Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 12:41 am Post subject: American television
Hey, just because Britain has the best television in the world, doesn't mean we have to knock American television. Some pretty good programmes from there as well.
I recently bought the DVD of The Lucy Show with Lucille Ball and loved it!! Late fifties, early sixties, if I'm not mistaken
_________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 1:46 am Post subject:
I remember "The Lucy Show" being funny, but I can't remember a single episode. Of course, nothing beats the original "I Love Lucy" series, and "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" was pretty hysterical, especially the episode with that divine Tallulah Bankhead playing their next door neighbor. That one has got to be the campiest, gayest Lucy episode ever.
I remember "The Lucy Show" being funny, but I can't remember a single episode. Of course, nothing beats the original "I Love Lucy" series, and "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" was pretty hysterical, especially the episode with that divine Tallulah Bankhead playing their next door neighbor. That one has got to be the campiest, gayest Lucy episode ever.
Tallulah Bankhead
I'm planning to buy I love Lucy, but jeez, it's expensive! _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
I think one of the funniest American shows ever is Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm". It's more naturalistic than a regular sitcom, with completely improvised dialogue, and real locations instead of sets. It's like "Seinfeld", only even better and uncensored.
Last edited by Lazar on Thu Dec 27, 2007 7:25 am; edited 4 times in total
I think one of the funniest American shows ever is Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm". It's filmed mockumentary-style, with completely improvised dialog, and real locations instead of sets. It's like "Seinfeld", only better and not censored.
Yep, love that too! But Seinfeld was great, and of course Frasier (the two shows are currently back-to-back on a local satellite channel...wonderful!!) _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
Location: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula
Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 2:26 am Post subject:
Have any of you fellow Americans seen "Ugly Betty" yet? It's gotten lots of raves, but I watched a couple of episodes and I just didn't get it. It's neither funny nor interesting, which sucks b/c I was hoping to love it.
Location: San Francisco, Noord-Kalifornië, Noord-Amerika
Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 3:20 am Post subject:
Now that there have been several very American TV shows without laugh tracks, I can barely tolerate re-runs of even the good shows that had laugh tracks (e.g., Seinfeld). I was watching it the other night, trying to imagine it without a laugh track, and I decided that knowing that there's going to be one probably affects how the performers perform. I suspect that it encourages exaggerated performances.
So my favorite American TV shows were The Larry Sanders Show (which had a big influence on Ricky Gervais and his Extras series) and Arrested Development (which I think is one the funniest shows I've ever seen). I haven't rented the DVD's of Curb Your Enthusiasm yet, but I expect I'll enjoy them, since I liked the clip I saw somewhere -- I think it was shown in the meeting between Ricky Gervais and Larry David (another of Gervais's idols).
Back in the '80s, I saw my first laugh track-less comedy TV show, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd. It was actually a comedy-drama, but it had plenty of LOL moments. I thought it was a great show, with excellent writing and actors, but it didn't make it on network TV -- it became one of those shows whose time slot keeps changing -- and was eventually rescued by Lifetime.
Have any of you fellow Americans seen "Ugly Betty" yet? It's gotten lots of raves, but I watched a couple of episodes and I just didn't get it. It's neither funny nor interesting, which sucks b/c I was hoping to love it.
Yes, I've seen Ugly Betty, but I suppose it didn't really have a chance in hell of hooking me. I liked the original Colombian version too much to tolerate the Desperate Housewives-esque treatment they're giving the American version. The only shows I like are House and Law & Order: SVU.
God, I'm getting old. I just don't get popular network TV these days. Lost, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, and American Idol put me to sleep in fifteen minutes or less. Grey's Anatomy grates on my nerves.
There's always HBO, of course. Extras is hilarious. Seeing Harry Pott---umm---Daniel Radcliffe trying to screw every woman who crossed his path made my head hurt, but on the positive side, it made me want to see Equus the next time I'm in London. (I should add Mr. Radcliffe's picture to the "How they've grown!" thread, because goddamn that kid has grown!" alt="" border="0" /> ) Rome has hooked me as well, even though they take huge liberties with Ancient Roman history, and they're canceling the series after this season. Ergghh.... no more semi-nekkid, bedroom-eyed James Purefoy . HBO bastards! _________________ "Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." ---- Groucho Marx
Location: San Francisco, Noord-Kalifornië, Noord-Amerika
Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 12:13 pm Post subject:
I only saw French and Saunders a few times when it aired in the US, but I remember one very funny sketch where the two of them are packing for a vacation in some touristy Spanish beach area. After they practice how they're going to have to walk down the aisle of the plane carrying 5 suitcases each, they finally realize that that's too much to carry for only a one-week vacation, and they go through everything to figure what they can afford to leave behind. Naturally, they find that they still need everything, until they get to the last item: "Do we need the sunscreen?" "Naah!"
Location: San Francisco, Noord-Kalifornië, Noord-Amerika
Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2007 12:21 pm Post subject: Re: American television
André in Zuid-Afrika wrote:
I recently bought the DVD of The Lucy Show with Lucille Ball and loved it!! Late fifties, early sixties, if I'm not mistaken
I Love Lucy, which was in B&W, was from the 1950s and co-starred Desi Arnaz, Lucy's real-life husband, as her husband. The Lucy Show was from the 1960s, was in color and didn't co-star Desi Arnaz.
I think a great american classic has to be F.R.I.E.N.D.S. I did not follow the series religiously, but I did catch a few episodes and got a peek into the lives of Rachel, Joey (my favourite character), Ross, Monica, Phoebe as well as Chandler.
I also watched Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. It's hot to see Sarah Michelle Gellar kick some (vampire) ass. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
I was mistaken -- The Lucy Show premiered in 1962 but didn't switch to color until the mid-'60s.
The episodes I have are in colour, so it must be from the later series. _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
This was so popular in South Africa that on Tuesday evenings (when it was on) restaurants closed because everyone was at home watching Dallas. _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
Of course, nothing beats the original "I Love Lucy" series, and "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" was pretty hysterical, especially the episode with that divine Tallulah Bankhead playing their next door neighbor. That one has got to be the campiest, gayest Lucy episode ever.
That one's a classic! Especially the catfights between Lucy and Tallulah -- uh-oh, does that mean I've got some latent homosexual tendencies?
No, just the Norwegian one!
(Rose Nylund, from St. Olaf, Minnesota). _________________ Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiß nichts von seiner eigenen. = Those who don't know foreign languages, know nothing of their own. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
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Some pretty good programmes from there as well.
I just don't get popular network TV these days. 
That one's a classic! Especially the catfights between Lucy and Tallulah -- 
