Hungry? C4 to create comedy series...about the famine

Frankie Lee

wendell borton wrote: »

I think it could be really good if done properly. Its a theme that lends itself to dark humour with some cutting satire.

Extremely difficult to do properly though.

Letree

I don't see where the humour will come from. Malnourished starving people arguing over food, families fleeing the country, british indifference to the plight of the Irish. I can't see how it will work.

fryup

i envisage something like this.....

let me set the scene...inside a filthy cottage.....

young boy walks in, and says Ma whats for dinner??

Mother - potatoes!!!!!!!!! *canned laughter

Boy - sighs but we had potatoes yesterday

Mother - well guess what you'll have dem tomorrow too!! *canned laughter

- and the day after that and the day after that *uproarious canned laughter

*boy walks out moaning with cheeky sig tune playing in the background

Next scene - is the big fat proddy landlord having a feast whilst making condescending witty remarks about his silly tenants

and so it goes..........

Jawgap

lertsnim wrote: »

I can't wait till someone does a comedy series based on the Holocaust.

Well, there's already been films involving the Holocaust and comedy......

Life is Beautiful
Jacob the Liar

Then there was Jerry Lewis' film The Clown, although that was never released in its entirety.

Aineoil

the_syco wrote: »

Gonna keep an open mind about this one; it could be epic, or it could fail badly. We shall see.

I agree with you.

Comedy and famine in one sentence - it sounds wrong, but I'd like to see an

episode or two before I could give an honest comment - as you say it could

be epic or a miserable fail.

My parents in their 70's and 80's still fail to see that Father Ted is funny. If in

1995 you told the forum that there was going to be an irreverent sitcom

about priests some people might not have been too happy.

My name is URL

Whatever about how good it might be, it's an insensitive thing to make a comedy about considering how ignorant most Brits are of that part of their history.

It'd be like the yanks making a sitcom about the plight of Native Americans under Andrew Jackson =/

Harry Palmr

My name is URL wrote: »

Whatever about how good it might be, it's an insensitive thing to make a comedy about considering how ignorant most Brits are of that part of their history.

It'd be like the yanks making a sitcom about the plight of Native Americans under Andrew Jackson =/

Maybe it'll enlighten - comedy is a handy way of getting people to watch stuff they otherwise wouldn't.

darkpagandeath

Alright, Lets ban comedy then. either all is fair game or none is something something terrorists win.. :pac:

Allyall

Harry Palmr wrote: »

At least its been written by a Paddy.

No it's not.
It's being written by a guy living in Dublin. But he's not Irish.

mikom

irish central, who named Pope Francis as their person of the year 2014, as he "has transformed the Catholic landscape in a way unseen since the heyday of Pope John 23rd".

Now there is comedy.

Scuse me while I puke.

darkpagandeath

Allyall wrote: »

No it's not.
It's being written by a guy living in Dublin. But he's not Irish.

He's American as far as I can tell. So who do we blame now ?

fryup

irish american ?

goose2005

petrolcan wrote: »

No more bizarre than a comedy set during the Korean war. Or WWI.

I actually see it as potentially positive as most in Britain aren't that aware of the famine.

But it's hard to make a comedy when you don't understand the setting. They could make Blackadder Goes Forth partially because everyone knows the settings, cliches, storylines, character types etc. that you find in a WW1 film. The average person's knowledge of 1840s Ireland is a lot lower.

Highflyer13

mikom wrote: »

irish central, who named Pope Francis as their person of the year 2014, as he "has transformed the Catholic landscape in a way unseen since the heyday of Pope John 23rd".

Now there is comedy.

Scuse me while I puke.

I'm not a religious guy myself but he seems like a very progressive pope. He certainly is making a lot of strides on various issues such as corruption in the church and marriage equality and more

petrolcan

GalwayGuitar wrote: »

Potentially positive? Are you for real? The English will have a great laugh at the thick Paddies who couldn't grow their potatoes.

I'm being perfectly serious. It may show many Britons a history they aren't very aware of, it may even encourage some to do a little bit of research.

mikom

Highflyer13 wrote: »

I'm not a religious guy myself but he seems like a very progressive pope. He certainly is making a lot of strides on various issues such as corruption in the church and marriage equality and more

A dab hand at the ould window dressing too, I heard............ and kissing babies....... don't forget the kissing babies.

Allyall

petrolcan wrote: »

I'm being perfectly serious. It may show many Britons a history they aren't very aware of, it may even encourage some to do a little bit of research.

I doubt it.

Capt'n Midnight

ballsymchugh wrote: »

channel 4 haven't had much luck with irish based comedy since Fr Ted. that london irish program they had last year was pure muck.

Black books ?

lertsnim wrote: »

I can't wait till someone does a comedy series based on the Holocaust.

You could base the series on this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Is_Beautiful




This on the other hand... http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/TheDayTheClownCried if it sounds bad , look up the script , it's creepy, just a cynical attempt to get an Oscar. Then you remember that back in 1972 most kids who were in the camps were still alive and it goes beyond creepy.

the_syco

Aineoil wrote: »

My parents in their 70's and 80's still fail to see that Father Ted is funny. If in

1995 you told the forum that there was going to be an irreverent sitcom

about priests some people might not have been too happy.

Esp when you consider how badly the other RTE show with a woman and two priests bombed.

bnt

lertsnim wrote: »

I can't wait till someone does a comedy series based on the Holocaust.

It's been done, kind-of, in the form of a movie. Did OK, won an Oscar.

mark13

lertsnim wrote: »

I can't wait till someone does a comedy series based on the Holocaust.

"Heil Honey, I'm Home!" is the closest I can think of, aired on Sky in 1990, 8 episodes were made, only one of them aired.

Once you look past the gimmick, it's quite rubbish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWjCkcAmzDc

Summary

Heil Honey I'm Home! is a British sitcom, written by Geoff Atkinson. It centres on fictionalised versions of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, who live next door to a Jewish couple, Arny and Rosa Goldenstein.

fryup

Heil Honey, I'm Home! :pac:

facepalm, talk about bad taste

The Diabolical Monocle

horrible feeling the characters will have moronic unfunny soundbytes/tag-lines/one liners that will have to be tolerated for years to come.

a bit like 'top-a-the-mornin-laddy' but even more cringey and associated with some low level canned laughter sit com humor.

any attempt to explain the genuine unfunnyness will be met with an accusation of butthurt.

a trolls wet dream. ah well.

The other fella

What about a comedy based around the London tube attacks next? No?

4zn76tysfajdxp

Fair amount of inferiority complexes in here. "Oh no, what if the Brits laugh at us?" May well turn out both hilarious and thought provoking for those ignorant of history.

creolebelle

Racist and incredibly insensitive since people are still dying from hunger everyday

AboutaWeekAgo

creolebelle wrote: »

Racist and incredibly insensitive since people are still dying from hunger everyday

Pretty silly logic there mate. People are also dying from meth abuse everyday, was Breaking Bad also insensitive?

creolebelle

pragmatic1 wrote: »

Exactly. I'd like to see one done on the Trans-Atlantic slave trade too. Doubt they'd have the balls, but it's alright to slag off auld Paddy.

The french have. A couple of yrs ago a film was made about 2 black guys who end up going back in time to colonial Africa and they get kidnapped and put on a slave ship. It was supposed to be a comedy

creolebelle

AboutaWeekAgo wrote: »

Pretty silly logic there mate. People are also dying from meth abuse everyday, was Breaking Bad also insensitive?

Breaking bad isn't a comedy so no

thelad95

I think the Interview has set a new low in terms of what can be satirised so this doesn't actually seem that bad.

If it's done in the right manner it could work. A bittersweet type comedy-drama could be entertaining.