Doing a back of the envelope calculation in the office the other day, we realised we have something unexpected in in common with ‘The Young Ones’. Some 3 million people, roughly, have also seen our sitcoms ‘Restricted Intelligence’ and ‘Tuesdays with Bernie’. We’d be the first to acknowledge our comedy dues to these pioneers of the genre. Thanks to them and the likes of ‘The Office’, ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Big Bang Theory’ we’ve been able to mine a seam of comedy in which it’s OK, in fact positively beneficial to paddle around in the inconsistency, vanity and creative energy of human beings and their relationships. Take for example Lionel and Ian in ‘Restricted Intelligence’ our information security series of sitcoms and the eponymous ‘Bernie’ in ‘Tuesdays with Bernie’ our compliance and ethics sitcom. All those characters are human vanity, insecurity and avarice, depicted simultaneously with a compensating dose of how to behave well.
We get plenty of spontaneous, un-solicited positive and supportive feedback, as do the CISO’s and Compliance officers who commission and deliver our programmes. Of all those 3 million viewers only a couple have raised a question, regarding the way that office relationships are conducted. These have come from HR departments wishing to cover themselves from a notional complaint from a notional viewer. We have to respect the fact that our programmes are often watched as part of a mandatory training programme (although we do not recommend this approach – viral is best for sure) and must appeal to a broad, work-based audience. We also acknowledge that the times are increasingly risk averse. However, rather than edit out material that may be offensive to an undefined viewer, we would rather talk it through. Far better a disclaimer, based on negotiation, or direct conversation with a potential offended party, or their HR manager. There have been three conversations about this where the outcomes have been about “someone” being “potentially” offended. The actual person on the phone usually likes the series and understands where we are going with it. They worry about the “what if….”.
As the writers of ‘The Young Ones’ explained recently: They had to trade four ‘bloody’s for one ‘bastard’ with a nervous BBC commissioner to make sure their ground-breaking comedy made it to broadcast. We and 3 million others are ‘bl*o*y glad they did.