Local sitcoms since PCK

Situationcoms
How far have local sitcoms come since Phua Chu Kang said goodbye?
Monday • September 8, 2008, TODAY

IF SITCOMS are a reflection of our society, how would we define the Singapore brand of humour?
In Parental Guidance star Adrian Pang’s unminced words: "Crass, infantile, and reliant on the lamest forms of colloquial linguistic exaggerations. I love it!"
Alaric Tay, who stars in The Noose, which is returning for a second season tomorrow, agreed. "Singapore humour revolves around our language. We like to laugh at the way we sound — whether it’s dialects or minority groups. And there’s slapstick, of course."
Jade Seah, who plays a nerdy teacher in new sitcom First Class, likes the way that our sitcoms generally address "our idiosyncrasies".
She added: "You can say, ‘Yeah, I’m like that, and it’s quite funny, what.’"
Indeed. But is this what Singaporeans really want on their TV sets? Are we satisfied with seeing repeated parodies of our shallowest attributes?

One of the creative minds who worked on our first and most successful sitcoms — Under One Roof and PCK Pte Ltd — had a few suggestions as to why our local sitcoms haven’t progressed terribly far since Gurmit Singh hung up his yellow rubber booties.
This person declined to be named because of continuing working relations with MediaCorp, and shall hereafter be referred to as "The Truth Fairy".
The Truth Fairy offered some constructive criticism. Perhaps we’re over-relying on stereotypical characters, hammy performances, and "a tendency to stick to family sitcoms, which are safe and middle ground".
Oh, dear. That’s not funny.

FUNNY, MEH?

There’s no denying that we yearn to see ourselves and our society reflected humorously in our sitcoms.
As the first local sitcom, Under One Roof had the advantage of being able to stick to the basics: An ordinary family in an ordinary HDB flat with just the right percentage of ordinary multi-racial neighbours.
And if Under One Roof were about the average Singaporean, then PCK was about the exaggerated Singaporean — from Singlish, superstitions, and lack of social graces, to false airs and social pretensions.
"I actually love local sitcoms," said Shaun Oon, 25, a Philosophy tutor at the National University of Singapore, in a tone that suggested that this might come as a surprise.
"I think shows like PCK and Calefare are funny because of the way they respond to our specific cultural context. For example, I like First Class even if I find it unoriginal and hammy, because no one else makes jokes about how silly the Co-Curricular Activities system is.
Of course, that means you will only "get it" if you knew what a Co-Curricular Activities system was in the first place.
Mrs Anna Ng, a29-year-old from New York who moved to Singapore three years ago when she married a Singaporean, said she rarely watches local sitcoms because she finds them difficult to relate to.
About First Class, she explained: "I don’t even know what’s happening on that show. There was one part where the students stood up and droned ‘good morning’ to their teacher — it was only after my husband had explained it to me that I could see the humour in it."
In general, she added, our local sitcoms are "very, very cheesy".

DON’T PLAY, PLAY

Cheesy and familiar. Is that what’s holding our sitcoms back?
The Truth Fairy offered another suggestion.
More rehearsal time might lead to more believable performances. More focus on breaking new ground with a fresh concept might also push our sitcoms up the evolution ladder of "funnyness".
"If you tell the same joke 10 times, people will laugh the first time, they may even laugh the second time, but they will slap you the tenth time," cautioned The Truth Fairy.
The Noose’s Chua Enlai raised the possibility of another possible suspect: You.
"I think the problem is that Singaporeans are a bit too scared to laugh at themselves," said Enlai.
"For example, Little Britain (a comedy sketch show from the BBC), which I love, is England under a microscope. But it is real. And it is tongue-in-cheek.
Only when a comedy resonates with the audience is it really effective. There has to be a shred of truth in it. There should be some sort of self-reflection and commentary, especially when it comes to stereotypes."

THEN HOW, AH?

Then again, do Singaporeans really want something different when it comes to what makes them laugh?
Calefare and The Noose, although not conceptually groundbreaking, are at least pushing the boundaries of local comedy in terms of format.
But — and this may or may not come as a shock — First Class and Police and Thief, which follow a formulaic, tried-and-tested approach, are beating them in the ratings.
On a related note, has anyone else noticed how uncannily identical the opening title of First Class is to Under One Roof’s?

The Truth Fairy agreed it might be a bit of a Catch-22 situation.
Why try something different if people want the same thing?
But, at the same time, you’ve got to offer people something different to nibble on before they decide they like more than the one thing they have gotten used to.
Take a risk on shows that may take the masses a while to appreciate, suggested the Fairy, and don’t play it too safe.
Alaric agreed, but pointed out that it’s already happening. "I think local comedy-makers right now are doing a lot of exploring as to what kind of characters can be funny," he told Today.
"On The Noose, we’re doing so many different characters on every episode. There are some very experimental things going on."
It’s easy to be critical of our sitcoms, but let’s lend them our support, especially when they do make the effort.
I, for one, have a great idea for a new sitcom. It’ll be about a talking dog who wanders around MRT stations and trains meeting colourful and interesting heartland characters, and it’ll be called Under One Woof.

The second season of The Noose premieres tomorrow at 10pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 5. CatchCalefare at 8pm and First Class at 8.30pm on Tuesdays on Channel 5.