Cats, Superhero’s, The Simpsons, do ya think the quality of this forum has waned just a tad

It has, without the shadow of a doubt and not just a tad; and you didn’t pick the worst examples either… :rolleyes:

It does have to be said: comedy does not travel well across language barriers. And since I found Mr Bean disturbing and embarrassingly unfunny it must be assumed that they tried to force it on other nationalities in an effort to prove that we were not a terrorist threat to the world.
Not a patch on Blackadder, Rowan Atkinsons other famous character which was created with Ben ‘shiny suit’ Elton (a better comedy writer than performer, although he really needs a foil to work with rather than believe all his own publicity, if you have seen any of his recent work…).

So who are the top comedy stars in your country?

Flood

I think that it also depends who this is aimed at. If you are trying to sell Blackadder (first series aside) to the ‘average’ 55 year-old say French person, coming home after a hard day’s work, and asking them to appreciate the care with which the scripts have been penned and the verbal dexterity with which they are delivered, then yes, you are better off trying to flog Benny Hill or Mr Bean.
If on the other hand you try to reach a 20-35 years old audience, who are keen on opening up to new cultural influences, who have been through higher education and who have already travelled abroad and liked it, then you have more of a chance of succeeding. I believe Blackadder and Harry Enfield were shown on the Franco-German cultural channel Arte (arty farty more like) a few years back.

Ben Elton’s good on stage too. The last of his stand-up shows I heard (on an audiotape) was from 1997 I think and he still had a lot to say. He even sends himself up. His routine on Bravo Two Zero and the SAS was funny, even though it started from a faulty premise. (I’m surprised no-one pointed this out during the performance; probably too afraid to be ripped apart).
Not too sure where he’s heading now, but his later work (books, plays, musicals (!!) do not appeal to me.

I find most of mainstream French comedy fairly poor (a good sense of humour is not what you would associate with the French as a rule). There are some exceptions and when they put their mind to it, they can more than hold their own. I would say that most comedians from Marseille I have heard are better than the rest though.

Some strange choices there. And I don’t think Eddie Izzard should be at the bottom of the list, but yeah, depends on who was asked. I’d also mention Paul Merton, the regulars on I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, Stephen Fry, Andy Hamilton, Sean Hugues, Franck Skinner, erm… Bernard Manning (if you’re going to have Jim Davidson), Graham Fellows (for John Shuttleworth mainly)….

I think the current bouffant hair is weird enough to him to qualify. Gordon Brown as his henchman.

I notice that you reference the ”massive amount of goodwill’ toward the US after 9/11. You ask where did it go? Indeed I have heard this remark many times. It is a favourate comment of the idealists and the media types. Perhaps it went away because it was never all that massive in the first place? Perhaps it went away when it became clear that the U.S. wasn’t going to play the victim very long. In any event, rather than resign itself to living with the terrorism and treating 9/11 as as crime to be dealt with by the police, the U.S. elected to use the military. Perhaps that was the moment when the support waned because it illustrated U.S. millitary power could do what Europe can no longer do.

Regards

Sauron

Sauron,
Going on personal experience and looking at various manifestations of sympathy and outrage, I would say that there was a genuine sense of solidarity after 9/11. I cannot think for a moment that the editorial lines some papers took in Europe, that the various ways in which people felt the urge to show their sympathy in individual or collective ways was fake.
So as somebody who lives in Europe, I can assure you that there was to my eyes a genuine sense of goodwill in the “traditional European allies” towards the USA.
And this has obviously been eroded in recent years. I do not believe that it is down to the fact that the US decided to strike back. One only has to look back at events from the last decade or so to see that many European countries took part in military operations alongside the USA, whether in the Balkans or in Afghanistan, to see that it can’t be as simple as that.
Various “smaller” countries also have conducted operations of their own, to try and restore peace or strike at dangerous targets.

I think that on the part of many opponents to some aspects of US policy there is a perception that the USA has decided to go it alone. Now before you or US forum users start flaming, let me qualify this by saying I am looking for reasons in the transatlantic rift. These are not the sum total of my opinions. (one of the books I am currently reading is Tom Clancy’s non-fiction book on the Marines, out of genuine interest; I am not a US-basher).
I do believe that the attacks struck at the heart of America and that as such, it is not really our place (“our” meaning non US citizens and/or residents) to criticise, just as people living outside the UK for example have no call telling its inhabitants how to go about their lives.
The problem stems from the fact that some actions taken by the USA have a knock-on effect on the rest of the world who are not directly involved (inasmuch as we can nowadays fail to feel involved by an attack on a traditional Western ally; which I would possibly question).

And one of the stated purposes of recent military operations has been to try and combat instability on the world stage.
Well one has to acknowledge that this has not been achieved yet. Naturally I am not suggesting for a second that this is an objective which can be accomplished in a matter of months or years. The question is ‘We aren’t there yet, but are we at least going in the right direction?’.

The other topic which was broached in the last few posts concerns the question of UN involvment. My recollection from a few years ago seem to point in the direction that it was Tony Blair who urged President Bush to get UN backing before attacking Iraq, in order to keep other European countries on side.
The other point worth mentioning is that from what I read in recent weeks (which doesn’t amount to a lot I confess because of a hectic schedule) regarding the conclusion of the US Congressional inquiry into the handling of post 9/11 policy, some serious flaws were identified, were they not, about the way Intelligence was used or presented?
I do not side with rabid anti-US militant, but nor do I accept the dismissive and simplistic view that most European countries are lilly-livered cowards apart from the UK.
Things are a lot more complex and there are many arguments and facts which I think are not getting looked at hard enough.

These are the things I’d enjoy hearing more about, particularly from people who know these issues quite well and have thought hard about them.

He will be missed, not just by the French team and supporters, but also by neutrals who appreciate the beautiful game. His skills were mesmerising and he was a definite genius in my opinion. And he seems like a very decent person as well.
What a shame he had to leave on a relative low in the abysmal collective performance against Greece.

All there is left to do is to enjoy his last few years of club football.

And I am sure that his political stance would go down very well with the heads of the Secret Service and the CIA.

Bond’s half Scottish in theory anyway, in Fleming’s books.