I can’t stand series/ sitcoms. I thought Friends was fake and a big big bore, Grey’s Anatomy had a decent soundtrack and Ms M. Grey blabbered too much philosophy and Boston Legal was horribly made (Never figured out if it was a comedy or drama. That is definitely not a good thing!).
What I did like was Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister series. It had the right mix of satire, comedy and some brilliant acting. And it was just about half an hour. Perfect. Sample this:
Hacker: Don’t tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers: the Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country; The Times is read by people who actually do run the country; the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; the Financial Times is read by people who own the country; The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country; and The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it already is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?
Bernard: Sun readers don’t care who runs the country, as long as she’s got big tits.
or
Sir Humphrey: Politicians like to panic, they need activity. It is their substitute for achievement
or
Hacker: When you give your evidence to the Think Tank, are you going to support my view that the civil service is overmanned and feather-bedded, or not? Yes or no? Straight answer!
Sir Humphrey: Well Minister, if you ask me for a straight answer, then I shall say that, as far as we can see, looking at it by and large, taking one thing with another in terms of the average of departments, then in the final analysis it is probably true to say, that at the end of the day, in general terms, you would probably find that, not to put too fine a point on it, there probably wasn’t very much in it one way or the other as far as one can see, at this stage.
It was simply simply amazing.
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The only show that comes even close to Yes Minister is Top Gear. The show
Top Gear
is a motoring magazine show (if you didn’t know) which began in 1977 and was relaunched in 2002 and is presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. They also have The Stig, an anonymous test driver.
Obviously, the show has its fair share of amazing cars which, at times, are put to some very interesting tests. A must watch for any car lover. But whats more interesting is the the humour quotient that is presented. It is funnier that most comedies that are being released.
What is more interesting is the challenges that are presented. They have what is called “Star in a reasonably-priced car” segment where Clarkson interviews a celebrity. Then the celebrity has a go at the top gear test track and timings are recorded on a board. Apart from this they have some weird and absurd challenges and something called the “Cool Wall”. Its basically a board which are segmented into various categories of “cool”. Clarkson and Hammond then decide which cars are cool and which aren’t by sticking photos of them on the board (this has even led to fights with Hamster (Hammond) eating up the photos).
…
But what draws a ‘automobilically’ challenged chap like me is the humour. It is funny in a quirky and offbeat sort of way. And that makes it all the more interesting to watch. Am sure the estimated 350 million viewers would agree.
The humor comes in various forms, be it mimicking the co presenters (reference to Hamster’s ‘white teeth’ every now and then “I have not got my teeth whitened! – Richard Hammond”, Jeremy: “POWERRRRR!” mocking Clarkson, Jeremy: I would rather be in this, than in Keira Knightley. [on the Aston Martin V8 Vantage] James: And now the news: and this just in from Keira Knightley; She says she’s disappointed but she understands.) or some fantastically absurd comment introducing The Stig (“They say that his Scrotum has it’s own gravity Field”, “Some say he has been banned from the town of Chichester, and his face is upside-down.”) or making fun of the French (“This car is more fun than the entire French Air Force crashing into a fireworks factory!”, “Jeremy: I don’t want to go around this corner fast. I want to go home and Make Love and make Cheese because that’s what I like doing most of all because I’m French!”) or the mocking the Americans (“Jeremy: This turning right on a red light is America’s only contribution to western civilization.”, “You see, the thing about putting a nice big engine like this on is for one big reason: weight, alot of weight. this big thing weighs nearly 600 pounds, which is the same as putting a whole American on the back” – Clarkson”).
Most of what they present has a touch, nay, a big dose, of humour to it.
Watch it if you are passionate about cars. Or if you want to have a good laugh.
Cheers
Jais
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