Do you remember, many years ago, there was some kind of 'comedy night', maybe on Channel 4, which included a series of short sketches mocking the American approach to sitcoms? Matt Lucas might have been involved, somehow. I suppose I could look it up, and not come across as someone with a poor memory, but I'm impressed with my powers of recollection here even if you're not.
The point is, it finished with an "American adaptation" of Only Fools and Horses, with Nicholas Lyndhurst (not the real one, an actor playing him) transplanted into it and being baffled by how they'd removed anything even remotely funny from the whole setup. So naturally it came to mind when watching the first episode of the new Frasier series.
Nicholas Lyndhurst does seem superfluous and pointless, and obviously rather awkwardly performing a script written by Americans (Jane Leeves suffered from the same problem in the classic series, of course), but the rest of it was actually quite good. There are some nice character dynamics among the all-new extended cast, and in fact (proving that that comedy-night parody was being unfair) quite a few funny jokes. It might turn out to be good, you know.
There's another episode to watch, but I don't like binge-watching a show like that, so I'll give it a day or two. And I might get an episode 3 before my week's free subscription to Paramount+ runs out - even if New Frasier is the best thing ever, I'm not paying that kind of money just to watch it.
So on that tightwad note, and since Frasier is all about poking fun at people whose idea of 'sport' is sitting at a computer solving problems on Excel spreadsheets (having paid an entry fee roughly the price of a Paramount+ subscription for the privilege), I should add that the draw for the Microsoft Excel World Championship has been made today!
And ouch, I've been drawn against the sixth seed in the first round...
Michael Clarke got to the quarter-finals last year, having qualified with a perfect score in the second-fastest time in the qualifiers - but I can maybe take some comfort in the fact that this year he's been focused on the Financial Modeling World Cup and hasn't played in this year's more eccentric challenges of the type that feature in the world championship. Unless he's been downloading them and doing them for practice, which he probably has.
But hey, I can still hope I do so well or he does so uncharacteristically badly that I win our match! And then I'm guaranteed not to meet any of the other top eight seeds until I get down to the quarter finals myself! Positive thinking is a major factor in Excel success, I think!
2 comments:
Hi, I'm an American who's read your blog for years.
That TV special on Brits poking fun at American sitcom writing makes me think of something from the American Civil War days (1861-1865). Americans learn in school that Abraham Lincoln (US President at the time) was watching the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater the night he was assassinated. But we aren't taught anything about the play itself.
The play's premise is actually similar to the comedy special you mentioned. For American audiences, naturally, the premise was swapped to poke fun at Brits instead.
(The American Civil War ended with slavery being legally abolished, which Britain had done a few decades before).
You know, I've never even wondered what "Our American Cousin" was about, though I think I did know that was the title of the play Abraham Lincoln was watching. I'll have to find it and read it now! Thanks!
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