One of my favorite shows on television has always been
Have I Got News For You. Being such a long-standing component of British television I barely acknowledged it while living in England, but it's become one of the objects of worship that you only truly appreciate once it's gone, and now I'm a frequent online downloader. Yet something has been nagging me for some time that needs to be fought immediately. Compare
this episode from early 2007 with
this episode from January of this year. Both follow precisely the same format (the show hasn't changed in almost twenty years), and both are hosted by the always amicable Jeremy Clarkson. Spot the difference? Something has changed in the way the audience interacts with the show; rather than simply laugh at the jokes, there has developed a trend of enthusiastic applause for anything above a pun or quip. The show no longer flows, punctuated too regularly by rapturous applause. Not only does this take up time and distract from the panelists, but it also demands less of them by sending the message that we're delighted by even the slightest suggestion of off-the-cuff wit. Moreover, I've noticed that politicized jokes receive the most applause, likewise for jokes about the economy, as if the panelists are social commentators, intrinsically in touch with the persuasion of the people. The politics is often juvenile, base, and, more importantly, very easy to derive humour from. Rapturous applause is unjustified in many
cases.
Take for example, Ian Hislop's comment regarding calls to print money in the UK, a scheme described at the time as "quantitative easing". Hislop then said, "sounds like a new Bond film, doesn't it?
Quantitative Easing", and achieved a round of fawning applause. I mean, really? It seems as though a smattering of simple individuals distributed randomly among an audience can incur groupthink, and so, half a dozen clappers turns the whole audience into clappers. Just because the guy next to you crosses the road on a red light doesn't give you the go-ahead too. I think what troubles me most about this recent phenomenon are its parallels to American comedy, where almost anything is considered worthy of a standing ovation. Any of you who have watched stand-up comedians from the US may have noticed that the audience can't
stop applauding. This ruins the routine, totally, abominably, unjustifiably. Heaven forbid we descend into such a state with what we hold most dear in Britain.
One of my favorite shows on television has always been Have I Got News For You. Being such a long-standing component of British television I barely acknowledged it while living in England, but it's become one of the objects of worship that you only truly appreciate once it's gone, and now I'm a frequent online downloader. Yet something has been nagging me for some time that needs to be fought immediately. Compare this episode from early 2007 with this episode from January of this year. Both follow precisely the same format (the show hasn't changed in almost twenty years), and both are hosted by the always amicable Jeremy Clarkson. Spot the difference? Something has changed in the way the audience interacts with the show; rather than simply laugh at the jokes, there has developed a trend of enthusiastic applause for anything above a pun or quip. The show no longer flows, punctuated too regularly by rapturous applause. Not only does this take up time and distract from the panelists, but it also demands less of them by sending the message that we're delighted by even the slightest suggestion of off-the-cuff wit. Moreover, I've noticed that politicized jokes receive the most applause, likewise for jokes about the economy, as if the panelists are social commentators, intrinsically in touch with the persuasion of the people. The politics is often juvenile, base, and, more importantly, very easy to derive humour from. Rapturous applause is unjustified in many cases. 
Take for example, Ian Hislop's comment regarding calls to print money in the UK, a scheme described at the time as "quantitative easing". Hislop then said, "sounds like a new Bond film, doesn't it? Quantitative Easing", and achieved a round of fawning applause. I mean, really? It seems as though a smattering of simple individuals distributed randomly among an audience can incur groupthink, and so, half a dozen clappers turns the whole audience into clappers. Just because the guy next to you crosses the road on a red light doesn't give you the go-ahead too. I think what troubles me most about this recent phenomenon are its parallels to American comedy, where almost anything is considered worthy of a standing ovation. Any of you who have watched stand-up comedians from the US may have noticed that the audience can't stop applauding. This ruins the routine, totally, abominably, unjustifiably. Heaven forbid we descend into such a state with what we hold most dear in Britain.
1 comment:
When Gordon Brown went over to America recently and addressed the, hm, senate? He received the same number of standing ovations that Tony Blair did some 10 years or so ago when he did the same. That number? 19. 19 standing ovations.
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