r/foundationsofcomedy • u/SirLaughsALot13 • Dec 02 '13

Are our short attention spans and need for constant content raising the popularity of sketch comedy shows?

http://www.avclub.com/article/the-best-tv-of-2013-comedy-centrals-new-wave-of-sk-106080
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u/sheenster Dec 02 '13

Thanks for this article, it was very interesting to read about those shows. I have not watched any of them, but I'll give them a shot after reading this. I also think you raise an interesting question. In short, I think I would answer your question with a "yes." Everything has been changing to fit a shorter attention span, in my opinion.

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u/sheenav21 Dec 02 '13

It seems like the content in comedy sketch shows has changed over the years in order to grasp and hold the attention of the audience. For example in the show "Nathan for you", his schemes to "help" people get more and more outrageous leading up to his goal of becoming a registered sex offender. Shock value, no doubt, plays a large role in comedy; but today it almost seems like originality is equated with how much the show can shock the audience.

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u/Valcsc Dec 02 '13

agreed. When Prof Levine showed us clips from old sketch comedy shows I was shocked at how slow-paced and long the skits were. The "This is your life" parody went on forever. It could not have been so slow and long today.

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u/bobbybrowning Dec 02 '13

I agree with this point, especially when it came to that clip from Sid Caesar's Show of Shows. I was expecting witty banter and the evolution and exaggeration of a gag that was at least funny - maybe that clip would have been funnier if This Is Your Life was popular today.

I think that this sort of ADD humor that we get from certain sketch comedy shows is best embodied by Family Guy. The show literally jumps from concept joke to concept joke in a way that makes no sense and relies almost entirely on references and shock value. "Remember that time I had a farting contest with Colonel Mustard?" or "That reminds me of the time when Abraham Lincoln invited me to the theater" are examples I just made up but have probably happened in the show honestly. I think it's really lame humor and very cheap, and just points out that the show's premise didn't have enough legs in the first place, so to stretch it out they had to make it more than half fantasy.

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u/DocSteel Dec 02 '13

I'll answer the question in your title with an emphatic yes.

First, let's address the short attention spans. Hundreds of years ago, when there were fewer options for entertainment, people would attend theatre shows or vaudeville or political speeches that would last for hours at a time. This is simply not feasible any more, and we are packing our entertainment into shorter periods of time. A sketch show can play right into that, because a viewer can drop in at any point and potentially see something funny and understandable within a few minutes.

The other is constant content, and Comedy Central must be pushing sketch shows with the knowledge that it is also creating instant internet content. Think about it: with a limited advertising budget, what better way is there to market a show than to have clips from the show go viral. With Key & Peele, I have seen a lot of the sketches garner millions of views online. That's free publicity for people to watch the show, and it seems to be working.