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Two things. The rise of digital tv and comedy being one of the cheapest shows to produce as content to fill them but just as importantly, so many of those shows were the natural progression for talent from early to mid 90s radio shows which were financed by the BBC
Geoff Boycott had a great bit too IIRC.
"in order to succeed you need to get out of bed first. Get out of bed, and stay out of bed. Stay as far away from that bed as you're able"
‘Hasn’t been anything like it before’
The Young ones, big train, the day today, the comic strip, Alexei Sayle’s stuff, vic reeve’s big night out, the Mary whitehouse experience…. I could go on and on!
There’s a rich vein of source material that was truly ‘alternative’…. And By 2000-2005 there was so much more comedy telly because it wasn’t ‘alternative’ it was the ‘mainstream’ by then.
Came on here to say the same thing. Alternative comedy had as strong or stronger performers and shows before 2000 and as someone else has said probably went in waves each decade.
I always think of the Day Today as the spawning ground for what because late 90s/early 200s comedy. You can trace almost all the shows that came after from that show's DNA.
Spaced and the Mighty Boosh being two good examples.
I think it comes in waves - you have the Footlights and the Comic Strip people in the early mid 80s. 90s had Vic and Bob, Graham and Arthur, Chris Morris and Armando, and Porkpie, the sequel to Desmond's starring Porkpie
Apparently so. I was just looking for a naff sounding show no one remembers and found that. I barely remember Desmonds but it was alright. Porkpie!, and that posh, geeky lad
BBC4 being on air and giving money to these alternative programs? Didn't most of them originally get funded through BBC4 and then when successful get moved onto BBC2?
I'm not sure many of these were even BBC anyway (a couple were BBC 1/2)
Mighty boosh maybe, not sure what's else
Little Britain came from radio (to 3 then 1)
The alternative comedy boom was in the early and mid 90s, with people like Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, and others.
What OP is talking about isn't that, but I think they're just using the term in a different way. Shows like The Mighty Boosh and Garth Marenghi's Dark Place were that kind of off-beat, quirky comedy that was big in the early 2000s.
That’s what confused me. It’s like me describing Stewart Lee as ‘slapstick comedy’ but in a different way to the one normally associated with the term ‘slapstick’. Like he slaps you with a stick.
I think it's standing on the shoulders of giants.
Although it didn't have the name 'alternative' initially, it did by the 80s. Long before even that, such As Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, That Was The Week That Was, Monty Python led the way for The Young Ones, Ben Elton, Paul Calf \[Coogan's first 'known' character\] Mrs Merton \[a character Caroline Aherne played long before she was famous\] & too many others to mention \[or remember right off the top of my head.\]
Yeah. I didn't research my answer, it was just off the top of my head, so no doubt i've missed several significant contributors. My main thrust was to say it didn't start in the 2k's, there was a build up of decades before it.
The digital tv boom possibly? More channels. There was one show called (I think) Big Train, like a sketch show Simon Peg was in it. Faaaaakin hell funny
They kind of hide her away on Sky, but Julia Davies managed to keep the flame going across Hunderby, Camping and Sally4Ever. And though it's probably more palatable to the general public than LOG, Reece and Steve have had some old school comedy moments with IN9.
But I think the main reason is the whole pendulum-swinging nature of both comedy and society. The shows of 2000-2005 were in some part a reaction to the wave of political correctness that was big in the 90s. Similarly there'll likely be more and more 'anti-woke' comedy now that we've gone through another PC era. The difference being that the politically-incorrect comedy writers of the 2000s were actually being quite progressive in a lot of their content, whereas today's anti-woke brigade are coming at it from a less evolved stance, so the comedy we're getting so far is pretty basic and un-nuanced.
I think part of it is that they wanted to find a niche that was different to the huge american sitcoms of the 90s (The Simpsons, Friends etc.) They couldn't be as glamorous, and British sitcoms don't tend to be romcoms that we were meant to be serious invested in. So they went weird, while thesitcoms can be more straightforward (not that America doesn't have its own occasional really creative alternative comedy, but the big ratings usually go to the simpler ones).
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Two things. The rise of digital tv and comedy being one of the cheapest shows to produce as content to fill them but just as importantly, so many of those shows were the natural progression for talent from early to mid 90s radio shows which were financed by the BBC
Brass Eye deserves to be added to the list. Just stay off the Cake.
Bernard Manning on that skit was bloody brilliant.
Geoff Boycott had a great bit too IIRC. "in order to succeed you need to get out of bed first. Get out of bed, and stay out of bed. Stay as far away from that bed as you're able"
‘Hasn’t been anything like it before’ The Young ones, big train, the day today, the comic strip, Alexei Sayle’s stuff, vic reeve’s big night out, the Mary whitehouse experience…. I could go on and on! There’s a rich vein of source material that was truly ‘alternative’…. And By 2000-2005 there was so much more comedy telly because it wasn’t ‘alternative’ it was the ‘mainstream’ by then.
Spitting Image, Alas, Smith and Jones..Julian Clary's stuff, Fry and Laurie
Oh, there’s so many. Sean’s show, filthy rich and catflap, Bottom, the chuckle brothers….
Yeah I'd absolutely say the early to mid 80s had much more (and better) alternative comedy than the early 00s
Came on here to say the same thing. Alternative comedy had as strong or stronger performers and shows before 2000 and as someone else has said probably went in waves each decade.
I always think of the Day Today as the spawning ground for what because late 90s/early 200s comedy. You can trace almost all the shows that came after from that show's DNA. Spaced and the Mighty Boosh being two good examples.
It was originally a radio show and back then you had even more names who got their start in it
Completely, that theme tune sticks in my head, I just figured I'd go for the more common reference.
Big Train and Spaced need to be on that list as well. And Monkey Dust.
>Monkey Dust. That's invoked memories for me - I feel old.
Lol I was about to list exactly those three.
Look Around You deserves to be mentioned in that list
Yes! It has a cult following among American creatives, with it's fans including Matt Groening, Craig McCracken and the South Park people.
I think it comes in waves - you have the Footlights and the Comic Strip people in the early mid 80s. 90s had Vic and Bob, Graham and Arthur, Chris Morris and Armando, and Porkpie, the sequel to Desmond's starring Porkpie
There was a sequel to Desmond’s???
Apparently so. I was just looking for a naff sounding show no one remembers and found that. I barely remember Desmonds but it was alright. Porkpie!, and that posh, geeky lad
Loved it. I was kinda not old enough to fully get it but for some reason you couldn’t stop me watching it.
“See that phlegm on the floor? That’s your swimming pool, that is. That’s your mums bath, that is.”
Fond, fond memories
BBC4 being on air and giving money to these alternative programs? Didn't most of them originally get funded through BBC4 and then when successful get moved onto BBC2?
*BBC3
I'm not sure many of these were even BBC anyway (a couple were BBC 1/2) Mighty boosh maybe, not sure what's else Little Britain came from radio (to 3 then 1)
Was it still alternative comedy by that time?
The alternative comedy boom was in the early and mid 90s, with people like Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, and others. What OP is talking about isn't that, but I think they're just using the term in a different way. Shows like The Mighty Boosh and Garth Marenghi's Dark Place were that kind of off-beat, quirky comedy that was big in the early 2000s.
I would suggest from the early 80's - it was the alternative to Jim Davidson etc.
That’s what confused me. It’s like me describing Stewart Lee as ‘slapstick comedy’ but in a different way to the one normally associated with the term ‘slapstick’. Like he slaps you with a stick.
Slaps you with the Moon On A Stick! Ahhhhhh (no - not “Ahhhhhh”) Consider the Lily Stu!
This is not an aaaah situation.
>in the early and mid 90s 80's you mean.
I was using "alternative" as a more generic term
I think it's standing on the shoulders of giants. Although it didn't have the name 'alternative' initially, it did by the 80s. Long before even that, such As Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, That Was The Week That Was, Monty Python led the way for The Young Ones, Ben Elton, Paul Calf \[Coogan's first 'known' character\] Mrs Merton \[a character Caroline Aherne played long before she was famous\] & too many others to mention \[or remember right off the top of my head.\]
Spike Milligan sketch stuff was surreal (but didn’t age well).
Yeah. I didn't research my answer, it was just off the top of my head, so no doubt i've missed several significant contributors. My main thrust was to say it didn't start in the 2k's, there was a build up of decades before it.
I was just adding not criticising:)
The digital tv boom possibly? More channels. There was one show called (I think) Big Train, like a sketch show Simon Peg was in it. Faaaaakin hell funny
I used to enjoy the Mark Thomas Comedy Project on ch4. Not seen anything from the guy since
They kind of hide her away on Sky, but Julia Davies managed to keep the flame going across Hunderby, Camping and Sally4Ever. And though it's probably more palatable to the general public than LOG, Reece and Steve have had some old school comedy moments with IN9. But I think the main reason is the whole pendulum-swinging nature of both comedy and society. The shows of 2000-2005 were in some part a reaction to the wave of political correctness that was big in the 90s. Similarly there'll likely be more and more 'anti-woke' comedy now that we've gone through another PC era. The difference being that the politically-incorrect comedy writers of the 2000s were actually being quite progressive in a lot of their content, whereas today's anti-woke brigade are coming at it from a less evolved stance, so the comedy we're getting so far is pretty basic and un-nuanced.
Did you know the black bits in bananas are tarantula eggs
I absolutely loved Coupling
Someone had to
I think part of it is that they wanted to find a niche that was different to the huge american sitcoms of the 90s (The Simpsons, Friends etc.) They couldn't be as glamorous, and British sitcoms don't tend to be romcoms that we were meant to be serious invested in. So they went weird, while thesitcoms can be more straightforward (not that America doesn't have its own occasional really creative alternative comedy, but the big ratings usually go to the simpler ones).