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Has anyone else seen those? What a hilarious tv show! Gotta say, even better comedy than Blackadder!
CountArach
01-07-2010, 01:30
It is a brilliant show, indeed. Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yhN1IDLQjo) is one of my favourite scenes.
Yeah, I liked the Prime Minister ones better, but the Minister ones were hilarious too. That Humphrey is a genius. :P
Myrddraal
01-07-2010, 03:14
Have you seen 'In The Thick Of It'? It's a bit like a modern version of Yes Minister.
InsaneApache
01-07-2010, 11:23
Here's the complete series of Yes Minister. Enjoy.
http://tvshack.net/tv/Yes__Minister/
Meh. It's pretty tame, and outdated. In the Thick of It is much better.
johnhughthom
01-07-2010, 12:46
Meh. It's pretty tame, and outdated. In the Thick of It is much better.
Tame?
Yes, Minister? Ofc it's tame/outdated.
johnhughthom
01-07-2010, 12:56
My point is it's supposed to be tame, the show wouldn't work it it wasn't. It's a bit like criticising the Office because it makes you feel slightly embarrased. I certainly wouldn't call it outdated, pretty much everything it pokes fun at still happens today.
Meh. It's pretty tame, and outdated. In the Thick of It is much better.
BAH! ~;)
Tame and outdated my pretty little fanny! It is supposed to be tame, and what they talk about is mostly just as relevant today as it was then. I will check out In the Thick of It, but I doubt they could have done much of a better job. (after all, how can you beat Humphrey?) ~;)
My point is it's supposed to be tame, the show wouldn't work it it wasn't. It's a bit like criticising the Office because it makes you feel slightly embarrased. I certainly wouldn't call it outdated, pretty much everything it pokes fun at still happens today.
It doesn't really apply to the "Call me Tony" days of New Labour ministers. Ofc, bureaucratic incompetence is always relevant, it has been done better than in Yes, Minister.
Tame and outdated my pretty little fanny!
...:inquisitive:
I will check out In the Thick of It, but I doubt they could have done much of a better job. (after all, how can you beat Humphrey?) ~;)
Hurr hurr Malcolm :laugh4:
In the Thick of It focuses on relations with the media, and is IMHO more realistic of what Whitehall gets up to, with the focus on image.
Be forewarned though; In the Thick of It is notorious for being the opposite of tame :beam:
Yes minister was painfully real. it didn't make me wince like Fawlty Towers did because it had a lighter touch, but it was bang on the money.
Very gentle, but very malicious too. About half the skits were drawn from real life events (eg Goverment foreknowledge of coups, alcohol being consumed by ministers in Islamic countries), the rest were very true in tone.
Seeing it is about 30 years old it stands to reason its outdated. I suppose its also a little understated for the wtflol generation. Still it is very funny, especially if you know how true-to-life it all is: I must've met half a dozen Sir Humphreys in the Australian Bureacracy.
Myrddraal
01-08-2010, 04:21
Sorry it's called "The Thick of It". It has a very different presentation style, with a dirty mouthed PR man obviously based on Alistair Campbell as the main character. Though the style is different, the essential source of comedy is the similar.
EDIT: A spin-off from the TV series is the film "In the Loop". I haven't seen it yet but I plan to.
Love that "fly on the wall" political nuts-and-bolts show.
West Wing was a fine effort, went for ages. Just occasionally I thought they got all misty eyed about "presidential Aura" and people deciding to do the right thing, but maybe American politics really is like that? Much more about the nitty gritty of the machine and less nailed to current events (eg the Democrats in power, no 9/11 etc). Obviously not a comedy, but it had its moments.
We have Hollow Men which is I'd say is a low rent PG version of The Thick of It: its ludicrous and a tiny bit Kafkha-ish, and a direct lineal descendent of Yes Minister.
The Games was of the same ilk, but even more narrowly based on current events, specifically the Olympic games lead up.
Yes they're comedies but they make a lot of material out of the reality of politics.
CountArach
01-08-2010, 15:46
West Wing was a fine effort, went for ages. Just occasionally I thought they got all misty eyed about "presidential Aura" and people deciding to do the right thing, but maybe American politics really is like that? Much more about the nitty gritty of the machine and less nailed to current events (eg the Democrats in power, no 9/11 etc). Obviously not a comedy, but it had its moments.
One of my favourite shows of all time, and probably my favourite drama. Yeah, things worked out perfectly for them most of the time, but the writing in it was fantastic and there was a very good behind-the-scenes thing going on, albeit at a higher pace.
The Games was of the same ilk, but even more narrowly based on current events, specifically the Olympic games lead up.
That was a very, very funny show.
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