regebro said:
Brits have much drier sense of humor than Yankees, IMO.
typical american humour is putting somebody in a situation they can't handle and laughing at them fucking up. For an example of this, see 99% of all american sitcoms. I don't find that either dry or funny.
I'm an American, and I gotta say I don't find 99% of the commercial half-hour sitcoms even slightly amusing either. I think that the networks generally cater to the lowest common denominator, especially in that format. I usually enjoy much of HBO's original programming (Sopranos, Oz, Six Feet Under, Carnivale, Sex in the City, etc.) but admit that it may appear so brilliant largely because it's competition is so inane: "reality" shows, game shows, sitcoms, etc.
I do like "NYPD Blue", though, and although i don't watch it, others have said "West Wing" is good. But neither are sitcoms, of course. When it was running, I thought "Northern Exposure" was really nicely written and produced. (Great music on that soundtrack too).
But I'm not sure British humor can be completely described as "dry". Nothing particularly dry about "Benny Hill". And then there was "Fawlty Towers", "Are You Being Served", "Monty Python", etc. All of which I loved, by the way.
It is interesting that "Fawlty Towers" could certainly be described in exactly the same way that you described the Amercian sitcom ("putting someone in a situation they can't handle and laughing at them fucking up") but for some reason, it seems to be on a different level. Probably because of the writing and the fact that "F.T." had John Cleese and (insert any American TV show) doesn't.
Or maybe I should have been born British...
Nah, I like my beer cold and my food with flavor.
