I'm also reminded of a Norwegian (?) horror-drama about a hospital that was broadcast on British TV very late at nights sometime in the early '90s I think, which I think was called "Kingdom," which had a very portentous vibe that was supposed to be cosmological horror about some ancient association of the location or something, where the acting and dialogue was very portentous, but nothing really seemed to be happening, except that it was shot in half light with a lot of empty corridor shots iirc. I'm probably getting a lot of the details wrong, but there were a number of things like that scattered through the 1980s, some of which were genuinely scary, like the Children of the Stones, despite very ropey effects. Parody is the most British form of comedy maybe, because it starts in childhood, with kids competing to "take each other off." Not the same as taking the piss out of, which can just be mockery, but specifically parodying people to try to embarrass them, or to undermine a teacher's authority. It's also inherently subversive, which we like due to the class system and the history of class politics in the UK, which never got suppressed like socialist politics was successfully suppressed in the USA with the successive Red Scares, starting with the villification of the Populists in the 1890s. We have a strnger distrust of authority because we never had a written Constitution and we can't pretend to be a republic, and we're still stuck with various kinds of aristocratic trappings and ceremonies which only draw further attention to the fact that some people have extreme unearned and undeserved wealth, which you have worse than us now, but your oligarchs at least dress normally and don't speak in a distinctive weird accent. Possibly Garth Marenghi's Darkplace had an influence on the writer of Kung Fury, because he said his idea was to write from the perspective of a dumb guy, and to put in everything that a dumb guy would think was cool. Not that Kung Fury isn't well made, because it is, within the confines of budget and doing everything on green screen. I can't wait for a sequel.
@@TheNerdsofComedyatthePush The 80's/90's Channel 4 logo is at the start in a nod of the ITV logos that were used back in the day, before a program. Thames TV being a perfect example
Garth Marenghi isnt based on Stephen King, he's based primarily on Shaun Hutson, with a bit of William Friedkin and Harlan Ellison thrown in. Look up some.old interviews with Shaun Hutson. You'll see what I mean.
@@TheNerdsofComedyatthePush not much directly that I'm aware of, though some of the book readings in Darkplace are the same material. ( ua-cam.com/video/J0Nm64-OsUI/v-deo.html )
Agree wholeheartedly. I've seen many attempts to purposely make a 'low budget b movie' that just come off as cheesy. Every 'low budget bit' in Garth was carefully crafted.
You guys really need to watch the DVD with commentary on
Thanks. We will definitely check it out.
"I haven't acted since. Some would say I didn't act during!"
lol.
His acting was so sublime, they gave Dean his own show.
ua-cam.com/video/RWQRlvy5Gv4/v-deo.html
Garth didn't want 'acting'. He wanted 'truth'.
I'm also reminded of a Norwegian (?) horror-drama about a hospital that was broadcast on British TV very late at nights sometime in the early '90s I think, which I think was called "Kingdom," which had a very portentous vibe that was supposed to be cosmological horror about some ancient association of the location or something, where the acting and dialogue was very portentous, but nothing really seemed to be happening, except that it was shot in half light with a lot of empty corridor shots iirc. I'm probably getting a lot of the details wrong, but there were a number of things like that scattered through the 1980s, some of which were genuinely scary, like the Children of the Stones, despite very ropey effects.
Parody is the most British form of comedy maybe, because it starts in childhood, with kids competing to "take each other off." Not the same as taking the piss out of, which can just be mockery, but specifically parodying people to try to embarrass them, or to undermine a teacher's authority. It's also inherently subversive, which we like due to the class system and the history of class politics in the UK, which never got suppressed like socialist politics was successfully suppressed in the USA with the successive Red Scares, starting with the villification of the Populists in the 1890s. We have a strnger distrust of authority because we never had a written Constitution and we can't pretend to be a republic, and we're still stuck with various kinds of aristocratic trappings and ceremonies which only draw further attention to the fact that some people have extreme unearned and undeserved wealth, which you have worse than us now, but your oligarchs at least dress normally and don't speak in a distinctive weird accent.
Possibly Garth Marenghi's Darkplace had an influence on the writer of Kung Fury, because he said his idea was to write from the perspective of a dumb guy, and to put in everything that a dumb guy would think was cool. Not that Kung Fury isn't well made, because it is, within the confines of budget and doing everything on green screen. I can't wait for a sequel.
It's just simply one of the funniest things ever made
It's great! There's a new book from Garth Marenghi that came out in November.
Garth Marenghi’s TerrorTome
It was shown on Channel 4 not BBC
Thanks. I realized my mistake not long after I posted the video.
@@TheNerdsofComedyatthePush The 80's/90's Channel 4 logo is at the start in a nod of the ITV logos that were used back in the day, before a program. Thames TV being a perfect example
Garth Marenghi isnt based on Stephen King, he's based primarily on Shaun Hutson, with a bit of William Friedkin and Harlan Ellison thrown in.
Look up some.old interviews with Shaun Hutson. You'll see what I mean.
9:33 there were two stage shows afaik: Fright Knight and Netherhead.
Do you know if there's any footage available from the stage shows?
There's a Garth Marenghi book that just came out as well.
Garth Marenghi’s TerrorTome
@@TheNerdsofComedyatthePush not much directly that I'm aware of, though some of the book readings in Darkplace are the same material.
( ua-cam.com/video/J0Nm64-OsUI/v-deo.html )
This is comedy gold.
It's painful to watch because it's supposed to be painful to watch, that the genius.
Agreed. Not only is it genius, but their ability to purposely make something look bad without coming of hacky, is astounding.
It takes no small amount of talent and skill to make a show this bad _on purpose._
Agree wholeheartedly. I've seen many attempts to purposely make a 'low budget b movie' that just come off as cheesy. Every 'low budget bit' in Garth was carefully crafted.