WTF…Was That Funny?

I mean honestly…WHAT WAS THAT. This comment is reserved solely for Psychoville. The Thick of It is way too normal, and The Mighty Boosh is far less put together to be associated with this “comedy”. Maybe I am just too mainstream of a television viewer, but I could not resonate with this show. We are constantly noticing the trend in which British TV makes the viewer feel uncomfortable. This can be tolerable in small doses, however, this dark comedy takes that habit way too far. According to its website the show is, “BBC Two’s spine-tingling, jaw-dropping, thrilling comedy serial.” If goosebumps, nausea, and nervous laughter count…then yes this show hit all three marks for me.

The show is featured in America on Fearnet, a cable channel that showcases horror-related shows. Understandably, a show like this could only be featured on a niche channel for a specific target demographic of horror lovers. That is the exact feeling that I felt when watching Psychoville…horrified. Every storyline managed to disturb the viewers: the one-handed clown, creepy blind man, delusional nurse, magical dwarf, and the serial-killer-in-the-making man/boy with his doting mother. The cast is fit for a freak show circus, and the humor seemed to be lost on me.

What I find more disturbing is the mostly positive reviews of the show evidenced by the comments listed under the show’s YouTube videos distributed through BBCWorldwide. Here are some quotes from viewers under videos featuring the future serial killer and his mom, who I found to be the most frightening/least funny characters (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW85ANPdHf0&feature=relmfu):

ROTFLMAO: ReyKingz 1 year ago

This is just an amazing show: GottaLoveTheFez 1 year ago

Bwahahahaha… Nice. :0): funkchild75 1 year ago

English humor has it’s own League and we cannot touch it!: haidacanoe 1 year ago 67 likes

 

Furthermore, the posted videos have many likes, with only a few negative comments or dislikes. Clearly, there are people out there who enjoy this type of programming…I am just not one of them.

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3 Responses to WTF…Was That Funny?

  1. Kelly Taylor says:

    I completely agree that Psychoville rubbed me the wrong way. My first thought was that BBC viewers are actually paying the license fee to produce shows like this! While some viewers may be okay with this notion, I can see how television-owners who promote family-friendly programming would be upset. I’m wondering how Psychoville fits into the public service mandate. The show was so grotesque and horrific and as Grace said, it made me feel extremely uncomfortable. Why do the Brits enjoy feeling like this?! For a show as outrageous as this, I would think it would have to be extremely funny in order to pull it off. But I also found it to be short on laughs.

  2. Brenna says:

    Kelly, you bring up a great point. I’m not one to complain about things, but if I were paying for this, I would probably be really upset. It could just be that I expect something different from my “comedy” television, but it rubbed me the wrong way too.

  3. Lauren says:

    Psychoville weirded me out not totally because of its content, but because it’s considered comedy! This seemed more like the beginning of a horror film that might have humorous tendencies. Comedy doesn’t strike me as this show’s primary genre–horror is much more fitting. I wanted Psychoville to either play up the funny more (more funny lines maybe?) or just declare itself a horror serial drama. The middle seems too wishy washy.

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