Could a program like this be made in USA? - Brass Eye (1997) Discussion

[–] senor_herer 19 years ago

Only on cable and even then it would be trashed as "unpatriotic" or something equally stupid.

There's certainly no shortage of stupid, rent-a-quote celebrities/politicians that could be duped into fake interviews though. I'd like to see Chris Morris make an arse out of that smug Donald Rumsfeld or, even better, Prick Cheney. Those gits need taking down a peg or two.

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[–] mentalfred 19 years ago

Good call, Chris could rip it out of the Yanks so easily.

"I ate a big red candle."

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[–] funky_si 19 years ago

would anyone else give their right arm for a brass eye special on terrorism?how perfect would it be with the current hysterical climate? And yes a US version of brass eye would never get aired, and if it did it would be edited to a pile of crap. look how they ruined the office!

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[–] Slippery_Jack 19 years ago

...and look at the trouble Michael Moore had getting his Farenheit 9/11 even screened in the US.

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[–] cyanideandwhiskey 19 years ago

not just terrorism, cud also do one on the paranoia which Bush has about gay marrages destroying America. actually thinking about it, could probly do a whole series on Bush

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[–] Markus2004 19 years ago

Having said that, i think the Morris views of American TV in Brass eye with 'Alabaster Codified' with colours turned up to sickening colour degrees and so on, the stroies about bizarre executions with terrible puns (
"Newly deads") are fantastic

[/i]"It's not the world we saw for ourselves, but it's the only one we got"[/i]

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[–] mafiahitman 19 years ago

I think by the time we go digital the censors will be a great deal less than they are now, but there's really nobody like Chris Morris in America, is there?

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[–] dangerous_jamie 19 years ago

The execution stuff is from The Day Today.

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[–] Ragnarok_ 19 years ago

Awww, yes, a special on Terrorism would be amazing coming from Morris. And this is very strange for me (being British), but I actually prefer the American 'The Office' to the original... not sure why.

R a g n a r o K

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] drg847 19 years ago

That is easily one of the most relevant, well thought out, and apt post I have ever seen on this website. Well done you!

Seriously though, what is it with the papers these days? My personal favourite front page headline is when Fred Elliot from Coronation Street was attacked on holiday. The front page of either the Star or the Mirror read " Ive been, I say, I say I've been stabbed!"

After your well informed and coherent post, I'm off to rip it into someone bangin on about harry potter "fanfiction", the twisted little piano dentists.

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[–] veemacdee1971 18 years ago

Didn't a rent boy cut his throat,I say,his throat?

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[–] huzzie 15 years ago

Yeah, at his flat in Manchester.

Completely forgot that happened.

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[–] Ragnarok_ 19 years ago

I find your lack of faith in Chris Morris disturbing =D

The man could quite easily contrive an intricate and semi-believable argument that, oh say, Trisha is a terrorist training facility rounding up aldulterous dole claimers and immigrants, and masquerading it as the seemingly innocuous chatshow that it is.

I'd also find it amusing to have a live report of a coordinated attack, using the good old "fill up a shop with food and pour some water in" technique that worked so well in Cowsick ;P

R a g n a r o K

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[–] Dave_Like_Films 19 years ago

Those yanks feel too sorry for themselves to laugh at a BrassEye of terrorism because what happened to them was the worst thing ever to have happened to anyone, EVER! Well, as far as they're concerned, thats what i think anyway, i'd find it hilarious Morris is a genius.

I hate the guy who likes american office more.

That post about Brazil man was complete rubbish. Did the papers say he was dressed as an armadillo and ready to blow up the tube using a TNT filled salvation army Nan? NO THEY DIDNT!

:)

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] james-haskins 18 years ago

Not a brass eye terrorism special exactly, but this piece appeared in The Observer (UK) six months or so after 9/11:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/september11/story/0,,669690,00.html

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[–] silentassasin1 17 years ago

no way. the main reason for that is brass eye is pure British. Americans have a different sense of humour and in my opinion a less intellectual one

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[–] David_Translator 18 years ago

I seem to remember an interview with Morris in which he said that he couldn't do a Brass Eye on terrorism because the discourse is already so absurd as to be beyond satire.

P.S. Let's not bash the Yanks too much in this thread. Be nice.

DVM LOQVIMVR FVGERIT INVIDA AETAS
CARPE DIEM QVAM MINIMVM CREDVLA POSTERO.

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[–] fleaaaaaa 18 years ago

To be honest with you.... when Brass Eye started doing stuff in America (the priests with guns) the line between truth and humour was starting to blur anyway. I don't think it would work as well as the British show, many Americans are far too proud of their country to acknowledge it's faults or to even see that they're probably living in the craziest country in the world.

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[–] paulreeves69 19 years ago

there is something similar to it in america just in a completely different format - trey parker and matt stone blatantly admitted to loving brasseye and after southpark got over the "lets sell merchandise" of the first few seasons you can see a big shift towards brasseye style humour like their take on stemcell research etc.

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[–] lwj983 18 years ago

No, Americans are too stupid to get such genius humour!

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[–] comeinandjointhariot 18 years ago

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with the last post, while it is certain that there are stupid Americans in existance I have to agree with Bill Bryson's comment "Americans by no means have a monopoly on stupidty" which as a sentance (written by an American) proves itself to be true. Americans are no more stupid than any other nationality. The fact that often they don't understand Irony and sarcasm isn't proof of stupidity, merely of a sense of humour constructed around a different base and with that in mind I do concur that Brasseye may be lost on American Audiences to a large degree. I do not believe, however, that this is reason enough to write off a whole nation as idiots.

Sorry, bit of a rant there, I just get pissed off with xenaphobia, and the French (obviously)

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[–] boolmw 18 years ago

Brass Eye is very much a program made for a British audience, and even then Morris barely got away with even broadcasting it: I'm sure you all know about Morris editing a flash-frame with the legend "Grade is a *beep* into one of the episodes of Brass Eye just before it was broadcast (Michael Grade was then the controller of Channel 4 and is now, amusingly, the big cheese at the BBC).
Oh, and could the previous poster please check his speeling, particularly when the post is about the relative intelligence of a nation.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] queen_of_chocks 18 years ago

it would be pretty damn funny to watch christopher morris ripping it out of the americans since they are so opinionated and strong about their feelings etc etc...but i reckon once they realised he was taking the p*** he'd be in big trouble...so no, i don't reckon the us would tolerate it...although it would be great if he could do it!

i'm not a slut...i'm just popular

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[–] JoshAcid 18 years ago

Don't judge Americans by the crappy entertainment that many of them throw money at...I'm American, and I and many of my friends think Chris Morris, The Day Today and Brass Eye are brilliant. Trust me, there are a lot more fans of British humor over here than many of you guys seem to realize...We even love Brass Eye's and The Day Today's satires of gun-toting, ignorant Americans, because we happen to be exposed to that kind of (unfortunately pretty accurate, in some cases) idiocy on a daily basis. Remember: We're all in this together!

"I said, 'Anyone carrying a gun, please leave.' Ten minutes later, there were only three people left: two kids and a deaf guy..."

http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?id=joshacid37

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[–] wizzer90 18 years ago

People should loosen up on bashing Americans (or any other country for that matter).. On the whole, America produces the best, and the most films in the world, and has produced many quality shows.. You will always find complete retards in any country - the UK included. Infact - there's a whole generation of 'chavs' popping up all other the place in the UK at the moment..

You can never generalize and say a whole country is a bunch of morons.. everyone in the country is different.

I'm British by the way.

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[–] diskoboy 16 years ago

Really now? I'm American. I think Brass Eye is funny as hell.

I find it funny that a country that let two 11-year old murderers who killed a 2 year old, go free, under full protection from the government is calling us "stupid".

Maybe I should move to the UK, and kill people. I'd be a free man in 2 days.

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[–] SoFarSoGood 18 years ago

I agree, with the amount of idiotic celebs America (I'm not denying we have some too), a Brass Eye USA would be funny. It seems like a good idea, but I doubt it would ever happen.

"Rock and Roll, Let's all have a Pear!"

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[–] mentalfred 18 years ago

Lol, I can't believe I originated this post on the 9th of April...

I also realise that this doesn't necessarily apply to you, but I felt nostalgic.

"Oh Ms Pacman, I would sex that bow right off your head..."

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[–] all_gothed_up 18 years ago

i think it would go right over the head of the general american public somehow. then again it probably would for most people in general sadly

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Zombie_Kitty 18 years ago

how good an American version would be would actually depend on the kinds of celebs who would actually appear, and also on the writers of the show, and the presenter - chris morris was just comedy gold.
So yes, a program like this could be made in the USA, but whether it would WORK is up for debate.
An example of this is 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' A british show from the 1980's, remade a few years ago for American TV. I've never seen the American version, so I don't actually know how good it is, but that doesn't get away from the fact has been made. So the question shouldn't be 'Could a program like this be made in USA?' it's 'Should a program like this be made in USA?'
Anyway, my rant is over...

"Ever been hit over the head by a welding mallet?...No? Shut up then." ~ Rimmer

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[–] philipmahoney2001 18 years ago

From the looks of some of the quotes on IMDB, the Colbertt Report deals with some similar themes to Brass Eye, but perhaps without Morris' disconcertingness (it is a word). That's not entirely surprising. Morris is a one-off. It's unfair to presume there is something lacking in America because there isn't an American Chris Morris, because are no other Chris Morrises, period.

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[–] cadaverous 18 years ago

Pretty awful topic.

Like I read on another board.

"I notice the Simpsons and South Park boards aren't full of preening Americans sneering about how Britain doesn't make decent animation comedy. Maybe there's a lesson in humility for us all. "

You guys are pathetic.

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[–] mentalfred 18 years ago

If you don't like the topic then why bother posting? :|

I think it is an interesting source of discussion, if you don't then don't bother saying anything...

"Oh Ms Pacman, I would sex that bow right off your head..."

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[–] cadaverous 18 years ago

Pretty interesting? It's been played out countless times in countless imdb british comedy forums.

Britain makes half decent comedy series (that usually runs for a whole 6 maybe 12 episodes) Cue a bunch of....

"americans wouldn't get this"

"this wouldn't be allowed on american tv"

"I hope they don't remake this....it would end up like Friends!"

"americans are stupid, we are smarty-men, we make smarter shows!"

"This is so much better than rubbish like 'Friends' "

I don't "don't bother saying anything" becuase I don't want people reading this to think all britains are so arrogant. Comparing short lived cult hits to the most mainstream of mainstream.

This british person agrees with Ricky Gervais. Outside of the occassional gem like "the office" "i'm alan partridge" or "peep show," Americans do it better.

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[–] mentalfred 18 years ago

America doesn't tend to succeed with satire, hence the question. And you can throw Jon Stewart et al as much as you want, he does not compare to Chris Morris.

Besides I made this topic almost a year ago, and people still post in it, I think that is pretty impressive and shows that you are in the minority.

We can keep arguing for as long as you want, its inane, but I don't really care.

"Oh Ms Pacman, I would sex that bow right off your head..."

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[–] Renegade_Chris 18 years ago

Personally, I dont think you could make Brass Eye in the US.

Not because the US are unable to do this level of satire (one man ... Bill Hicks), but the mentality of the media is slightly different.

I remember reading that WWE wrestling was having advertising pulled from it left right and centre due to the controversy over it's more 'adult' content in the last few years. When you boil it down ... it's large men pretending to fight. As far as the sexual content went, turn on any music channel in the middle of the day and see a level of sexual content I would personally find more offensive than anything I have seen on WWE programming.

But at the slight sniff of controversy (and McCarthy-like lobbying from 'parental groups' who had a far stronger political agenda behind the right-wing fear-mongering) people like Pepsi and MCI-WorldCom pulled their substantial advertising budgets, almost forcing the show off the air.

Advertisers have far greater control over content of TV shows ... imagine the kittens they would have if they saw their adverts were linked to a Brass Eye USA? They would pull their advertising in a heartbeat and the networks wont ever bite the hand that feeds them, and they would pull the show to keep their paymasters happy.

Brass Eye was on Channel 4, which is funded thru advertising, but the advertisers have virtually no say on content, and until very recently they havent even had the ability to be linked to specific shows. Also, Brass Eye was good for Channel 4's reputation for being 'edgy'. Brass Eye would never be shown on the BBC ... or ITV. It would have been far too close to the bone.

There is a little to be said that the styles of satirical humour in the US against the UK are different. But Brass Eye was so aggresive and confrontational in it's style of satirical humour that you can't really use it as a comparison of UK satire against US satire. Brass Eye is in a whole class of it's own. You can't even really compare it against 'Day Today' as that was a BBC show and that was far tamer than Brass Eye.

One thing Brass Eye did on both sides of the Atlantic is allow other satirical shows to push the boundaries quite a bit further ... as I dont think anyone realised just how far you could push it.

(as a side issue ... the pedophilia episode got over 200 calls of complaint to channel 4 ... but got 300 calls at the same time supporting the shows real message, about the media whipping up a frenzy of paranoia in the public, exaggerating the facts and just plain making things up! In fact, they showed it again a few days later so people who missed it could see what all the fuss was about!)

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[–] darkglobe80 18 years ago

good point about advertisers and US tv.

I'm sure you all know this, but Bill Hicks was a letterman regular, and he performed in 93 (sadly to be his last) and did his usual stuff about pro-lifers, drugs, smoking etc etc....
stuff he had done on Letterman many times before and stuff that had been shown with no problems before.
But this time, a pro-life group had paid for a slot on one of the ad breaks of the show.
Hick's got pulled.
letterman was left in a totally strange position to himself, he couldn't do anything about it, he had to pull his firends slot off the show, producers and execs lied to hicks about the reasons, ended very badly.

But yes, this incident is one of many reasons a Brass Eye USA would never have happened.

(i place that in the past tense, as no Brass Eye would ever happen these days, it seems Morris is on a different path now...)

Also, the problem with the world today is that it has become very hard to satirise.
That Stewart bloke, South Park, bremner, hislop, private eye, even the simpsons.... all are now very poor at actual satire.
why?
how do you satirise something like fox/sky news? any rolling news? newspapers? celebraties?
they have become past that now, they are such a joke that theres no need for it to be pointed out, because the people who don't see these things as a joke already would never never get satire.

It scares me how the day today and to an extent brass eye were spot on.
TDT got news so perfect, its mind blowing watching it today. "this is the war" indeed.
The peadophile brass eye special is still on of my greatest TV moments. A perfect satire, perfectly placed, targeted and timed.

Don't think these things will ever be topped personally.

ahhhh, sorry about the rant there.

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[–] andrew-jones5 18 years ago

i remember how funny i thought the send up of the music and opening of the programme was, how over the top that music was. I saw it just today and that scequence as lost its impact as the news programmes have even more trumped up stupid music!

'Work is the curse of the drinking classes' Oscar Wilde

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] blue_rat 18 years ago

Brass Eye and The Day Today are spot-on with the American satire, including the post-production editing on the American news segments. I almost broke a rib over the Beauty Pageant in the 2001 Special! This show would never happen here on cable or broadcast because of the lawyers (i.e. CAKE or Nonce Sense), more than censorship issues.

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[–] Psycojester 17 years ago

If your into this kind of show take a look at CNNNN or The Chasers War on Everything, a couple of Australian shows in the same vein which i feel are superior to brass eye

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] oliertripp 17 years ago

Oh dear, cadaverous, you need to be in possession of all the facts before you start making such knee-jerk statements such as yours.

Us Brits DO have an animated comedy that is more than half-decent, it is bloody brilliant. Its called Monkey Dust - check it out.

This man fights the law and the law wins -- the law of gravity

-Sheriff John Bunnell

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[–] JonathanWellington 17 years ago

The constant U.S. bashing that goes on at IMDb is really starting to irritate me. Now, don't get me wrong - I dislike the United States just as much as the next European (or Asian, or Australian, or African, or South American...), but let's be honest here: constantly bringing up the fact that the average U.S. citizen is a celebrity-worshiping dullard who has been totally brainwashed by the public education system and believes that the only other countries in the world are Iraq and Mexico shows that you have just as much blind nationalism as the group of people you're lampooning. Insulting a group of people because your exposure to them has been a *beep* president, terrible films and television programs, and morons who believe that their opinion should be heard is, frankly, very ignorant.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] etc4 17 years ago

I got the Brass Eye DVD(s) last week online after I had heard about online and, even though I'm American, I love it to death. I mean, come on, Morris is a genius! I have no love for Bush or the washed out hicks whose only interests involve The Dukes of Hazard or what columnists tell them they should do, but go easy on me for Me's sake, please? I mean, I don't really blame you. I mean, look who the population re-elected. Baggh, the whole thing is infuriating! Especially when my English teacher is in love with him...elggh.

But off the topic of politics and onto what this post was originally about, no, they would never even consider putting a show like Brass Eye onto our television. Well, maybe cable, but it would have to hold out on some stuff. Not saying it's right, it's just the way the hamsters in everyone's brains want it. The only thing we have close to it is either The Dailey Show with Jon Stewart and the Colbert Report, which are both equal in genius, so I recommend them both.

That's all, folks.

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[–] shockabsorber 17 years ago

Satire doesn't succeed in America? What about The Simpsons? That was a work of satirical genius in its day.

However, I have noticed a decline in American satire, and it was very soon after George Bush's rise to power (Coincidence?). It's a pity really, I mean the producers of The Simpsons say they don't make fun of George Bush because he is too easy a target. But I don't believe them, because they made fun of Clinton's womanising, and how much easier a target is there than that? I think maybe programmes fear a viewer backlash and will look "Unamerican" if they make fun of American things "In a post-nine-eleven climate". I mean look at what happened to The Dixie Chicks when they slagged off Bush.

Someone asked about "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" and the American one was fairly rubbish, which is wierd because a lot of the people on the English one were American (or in one case Canadian).

I don't think Americans are "Too Stupid" to get Brass-Eye, it's just their sense of humour is different from the British. We Irish and British get American humour because we are so flooded with American TV and movies that we know all about them and the things to make fun of. We get the references.

If they were to make an American "Brass Eye", it would have to be much different to appeal to the American palate, and if they did that, we'd all be saying how crap the American one is, and how it's betraying the "Original" British one.

__________________
I've come to warn you! In three million years, you'll be dead!

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[–] shockabsorber 17 years ago

Also, the success of "Big Brother" shows that the Brits aren't much smarter themselves!!!

__________________
I've come to warn you! In three million years, you'll be dead!

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] mrbenben-1 17 years ago

the_holy_ferret, no way in hell is the chav the most dominant class in the UK. There are a lot of so called chavs but mainly people think there are so many just as they cause the most trouble. the whole countryside of the UK is not full of so called 'chavs'.

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[–] Startanew 15 years ago

It sounds like it'd be too disturbing for Americans. They tend to flip out about stuff like this.

http://notnegativenews.com
Interactive News For Those Who Hate The Negative Media.

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[–] Janebobbob 17 years ago

Also, the success of "Big Brother" shows that the Brits aren't much smarter themselves!!!

What? thats quality programing that it! no lack of imagination from the producers at channel 4, oh no!!

Can't spell won't spell

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[–] KazGraz 17 years ago

I think someone mentioned Trey Parker and Matt Stone (probably about a year ago - this thread's an epic!) and I'd agree that through South Park they have attacked a heck of a lot of issues in a very smart way (their Scientology ep is genius and, er, banned).

If you look at the British media's reaction to the Brass Eye special, you could easily get the impression that Brits are a bunch of stuffy, right-wing inbreds who wouldn't understand a piece of satire if it was wrapped around their face (ie Daily Mail readers mostly). But we still produced the likes of Morris with a strong fan base.

My point is: yes, America has a lot of people who would object to a Brass Eye style show, mostly through stupidity and ignorance. But they have also produced some clever satire. Ditto to Brits.

But my ponder is: would America have a channel with lax enough restraints to allow a Brass Eye type show, that would reach a wide enough audience? Anyone any answers?

www.cinemafool.blogspot.com

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[–] Vraiment 17 years ago

"But my ponder is: would America have a channel with lax enough restraints to allow a Brass Eye type show, that would reach a wide enough audience? Anyone any answers? "

There arn't any British channels with a lax enough restraint to show Brass Eye. Certainly it will never be repeated on channel four, too many complaints etc.

This whole Americans are too stupid to get it is ridiculas. There are plenty of Brits who wouldn't find it funny, we arn't a nation of genuis's after all.
How many dodgy DIY, cookery, gameshows and mostly celebrity shows are there on?
For every decent programme on there's at least 20 rubbish ones.

Brass Eye is cleverly made, but so are many American comedies. 'Friends' may have a very different sense of humour but the ability to make a programme that appeals to so many people and works in so many countries is also equally as clever.
Just because a programme is controversial or has a cult following doesn't make it better.

There is so much snobbery about British comedies, it's pathetic. There are plently of *beep* ones, 'my family' anyone? How many series of that have been commissioned, yet it's awful.

I like Brass Eye by the way, Chris Morris is a genius, but it's not because he's British, he's simply one of a kind.

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[–] buffmonkey666 17 years ago

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2037600,00.html

CHECK IT OUT!!!

http://www.myspace.com/buff_monkey

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[–] Snoogens 17 years ago

I think the reason there is snobbery about British comedy is because of the influence of critics in the UK compared to the US and the amount of control the US networks have, for instance, The Office never did that well first time around but because of good critical responses and the good DVD returns it became a classic. Family Guy is a good american comedy and Fox tried to pull it after series 3, Futurama was pulled because of the poor ratings and those are two of the most innovative and intelligent shows of the last decade (admittedly Family Guy got recomissioned). Critical responses seem secondary to audiences on most mainstream networks (obvioulsy the HBO stuff like Curb you Enthusiasm are subscription reliant so the money's already in the bag).

Chimpanzee that HE'S ONLY GONE AND WRITTEN IT DOWN FOR A WHOLE F--CKING YEAR!!

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[–] indiemovies 17 years ago

I am American and I would watch it. I love how most of these shows rip on Americans. The Jail B8 rapper is so Eminem and so hilarious.

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[–] amp85 17 years ago

Only on Paid Cable, like HBO or Shotime. Though, Comedy Central might be able to pull off a tamer version, more like The Day Today.

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