Still Game

Then what's your point, caller?



I think you'll find, dear, that ALL network programming is subtitled as a matter of course, and the comment was more likely to have originated in London as a form of "Jock-mocking". Doubtless from someone who said the same thing about Rab C Nesbitt.



That's not true either. I read several positive reviews.

If you don't like it Mich; fine. I have no axe to grind over that. Each to their own, and all that. I woudn't suggest for a minute that ANY comedy would be universally well received.

But to suggest that a Scottish accent is enough to stop a programme being networked is offensive rubbish.

And by the way, if you think the accents are 'thick', then how would you cope with the Kumars or Goodness Gracious Me?

Really, subtitles, amazing this new technolegy isn't it. I think it was fairly clear that I mean't subtitles to aid the 'translation'.


Well I may have missed them, but my point was the network showing on BBC 2 in the spring seamed to go unnoticed, whereas this annoucement has been widely covered.



I didn't suggest that the accent was enough to stop it being networked, I simply said that I thought it was awful, and didn't deserve to be networked. Maybe some of the laughs were lost on me due to either accents or culture, but either way, it doesn't mean that it'll do well on network.

I don't find accents 'thick' per se, an accent is usually perfectly understandable, but when they are much stronger, many regional/national accents become difficult to understand.

Don't try to be cute with me Mich. If someone says, "Ah'm goin doon the shops", it doesn't require a translation.



That rather flies in the face of what you said earlier:



So on the basis that your entire argument is make-it-up-as-you-go-along, then there seems to be little more to be said.

Good day. *Doffs cap*.

Now would that be Jack Jarvis' cap, or Victor's?

Aye, it wiz Victor McDade's.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/images/220/stillgame_1.jpg

I find it very hard to understand the scouse accent, and Liverpool is only 6 miles away.

I watched still game when it was shown on BBC2 earlier this year, and I thought it was hilarious. I didn't think any of the jokes were scot based (whatever that means).

Exactly!! If all programmes had speach in perfect Queen's English, then how dull life would be! Most British people, regardless of what home nation they belong to, rarely struggle to understand accents. True there may be the odd word or phrase lost in dialogue due to local meanings but that's the beauty of accents. I have no problem understanding the majority of Scottish accents. After all, apart from Gaelic, they do actually speak English. Be honest now, how many people can actually understand what a Geordie is saying constantly? That doesn't stop dramas featuring broad Geordie accents being shown does it? I saw an episode of "Still Game" while I was on holiday in Fort William, and I thought it was very funny. I would love to see the entire series.

You are surely not claiming The Karen Dunbar Show to be 'brilliant', are you? If that was networked, I think England would want independence from Scotland...

As for the Lost In Translation debate - there's no way Still Game will ever become the massive success it is up here. 1.5 million viewers in a nation under four million is phenominal - proportionally comparable to Coronation Street or Eastenders. But it's a mainstream success up here because it is peculiarly Scottish. For better or for worse, looking beyond the fact that a lot of it will not seem relevant to people in London, many people will switch off because of the accents (a major complaint by focus groups about the Mark Radcliffe Breakfast Show on Radio 1, lest we forget). That's not right, but it will affect viewing figures.

Played properly on BBC2, it will attract open-minded trendsetters down south - the sort of people who like to see new comedy first and then recommend it to their mates. If that happens, it'll become a bit of a cult. Meanwhile it'll continue to be a success up here regardless. Who knows - played properly, it could eventually become a massive success down south. Let's just hope it's not watered down to account for network tastes in future series, otherwise it wil lose its bite.

I don't beleive I put Karen Dunbar and 'brilliant' together quite like that, but across the spread, Scottish comedy is better and more abundant than I can rermember in the last 20 years.

I was challenging the statement made earlier which opposed that view. As Karen herself would say, "I think I can smell sh*te... Yes.. definately sh*te.".

Fair enough - I can't argue with you too much. Karen Dunbar in Chewin' The Fat is funny. Karen Dunbar in her own show is about as much fun as being stuck in a lift with Wet Wet Wet.

I also reckon Scottish comedy is possibly at its healthiest level for many a year, although it is a bit too dependent on The Comedy Unit, and the same faces. But things are much better than the days of the horrendous Rab C Nesbitt and.... well, aside from Naked Video, which had its moments, that was about it really.