Shitcoms - The Worst Sitcoms In History

[Fr.Bigley]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLzp-O8nVmw

Levels of profundity usually only reserved for James Joyce.

[idunnosomename]

v

wow ok

it is basically a twelve-bar blues. still fuck it. im gonna watch it again. and screw the BBC for taking out the nunchucks

edit looked at the UK edit at the lengths they go to avoid nunchucks is incredible. actually it was some cunt at the BBFC who had a thing about nunchucks for some reason, rather than the BBC who aired it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3x0a8xU1jc

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

ooh yeah look at the music snobs who can't admit that they know that song off by heart and are only pouring scorn on it because they know who wrote it

[George White]

I quite like it - humourless but gentle.

The one thing about Upwardly Mobile aside from David Kelly and Henry Sellers is that the skanger da's sidekick  got into a heated argument at a taxi rank, he went away to get a sword from his flat and when he returned to the taxi rank to confront the person he had a heart attack and died instantly.

Then, posthumously, it turned out he was a member of the Real  IRA, and had a full military-style funeral full of nutters in balaclavas and berets.

[idunnosomename]

i mean it's one of the best TV themes ever and really well produced too dont get me wrong. kind of genius how they went for that shuffle-rock-vibe on it . I think he only wrote the lyrics, still, "Heroes in a Half-Shell" was his.

[Fr.Bigley]

I just hated the turtles, it just seemed a bit unrealistic to me, mutant turtles raised by a rat wouldn't happen..the rat would have eaten the little cunts in no time or the radiation would have got them. Also, what is a half shell? Did they have soft bellies? Cos that shredder cunt could have shanked them right good with them mitts of his. Also, why did Molly Ringwold follow them round in a van as her chief scoop, week in week out, like an official Nicholas witchell correspondent for amphibious neds.

[idunnosomename]

"half-shell" is a reference to how oysters are served. I mean yes turtles have the carapace underneath but they have the round back with the oyster/hero itself on top. completely nonsensical to an 80s/90s kid yes but parents got it

[Jumblegraws]

I remember rage laughing at it with a friend on MSN (or ICQ!) when it was broadcast. It was a clear attempt at a Father Ted clone, an absolute smoking crater of begorrah-tier mhic-sploitation.

There is no video evidence of it because, if you're asking yourself: could it have possibly been worse than the Mick and Paddy horseshit from There's A Lot Of It About? The answer is yes, it was much worse. Didn't seem real, felt like a bit of "Attitudes Night" or a ten second Harry Enfield bit about 70s TV stretched out for thirty minutes.

Knew exactly what show you were on about from this description, I brought The Fitz up on a thread from a while ago about forgotten sitcoms. I remember there was an episode where a child who had strapped himself to the back of a van was crushed to death by the beak of a giant novelty ostrich head that was on the front of a second van. Although there's a cut so that you don't actually see said crushing, I found it quite grim and upsetting at the time.

[neveragain]

Julia Davis is incapable of playing any other character different from the one than the one that she plays , and is equally as incapable of writing characters as anything other than unrealistic  grotesques [ although I accept that the lack of realism is a deliberate artistic decision on her part ].

I disagree that she's incapable of playing other characters. Human Remains alone displays a range of characters but also Jam, Big Train, Four Lions, Steve Coogan's live video and even her one-off appearances on People Like Us and the Brass Eye Special show different characters. But... She does play Jill Tyrrell-type characters far too much and it's a shame because she could do a lot more.

Incidentally, I don't think there's anything wrong with actors who can only do one type of role. We can't all be Ronnie Barker.

[purlieu]

I remember something called Lab Rats. I think Armando Iannucci may have been a producer on the show?
It was just terrible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lab_Rats_(British_TV_series)

Seemed like it was launched off the back of Iannucci's talk about the loss of trad sitcoms, and The IT Crowd getting a fair bit of hype around its second series for the same thing. It actually felt like an IT Crowd ripoff, without that show's occasional redeeming qualities.

[An tSaoi]

Incidentally, I don't think there's anything wrong with actors who can only do one type of role. We can't all be Ronnie Barker.

That Charlie Chaplin cunt was always playing the same fucking tramp. No range.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

That Charlie Chaplin cunt was always playing the same fucking tramp. No range.

Link/ top film " The Great Dictator" / Link

( although I know you're taking the piss.)

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Anyway, I was watching some " Human Remains" over the weekend, and, yeah , Julia Davis was demonstrating a greater range beyond psychopath who just about everyone wants to shag, so fair play. That was 20 tears ago, mind you, she seems quite happy to typecast herself nowadays.

I'll tell you what, Rob Brydon grabbed those Light Entertainment shekels with both hands , didn't he? It's highly unlikely that he'd be happy to perform a scene in which someone masturbates over his prone figure while simultaneously shitting into his mouth. Again, the phrase " fair play" springs to mind.

[Video Game Fan 2000]

Levels of profundity usually only reserved for James Joyce.

Knew exactly what show you were on about from this description. I remember there was an episode where a jewish advertising agent who had strapped himself to the back of an opera singer was crushed to death by a giant novelty kidney that was on the front of her manager. Although there's a four page digression about George Berkeley so that you don't actually see said crushing. I found it to rival Proust.

[dissolute ocelot]

Seemed like it was launched off the back of Iannucci's talk about the loss of trad sitcoms, and The IT Crowd getting a fair bit of hype around its second series for the same thing. It actually felt like an IT Crowd ripoff, without that show's occasional redeeming qualities.

Also with Lab Rats, Chris Addison had just become a star with The Thick of It, so with the Iannucci connection everyone thought "surefire comedy gold".

[purlieu]

I'll tell you what, Rob Brydon grabbed those Light Entertainment shekels with both hands , didn't he? It's highly unlikely that he'd be happy to perform a scene in which someone masturbates over his prone figure while simultaneously shitting into his mouth. Again, the phrase " fair play" springs to mind.

It's so strange seeing Rob Brydon do Human Remains and Marion & Geoff these days, given just how much his career has changed. When Nighty Night came out, there was so much press about "we all thought the utter bleakness in Human Remains was because of Rob Brydon, but it turns out..." The idea of the man being the paragon of grimdark comedy is utterly baffling at this point.

[neveragain]

I know, I really wish he would do something dark and involving some acting again. Yes, there was The Trip and that has its moments but something with a bit more meat to it.

[dissolute ocelot]

I know, I really wish he would do something dark and involving some acting again. Yes, there was The Trip and that has its moments but something with a bit more meat to it.

Yeah (although the cruise holiday adverts are pretty dark). Looking at Wikipedia, he did Human Remains and Marion and Geoff when his first marriage was breaking down, with his divorce in 2000, so that maybe played a role in the tone.

[gilbertharding]

I know, I really wish he would do something dark and involving some acting again. Yes, there was The Trip and that has its moments but something with a bit more meat to it.

Director's Commentary was great too.

[neveragain]

Yes that was pretty good. Annually Retentive too.

[dr_christian_troy]

It seems like Domestic Life was a missed opportunity - starring Martin Mull (and his actual family) and produced by Steve Martin. There's an episode on YouTube here, which seems to provide Mull with very little to do.

It's a shame that promising elements of the premise - a character called Martin Crane; set in Seattle; a character providing advice to people, and a radio show - weren't applied to any other sitcoms further down the line.

[jenna appleseed]

Knew exactly what show you were on about from this description. I remember there was an episode where a jewish advertising agent who had strapped himself to the back of an opera singer was crushed to death by a giant novelty kidney that was on the front of her manager. Although there's a four page digression about George Berkeley so that you don't actually see said crushing. I found it to rival Proust.

What, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles?

[jenna appleseed]

It's a shame that promising elements of the premise - a character called Martin Crane; set in Seattle; a character providing advice to people, and a radio show - weren't applied to any other sitcoms further down the line.

Wait, are you doing a bit or was Frasier actually plagiarized?

[dr_christian_troy]

Wait, are you doing a bit or was Frasier actually plagiarized?

Apparently it was total coincidence, to the point where this is mentioned on the Wiki page:

There were many unintentional similarities between Domestic Life and Frasier which premiered nine years later. Both series had a character named Martin Crane, were set in Seattle, and featured a radio program. (Despite the citation provided, this information is incorrect. Martin Mull's character, Martin Crane, hosted a segment on a local news television show about "domestic life", hence the title of the show.)

[kryton2.0]

Yeah this was really shit and disappeared without a trace. I was in the audience for the filming of it and it seemed okay, but that's probably just the relative excitement of being in a room with faces you recognise from other good comedies.

I may have been unfair as I never made it through the whole series just a few episodes. But everything about it felt rushed and off, no soul to it.

[kryton2.0]

"half-shell" is a reference to how oysters are served. I mean yes turtles have the carapace underneath but they have the round back with the oyster/hero itself on top. completely nonsensical to an 80s/90s kid yes but parents got it

My mate used to swear blind it was 'Hard shell'[nb]which also works.[/nb].

On another note does anyone know why it was Michelangelo's nunchuks that got edited out[nb]In UK version?[/nb] (replaced with some shitty bolas), rather than say Leonardo's sword?

[Dayraven]

The head of the BBFC apparently had a bit of a thing about them:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ferman

Being a real-life weapon but much more out of the ordinary than a sword probably didn't help.

[kryton2.0]

The head of the BBFC apparently had a bit of a thing about them:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ferman

Being a real-life weapon but much more out of the ordinary than a sword probably didn't help.

Thanks for the link. It still doesn't explain why he hates nunchuks so much though. If anything they should have removed Donatello's staff because any kid worth their salt can get hold of a chunk of wood or gnarled branch. The BBFC were barking up the wrong tree when it came to makeshift ninja hero weapons.

[Captain Z]

Fuck my hat, I always thought it was "heroes in a house-shell".

[TheBrownBottle]

My mate used to swear blind it was 'Hard shell'[nb]which also works.[/nb].

I've never heard of that mondegreen - but somehow it works better than 'half-shell'.  Probably because 1) turtles don't have half-shells, and 2) they're ninjas, so they're hard.  As well as having a shell.  Don't think that double-meaning would work in the US, but it works for me, so fuck it.