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B R I T C O M E D Y D I G E S T
==================================
VOL. I Craig Charles cleared of all charges JUNE 1995
No. 9 James Herriot dies at 78
A monthly electronic newsletter on British comedies.
What's Inside
=============
* Craig Charles Cleared Of Rape Charges
* "How To Get Ahead In A Hat": Alan Davies and Dave Allen talk
* The Day Today
* Usenet Vox Pops
Regular Departments
===================
* Mailbox
* Britcomedy News
* Newsquirks
* Editorial/Opinion Page
* net.comedy
* Quote-o'-the-Month
* ETC.
Britcomedy Digest (ISSN 1077-6680) Schopenhauer Publishing Co.
Copyright (c) 1995 by Melinda Casino. Reproduction for personal and
non-profit use is permitted only if this copyright notice is retained. Any
other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
Managing Editor
Melinda 'Bob' Casino
Contributing Editor
Michelle Street
Assistant Editor
James Kew
Copy Editor
Cynthia Edwards
Contributing Writers
Barry Cronin
HTML logo by Nathan Gasser; HTML conversion by James Kew.
Mailbox
=======
I just found Britcomedy Digest yesterday and love it! I devoured all of the
back issues last night...well, no I didn't actually eat them...
I am a huge fan of Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. I would love it if someone
could fill me in on what they've done and what they're working on now.
I've seen Black Adder, Jeeves and Wooster, and some of the wonderful A Bit
of Fry and Laurie and I long for more.
Amy Troutman - Germantown, MD
atroutman@hns.com
EDITOR'S RESPONSE: Stephen Fry was due to be in the play Cell Mates with Rik
Mayall, but has pulled out suddenly (see "News"). The two do commercials in
the UK.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Britcomedy News
===============
CRAIG CHARLES CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES
Red Dwarf actor Craig Charles was cleared of rape and assault charges last
week at Southwark Crown Court, London. It took the jury just 90 minutes to
decide that the Charles and co-accused John Peploe were not guilty, ending
what has been "an eight month nightmare" for the actor.
When the "not guilty" verdicts were announced, there were cheers from the
public gallery, and Charles hugged his fellow defendent.
Charles and Peploe allegedly tortured and raped a woman last July. However,
there was no forensic evidence to support the charges.
Speaking to the press outside the courtroom, both Charles and Peploe called
for changes in British law to protect the accused.
AUTHOR JAMES HERRIOT DIES AT 78
One of Britain's best-loved authors and the world's best-known veterinarian
died of prostate cancer Thursday, February 23.
"He had been ill for three years but he had borne his illness very patiently
and bravely. His family were all with him when he died peacefully at home
today," his grand-daughter Emma Page said.
James Herriot began writing about his veterinary experiences in the
Yorkshire Dales at age 50. He wrote 15 books which sold more than 50 million
copies in 20 countries.
His first two books, If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn't Happen To A
Vet were published as one volume in America under the title All Creatures
Great and Small (1972). That was followed by All Things Bright and Beautiful
and All Things Wise and Wonderful -- titles that were taken from a popular
British hymn.
He told the Daily Mail in 1981: "I was dumbfounded by the reaction to that
first book...the most I had hoped for was that someone would publish it and
a few people quite enjoy reading it."
James Alfred Wight was born on October 13, 1916 and grew up in Glasgow. He
trained at Glasgow Veterinary College, and arrived in Thirsk in 1940 for the
position at Skeldale House that is now so famous.
He was made an OBE, officer of the Order of the British Empire, in 1979.
He is survived by his wife, Joan, their son, James (who runs the veterinary
practice), their daughter, Rose Page, and four grandchildren.
"I wouldn't give up being a vet if I had a million pounds. I'm too fond of
animals." -- James "Herriot" Wight, Oct. 16 1916 - Feb. 23, 1995.
COME BACK STEPHEN ...
Overly stressed workaholic or overly sensitive showbiz Luvvy? Opinion is
divided on what has caused the recent "disappearance" of comedy star Stephen
Fry.
After quitting the West End play Cell Mates and dropping completely out of
sight for several days, Fry finally faxed his agent on Friday (3/24). In
this message, Fry said that his recent actions were caused by stage fright
and that his desire was to "slink away" rather than cause a scene in public.
Unfortunately the ploy didn't work. He has indeed caused a public stir as
concerned friends, fans, and family worry about his mental state.
The episode began soon after Fry opened alongside his longtime friend and
colleague Rik Mayall in Simon Gray's play, Cell Mates, at London's Albery
Theatre. Though Mayall was generally praised by critics for his performance,
Fry was not treated so kindly. A critic from the Financial Times said: "Fry
is the all-time facade: so damnably English on the one hand and perplexingly
inexpressive on the other. Watching a facade, however, is not a lot of fun."
There are those who believe that this harsh treatment from the critics is
what caused him to quit the play after only three performances (he has been
replaced by Simon Ward) and flee the country. His specific whereabouts
remain a mystery but various reports have surfaced that he simply hopped the
ferry to France just to get away from it all.
If that is indeed the truth, the break is well-deserved and chances are good
that he is simply suffering from battle fatigue and overwork. Looking back
on it, his output over the last few years has been astonishing. He has done
several seasons of A Bit of Fry and Laurie with his partner, Hugh Laurie, as
well as played the unflappable butler Jeeves to Laurie's Wooster in the
successful adaptation of the P.G. Wodehouse Jeeves and Wooster novels.
As if that weren't enough, he has starred in the movie Peter's Friends,
played Meg Ryan's fiance in I.Q., published two novels (The Liar and The
Hippopotamus) plus a collection of essays called Paperweight. He has also
been a tireless crusader in the fight against AIDS, being one of the main
forces behind the "Hysteria" benefits to help the Terrence Higgins Trust
continue their work against this dreaded disease.
The 37-year old Fry concluded his fax by saying that his disappearance was
caused by "not so much a nervous breakdown, more a nervous stalling. I'm a
silly old fool and don't deserve this attention."
His fans around the world would certainly disagree with that last statement.
We here at Britcomedy Digest would like to add our support and best wishes.
Come back soon, Stephen. But only when you're ready.
PAUL MERTON AND CAROLINE QUENTIN PLAY HOUSE IN "LIVE BED SHOW"
Paul Merton is now in the London play, Live Bed Show. And the actress who
plays his wife? His wife, of course: Caroline Quentin.
Merton and Quentin play "Cash" and "Maria" in this play written by new
playwright Arthur Smith. "The Observer Review" describes the play as
focusing on "acute and embarrassing personal observation of domestic
tawdriness."
Live Bed Show, Garrick Theatre, London, 0171-494 5085; through April 29th.
HIPPOPOTAMUS RELEASED IN THE UNITED STATES
Stephen Fry's The Hippopotamus (Random House ISBN # 0-679-43879-3) has now
hit the shelves in the US. Fry is author of The Liar, a novel, and
Paperweight, a collection of essays. (The Hippopotamus in major bookstores
across the U.S., $22.00 hardcover.)
ALL WOMEN, ALL THE TIME
The Women's Television Network was launched in Canada January 1, 1995. Its
mandate: to show various topics from a "woman's perspective." WTN is
currently airing a variety of Britcoms featuring -- wait for it -- women.
This daring move includes French and Saunders, and Girls on Top in their
scheduling.
COMEDIANS IN DRAMATIC ROLES IN "HEROES AND VILLAINS"
Rowan Atkinson, Jennifer Saunders, and Jim Broadbent were cast in starring
roles in the three-part series Heroes and Villains for BBC1. The idea behind
the series is to tell the tale of three extraordinary lives -- that of Lady
Hester Stanhope (Saunders), an eccentric niece of William Pitt; Sir Henry
"Tim" Birkin (Atkinson), a dashing aristocrat who was a race car driver in
the 1920s and early '30s; and Colonel Alfred Wintle (Broadbent), who took
part in both world wars and described the period in between them as one of
"intense boredom."
Atkinson is a well-known car enthusiast and has written occasional articles
for the British Car Magazine. No wonder, then, that he chose a dramatic role
about a man whose obesession with cars leads to his alienation from his
father and wife. Atkinson does some of the stunts, which consisted of
driving vintage Bentleys "not much more than 70 or 80 mph," he said.
According to Mark Chapman, director of two of the films in the series, the
BBC "gave us the thinnest budgets you could imagine." Could that be why
comedians were cast in roles for which dramatic "heavy" actors would've
demanded a high salary for?
THE SECOND HARDEST WORKING MAN IN SHOWBUSINESS ...
Rowan Atkinson plans to shoot two new Mr. Bean shows this year before he
begins production on a full-length movie about this eccentric (and that's
putting it mildly) boy/man.
The movie will have Mr. Bean visit America. "... There will have to be other
actors to fill in the plots and develop the character," Atkinson said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsquirks
---------- Pixels in the press...
TORVILL AND... BEAN?
Jayne Torvill and "Mr. Bean" (Rowan Atkinson) are ice-skating together on
the front cover of this week's Radio Times for "Comic Relief Red Nose Day"
(March 17).
There's a web site for Comic Relief
(http://www.worldserver.pipex.com/comic.relief/), a charity event held every
two years in the UK.
LEAVE BRITAIN'S CHOO-CHOOS ALONE!
Prime Minister John Major recently held a press conference on improving the
British Railway service. He stated, "I am not content with the service we
have had from British Rail. I want to remove them for good from the stand-up
comedian's joke book and turn them into the envy of the world." David
Davies, editor of Deadpan magazine, commented, "Railway jokes are old hat.
The stand-up comics are doing so well that all their jokes are now about air
travel."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editorial/Opinion Page
======================
We received lots of email about Alison Siegel's editorial, "The Myth of
Cultural Quality" (vol. 1, no. 8). Here are some of the rebuttals.
Chris Wallis, sandman@u.washington.edu:
I just want to point out that the author fails to take into
consideration the idea that those who claim higher quality for
British shows because they have six episodes might be referring to
production values, not just writing. For example, if the budget of
Red Dwarf was spread out over 23 episodes instead of six, it would
look incredibly shabby. Therefore there is a higher standard of
quality of production in British shows, in the sense that quality
is not being sacrificed for quantity.
Responding to another point in the editorial, I don't think the
teams of writers on American shows enable them to make more and
better episodes. Whenever you have teams of writers, you're
usually actively diluting the original creator's vision of what he
or she wanted to do with the show -- a very common occurrence in
America, where creators are nearly always forced into subservience
by business. Can you imagine Black Adder or Red Dwarf as written
by a BBC appointed "team"? It would probably be almost as bad as
an American show!
Paul Rhodes, PAULR@msmail04.liffe.com:
OK, it's bait and I'm falling for it -- but Alison Siegel, whilst
correctly rebutting the "British TV is better because it is"
argument, seems to have totally missed the point as regards the
issue of series length. She begins by questioning the "magic
number" 6; there's nothing magical about the number 6. Indeed,
there are historical reasons why series are usually 6 or 7
episodes rather than 5 or 8 or 10, but this has nothing to do with
the "quality" of the programmes.
Alison then goes on to say, "the entertainment industry in the US
is much stronger" without justifying the statement or even
explaining its relevance, but I'll let that one pass as it at
least leads her on to the real issue: that of team writing.
Nobody is suggesting that writers' talent "dries up" after 6
episodes a year: simply that it takes far longer to write a show
than to watch it. The only way to have long, US-style seasons is
to have a lot of writers working on them (I'm sure there are
exceptions to this: some writers work faster than others!).
Alison's contention is that a large team of writers ensures
"consistent quality and interesting and new plots." This is on the
face of it a reasonable point of view, and there are certainly
examples of US comedies which have benefited from this approach
(Cheers and M*A*S*H spring to mind), but I suggest that more
commonly the team approach leads to formulaic writing, where each
show becomes a gag production line. This is not the same as
suggesting that most episodes are "fillers," although that may be
the case on some shows.
The unique variety and experimentation within British comedy
arises because creative writers are allowed to do their own thing,
developing their own ideas, rather than just thinking up funny
lines for somebody else's characters to say. One reason this is
possible is that the seasons are sufficiently short so that the
broadcasters can take risks on new writers and formats. Another
reason is that British television has a strong public service
ethos; as opposed to the commercial domination of US TV. It is
easy to imagine an American network making 30 episodes of
"Blackadders" a year until the audience disappeared.
So here's my take on the question: Firstly, they are short because
British television is constantly experimenting with new formats
and new talent; since this will not always pay off it makes sense
for each experiment to be short to minimize the risk of ending up
with a long commitment to a turkey. Secondly, they are short
because they are generally written by individuals or small writing
teams: this is partly a result of the experimental nature of the
genre in the UK.
These are generalisations, of course: there are auteurs in US TV;
there are "production line" shows on UK TV. By their very nature,
experimental shows do not always succeed; and by their very
nature, team efforts will sometimes produce high-quality polished
laughter machines.
Brian Gunning, bgunning@cix.compulink.co.uk:
I seem to recall an argument from the TV production side.
This was based on the concept of TV "seasons," particularly spring
and autumn, during which schedulers can select a series to fill a
particular slot. Spring and autumn seem the most important as
Christmas gets disturbed with specials, films, etc., and summer
always seems a hodgepodge with sport appearing at the oddest
times.
Another factor that has to be remembered is that Britain still
effectively only has four terrestrial TV channels (BBC 1, BBC 2,
ITV, and Channel 4). I don't think many of the managers are
confident enough to invest in 20 or so episodes of a series unless
it's a soap (and even there Eldorado showed the pitfalls). If you
release a six-part series and it proves a dog you've only lost six
weeks to the competition (and if it's really bad you can pull it
after three).
If you take the view that BBC 1 and ITV are battling for the mass
audience, they'll both continue to put out the same mixture of
light entertainment, sport, films, soaps, drama and sitcoms which
satisfy the "typical" TV audience that will turn the box on at
5:30 and have it running until 11:30 PM. Almost all the innovative
stuff starts on BBC 2 and Channel 4, both of which have much
smaller audiences, and consequently much smaller budgets, and
couldn't run to 20 shows anyway.
Finally, and this is a purely subjective and personal view, I
think the British public can be very fickle and easily bored.
There aren't many shows that have managed to retain public
interest over four series (remember I'm not including sitcoms)
even with six months or more between series.
Joy Day, JDAY@UTCVM.UTC.EDU:
I really must object to the use in the last editorial of May to
December as an example of a failed Britcom. The principals of May
to December obviously care about each other without becoming
maudlin, the humor is just risque enough to make me snigger
without being so beyond that my 11-year-old can't view it with me,
the characters are believable -- what's not to love?
Britcomedy Digest welcomes contrasting views. Mail rebuttals and editorials
to melinda@cathouse.org with the subject "EDITORIAL".
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How To Get Ahead In A Hat"
===========================
From the Review section of "The Observer," December 18, 1994.
Copyright 1994 The Observer. Reprinted with permission.
Rising comic star Alan Davies grew up watching Dave Allen on television. Now
Dave tells Alan about hats, cuffs, shags and gags.
Comedian Dave Allen was 29 years old in 1966 when comedian Alan Davies was
born. An established and an upcoming comic; both admire each other's work.
As Alan Davies says: "He is the only comedian I can remember from my
childhood; there was no one else." Dave and Alan met for the first time at
this summer's Edinburgh Festival. On Monday they met again at Dave Allen's
Kensington home.
Alan Davies (AD): It was a big thrill when you came to see me in Edinburgh.
Dave Allen (DA): It was a smashing evening, your show was wonderful: very
gentle, very funny and very real.
AD: I used to do a lot more muttering to myself before I started doing
stand-up comedy. I used to be more uptight and intense. I'm 28 so I do lots
of routines that are for people in their twenties or early thirties. There
are a lot of comics my age doing routines about being a small child, because
they can still remember it pretty well, and most of the audience can too.
What were you talking about when you were 28?
DA: The politics of the world were fairly strong at the time -- Khrushchev,
and Kennedy's assassination. People were more aware of world leaders, or
maybe the world leaders weren't so grey. There was a great fear of nuclear
war. There were little gags about weapons and money being spent on rockets
and armies, invasions and spies, and there's the Philby thing.
I worked in Australia with a woman called Helen Traubel, who was a very
famous Wagnerian soprano. We used to sit around, gag and talk and chat. She
was one of the funniest women I've ever met. I'd be talking about Ireland,
my childhood, my education, the schools, the priests, the nuns, climbing
trees, all the kinds of things I did as a kid, and she said to me one night,
"Why are you out there saying the sharp, spiky one-liners, attacking the
world? Why don't you just go out there and reminisce?"
AD: I had a similar problem. I've been doing it six years now, but in the
first couple of years there was pressure on comics on the London circuit to
have news-based material, topical material, to have an opinion -- always
left of centre. I ended up making jokes about Nigel Lawson's hair or
something. But after a while I found it was just more fun to talk, as you
say, to reminisce, talk about personal experiences.
DA: When I began, comics used to wear hats. I suppose it was because
theatres were very cold.
AD: I was talking to Jo Brand a few weeks ago, and she said that her dad
doesn't know much about what she does, and he said to her, "What sort of
shows do you do, and what do you wear?" And she said, "Well, I just wear
what I normally wear." And he said, "Do you wear a hat?" which she thought
was the funniest thing...
DA: Hancock wore a hat. Charlie Chester wore a hat, Max Miller wore a hat. I
suppose there was a slight break after the war, in the early Fifties, the
younger comedians, then weren't wearing hats.
AD: And were the younger comics doing different kinds of material from the
older guys, or were they still doing some of the old gags?
DA: I think younger comics at first have to hide behind something that they
know will probably get a laugh, rather than experiment themselves, or with
their own material.
AD: You can go along for ages doing the same routines and not really
improving, and then one day you'll find some other additional element that
makes you more relaxed. It's being more relaxed, that is the key...
DA: And being honest, too. The audiences have changed. Audiences were
indoctrinated for years that there were certain subjects which you couldn't
laugh at, you couldn't talk about -- and I'm not just talking about sex.
There was a kind of protective veil that came down over things like the
professions. You couldn't talk about the church, and you really couldn't --
especially on television -- talk about politicians, or the judiciary. Then
gradually there was a breakdown: in the Sixties people began to attack
politicians who they thought were arseholes. The word satire came into
being, much as alternative came in, in the late Eighties.
AD: A similar feeling of a new movement.
DA: They're only words for the same thing. It's comedy basically, whatever
it is. But it had more edge. Gradually people began to open up on more
subjects, and you could talk to an audience in much more realistic terms.
AD: Did the old comics in the hats resent that?
DA: The old comedians used to wear their acts on their cuff. ...That was the
rap -- off the cuff.
AD: With everything written on it.
DA: And they used to look at the other comedians, and if one of the
comedians was doing one of these gags, they'd take it off the cuff. I've
heard of comedians who had eight sets of cuffs.
AD: I have a notebook in my back pocket. And it always just has headings on.
People say to me, "Do you write your material down? Do you write it down
word for word?" And I show them a page which'll have ten words on or
something and say there's an hour on there. "Well how can you remember it?"
Because I made it all up myself. And half of it's true stories anyway.
DA: Well, that's what it's about. I've got bits of envelopes...
AD: Scraps of paper.
DA: Sometimes you haven't got anything to write on.
AD: It strikes me that if I try to think of other comics in their fifties,
none of them are like you. You could bunch groups together -- gag tellers or
northern-club-type comics or game-show hosts. But you've never done, as far
as I know, a TV game show. You've never been a gag merchant.
DA: I actually prefer to work on my own. I have great times with other
people but, for what I would call the real work, it's me and the audience.
AD: Do you ever wish there was an audience who didn't know who you were?
DA: Yeah. I talked to Jack Benny about that years ago, when I was a young
comedian coming into the business. He said his ambition would be to work an
audience that knew nothing about him, and to see whether it was him, his
delivery, or his material.
AD: Sometimes when you do new material it's quite surprising where the
laughs come.
DA: This is where the audience is teaching you. Working to an audience for
long periods of time is like rehearsing.
AD: The show that you came to see in Edinburgh, that was routines I'd been
working on for a couple of years. One I'd thought of three or four years
before and then I'd done it a few times and then nothing had happened, and
then going through scraps of paper, like you were talking about earlier,
came across it, and went back to it, and found a little twist, and it became
one of the most popular parts of the show.
DA: So you're creating pictures all the time. If you only get one chance to
tell a story, that's the end of it. But we're lucky in that.
AD: It interests me with what's going through your head when you're doing
one of your routines, because for me, I'm always picturing... It's a bit
like driving a car, when you're looking 50 yards ahead all the time. I'll be
in the middle of a routine but quite often picturing the one that's going to
be next and the one that's coming after that.
DA: Well I used to have a mental thing in my head. I had a structure of this
skeleton, and I would say, right, tonight I'm going to start on the left
hand, and I'm going to work up, and I'll go across the shoulder, and I can
either go to the head or move over to the right shoulder and down to the
right arm. I just had a kind of structure that I could wander around inside.
AD: When you were developing that anecdotal style, there weren't many comics
doing that kind of work.
DA: No, there were mostly, what do you call them, gag tellers.
AD: How did you develop that? I've just spent the weekend in Dublin and a
couple of friends of mine are comics there and they were talking about how
there isn't a great tradition in Ireland of stand-up comedy, of gags --
there's more a tradition of conversation. Is that where it comes from?
DA: I think so. I haven't lived in Dublin for years but conversation was
very important: dinner conversation, conversations in bars, or striking up
strange conversations with somebody at Lansdowne Road -- then you're off
into all sorts of rambling discourse, which needn't be hysterically funny,
but can be interesting and amusing.
AD: Are Irish people more prone to that, to following up conversations?
DA: I think so. The language is different, too -- though it's the same
language, it's vastly different.
AD: There's all these little redundant bits of conversation that link the
sentences together -- the Irish seem to have a hundred phrases for beginning
and ending conversations.
DA: The in word at the moment with comedians over here, young comedians, is
"shag." Shag is very much a Dublin word. In a sense it was a substitute for
"fuck," but you couldn't say fuck so you'd say shag. And it was, "I shagged
her in the river," or, "Shag off," or, "Go and shag yourself." That was a
part of Dublin conversation. Now it seems people don't hump any more or fuck
any more or screw any more, they shag.
AD: It's better than "bonk."
DA: "Bonk" is like a terrible machine sound, isn't it? Machines bonking in
the corner of a pub. Bonk is like a tennis ball hitting something.
AD: So do you want to do live gigs?
DA: Oh yes. But what I never do is two things at the same time. If I'm
working on this [his Christmas TV show], I'll work on this. When I've
finished then I'll think about something else. It's a bit like everybody can
remember yesterday, and they're always talking about tomorrow, but in some
cases they actually miss that section that they're living through.
I want to paint or I want to go to sleep or I want to work a bit. Luckily
I'm in a position now I can do what I want. What I don't want to do is
something that's boring, because I don't have the time any more. When you're
30 you can be bored witless, but when you're 58 or 59 you won't have fucking
years to be bored, so it's very important to me to do what I want to do. I'm
not talking in a selfish manner, I mean regarding work.
One of the things I would say to any younger comedians, I'd say, "Face it.
Don't run... Don't go for everything." People become workaholics very
quickly, they're doing radio, they're doing television, they're doing
interviews, they're traveling, they're doing live shows -- Jesus Christ,
they're coming up everywhere.
AD: You find as soon as you get a little bit of a reputation -- it's just
starting to happen for me now, and then suddenly they are pushing you to do
a hundred things.
DA: Don't. Do what you feel. Do what you want to do.
AD: I mean you'll be in danger of becoming this year's thing and then in the
following year you're last year's thing.
DA: If you're a pro, you're good at what you do, you're going to be around
for years. This is not a pop-star profession.
AD: They're trying to make it a pop-star profession, though.
DA: Well, that's not the people who are doing it. It's all these other
people outside pushing other people in the directions, but they're not
necessarily for your benefit.
AD: Make some quick money.
DA: I say, if you can only eat one meal a day, eat a good one. Enjoy the
sunsets, enjoy the days. A terrible pressure is put on people to be ahead of
themselves, on top of themselves, churning stuff out.
Thanks to Vincent Golden for obtaining permission to reprint this article.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The Day Today" -- What makes this show work?
=============================================
by Barry Cronin
Usually a spoof programme will poke fun at television shows by imitating the
presenters or by going over the top when copying the various logos and
symbols attributed to that programme. The Day Today takes a more subtle
approach by spoofing every news programme as one.
One of the characteristics that gives the viewer that The Day Today is a
real news programme is the superb array of "news-type" graphics. Secondly,
when the headlines are read (and here is the real gem), actual footage is
run from real events and of real people. For instance, in one episode it
showed an actual headmaster going into a school surrounded by real
presspeople, and cameras flashing. The newscaster says: "School teacher
accused of using big-faced child as satellite dish." And of course, it isn't
read but nearly shouted, as is the craze now among newscasters.
Television loves to think it is intellectually superior to its viewers, and
can be very patronising when attempting to explain "complex" issues such as
the economy, like ITN who recently used an "inflation dragon" in one of
their newscasts with fire spouting forth from the dragon's mouth. This
ridiculous graphic was to illustrate the state of the economy in some way
and facilitate the viewer's understanding of the economy. It is this sort of
rubbish that The Day Today just pounces on and ridicules with relish to the
last. (The graphics they have used in the past include "inflation kidneys"
and the "financial cat," which really have to be seen to be believed.) As
newscasts are competing so much now, what with 24-hour rolling news services
and so-called investigative programmes, they begin to scramble over each
other in a bid to get viewers, with pathetic metaphors and over-the-top
reconstructions; again this is where The Day Today comes into its own; their
reporters using some of the following metaphors in their reports:
* "Night fell like a big dark thing."
* The sports presenter Alan Partridge describing a cyclists' race from a
helicopter: "and the cyclists below me look like cattle, in a mad
way..."
* Commentary given when a runner named Elliot fell on the track; "Oh no,
Elliot has fallen, Elliot there, no relation of course to the late
Denholm Elliot."
Every week features a new ident to The Day Today--some more examples:
* The Day Today - Ultra News
* The Day Today - games warden to the events rhino
* The Day Today - because fact into doubt won't go
* The Day Today - bringing food to the truth banquet
This programme is currently being re-broadcast here in the UK and is
enjoying good success. Long may it continue.
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Usenet Vox Pops
===============
Subject: Re: American AbFab rip-off
From: dfowler@random.ucs.mun.ca (D. Stuart Fowler)
>This Roseanne-bashing is getting really BORING!
[snip]
I agree. I have really enjoyed the 12 "Absolutely Fabulous" episodes aired
thus far, and greatly anticipate seeing the six new shows.
Having a US version should in no way detract from the enjoyment of the
original. In fact, I firmly believe that Roseanne is capable of presenting
an equally controversial American version of this show.
I think the main point to be made is that most people like to revere British
comedy in an elitist fashion. And what could destroy this facade quicker
than the tabloid persona of Roseanne? But see, that's it in a nutshell,
people chalk Roseanne up as the National Enquirer cover girl and rarely give
her the credit she deserves as an artist.
I am quite comfortable having Roseanne control the reigns of the American
"AbFab." It won't necessarily be the same show, but I have faith that it
will chart new ground in American comedy.
These are my opinions and I shall stick by them.
Subject: Re: First Goodies experience
From: Frances M. Robinson <intm5@unix.york.ac.uk>
I first discovered "The Goodies" when we were on holiday in Derbyshire. We
came across a village fair and on the Women's Institute stall, I came across
"The Goodies File" and "The Goodies' Book of Criminal Records." My parents
said, "Oh you'll like them, we did," so I bought the books. They are both
hysterically funny. One contains the music to the theme song as scribbled
over by them all. It really has to be read to be believed. I got a video for
Xmas; "The End" is great. Tim and Graeme are on "I'm Sorry, I Haven't a
Clue;" no series on at the moment, but it's every bit as good!
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Quote-o'-the-Month
==================
BILL: "You know, there's surprisingly little to do in this stomach..."
SHOW: The Goodies; EPISODE: The Archaeologists
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net.comedy
==========
This month, net.comedy focuses on one of the best-loved Britcoms today,
Black Adder.
The newsgroup alt.comedy.british.blackadder is always abuzz with Adderish
discussion; and for those without Usenet access there's a Black Adder
mailing-list. To join, send email to listserv@psuvm.psu.edu containing the
single line:
SUBSCRIBE BLKADR-L
First, though, check out the Black Adder FAQ, maintained by Gwen Brophy,
gbrophy@telerama.lm.com. Here you'll find answers to all those niggling
questions -- including the perennial, "Will there be a Black Adder Five?"
It's posted once a month to alt.comedy.british.blackadder and you can also
find it here:
* ftp://cathouse.org/pub/cathouse/television/black.adder/misc/FAQ
* http://cathouse.org/BritishComedy/Blackadder/FAQ.html
If you're dying to use one of Edmund's put-downs but can't quite remember
the phrasing, you have only to turn to the cathouse.org archives. This ftp
site contains a wealth of Black Adder information, including transcripts of
all the episodes and specials, an episode guide, the FAQ, and fanfiction:
* ftp://cathouse.org/pub/cathouse/television/black.adder/
Some of this material is also up on the Web at the cathouse.org British
Comedy Pages:
* http://cathouse.org/BritishComedy/Blackadder/
Mail news and views on "net.comedy" to James Kew, j.kew@ic.ac.uk.
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ETC.
===
Brenda Sharpe, aj471@freenet.carleton.ca maintains the "RUMPOLE OF THE
BAILEY FAQ" for those die-hard fans who subscribe to alt.fan.rumpole.
* http://www.cs.umbc.edu/~schott/rumpole/
* ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/media/tv/collections/tardis/uk/drama/RumpoleOfTheBailey/RumpoleOfTheBailey-FAQ
Andy Raffle, missus@raffle.demon.co.uk, maintains the "CARRY ON FAQ." It's
posted monthly to alt.comedy.british, rec.arts.tv.uk, and rec.arts.movies.
* http://cathouse.org/BritishComedy/CarryOnFilms/FAQ.html
Jeffrey Rice, jrice@pomona.edu, has created an "ARE YOU BEING SERVED?" Home
Page. He needs a fellow fan to produce a .gif of the "Grace Brothers" logo
to make it complete. Please email him if you can help.
* http://humphries.pomona.claremont.edu/comedy.html
The editor wishes to shamelessly plug "BOOKS FOR THE AVID BRITCOMEDY FAN,"
posted monthly to alt.comedy.british. Also at:
* http://cathouse.org/BritishComedy/Info/Booklist.html
There's a new P.G. Wodehouse FAQ -- "The Junior Ganymede Club Book,"
maintained by Susan Collicott, susan@pmel.noaa.gov. Posted to
alt.fan.wodehouse. Also available via anonymous FTP:
* ftp://ickenham.isu.edu/pub/PGW-FAQ
Spam, spam, spam, spam -- Tired of reading spams on the net? Take a look at
Axel Boldt's "BLACKLIST OF INTERNET ADVERTISERS." The "fan mail" he receives
is quite amusing. Posted to news.answers.
* http://math-www.uni-paderborn.de/~axel/BL/blacklist.html
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Circulation
===========
Britcomedy Digest (ISSN 1077-6680) is a free electronic newsletter posted
monthly to alt.comedy.british and rec.arts.tv.uk.
DELPHI
"UK-American Connexion" forum, cf171
GENIE
"Showbiz" roundtable, page 185
Back Issues
===========
WWW
* http://cathouse.org/BritishComedy/BD/
* http://paul.acorn.co.uk:8080/Britcom/
FTP
* ftp://cathouse.org/pub/cathouse/british.humour/britcomedy.digest
* ftp://ftp.etext.org/pub/Zines/BritComedy
GOPHER
* gopher://cathouse.org:6969/11/british.humour/britcomedy.digest
* gopher://gopher.etext.org/11/Zines/BritComedy
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End