This collection offers an overview of British TV comedies, ranging from the beginnings of sitcoms in the 1950s to the current boom of 'Britcoms'. It provides in-depth analyses of major comedies, systematically addressing their generic properties, filmic history, humour politics and cultural impact.
Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: The Aesthetics and Politics of British TV Comedy; Juergen Kamm and Birgit Neumann PART I: THE 1950S AND 1960S: BEGINNINGS OF THE BRITISH SITCOM AND THE SATIRE BOOM 2. A Golden Age of British Sitcom? Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe and Son; Richard Kilborn 3. 'Your Little Game': Myth and War in Dad's Army (1968-1977); Bernd Lenz 4. 'The Struggle of Class against Class Is a What Struggle?' Monty Python's Flying Circus and Its Politics; Alexander Brock 5. The Rag Trade: 'Everybody Out!' Gender, Politics and Class on the Factory Floor; Mary Irwin PART II: THE 1970S AND 1980S: NEW LOYALTIES, HISTORIES AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES - POST-FAMILIAR PARADIGMS 6. 'Sambo' and 'Snowflake': Race and Race Relations in Love Thy Neighbour; Nora Plesske 7. 'You Snobs! You Stupid... Stuck-Up... Toffee-Nosed... Half-Witted... Upper-Class Piles of... Pus!' Basil Fawlty's Touch of Class and Other Hotel Matters in Fawlty Towers; Paul Davies 8. Ignorant Master, Capable Servants: The Politics of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister; Juergen Kamm 9. Zany 'Alternative Comedy': The Young Ones vs. Margaret Thatcher; Eckart Voigts 10. The Uses of History in Blackadder; Gerold Sedlmayr 11. Black British Comedy: Desmond's and the Changing Face of Television; Deirdre Osborne with some additional information from Stephen Bourne PART III: THE 1990S: (UN)DOING GENDER AND RACE 12. Laughing at Racism or Laughing with the Racists? The 'Indian Comedy' of Goodness Gracious Me; Jochen Petzold 13. Exploding Family Values, Lampooning Feminism, Exposing Consumerism: Absolutely Fabulous; Rainer Emig 14. Comic Strategies of Inclusion and 'Normalisation' in The Vicar of Dibley; Lucia Kramer 15. Subverting the Sitcom from Within: Form, Ideology and Father Ted; John Hill 16. 'The Lady of the House Speaking' - The Conservative Portrayal of English Class Stereotypes in Keeping Up Appearances; Marion Gymnich 17. Family Life in Front of the Telly: The Royle Family; Angela Krewani 18. Old Jokes: One Foot in the Grave, Comedy and the Elderly; Brett Mills PART IV: THE 2000S: BRITCOM BOOM - NEW BRITAIN = 'COOL BRITANNIA'? 19. Spin, Swearing and Slapstick: The Thick of It (2005-2012); Anette Pankratz 20. Life is Stationary: Mockumentary and Embarrassment in The Office (2001-2003); Philip Jacobi 21. From Ever-lusting Individuals to Ever-lasting Couples: Coupling (2000-2004) and Emotional Capitalism; Joanna Rostek and Dorothea Will 22. The Comic Nation: Little Britain and the Politics of Representation; Oliver Lindner 23. Laughing in Horror: Hybrid Genre and the Grotesque Body in Psychoville; Stephan Karschay Index
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