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shminux comments on January 2013 Media Thread - Less Wrong Discussion
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The show has a high-quality bromance, if you are into that. The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon/Leonard relationship could have had that, but the sitcom format gets in the way. And also the fact that American humor is generally inferior to British humour.
Oh, and Moriarty providing comic relief, while still being competent and scary is a nice touch.
"Have you talked to the police?"
- "Four people are dead, there isn't time to talk to the police!"
"So why are you talking to me?"
- "Mrs. Hudson took my [pet] skull ..."
"So I'm basically filling in for your skull?"
- "Relax. You're doing fine."
I was thinking about that earlier this week. It does seem that way. Why IS that?
Hypothesis 1: It only seems that way. Due to survivorship bias, American audiences are only exposed to the best British humor. Possible test: see if British audiences rate American humor higher than British humor. (I anticipate the answer being no, though.)
Hypothesis 2: The process that cultivates American comedic talent is flawed compared to the process that cultivates British comedic talent. I think the process that cultivates American comedic talent is comedy clubs. Possibly these excessively encourage pandering to the lowest common denominator. I have no idea what the process that cultivates British comedic talent is. Possible test: look at comedians who were cultivated in one country but attempted to find success in the other. (I anticipate sample size being an issue.)
Hypothesis 3: Due to cultural differences, Americans find British people saying funny things to be funnier than American people saying funny things. May be hard to distinguish from Hypothesis 1, as it may also be true the other way around. Possible test: find something humorous that has been performed by both British and American comedians. (I can't think of anything like this off the top of my head.)
Hypothesis 4: It only seems that way to you. Due to cultural differences, British humor appeals more to high-IQ people and American humor appeals more to low-IQ people, and you are generalizing excessively from a small sample of you and people you know. May be related to Hypothesis 2. Possible test: ask people on the street whether they think American or British comedians / shows are funnier. (May be many confounding variables.)
I suspect that British culture in general tends to value a sharp sense of humor more highly than American culture. Bill Bryson, a writer who's lived about half of his life in each, wrote that in his experience a British man would likely be less offended by being told he was a terrible lover than that he had no sense of humor, whereas in America he found a sense of humor to be treated as more of an optional extra.
I think the comment you're replying to was just a reflectivity fail on my part
Story time: my girlfriend asked me "why is British humour funnier?" and I wondered for two seconds and forgot about it. Then I saw shminux's comment and it reminded me so I just asked, and the assumption that British humour IS better was smuggled into my brain because it was embedded in the question I was asked. I probably meant something more like "why do I tend to like British humour better", and now it seems like a stupid thing to ask here. So I'm probably going to lean towards hypothesis 4 unless I learn something new about their culture or television networks.
Heh. I'm not really sure if all of that was worth sharing but I felt like I'd caught myself being silly so I felt an impulse to publicly admit it.