to get to know the characters. Watching one or two scenes and rating its comedical value on the events but not the characters is the wrong way to approach this type of comedy genre, especially if you arent familiar with the character stereotypes they are portraying. Ive lost number of the amount of people who dont find The hardy bucks funny originally but stuck with it and find it hilarious! the joke isnt in the events of the episodes really, it is in the characters participation in same events.

Thats the best explanation I can give you.

Ps Mrs brown boys and Moone Boy are not at all the same type of comedy genre As The Hardy Bucks. The former is stage comedy sitcom with an audience and sound laughter. It is slapstick comedy and in your face laughs. The comedy uses obvious jokes and situations to created the humour.. Personally I think its tired and repetitive in its obvious jokes but i do laugh sometimes. It is a universal type comedy made to appeal to the UK. It is cliche, camp and family friendly.

Moone Boy, again another sitcom aimed at a family audience. It again uses a particular obvious joke, that being the semi autobigraphic of a boy growing up and its unique selling point is the fact this boy has an invisible friend. But its real unique selling point is Chris O Dowd, who is now a star in the UK and starting to make a good name across the Atlantic also so everything he is in will automatically have a large fanbase.. Without him that programme wouldn't have achieved the audience it has. No doubt about it. It is written so as that the jokes and situations are not uniquely Irish but cross borders. It uses surreality and even uses nostalgia, such as music etc, to draw its audience in.

Apart from containing Irish actors both these sitcoms are poles apart from The Hardy Bucks. And as you claim to have a knowledge behind the architecture of comedy you should really be aware of this tbh.

The Hardy Bucks know their humour may not appeal to a wider international audience. They stay loyal to their niche of fans and that is admirable. The closest thing to The Hardy Bucks is a Canadian mockumentary called The Trailer Park boys. Check it out. Its became a bit more sitcommish owing to its popularity in recent seasons but it has a huge audience and is critically acclaimed.

The Talking Bread wrote: »

You must accept that you are stating that The Hardy Bucks, BBT and 2.5 Men are crap like it's a fact. Your opinion that you don't like them is a fact, not that they are crap.

I don't like 2.5 Men either but the writing and characters in BBT are both clever and very funny for millions of people, including me. I wouldnt go out of my way to watch it (not that you have to with the amount of repeats on!) But I certainly would gladly watch it if it was on and nothing preferential was on.

bajer101 wrote: »

No, it is not that simple. Although comedy, like music is subjective, there has to be an underlying reason why someone finds something funny or finds some music pleasing to the ear. I don't like Adele, but I can understand why some people would like her. If I were to ask an Adele fan why they like her they would say she has a decent voice and writes melodic tunes - fair enough. But when I ask people why they like this show, they can't answer. I am just interested why. What do you find funny about this show. There is lots of humour that is not my style, but I understand why people like it. I just don't understand this one. Simply saying that it not for me doesn't cut it. I didn't even smile while watching it.

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