Comments on: America Needs Historical Comedies Now

By: Eleanor Seitz

Eleanor Seitz — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 20:23:09 +0000

Great post! You raise a great point about U.S. television’s more solemn attitude toward historical period pieces, and the recent controversy surrounding THC Kennedys debacle highlights this. I wonder too, if the mini-series format of these shows influences the lack of comedic period pieces? We tend to associate mini-series here in the U.S. with dramatic content (or dramatic British imports).The Black Adder mini-series is so fun because it is contained so well in six short episodes, and does not get stuck or loose steam with its historical premise. In fact, each short successive mini-series is set in a different era, which provides a new setting and history to lampoon, (i.e. more funny material). I could see a Kennedys sitcom or historical comedy show running out of material or getting tired after a season or two. Even Mad Men skipped a year or two to change things up. Although, I totally agree that it is high time we took our own history less serious – perhaps a colonial comedy piece with Paul Giamatti reprising his John Adams role, and this time I wouldn’t feel bad about laughing at his performance.

By: Derek Kompare

Derek Kompare — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:57:30 +0000

Two words: F Troop. That said, you raise a great point about how we choose to represent our past. Series like F Troop and Hogan's Heroes were rapidly banished from consideration post 1970, and attempts to revisit this concept since have been incredibly few and far between (e.g., Best of the West, The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer). Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley and That 70s Show were arguably mostly successful in how they put their histories in the background. Hopefully this current rash of period dramas will loosen up these restrictions a bit. That said, we'll never get something that nails the past like Blackadder.

By: Billy Vermillion

Billy Vermillion — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 15:32:56 +0000

The few historical comedies we have had in the U.S. have often been really, really horrible. “Thanks” and “The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer” come to mind.

Witness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrQRdDui-n4