Oh this isn’t a new thing. I was just talking to a friend last night and Mock the Week got mentioned. I then spun off and started sending him clips I had taken of bits from the show that always make me laugh like a motherfucker. British panel shows are my comfort food. Mock the Week, Cats does Countdown, and QI are probably the three I watch the most of but only because there is so much in the run of content. Big Fat Quiz of any year/decade/everything too. Same with Would I Lie To You.
A lot of my favorite shows were pretty shortlived like Dara O’Briain’s Go 8-Bit or David Mitchell’s Was It Something I Said. I remember watching Series 8 or 9 of Mock the Week as the episodes were coming out. Been a loooooooong time that I’ve been watching British comedy. American humor is too hand-holdy most of the time. Gotta walk you through the jokes and feels almost insulting to your intelligence at times. Canadian humor is more dry but can be a bit American too. English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, all of it has the right flavor of dour, dry, bitter, and hilarious that I’m looking for. I’ve got a fuckin list of comedians that I could rattle off forever and start easily quoting them and, funnily enough, I didn’t find them through the panel shows. Well most of 'em.
My wife and I just discussed something similar last night re: the latest QI XL episode. One of the best jokes of the episode was an allusion to a historical event. You’ll never get that in American comedy.
Oh this isn’t a new thing. I was just talking to a friend last night and Mock the Week got mentioned. I then spun off and started sending him clips I had taken of bits from the show that always make me laugh like a motherfucker. British panel shows are my comfort food. Mock the Week, Cats does Countdown, and QI are probably the three I watch the most of but only because there is so much in the run of content. Big Fat Quiz of any year/decade/everything too. Same with Would I Lie To You.
A lot of my favorite shows were pretty shortlived like Dara O’Briain’s Go 8-Bit or David Mitchell’s Was It Something I Said. I remember watching Series 8 or 9 of Mock the Week as the episodes were coming out. Been a loooooooong time that I’ve been watching British comedy. American humor is too hand-holdy most of the time. Gotta walk you through the jokes and feels almost insulting to your intelligence at times. Canadian humor is more dry but can be a bit American too. English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, all of it has the right flavor of dour, dry, bitter, and hilarious that I’m looking for. I’ve got a fuckin list of comedians that I could rattle off forever and start easily quoting them and, funnily enough, I didn’t find them through the panel shows. Well most of 'em.
This makes my geeky heart warm. 🖖🏼
I noticed a lack of Taskmaster in your list. If you haven’t already seen it, you’re in for a treat.
My wife and I just discussed something similar last night re: the latest QI XL episode. One of the best jokes of the episode was an allusion to a historical event. You’ll never get that in American comedy.