Keeping Up Appearances

[ianek70]

In today's Gazeta Telewizyjna, there's yet another review of "Keeping Up
Appearances".
They almost understand it (they now know it's a piss-take on the conformism
and superficiality of the middle classes) but not quite (they think it's
funny).
But of course, being the Wyborcza, they had to add the usual boring
predictable moaning crap that Poles could only dream of such problems -
there's been no middle-middle-class in Poland since 1989 apparently (was
there one before? and who are the 250,000 people who buy Rzeczpospolita every
day?) And anyone who thinks conformism and superficiality aren't problems in
Poland should watch less TV.

[ja_karola]

I liked "Keeping Up Appearances". Onslow was my favourite.... he really
couldn't care less and his permanent wife-beater shirt choice of wardrobe was
quite peculiar. It's funny how all the sisters' names were named after flowers:
Hycinth, Daisy, Rose and Violet. Not to mention how Hycinth, the quintessential
snob, insisted on being called Mrs. Bouquet while in fact her last name was
Bucket. Quite a lot of imagery; very unusual, at least for American sitcoms.

British humour is good. Other good ones I liked to watch include Red Dwarf,
Fawlty Towers and Allô, Allô (the best of all). The stiff upper lip reputation
does not do the Brits justice. These are some pretty darn funny shows.

Take it easy Ianek70! It'S just a show and nouveau riche are everywhere, even
Poland!

[ianek70]

ja_karola napisała:

>
> British humour is good. Other good ones I liked to watch include Red Dwarf,
> Fawlty Towers and Allô, Allô (the best of all).

Fawlty Towers and Blackadder are two of the funniest TV sitcoms in the history
of human civilization.
But just as British humour is very varied, so are the sitcoms. That's because
they're so much part of the media culture. You make drama, you make
documentaries, you make sitcoms, because that's how it is. Quality varies.
How many bad Polish TV comedies/satires were made in the 70s or 80s? Not many.
How many good Polish TV comedies have been made in the past 10 years? Not many.

Most (?) Polish comedy comes from the cabaret tradition (compared with the UK
there's not much sit-com or stand-up). There's good cabaret and bad on Polish
telly, because cabaret's expected.
My Mum was here recently, and when I was working she watched TV. She
hated "Daleko od noszy", "13 Posterunek", etc. Some of it was on Polonia with
subtitles, but she said it didn't matter if she understood it, she just hated
the hammy theatrical overacting.
I hadn't thought about this before, after all, it's the same actors in Polish
TV comedies as in serious TV or cinema films, but compare Pazura or Woźniak as
cinema actors with Pazura or Woźniak as circus stars in TV comedy.
Whatever my original point might have been (it'll come back to me), it's
probably best summed up by the fact that in Poland you can get a dvd of each
whole classic series of Blackadder for 9.99 PLN (or 14.99 in EMPiK), while 4
episodes of Allo Allo cost 44.99.

> Take it easy Ianek70! It'S just a show

Comedy is a serious business!!!!

[ja_karola]

ianek70 napisał:

> Fawlty Towers and Blackadder are two of the funniest TV sitcoms in the history
> of human civilization.
How could I forget Blackadder with Rowan Atkinson! Unfortunately I never had
the pleasure of seeing all the episodes. You are right; it's a classic!

> How many bad Polish TV comedies/satires were made in the 70s or 80s? Not many.
> How many good Polish TV comedies have been made in the past 10 years? Not many.
It seems like Polish performance art in general was much better when the
challenge of getting through the communist censorship was so great. There were
some funny series and films. Take Bareja's Alternatywy 4, Mis or Zmiennicy. I
can only think of the recent odd "Stacyjka" that passed on TV Polonia about a
year ago. Other than that, I can't say I come across any good new comedies on
this channel. Assolutamente niente! Even my Italian step-father loved
Alternatywy 4 even though he spoke no Polish and watching the series without
English subtitles, he laughed to tears.

> My Mum was here recently, and when I was working she watched TV. She
> hated "Daleko od noszy", "13 Posterunek", etc. Some of it was on Polonia with
> subtitles, but she said it didn't matter if she understood it, she just hated
> the hammy theatrical overacting.

I can't comment on the former, but I did see an excerpt of the latter and it was
enough for me to turn off the TV. Why can't Polish artists come up with
original sitcom ideas? There are so many Seinfeld-like every-day banalities
that could make for a good script. The Polish bureaucracy alone provides so many
absurd situations and there are so many more...

> in Poland you can get a dvd of each whole classic series of Blackadder for
9.99 PLN (or 14.99 in EMPiK), while 4 episodes of Allo Allo cost 44.99.

That cheap? I had no idea. I'll get it next time I'm there.

> Comedy is a serious business!!!!

You're right. The Montreal Just for Laughs Festival is coming up soon. It takes
a special kind of person to become a stand-up comic... kind of like a
present-day jester trying to point out the ridiculous in everyday banalities and
modern-day consumerist misery. It's an art!