A Comparison of American and British TV Comedy

A Comparison of American and British TV Comedy

Sit-coms in television history have been one of the most important

genres for expressing the values of the middle and lower classes in

our society, not in order to make fun of them but to express the best

of them in a softer way. For the general public today, the sit-com is

like the pantomime was for the Victorians. British comedy still has a

Victorian taste, but it is one that is only recognized and truly

appreciated by the British, which makes the British sitcoms less

universal, and it does also express a more localised British culture.

In reality, the appeal of American sit-coms in relation to the British

is clear. In the UK, the use of social class stereotypes is more

intense; they rely on a more complex social background than the US.

Although it is generally felt that UK culture is gradually becoming

less defined by the stereotypes of social class, it is notable that in

the last five years of television, many sit-coms in UK television

continue to approach mainly social class issues, which have more to do

with the working class than ever before. For example, in the last

year there were two productions that clearly illustrate this point:

Shameless and Little Britain, recent productions by Channel 4 and the

BBC, used the stereotype of the English working class. In one way it

is not a universal appeal, the cultural facts make these productions

localised for the UK audience.

Shameless was about a family living on benefits in a council flat in

Manchester. The main theme was their struggle to survive every day

life. The central characters are seven children who where abandoned

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Post –War Britain. Routledge

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