Mrs Brown's Boys and Mrs Brown type 'comedy'

BuilderPlumber

For reasons unknown to me Mrs Brown's Boys has become a major hit in both Ireland and the UK. While the first series and maybe the second were somewhat decent, the recent Christmas specials are among the worst drivel I have ever watched. If it was on just RTE (the givers of other atrocities marketed as comedy such as Irish Pictorial Weekly, Wagon's Den and The Walshes) one would not be too surprised BUT BBC are also pushers of it.

Mrs Brown as a character is totally inferior to the great characters created in classic comedies such as Victor Meldrew, Fr Ted Crilly, Mr Bean, Del Boy and Hyacinth Bucket. Yet we are told she is the most popular UK and Irish comedy ever! I can't see why.

RTE rely on Mrs Brown Christmas specials to 'entertain' us. Virtually anything would be better than those 2 episodes shown this Christmas and last Christmas's ones as well. I for one would like to see something else for next Christmas.

I think Pat Shortt's Christmas specials were way better than Mrs Brown. I loved Killinaskully and one could identify with a lot of the characters in it. Plus they were always doing different things and it was filmed and set in a real place rather than a stage. Mattie and Sergeant Mattie I did not enjoy as much as Killinaskully at the time but after rewatching them, they are not bad neither. I also remember Val Falvey TD with Ardal O'Hanlon. I have to try and revisit this. I felt it was poor in some episodes but there were funny scenes too.

Mrs Brown has I feel influenced Irish comedy in a negative way. The Walshes and a few other recent shows are all just derivatives of Mrs Brown. I think Christmas specials for this have run since 2012 and have gotten poorer and poorer as it goes along.

Shows like Mrs Brown's Boys are cheap to make. The Pat Shortt ones were a lot more professionally made and were made on location in Tipperary and Limerick. Because RTE have decided not to spend money on decent programmes, more of Mrs Brown and her types will be shown. We will see Mrs Brown and her boys in her kitchen and sitting room and down meeting the friend in the pub. The same old scenes over and over.

Mrs Brown's Boys is clearly the most overrated, overhyped Irish comedy series ever made. In recent years it also has become one of the poorest. Even Irish Pictorial Weekly would be better than those Christmas Mrs Brown episodes and that is saying something!

darkdubh

Does Mrs Brown even count as a "character"? From the little I've seen of it her characterization consists of O Carroll putting on a dress and a stupid voice.

Fr Tod Umptious

I had the misfortune to see the New Years Eve offering.

One of the main jokes was that there was a character called Mrs. Curtain, Annette Curtain.

If my primary school kids were allowed watch it, which they are not cos there too much swearing in it, even they would not find that joke funny.

BorneTobyWilde

It's one of those shows millions of people tune in to see how crap it is.
That where the rating come from
I was one who watched to see how crap it was
It was crap

BuilderPlumber

darkdubh wrote: »

Does Mrs Brown even count as a "character"? From the little I've seen of it her characterization consists of O Carroll putting on a dress and a stupid voice.

She is very one dimensional and the series just repeats the same thing over and over. The dress, stupid voice and curse words are exactly what she has to offer. Because the character is so limited plus there is no desire to bring it out of a studio and film it in a real place in Dublin, all we will get is Mrs Brown plus family and friends in the 2 rooms and the pub. It would be dirt cheap to make. Brendan O'Carroll is laughing all the way to the bank though.

For many people they are baffled at why this poor fare took Ireland and the UK by storm. The answer is obvious: vulgarity sells. Mrs Brown's Boys has no good storyline, has often poor acting, is very unprofessionally made and it is obvious it is made cheaply as possible. BUT it is full of bad language, sexual innuendos and toilet humour. There is a massive market for crude comedy and O'Carroll knows this and has taken advantage.

BuilderPlumber

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I had the misfortune to see the New Years Eve offering.

One of the main jokes was that there was a character called Mrs. Curtain, Annette Curtain.

If my primary school kids were allowed watch it, which they are not cos there too much swearing in it, even they would not find that joke funny.

These type of jokes in it are pathetic. I avoided that episode as the one on Christmas day almost ruined Christmas! It was that bad.

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

It's one of those shows millions of people tune in to see how crap it is.
That where the rating come from
I was one who watched to see how crap it was
It was crap

I and the family said we'd do the same but Christmas Day's episode was not so bad it was funny but it was a totally bore.

lertsnim

The film had "chinky" jokes. It is pure trash.

rawn

Oh look, the cool kids are trashing Mrs Brown again

Jimmy Garlic

It is fodder for the intellectually bankrupt point and laugh crowd, idiots in other words. People who think fanny jokes are funny. It makes Killinaskully seem like a comedic masterpiece in comparison.

GreenFolder2

It's just old style music hall comedy. It's not intended to be high brow.

It's not really my cup of tea at all but clearly someone finds it entertaining.

Fr Tod Umptious

rawn wrote: »

Oh look, the cool kids are trashing Mrs Brown again

I'm neither cool nor a kid, but I am trashing Mrs Brown again.

Previously if I had the misfortune to catch some of the show I may have found myself giggling at the odd scene or joke, to my own surprise.

But the Annette Curtain joke really did it for me, it was a major part of the show.

If that is what they are coming up with then its time to put it in the bin

brian_t

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

It's one of those shows millions of people tune in to see how crap it is.
That where the rating come from
I was one who watched to see how crap it was
It was crap

Really

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

It's funny if you let it be
No need to over analyze it
The simplicity is on purpose
The humor old but classic

bazermc

Mrs brown is laughing alright. Laughing all the way to the bank.

the_syco

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

I think Pat Shortt's Christmas specials were way better than Mrs Brown. I loved Killinaskully and one could identify with a lot of the characters in it.

I dislike Del Boy, Pat Short, and Mrs Brown; the humour is not my cup of tea. I found the people who like Killinaskully also like Mrs Brown Boys. I avoid said comedy.

The Young Wan

My cousin is 12. He believes in Santa. He thinks Mrs Brown and Impractical Jokers is hilarious.

That says all I need to say.

Mr E

I don't watch it but if I do happen to see if while browsing, I'll always get a few chuckles out of it (more often from the improvisation and outtakes than the actual scripted stuff).

Fair play to Brendan and family - it has done very well for them.

FYI for previous poster - your 12 year old cousin is pulling your leg - no 12 year old believes in Santa.

soc

Mrs Brown Show reminds me of "When the whistle blows" from Extras...http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2rxla3

Through the fake show in Extras, Gervais predicted the low bar of comedy people would find entertaining and inadvertently make popular.

This article sums it up more elegantly https://filmontrial.com/2014/07/08/how-ricky-gervais-predicted-mrs-browns-boys/

The Young Wan

Mr E wrote: »

FYI for previous poster - your 12 year old cousin is pulling your leg - no 12 year old believes in Santa.

So we all believe. But this lad genuinely still has it. The dog went fooking mental Christmas morning (probably barking at a plane or a bird) and "I SWEAR TO GOD TYW THE DOG SAW SANTY."

Talk of my mother and his mother's previous Christmases had to be postponed because he was in the room.

lertsnim

soc wrote: »

Mrs Brown Show reminds me of "When the whistle blows" from Extras...http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2rxla3

Through the fake show in Extras, Gervais predicted the low bar of comedy people would find entertaining and inadvertently make popular.

This article sums it up more elegantly https://filmontrial.com/2014/07/08/how-ricky-gervais-predicted-mrs-browns-boys/

Mrs Brown has been around since the 90's though.

celtic tiger 2011

lertsnim wrote: »

Mrs Brown has been around since the 90's though.

Its true Brendan O' Carroll wrote Mrs Browns Boys in the 90's but it didnt hit the mainstream until 2005 . I never heard of Mrs Brown Boys until I saw it on TV in 2005 and I am sure nobody in Britain did either . Extras was shown in 2005 so it came out as the same time as Mrs Brown's Boys. But i can't see how Ricky Gervais could have had MBB in mind when he wrote Extras, as it highly unlikely that he would have been aware of MBB as it only existed on rte radio at the time.

Fr Tod Umptious

Oh fcuk, its on again right now

trashcan

rawn wrote: »

Oh look, the cool kids are trashing Mrs Brown again

It's a whole lot less to do with being a "cool kid" than it is the fact that this programme is a steaming pile of dung. I don't care how many people watch it. It just mystifies me that O'Carroll is getting away with it. I also detest the fact that if you think it's rancid it's because you're some sort of snob. I dare say I come from a far more working class background than O'Carroll does, I just prefer comedy with a lot more intelligence, where you can't see every punchline coming for five minutes beforehand (and they're not funny when they do arrive.)

Ok - enough now, or I'll have to go and take one of my pills;)

The Talking Bread

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Oh fcuk, its on again right now

The Talking Bread

It is dressed up, crude panto comedy and it is clearly a winning formula. Comedy is subjective. It is not something that would live long in my memory but it is so bad sometimes it is good.

I honestly don't think even BOC thinks this show is comedy genious but he knows it appeals to a good market (who the critics reduce to calling brainless to boost their argument......pretty pathetic when you have to judge people who like it just to take the higher ground!)

Howard the Duck

I hate it , complete crap. So I just don't watch it and i watch something else. My parents watch it and find it hilarious and i watched it with them over christmas as i like to see them laughing and enjoying themselves... they have the shows they like i have the ones i like.

soc wrote: »

Through the fake show in Extras, Gervais predicted the low bar of comedy people would find entertaining and inadvertently make popular.

What? this type of show has always been around he predicted nothing and i don't think he would have claimed to.

brian_t

Howard the Duck wrote: »

What? this type of show has always been around he predicted nothing and i don't think he would have claimed to.

Absolutely. Are You Being Served and Mrs Slocombe's Pussy come to mind.

BuilderPlumber

celtic tiger 2011 wrote: »

Its true Brendan O' Carroll wrote Mrs Browns Boys in the 90's but it didnt hit the mainstream until 2005 . I never heard of Mrs Brown Boys until I saw it on TV in 2005 and I am sure nobody in Britain did either . Extras was shown in 2005 so it came out as the same time as Mrs Brown's Boys. But i can't see how Ricky Gervais could have had MBB in mind when he wrote Extras, as it highly unlikely that he would have been aware of MBB as it only existed on rte radio at the time.

Brendan O'Carroll's entire career was mostly Mrs Brown in different guises. Books, live shows, DVDs, a film, the TV series and another film among them. I always was aware of it and the DVDs came out in the 2000s decade.

I think the first TV series of it was in 2011. This took the country by storm and everyone started watching it and it was genuinely popular then. This series was in fairness quite good and had funny episodes. The series then did not reinvent itself and a tired boring set of Christmas specials produced some of the worst TV ever.

O'Carroll has his money made and he does not really care about these TV specials and just slops them together. His main concentration seems to be on bringing Mrs Brown to the big screen again.

trashcan

The Talking Bread wrote: »

I honestly don't think even BOC thinks this show is comedy genious.......

Oh, I dunno. Strikes me he has a more than reasonably high opinion of himself.

NufcNavan

There's always a few pound to be made for playing the gob****e Paddy for the English. That's all O'Carroll does.

batistuta9

New Saturday night entertainment show in BBC for Mrs Brown

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38563190

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^^^

is that gobsh!te ever off the television???

Agricola

My father likes a bit of Mrs Brown. (Oh matron!) Often found him doubled over in the sitting room at Christmas while watching it. Fr. Ted has a similar effect on him. If an old episode comes on and Bishop Brennan get's kicked up the arse for what seems the eleventy thousand time, he still has a chuckle. So obviously while both shows operate on one base panto level of comedy, and attract people who get only that much from it, Fr Ted had the added depth of being a satire of Irish life, which over the course of it's run, pretty much hit on every touchstone and quirk of Irishness. As well as having a tonne of quotable lines and catchphrases. Which is why it has achieved the legendary status here Mrs Brown never will.

So that leads me to believe the Brits never really got Fr Ted at all. They were just laughing at Fr Jack cursing and Bishop Brennan getting a kick in the hole. They never saw the real genius behind it. What a bunch of idiots.

celtic tiger 2011

Agricola wrote: »

My father likes a bit of Mrs Brown. (Oh matron!) Often found him doubled over in the sitting room at Christmas while watching it. Fr. Ted has a similar effect on him. If an old episode comes on and Bishop Brennan get's kicked up the arse for what seems the eleventy thousand time, he still has a chuckle. So obviously while both shows operate on one base panto level of comedy, and attract people who get only that much from it, Fr Ted had the added depth of being a satire of Irish life, which over the course of it's run, pretty much hit on every touchstone and quirk of Irishness. As well as having a tonne of quotable lines and catchphrases. Which is why it has achieved the legendary status here Mrs Brown never will.

So that leads me to believe the Brits never really got Fr Ted at all. They were just laughing at Fr Jack cursing and Bishop Brennan getting a kick in the hole. They never saw the real genius behind it. What a bunch of idiots.

#

You sound like a comedy snob . What you need to realise is that comedy is entirely subjective, it makes you laugh or it doesn't .

So called high brow humour isn't intellectualism. Its not like studying the works of William Shakespeare or quantum mechanics . It isn't that difficult to get .

I am sure your dad laughs at Father Ted for the very same reasons you do.

Technocentral

the_syco wrote: »

I dislike Del Boy, Pat Short, and Mrs Brown; the humour is not my cup of tea. I found the people who like Killinaskully also like Mrs Brown Boys. I avoid said comedy.

True, I'd give Blackadder, Red Dwarf, The Office and The Royle Family as examples of far superior characters and writing, could never stand Only Fools in particular.

Technocentral

celtic tiger 2011 wrote: »

Its true Brendan O' Carroll wrote Mrs Browns Boys in the 90's but it didnt hit the mainstream until 2005 . I never heard of Mrs Brown Boys until I saw it on TV in 2005 and I am sure nobody in Britain did either . Extras was shown in 2005 so it came out as the same time as Mrs Brown's Boys. But i can't see how Ricky Gervais could have had MBB in mind when he wrote Extras, as it highly unlikely that he would have been aware of MBB as it only existed on rte radio at the time.

He probably didn't but its the same as the crap he was slagging from the 70s which new, original and alternative comedy (Not The Nine O Clock News, Young Ones etc) blew away

Walter H Price

BuilderPlumber wrote: »

Mrs Brown's Boys is clearly the most overrated, overhyped Irish comedy series ever made. In recent years it also has become one of the poorest. Even Irish Pictorial Weekly would be better than those Christmas Mrs Brown episodes and that is saying something!

100% agree the original movies (not the recent one) were class , but the TV show has always been very pedestrian tbh, i dont watch it to be honest but i see it every now and again in my OH Ma's house thy love it like , but its just the same jokes and skits being trotted out over and over like ... Beyond overrated

dublinman1990

Well; Mrs Brown's Boys has just won an NTA for the Comedy category on ITV tonight.

It got presented to them by Sir Ken Dodd which was great for them.

JP Liz V1

batistuta9 wrote: »

New Saturday night entertainment show in BBC for Mrs Brown

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38563190

All Round to Mrs Brown started tonight on RTE 1 and BBC 1

BorneTobyWilde

What a James Blunt .

ShamoBuc

Thought that was a very good show , The Triangle was seriously funny, Andy Murray's mum and grandma were very good too.

vicwatson

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

What a James Blunt .

You're beautiful

Storm 10

Absolute tripe it was embarrassing in the extreme

BorneTobyWilde

I missed Pamela tonight, only caught end of show which was funny I thought.

artvanderlay

Mrs Brown comes across as really bad amateur comedy. It's like it's made by people who don't know what comedy is. It's for morons who think a man dressed up as a old woman, talking about sex and effing and blinding is funny. The jokes don't even make sense. There are some people that will laugh at anything, the lowest common denominator, and O'Carroll is their champion. These people probably wouldn't get good comedy, so it becomes an us against them thing; I am an elitist because I don't look to the gutter for my comedy. Face it, some people are thick, and others aren't and if you like Mrs. Brown, in my book you are thick. I find it as funny as Roy Chubby Brown or some other antiquated ****e. It doesn't even come close to On The Buses or other dated UK sitcoms. It's a weird show, but we live in weird divisive times, with Trump in the White House. Of course Mrs Brown will find an audience.

And I'm not some begrudger (the usual defence for any attack on something Irish that is p*ss poor); I wish there were great Irish comedy shows, but there aren't because RTE does not do comedy, and anyone genuinely talented fecks off to the UK.


Grrrr. Damn you Mrs Brown you got a reaction from me again. I can hear her laugh echoing!!!

The Talking Bread

artvanderlay wrote: »

Mrs Brown comes across as really bad amateur comedy. It's like it's made by people who don't know what comedy is. It's for morons who think a man dressed up as a old woman, talking about sex and effing and blinding is funny. The jokes don't even make sense. There are some people that will laugh at anything, the lowest common denominator, and O'Carroll is their champion. These people probably wouldn't get good comedy, so it becomes an us against them thing; I am an elitist because I don't look to the gutter for my comedy. Face it, some people are thick, and others aren't and if you like Mrs. Brown, in my book you are thick. I find it as funny as Roy Chubby Brown or some other antiquated ****e. It doesn't even come close to On The Buses or other dated UK sitcoms. It's a weird show, but we live in weird divisive times, with Trump in the White House. Of course Mrs Brown will find an audience.

And I'm not some begrudger (the usual defence for any attack on something Irish that is p*ss poor); I wish there were great Irish comedy shows, but there aren't because RTE does not do comedy, and anyone genuinely talented fecks off to the UK.


Grrrr. Damn you Mrs Brown you got a reaction from me again. I can hear her laugh echoing!!!

sure surely you don't watch it then!

artvanderlay

I watched an episode the last night just to see if it had improved. It hadn't :mad:

RIFF87

Ironically this thread is one of the funniest I've ever seen.

The sheer arrogance on display is unbelievable.

So you don't like Mrs Brown. Fair enough. But to say people who do are less intelligent than you or call them the lowest common denominator is just pathetic.

Comedy is subjective, all forms of entertainment are subjective.

It's a tv show, chill out

ShamoBuc

RIFF87 wrote: »

Ironically this thread is one of the funniest I've ever seen.

The sheer arrogance on display is unbelievable.

So you don't like Mrs Brown. Fair enough. But to say people who do are less intelligent than you or call them the lowest common denominator is just pathetic.

Comedy is subjective, all forms of entertainment are subjective.

It's a tv show, chill out

Very true, I'm following the thread for the comedy/ignorance factor.

I'm sure it will continue shortly.

PeterTheNinth

I think I have a name for the show...

We've had Ant And Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.

How about Mrs Brown's What The Absolute F**k

RIFF87

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Very true, I'm following the thread for the comedy/ignorance factor.

I'm sure it will continue shortly.

I look forward to it haha

artvanderlay

Glad that my ignorance is amusing to you. Mind you, if you like Mrs. Brown, ignorance is clearly your thing :pac: