TRANS-PONDIAN CULTURE (NO PRON, PLEASE)

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If i say Benny Hill, most Americans know to whom i refer. If i say Homer Simpson, most of the English know to whom i refer. So i thought it would be interesting for us to exchange our perceptions of one another's particular cultural depravities, to explore what we have (shudder) in common, and where the divergences are.

(Nota Bene: If the boys and girls from Oz show up, as inevitably they will, just pretend you don't see them.)

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Michael Parkinson?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/images/bank/talent/ent/70parky.jpg

I imagine a lot of Americans don't know Parkinson, yet would expect everybody to know David Letterman whose career started just a few years later.

edited for silly mistake

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Know: Benny Hill, Homer and David Letterman. Do not know: Parkinson

American- guilty as charged Very Happy

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how about admitedly americanized slovaks? can we play?

never heard of parkinson either...

how about that popular british young comedian that shows up at museum installations or theatre plays with a huge cell phone and talks loudly on it... ya know who i mean? what's his name?

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Yes, certainly, Dag . . . it is just our antipodean friends from whom i am trying to get a rise.

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Graham Norton, Dag? He's funny.

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I often found To the Manor Born to be funny for its subtle humor, but the Brits can also produce the most godawful broad and sniggering slapstick. Tastes vary greatly--i'm sure that within the English-speaking world it is possible to find the entire range from nuanced irony to bathroom humor.

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If anyone goes Eastenders here, the kitty starts shooting...

Hmm, Reginald Perrin ?

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I loved Reggie Perrin when I watched it on PBS about 20 years ago.

How about Ali G--he's been making forays in the US...

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We know and love Parkinson - he wanders down here reasonably often, too.

I believe you guys in Amrica now know of Roy and HG?

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I absolutely adored "One Foot in the Grave" when I lived in London. Has been on here, but at odd hours. The newer Bill Cosby/ Phyllicia Rashad Cosby show was a remake. Bleh. Totally different outlook, took the humor out of it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/images/220/onefootinthegrave_1.jpg

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Theme song:

They say I might as well face the truth:
That I am just too long in the tooth.
So, I'm an OAP and weak kneed
But I'm not yet quite gone to seed.

I may be over the hill now that I am retired,
Fading away but I'm not yet expired--
Clapped out, rundown, too old to save:
One foot in the grave!

They say I might as well face the truth
That I am just too long in the tooth
I've started to deteriorate
And now I'm passed my own sell by date.

Oh I'm no spring chicken it's true
I have to pop my teeth in to chew
And my old knees are started to knock
I've just got too many miles on the clock.

So I'm wrinkly, crinkly, set in my ways
It's true that my body has seen better days
But give me half a chance and I can still misbehave
One foot in the grave.

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dagmaraka wrote:

how about admitedly americanized slovaks? can we play?

And doesn't this show that to the shame of Brits and Yanks alike, Slovak and other European (or indeed any foreign) actors and comedians are unknown?

Just looking at the available tv today in Britain: Seinfeld, Will & Grace, Friends, Sex & The City, MASH, CSI: NY, CSI:Miami, Star Trek, Cheers, Simpsons, Knight Rider, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, The Wonder Years - that's the short list. And of course CNN, Fox, etc. We're steeped in it all.

It worries me that you Transpondians like To the Manor Born and Keeping Up Appearances because they show such an outdated view of Britain! Do our edgy modern programmes go well? The Office? Shameless? Coupling? And if you are looking at old comedy, Red Dwarf?

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I've heard people speak highly of The Office, but it's ages since i watched television. The local public television station plays Are You Being Served? and Keeping Up Appearances, for dog's sake . . . what can i do?

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Maritime Noon. I cant get enough of those codfish reports.

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Is "TheBig Breakfast Show" still on in UK? I always needed that sort of stuff to wake up when its still dark at 8

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Clary wrote:

Just looking at the available tv today in Britain: Seinfeld, Will & Grace, Friends, Sex & The City, MASH, CSI: NY, CSI:Miami, Star Trek, Cheers, Simpsons, Knight Rider, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, The Wonder Years - that's the short list. And of course CNN, Fox, etc. We're steeped in it all.

It worries me that you Transpondians like To the Manor Born and Keeping Up Appearances because they show such an outdated view of Britain! Do our edgy modern programmes go well? The Office? Shameless? Coupling? And if you are looking at old comedy, Red Dwarf?

Of that short list I loved "The Wonder Years" -- I'm not a big Simpsons fan.

Coupling is great. I don't like The Office. There was a show about four well-off men friends in London that I liked... can't think of the name. I adored Ballykissangel and Monarch of the Glen... still get to watch Hamish McBeth. I detest Keeping Up Appearances and before I let it go unsaid, I think Benny Hill is possibly the worst comedian I've ever seen. How could he ever be considered anything but third-rate? Am I missing something?

Dlowan -- I don't recognize those names...

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Piffka wrote:

..There was a show about four well-off men friends in London that I liked... can't think of the name.

Manchild, maybe?

...And Hamish Macbeth was wonderful! (the first couple of series, especially.)

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Yup... Manchild. Thanks, Olga. Hilarious and just what I figured men were thinking and talking about.

Hamish is on so irregularly that I've never gotten the series straight, but I'm fond of it. Some of the last few shows have been more than a little weird but I was in a forgiving mood.

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farmerman wrote:

Is "TheBig Breakfast Show" still on in UK? I always needed that sort of stuff to wake up when its still dark at 8

No, it's not. I miss it too, have to listen to the radio instead as all the breakfast shows are ghastly and identical.

Are You Being Served - dated or what??!!

The Office is painfully true and I and my sons really like it, but many people find it too close to reality for comfort. They also like League of Gentlemen which is dark and weird and not belly-laugh material.

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TRANS-PONDIAN CULTURE (NO PRON, PLEASE)

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