To be nonplussed why people rave over Mrs Brown's Boys

[ComposHat]

I've tried watching it twice twice and haven't got past the first five minutes it was so awful.

It seemed like an artless parody of a shite 70s sitcom (like something Frankie Howerd forgot to make) Don't get me wrong I'm not a comedy snob and quite enjoy a broad knockabout comedy like Vicious, yet I am utterly bemused by Mrs Brown's Boys, it looks dated, absurd and utterly free from laughs.

Yet it has a massive following, especially amongst people of my parents' generation. Normally when there's a TV programme I dislike I can see why other people (Top Gear for example) may enjoy it. But Mrs Brown seems to be without any redeaming features.

There must be some fans out there who can explain its appeal?

Jimmy - 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Office (the American one is excellent too)/Extras, Mitchell & Webb, Peep Show, Father Ted, Red Dwarf, The Fast Show, Big Train, Open All Hours, Morecambe and Wise - how many do you want me to list?

It would be a boring old world if everyone liked the same!! DH pisses himself at Alan partridge I think it's a lot of shite!! But hey ho

It's shit.

Nancy I love the royal family too I can relate to it when I visited my English family lol!

Oh, I love Alan Partridge too!

And The IT Crowd - forgot about that.

And anything with Charlie Brooker - looking forward to the new series of Weekly Wipe this month.

Jimmy of course there's a connection between intelligence and viewing choice.

The more stupid you are the more likely you are to laugh at a seal clapping it's flippers. Which would actually be more amusing than Mrs Brown's Boys.

Just read the thread back to see how in the minority you are.

Gives me faith in humanity to see that so many MNers hate it as much as I do .

Do you drop your high IQ into every thread you go on? How sad

I passed my cycling proficiency

I must be stupid cause I laugh at it lol

Think that's quite harsh!!!

The reason mammy is a man is because the whole thing developed from his stage show - he is mrs brown from its very conception. It is very much his show, his wife plays his daughter their son plays another character, daughter plays another, daughter in law plays dil. He wasn't cast in the role he created it. They work well together because there are strong connections between them all.

I'm not a massive fan but my mum and dc all enjoy it.

I'm the same with Miranda. An annoying woman who does lots of fake falling over. Funny why?!

You think 'three figures' is high IQ, Nishky?

I find it a bit "meh" although the bits where they corpse/mess up the lines are quite funny, because you know in RL they are all related, and clearly having a blast making the show.

DO (who's Irish) and his entire family find it absolutely hilarious.

DO??

DH, obviously.

Do you know that Brendan O'Carroll is a member of Mensa? I don't think your IQ is necessarily reflected in what you find funny.

It's the sort of show that I find uncomfortable to watch. It's that bad.

I just don't get that sort of humour. Old people love it and seem to enjoy explaining why it's so side splitting....

Oh it's a man dressed as a woman!
That woman there, the one playing the daughter? That's his wife! How funny is that?? It's his wife but she's playing his daughter!!
HE SAID FECK!!!

I can't stand it

My really prudish parents, especially my dad, absolutely love it

They have gone down in my estimation

YNBU. I don't like it neither.

I think the only thing which is mildly original is the breaking of the fourth wall, but everything else gets right up my nose. As others have said, it's like something which would have been awful in the 70s. DH is Irish and doesn't get it either. Mind you, he also can't stand Kilinascully, and his family and friends at home all love it.

We both loved Soupy Norman: that was a moment of genius from RTÉ.

I watched it for the first time the other night, having deliberately avoided it for a long time expecting not to like it, however I thought it was very funny!

I can't explain why I liked it though, I just did .

[& to be clear, I'm 36, Irish & certainly don't believe myself to be stupid!!]

I don't agree that your sense of humour is linked that much with IQ t bh.
Possibly because I laugh like a drain at Miranda
Fawlty Towers is a lot of slapstick/mistaken identity/poking fun out of accents.

I just don't find Mrs Brown's Boys in anyway funny, doesn't make me a bore or more intelligent that someone who does.

My IL was raving about it the other day so I'm beginning to see a pattern in who the fans are. Guess it appeals to older folk and is similar to the shows they were brought up on. Right, going to give it another try just to see if it is still as crap as I thought it was.

Bunny - when something is funny it's funny. It's not about 'intelligence' it's about letting your hair down and having a good old laugh. I believe laughing is one of the best things anyone can do.

YANBU - it's ghastly, unfunny dross.

I really really enjoy Mrs Brown's boys, rather than find it side-rippingly funny.I think the enjoymant is partly born out of nostalgia for the 'gentle' 1970s sitcoms.

Jimmy - can you not get your head round that folk find different things funny? You seem really stuck on the idea that if you find something hilarious then everyone else must too. Very strange.