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Left-wing sitcoms & tv comedy series?

Started by tribalfusion, September 02, 2020, 07:59:12 PM

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Ignatius_S

Quote from: boki on September 02, 2020, 10:05:26 PM
Would Shelley count?  I watched it occasionally as a kid, so I'd have been too young to really appreciate it, but had a vague memory of the central character being very much a socialist, but Dr Wikipedia suggests that his character was a bit broader (politically speaking) than that.

To a degree, yes. The character was espousing a viewpoint (and very articulately) that wasn't seen in sitcoms; one of my friends, who was young when the show was on but old enough to appreciate, said it made a big impression on him, he hadn't seen characters asking those questions. However, on the flipside, Shelley is really just an indolent talker.

ollyboro

Even though the character  was to the left,  had he been an actual person, Shelley would have wound up both Thatcherites and traditional working class labour supporters . He had a degree, so must have had a grant, then sponged off the state through his dole money.

SavageHedgehog

The dad (Willie) from Alf was a Social Worker. One episode flashed back to his youth as a hippy in the Woodstock era. The episode reveals that his hippie friends grew up to be Yuppie Stockbroker types; Willie says that while he misses those days, he can better realise his idealistic passion to better the world as a Social Worker. And obviously the show was pro-immigration, or at least implicitly critical of draconian practices in US immigration policy.

In conclusion Alf is the platonic ideal of the left-wing sitcom, although, like Mr T, Alf hung out with Nancy Reagan at least once, so he must have been more of the "bringing them down from the inside" type.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

The Young Ones. Written by four lefties* and full of jabs at Thatcher and the police. Rick is obviously a piss-take of pretentious wannabe anarchists with only a superficial, if that, understanding of left-wing politics, but the show itself is situated firmly on the left. 

* And in Sayle's case, an actual Marxist.

SavageHedgehog

There's also a rather pointed jab at police racial profiling in one episode, which was a bit too near the knuckle to make it into repeats in the 90s. Filthy, Rich & Catflap kept things lighter, but was clearly borne of the same mindset which came through from time to time.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: SavageHedgehog on September 07, 2020, 05:37:50 PM
There's also a rather pointed jab at police racial profiling in one episode, which was a bit too near the knuckle to make it into repeats in the 90s. Filthy, Rich & Catflap kept things lighter, but was clearly borne of the same mindset which came through from time to time.

F,R&C is probably the angriest thing Ben Elton ever wrote, he doesn't hold back on his utter loathing of the right-wing light entertainment establishment. These days, of course, he says that it was just a bit of OTT ribbing, he didn't really hate Tarby et al. But he obviously did, you can't fake that level of scorn. The whole show is basically a big FUCK YOU to the reigning showbiz elite (who, with the exception of Brucie, were already on the verge of being usurped by Ben and his chums).

SavageHedgehog

In Didn't You Kill My Mother in Law? (I think) Elton contrasts his act on Saturday Live etc to Tarby doing routines on Live from Her Majesty's along the lines of "Don't you feel awful for Mrs Thatcher and don't you hate those awful miners?" so there did seem to be real deep-seated ideological contempt there, although I don't know how literal that description was.

Rizla

Quote from: SavageHedgehog on September 07, 2020, 05:37:50 PM
There's also a rather pointed jab at police racial profiling in one episode, which was a bit too near the knuckle to make it into repeats in the 90s.

I know some YO edits are as much to trim the shows to the standard length but it's a real shame that bit always gets cut, the point is it's so awful and over the top in the way it portrays the policeman (played by Jossy from off of Jossy's Giants) as an ignorant racist shithead, something that really came over to me watching as a kid. That, and the other cop breaking the chair over Neil's head installed a healthy dose of ACAB in us young viewers.

EDIT of course the point is the chair doesn't break, hence cop's "Oh God, are you alright?" which kills me every time. So brutal. Fucking love that show so much.

Gurke and Hare

Where does The New Statesman sit here? We've got a Conservative MP who is undoubtedly an utter cunt, but we're kind of supposed to be on his side.

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

Quote from: Gurke and Hare on September 07, 2020, 07:27:15 PM
Where does The New Statesman sit here? We've got a Conservative MP who is undoubtedly an utter cunt, but we're kind of supposed to be on his side.

Hey? Why are we supposed to be on his side? Like you say, he's an utter cunt. I mean, he actually kills people ( or arranges to have them killed), and stuff.

mojo filters

Surely M*A*S*H deserves an honorable mention, at the very least?

Firstly, the premise of using the Korean conflict as an implied allegorical critique of the (initially) ongoing and controversial Vietnam war, was a very clever way to squarely place politics on prime time network TV.

Secondly, the broader initial seasons Larry Gelbart set up, very much downplayed most of the more sexist and other extreme behaviours from Richard Hooker's original novel and the Robert Altman movie.

Thirdly, from the start when Larry Gelbart innovatively developed a TV franchise as producer and showrunner - influencing important modern television creators/writers such as Aaron Sorkin - his tone was always humane, tolerant and respectful. As Alan Alda became a more influential writing force from S4 onwards, the left-leaning political tone became increasingly overt.

In respect of racial issues - both foreign and domestic - the TV M*A*S*H always addressed such with a very forward-looking, clearly stated and unambiguous message of tolerance. Those kind of carefully executed aspects are a significant part of the reason the show still stands up as an invigorating viewing experience today.

Whilst I've met big fans who claim they prefer the earlier seasons, as the politics were less explicit - you can't argue with the ratings. In 1983, 106 million viewers tuned in to CBS for two slowly paced hours of the seriously-toned finale, setting a record that lasted until the 2010 Super Bowl!


SavageHedgehog

I'm no expert on M*A*S*H but I have seen a fair bit, including the entirety of both the first and final Seasons. At the very least I always found Robert Altman's insistence that the series was "inherently racist" a bit misplaced.

Dr Rock

Who Dares Wins was pretty lefty wasn't it?

Virgo76

Quote from: Dr Rock on September 04, 2020, 06:51:46 AM
Brass?

To The Manor Born? (seriously, how many viewers could watch that and identify with Audrey Forbes-Hamilton's situation)?
To The Manor Born contained a few digs at Labour. Definitely not left wing even though Audrey's friend later played Thatcher in Anyone for Dennis?
New Statesman definitely left wing as already mentioned! Maurice and Gran pretty much wrote it as a means to attack the Tories .

Dr Rock

I was joking about To The Manor Born. Wasn't ‎Peter Bowles' role based on Ghislaine Maxwell's dad?

Virgo76

Quote from: Dr Rock on September 13, 2020, 07:38:48 PM
I was joking about To The Manor Born. Wasn't ‎Peter Bowles' role based on Ghislaine Maxwell's dad?
Oops.


hummingofevil

What about Cheers? I feel there is a collectivism about the main cast that mainly have each others backs and always try to empathise with each other's situation. Is it socialist with a small s? Also has some sweet, if at times clunky by modern standards, takes in progressive social issues. I suppose that could just be a broader take about alcoholism (the whole thing is ABOUT alcoholism isnt it? I assume at least one if the writers was alcoholic and Cheers was his catharsism) and role if support network but se point applies.

tribalfusion

I thought I'd check back in and see if any new candidates for this topic come to mind (or old ones people may have neglected to mention)?


'You Rang M'Lord', which was essentially a parody, or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a comic pastiche, of 'Upstairs Downstairs'? The Meldrums have a factory where ther's industrial action in at least one episode, which Alf Stokes, Paul Shane's character, eventually has to try and defuse. And then towards the end, they're inviting workers' representatives from the factory to lunch at their big house in Mayfair, or whever it was. Ivor Roberts and Stuart 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum' and 'Playschool' McGugan being the reps who attend.

Jeffrey Holland's character, James Twelvetrees, is a definite right winger, he buys into the class system entirely and fully accepts the need to defer to the upper classes in the way his character does, saying in one episode that, in effect, you have to earn your way into respectability. But he's depicted as a rather stiff-necked and repressed character, a bit of a figure of fun, though he also has integrity and honesty, and can be a source of sympathy.

Alf makes a lot of how he can speak the language of the workers, coming from the same background as he does, although Shane always reckoned that his character was ultimately a hypocrite in that, for all his contempt for the idle rich that he was in service to, all he really wanted was to change places with them, not to change the system in itself. Given the nature of the subject and setting overall, there is a fairly clear subtext about social inequality in the interwar period in THE programem anyway, arguably.


Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: Sin Agog on September 04, 2020, 12:37:17 AM
It could also be we've become much more exacting bastards when it comes to our definition of Left-Wing.  Time was we'd swallow up all the mealy West Wing and Parks & Reccy gruel we were served and be content with our lot,

I'm kind of conflicted about Parks and Recreation. It's definitely mostly liberal but and the pisstaking of libertarians is quite a good satire, but the thing that pushes it past that I think is some of the future stuff where google is practically running the town, that's definitely a thing the Dems/Libs would simply allow and is kind-of happening, and very nearly happened in Toronto before the city saw sense.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/12/toronto-canada-quayside-urban-centre

I think that means it is still broadly liberal but does contain some fair warnings along the way?

tribalfusion

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on August 05, 2021, 07:36:30 PM
I'm kind of conflicted about Parks and Recreation. It's definitely mostly liberal but and the pisstaking of libertarians is quite a good satire, but the thing that pushes it past that I think is some of the future stuff where google is practically running the town, that's definitely a thing the Dems/Libs would simply allow and is kind-of happening, and very nearly happened in Toronto before the city saw sense.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/12/toronto-canada-quayside-urban-centre

I think that means it is still broadly liberal but does contain some fair warnings along the way?

I haven't seen too much of it but what little I have seen didn't strike me as being left leaning at all. It seems to me to be garden variety mainstream US liberalism.

paruses

Does Bread count? Seems to fit some of the socialist themes discussed in other examples given. There was wheeler dealing and trying to game an uncaring system from what I remember but it was never aspirational.

Problem is I really liked it as an 11/12 year old but watched bits a few years ago and hated it. As a result I'm going by now decades old memories.

Blue Jam

Quote from: paruses on August 08, 2021, 09:20:19 AM
Does Bread count? Seems to fit some of the socialist themes discussed in other examples given. There was wheeler dealing and trying to game an uncaring system from what I remember but it was never aspirational.

Problem is I really liked it as an 11/12 year old but watched bits a few years ago and hated it. As a result I'm going by now decades old memories.

Well, it certainly didn't portray the DSS in a good light- wasn't Billy's girlfriend Julie a jobcentre worker, and portrayed as cold and miserable and sadistic?

As for "never aspirational", there was Aveline with her modelling and designer clothes and her nice cosy existence as a vicar's wife with a big house, but I think that was frowned upon. She was viewed as a fashion victim and a bit deluded in her modeling aspirations, and a bit of a social climber who would never truly belong in the sphere of a vicar's wife, and Nellie certainly didn't approve of "that Proddy vicar". There was also Joey with his leather jacket and nice cars and steady supply of cash for housekeeping, with no-one ever asking where it came from. He was glamorous and dangerous but I don't think that was glorified, there seemed to be a sense of shame over whatever criminal activities he was no doubt engaged in.

Like you, paruses, I loved it when it first aired (when I was around 8) only to give it a rewatch about 15 years later and to be shocked at how bad it was. The show was hugely popular, was there some kind of blanket brainwashing going on in the UK at that time?

Yeah, good example. I would like to add another Carla Lane sitcom Luv, although my memories of it are hazy as details of it seem to be largely absent from the internet. iirc it was about a working class family who were comfortably well-off but cold and dysfunctional. The kind of family who want for nothing materially but are starved of love and affection (hence the ironic title). I think the family patriarch  was a self-made man, I think he was a factory owner and as well as dealing with family conflicts he had to deal with conflicts with his working-class staff- not respecting him, thinking he was a snob who had forgotten his roots, going on strike and demanding more pay because they saw him as wealthy and exploitative. I seem to remember his son being a rebellious, more left-leaning type, much to his disappointment, preferring to stay in his room playing guitar and dreaming about being in a punk band rather than getting a job. I vaguely recall there was also an unseen son who was a disappointment for being "gay as a yellow duster", so perhaps it wasn't that left-wing.

Blue Jam

...and on the other end of the quality scale for dysfunctional family comedies, does Succession count? I know it's more of a darkly comic drama but it is a satire, with the Roy family being a (very) thinly-veiled portrayal of the Murdoch family. Lots of details like Logan Roy bringing his children up to be as ruthless and conniving as he is, and having that backfire when they this just ends up with them having zero sense of loyalty, and a willingless to stab anyone in the back, up to and including their father.

They're also portrayed as having wealth but no taste, not in an obviously tacky noveau riche way but in a much more subtle way. They have a superficial understanding of good taste, which basically amounts to knowing what is expensive and widely considered tasteful, but they have very bland houses (probably with all the decor chosen by an interior designer) and they all dress very conservatively with no individual flair, maybe knowing a bit about designer labels (and why their clothes should never have visible logos) but no idea what they actually like. They have no interest in art or culture, they'll go to expensive restaurants and not appreicate the food, they'll drink vodka with gold leaf in it even though it adds nothing to the flavour.

They've also got that "you can't buy class" thing where they're all pretty sleazy and low-class in their behaviour, manners etc, in addition to the "wealthy but dysfunctional" thing of "money can't buy you happiness".

And of course, the family business of "hate speech and rollercoasters" isn't shown in a positive light.

dr beat

Quote from: paruses on August 08, 2021, 09:20:19 AM
Does Bread count? Seems to fit some of the socialist themes discussed in other examples given. There was wheeler dealing and trying to game an uncaring system from what I remember but it was never aspirational.

Problem is I really liked it as an 11/12 year old but watched bits a few years ago and hated it. As a result I'm going by now decades old memories.

I recall the first two series, which were six episode jobs and broadcast on a Thursday night, as amiable knockabout fun.  The rot set in when it moved to Sundays as interminable 13 episodes.  That's when it lapsed into melodrama. 

Problem was that the cast  with the possible exceptions of Peter Howitt and Jonathan Morriss, didn't have the ability to flesh out their characters and make them appealing, but then again they were shackled by bad writing and no character development.  Grandpa Boswell for example, just a bitter old man who told people to piss off.  Nothing to particularly love or take against.  All quite fatal when it was essentially an ensemble piece.