Does comedy have to be offensive to be funny? Krishnan will be will be putting this question to Channel 4 and The TV Show’s live studio audience this Saturday (November 1), and would like to know what you think.
Peter Kay’s Britain’s Got the Pop Factor… attracted Channel 4’s biggest audience of 2008 but, despite these huge ratings, a number of viewers contacted the channel to tell us that they found the programme offensive.
Earlier this year, high profile comedy shows including The Secret Policeman’s Ball, Ricky Gervais: Fame, Russell Brand Live, The Kevin Bishop Show and 8 Out of 10 Cats – all of which received much praise from viewers – also generated some complaints from people who perceived their content to be in bad taste.
Do you have an opinion on this subject? Were you offended by the content of these comedy shows, or did you find them funny? Do you think that modern comedy relies too heavily on “bad taste” to achieve laughs, or is there space on our television screens for intelligent and thoughtful humour?
November’s edition of The TV Show will also be reflecting on Jamie’s Ministry of Food – the recently concluded series that aimed to get more people cooking at home, inspire healthy eating and help to tackle the country’s increasing problem of obesity.
Do you think the series was a success? Did Jamie inspire healthy eating as he set out to do, or did his frequent strong language detract from the message behind the campaign? Did Jamie’s Ministry of Food portray the northern town of Rotherham fairly?
The TV Show blog has already received a number of heartfelt comments on the subject, so we’re looking forward to a lively debate on-air.
Please leave your comments below if you’d like to join in the online debate – alternatively, visit our Take Part section to find out how you can contribute directly to The TV Show as part of our live studio audience.
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I was looking forward to watching Neil Morrisey try to launch a new beer. I switched on after the start and within two minutes NM was referring to his new beer as the M***** F***** of beers. I’ve had enough. I turned off straight away and have never complained before. SOMETHING has to be done to rid TV of the F word. How on earth am I to explain to my kids why it’s apalling to continue to swear?
After the controversy over Radio 2 with Ruseel Brand I thought it fair to watch some of his work and looked in to Ponderland. Sadly I discover he really has very little tallent and relies almost totally on foul language and comments. My own mother swore like a trooper but somehow his version even debases swearing – and that REALLY hits a low.
I think it depends how it is seen as offensive – for example, I believe swearing is only language and shouldn’t offend anyone. However, if it is an offensive comment inclined to shock and anger people then I am against that. It is not funny in any way to intend to upset people.
Comedians have always pushed the boundaries when it comes to decency. If they didn’t they wouldn’t give us the same uncomfortable insight into humanity and the same hilarious exposure of our own foibles that make up their subject matter. Extreme swearing does make me feel a little uncomfortable but I respect any comedian for their intelligence and sharp observation of society even if their personal style of delivery doesn’t appeal to me.
I am getting really fed up of this trend of jumping on the bandwagon. There were 2 complaints made about Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross when the show was on now there’s over 27,000, most of whom didn’t hear the show, still haven’t and are blindly following the Daily Mails hate campaign. Russell BRand is hired to be a modern comedian, he went too far and has apologised but nothing he said was untrue. All the media are doing are giving him more material for his next show.
Well publicised events in the BBC this week have once again brought decency into the public eye. Having just watched Russel Brands Ponderland and laughed throughout, I would like to say to the producers of channel 4 to keep making and airing such programmes as soon your channel will be the only one left that is prepared to take risks. To those who feel so morally superior I would say there are plenty of other chanels, and that the slip towards a censored Britain is a slippery one, after all there are some who feel Harry Potter supports the occult.
I Greatly enjoy programmes like 8 out of 10 Cats,Russell Brands Ponderland and the Various Peter kay produced shows, having seen there stand up you know what to expect. I want to hear edgey material which pushes the boundarys,that is what they do,as comedians. All of these shows are shown after the watershed and therefore what they say on them shouldnt be scrutinised and villified. In light of recent events concerning Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand, it annoys me immensely that so many people have jumped on the Band wagon, after a mere 2 complaints after the show,of which there were 2 million listeners. and now we are forced to bow again to the minority, 32000 complaints were lodged at the time of writing this, now,i dont have the statistics but im willing to put every penny i have on it that there are more people out there who also pay the license fee and have no problem with this.
If you dont like the Comedy of Russell Brand,Jimmy Carr,Peter Kay,Sean Locke,Jason Manford etc, then DONT WATCH IT! every TV and radio set in the world has an on/off switch,use it. I think its a sad reflection of the nanny state type society we live in that people are actually watching TV to try and find something to complain about,its pathetic. if we Let these people win,soon we will have no entertaining programmes to watch,They might want to watch Last of the summer wine all day,but i know The majority of the population Dont!
Why is it that, deep in the misery of the economic recession we feel the need to bring down entertainers such as Russell Brand? I never found him or comedians like him offensive, if i did i wouldn’t listen, simple as that.
Ponderland is brilliant..the situation with Russell Brand has got two winners – the tabloids (especially the Mail (sorry Heil) and also the grandaughter – she has got the tabloids around her finger and also a cheque to sort her out for a year). Lets think about what has happened and the fact that the thick people of this country (ie the ones who only read a paper and are not listening/watching it) are scrwing us up
I find it hard to understand why people are so strongly agitated by swearing. I can fully appreciate that parents would want to avoid having to explain certain words to their children that they see as inappropriate but that problem can occur with any words that are vaguely sexual. As long as programmes containing swearing are after the watershed it should be possible to prevent your children watching them if you so choose. Words hold only as much stigma as the intention behind it and the context of use.
Comedy will always stray into the offensive. It’s hard to say anything on TV without offended at least one person never mind being funny at the same time. It’s hard to think of a British comedian that hasn’t said something offensive of George W. Bush or Blair or Brown. If they were told they can’t say such things it would be greatly complained of as censorship. Preventing jokes about anything is a form of censorship. With freedom of speech, comedians should be allowed to saw what they like as long as they have enough of an audience to justify having a programme but we still hold the right to complain as loudly and openly as we want. Or better yet, turn the channel.
The government talks about Britain being a multi cultural place to live and I believe that this should be applied to comedy as well. People and the paper media should respect the younger generation who enjoyed the antics of Jonathan Ross, Russell Brand and shows such as Mock the week and 8 out of 10 cats. So what if they cross the line occasionally, this is the type of comedy that I find funny. I don’t complain to the media watch dog about the boringness of Last of the Summer wine because I know that a section of society enjoy this programme, so why should they dictate about the programming that I enjoy.
As for the comments made by Gordon Brown and the parliamentary MPs, well they need to get in touch with the younger generation and there a much bigger problems within Britain and world that we pay them to sorting out rather than condoning the younger for the benefit of the grey haired massive. Gordon – Get back to running this country and trying to keep you position and stay out of this argument.
i think its silly that people complain about this , its a way of humour and the recent calls made by Russell and Jonathon were just that , its no different to Little Britains Weight watchers , im sure more people are offended by that than a silly prank call . people are being over sensitive .
If people are easily offended they should not watch. Peter Kay, Russell Brand, 8 out of 10 Cats and Mock the Week are pretty much all i watch on TV. I don’t complain about soaps and the endless drivel like Jeremy Kyle which i find offensive to my intellect i just choose not to watch them. No one forces people to sit and watch. I am disappointed with this country as Britain was once regarded as having a sense of humour and the fact that Russell’s show only had 2 complaints until the Mail on Sunday began it’s hate campaign says it all. The papers run this country not the government and Gordon Brown has proved this by adding his twopenneth worth. Get a grip!
I see there are many defenders of the ‘comdey’(?) style of People like Ruseel Brand. I find nothing objectionable in swearing in adult programs and swearing can add a great deal to the humour portrayed such as Catherine Tait,Monty Python and even Kevin Wilson. What I find objectionable is the deliberate targetting of an individual unable to respond and the levels of personal insult merely enhanced by swearing in order to shock and ‘pretend’ to be humour, If anyone outside of Radio or TV made remarks of the type which Russel Brand ‘claims’ to be funny – they would be arrested for offensive language. Maybe the defence for all such charges can be – ‘but I’m learning to be a comedian’ or maybe the TV/Radio companies can employ the drunken lads charged outside disco’s at 2 am ? Not really much difference except Brand is worse and already being paid.
With regard to the debacle and trial by media of Messrs Brand and Ross, the vast majority of the complaints are NOT from people who heard the original broadcast; they are from self righteous imbeciles who actively went looking for the clip on Youtube. All of this is completely out of proportion. I daresay Mr Sachs offended half of Spain with his portrayal of a bumbling waiter, and as for his Grand-Daughter, she is hardly a glowing model of morality, electing to sell the story to the gutter press in the first place. Had she kept quiet, very few people would have known about it, outside of the programmes audience, and Mr Sachs would have been spared considerable embarrasement.
Most of the complaints I have read seem to be from people who don’t like Ross or Brand, nothing to do with the “event” itself. There are a lot of people I don’t like, but I don’t actively seek out clips of them to complain to Ofcom.
If the BBC fire Jonathan Ross, I’ll be refusing to pay my licence, because of the original complaints, it works out to less then 0.5% of the total audience. Presumably the views of the 99.5% who weren’t offended count for absolutely nothing. There are plenty of programmes on all channels which make a fortune out of insulting people. People like Anne Robinson and Gordon Ramsey get PAID for bullying people; where are the complaints about them? Fonejacker, an immensely popular programme carries out these antics on a weekly basis, and very funny they are too! No-one seems to be complaining about them.
Talk of police involvement, government intervention.. this is all perfectly ridiculous. Gordon Brown has no business commenting.. he has a job, wrecking our economy… let him get on with that, since he is doing such an outstanding job.
Murders, famine, global recession, and people are worried about something which caused a little offence to someone and was subsequently apologised for. What happened to FREEDOM OF SPEECH? Eroded away like the rest of our civil rights.. thanks “New Labour”! No libel, no racial discrimination, no hate-speech has taken place. We all have a right to offend, and a right to be offended.. it does not mean we need to kick up merry hell about it. As a devout Atheist, I find Songs of Praise offensive; the answer to which is simple.. I DON’T WATCH IT. There are plenty of channels to choose from. The chances are every one of them will, at some point, carry something that offends someone. Do we now live in a society where cutting edge, sharp humour is to be censored to appease a few narrow-minded individuals. The resignations and suspension are just another victory for the “moral minority”; the Whitehouse and Beyer brigade who won’t be happy until every programme is inspected by them prior to transmission.
Anyone would think they had plotted to blow up Parliament, not made a few prank calls. Absolute waste of time, on which my licence fee is now PAYING FOR THE INQUIRY.. THAT is something to complain about!
Quite simply, if you are offended by a programme, or it does not suit to your tastes, then just turn over the channel or turn off your television! There are still people out there with a sense of humour! So don’t ruin it for the rest of us.
What sort of warped world is one in which we all ‘have the right to offend’ ? Of course we all have the right to offend – are you suggesting we shouldnt have to pay a penalty for it ??? I’m one of those who’ve alway defended ’sharp – cutting edge’ humour but I tend to qualify that by making sure it IS funny ? And as for the argument that ‘nobody would have complained if there hadnt been so much press’ – well either the program had very few tuned in or most of them werent listening’. By the same principal the holocaust wouldnt have happened if nobody found out about it, Watergate would never have been so important if it hadnt got out, and maybe if they didnt tell us about the war in Iraq it wouldnt have been so serious ? – Oh come on – even those fans of Ross and Brand have got to admit it was one of the most appauling pieces of (at least) judgement -they admit that themselves so cant be defended.
i think that you shouldn’t swear, and that comedy should be clean. its not funny if you are horrid to other people so you get a few laughs. that peter kay show was rubbish. i nearly fell asleep watching it. and the only good thing about ponderland is that it rhymes with russel brand. so people, this proves that swearing adult comedy is rubbish (apart from buzzcocks and QI)
THE CONTROVERSEY SALES..
BUT ITS NICE TO PUT A LID ON THING OCCASIONALLY WITH VIEWERS COMPLAINING. OTHERWISE, THERE WILL BE NO LIMIT…SOCIETY AS WE KNOW IT WILL GO IN TO DEMISE. THE COMEDIANS WILL THINK THEY ARE DEMI-GODS SAYING AS THEY PLEASE..
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