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Well, you call it a rant bravejordy, but I think you're spot on. British comedy does seem to have lost the plot, and I find myself wondering why.
Perhaps Stephen Merchant's writing for The Office and Extras (I'm not a great Ricky Gervais fan, but Merchant's writing was spot on) and that of Armando Inaucci (for The Thick Of It and, of course, Alan Partridge) set a standard which others just can't match?
It does make me wonder if British sitcoms/sketch shows have turned into genres whose time has gone, in much the same way as 'variety' shows (think Morecambe & Wise, The Two Ronnies) were of an era that's now passed. Classics as they were, I doubt that we could ever return to those sorts of shows.
Series such as I'm Alan Partridge and The Office were radically different, and perhaps it's going to take something pretty special to mark the next significant move forward in comedy?