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Burnley123 · 41-45, M
Serious answer: It depends.
Seinfeld for instance was MASSIVE in the US and never ever popular at all over here, despite it being shown a lot on networks trying to cash in.. It just seemed so generic and boring to British audiences. British comedy is a bit more edgy, dark or even surreal.
However, some very typical American comedies have been huge in Britain. Big Band Theory was really big and I was a fan. Also, Friends was enormously popular. I don't know why some US comedy shows translate well and some don't.
Seinfeld for instance was MASSIVE in the US and never ever popular at all over here, despite it being shown a lot on networks trying to cash in.. It just seemed so generic and boring to British audiences. British comedy is a bit more edgy, dark or even surreal.
However, some very typical American comedies have been huge in Britain. Big Band Theory was really big and I was a fan. Also, Friends was enormously popular. I don't know why some US comedy shows translate well and some don't.
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@Burnley123 Perhaps the ones that work here as well, are rich in wit and irony, not only belly-laugh gags?
A few years ago I read a critic's sorrowful comment in a newspaper or perhaps the Radio Times that British TV companies were moving to the safety of comedy based purely on open jokes, losing the edginess and dramatic pathos that had been the strength of so many successful sit-coms.
I recall also an appreciation of Clint Eastwood's work, that stated one film he made was not released because it was meant to be a comedy but its own country's publishers felt it not "funny" enough. It relied heavily on irony, and may well have succeeded in Britain, where Eastwood already had a large following for his other films.
Different countries have different cultures, and with them different tastes in humour - though I see little humour in some of the comments elsewhere on this thread.
A few years ago I read a critic's sorrowful comment in a newspaper or perhaps the Radio Times that British TV companies were moving to the safety of comedy based purely on open jokes, losing the edginess and dramatic pathos that had been the strength of so many successful sit-coms.
I recall also an appreciation of Clint Eastwood's work, that stated one film he made was not released because it was meant to be a comedy but its own country's publishers felt it not "funny" enough. It relied heavily on irony, and may well have succeeded in Britain, where Eastwood already had a large following for his other films.
Different countries have different cultures, and with them different tastes in humour - though I see little humour in some of the comments elsewhere on this thread.
