British Comedy

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For discussion of stand-up comedy and comedy TV shows/films in the UK.

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Little Britain sketch is ‘explicitly racist and outdated’, Ofcom research finds (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 2 years ago by Emperor@feddit.uk to c/britishcomedy@feddit.uk

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A controversial Little Britain sketch is “explicitly racist and outdated”, and it is surprising it is still available on BBC iPlayer, according to audience research by Ofcom.

The regulator showed people a number of clips of television as part of a study into audience expectations on potentially offensive content across linear TV and streaming services.

One sketch from Little Britain, originally broadcast in 2002 and available on iPlayer, shows David Walliams as university employee Linda Flint describing an Asian student, Kenneth Lao, over the phone to her manager.

He is described as having “yellowish skin, slight smell of soy sauce … the ching-chong China man.”

The scene is accompanied by a laugh track.

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[–] Emperor@feddit.uk 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I wasn't a fan at the time - it felt like they did far too much punching down and had failed to properly learn the lessons of The Fast Show (as did a lot of sketch shows that followed in its wake that thought all you really needed was a catchphrase).

[–] mannycalavera@feddit.uk 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Wait what was wrong with the Fast Show?

[–] 15liam20@feddit.uk 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It had the same ten jokes every week.

[–] mannycalavera@feddit.uk 0 points 2 years ago

Well, that was the point. The jokes built on the situations from the previous show. It wasn't literally the same joke, it was an ever increasingly weirder variation. That's what sketch shows are. Same with Goodness Gracious Me.

I thought maybe someone was saying it was racist.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago

That part was satire. It was mocking racists by depicting an unsavory character engaging in racist behavior. This is like pulling Blazing Saddles because of the colorful language it employs.