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| Oo-er, I've got a man's genitals, you know. |
I'm depressed this morning. No, it's not the weather, or the economy or even the Team GB self congratulatory wankfest going on in the meeja. It's the news that
Mrs Brown's Boys has been voted the best sitcom ever in a Radio Times poll.
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| Les Dawson suffering from the shishkebabs. |
Now, to be fair, I've never watched Mrs Browns Boys. The trailers are bad enough. I don't much go for studio audiences whooping at the sight of a fat middle aged drag act. I went through all that in the Seventies. Remember when the limited TV schedules offered nothing better than references to Mrs Slocombe's pussy, and all that Carry On seaside humour that defined British post war entertainment? I confess I even enjoyed some of it. Les Dawson got the character to a tee, and Lily Savage had the earthy one liners to carry it off.
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| Mrs Slocombe |
But that was then, and I'd hoped, in the years since Spaced and The Office, that British television sitcoms had finally grown up. Apparently not. The Beeb would rather look back to what was (barely) funny forty years ago than take a risk on breaking new ground. I find this depressing because it's not what the Corporation was created for and we deserve better.
And this was compounded by (another) new reality show. The programme planning at Broadcasting House these days seems to consist of "
Who can we follow around with a film crew for cheap entertainment? Police? Dunnit. Debt collectors? Dunnit. Benefit scroungers? Dunnit. I know, how about sweat shop workers?"
And that's pretty much what
Britain's Hardest Workers is. This latest piece of nonsense tries to dignify its poverty porn by calling it a 'sociological experiment'. It's kind of a cross between Undercover Boss and British Bake Off - the elimination element giving the lie to its 'experiment' line right away. Time was when the BBC led the world in fearless expose journalism, lifting the lid on the unscrupulous practices that enable such exploitation of low wage employees. Today we get yet another glib reality show, sniggering at its contestants' inept attempts to do a job they have not been trained for.
Whatever happened to the BBC?
Couldn't have said it better myself.I'm glad I'm not the only one who dislikes this sort of 'humour'and I have watched this programme a couple of times - in case I was missing the point or just a prude.I've never liked Les Dawson or Lily Savage either and any Carry On film has always been embarrasingly uncomfortable viewing.I used to think it was because of my Methodist upbringing (which I rebelled against by the age of fourteen) Anything "rude" coming on the television and we all sat in silence with reddening faces praying for it to end and hoping for a power cut. As to the BBC, the only thing worth watching is the news and thats not a barrel of laughs!Here's to future haverings without the alleged 'comedy'accompaniment ��
ReplyDeleteCouldn't have said it better myself.I'm glad I'm not the only one who dislikes this sort of 'humour'and I have watched this programme a couple of times - in case I was missing the point or just a prude.I've never liked Les Dawson or Lily Savage either and any Carry On film has always been embarrasingly uncomfortable viewing.I used to think it was because of my Methodist upbringing (which I rebelled against by the age of fourteen) Anything "rude" coming on the television and we all sat in silence with reddening faces praying for it to end and hoping for a power cut. As to the BBC, the only thing worth watching is the news and thats not a barrel of laughs!Here's to future haverings without the alleged 'comedy'accompaniment ��
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brenda. I remember the embarrassment - the downside of family viewing when households only had one tv.
ReplyDeleteI don't trust anything on BBC news any more, not since the independence referendum. It's so biased these days, and the way Corbyn's treated is beyond the pale.