why if daphne comes from manchester, do all her family have accents from dickensian london??
2006-11-01 22:10:58 · 12 answers · asked by ginger 6 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Television
I was a fan of Frasier - but the English characters dialogue always sounded phoney. Not only did Daphne’s family all have different accents (non of them very well done) - but some of their supposedly quaint 'English' sayings - simply don’t exist.
It was the same in Friends (another show I liked) with the Ross’s English marriage episode.
As I say, I loved these shows but when US comedies try to do British characters it makes me cringe.
2006-11-01 22:21:51 · answer #1 · answered by Mr Crusty 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yeah...just a little odd that Daphne from Manchester should have the insanely posh Richard E Grant as one brother and the (in this show) unintelligible but genuinely Scottish Robbie Coltrane as another, plus...well, plus the other one...
I think they were just trying to show a bunch of disreputable characters, and were keen to get some big names in to play them, and it all added to the kind of 'melting pot' comedy that Frasier eventually became - although I'm a fan of the show, it certainly developed into formula, and whne the formula was getting thin, into "What the hell can we do to get the next laugh". Having the different accents was probably a mixture of "Hey wow, that sounds funny" and a condescension that the key audiences "would never notice". Clearly they would and did, but when I watch those episodes now, the thing I'm left with is the feeling of traditional farce, screaming pell-mell towards an ending where everything works out alright. The linguistically diverse brothers are just another thing to fill the screen and move the scenes along.
2006-11-02 06:31:42 · answer #2 · answered by mdfalco71 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Maybe the yanks think the Brits only have 1 accent!! They dont get that not only are there different accents there are completely different dialects, because well mainly because they dont care about authenticity just cheap laughs, cos they make Daphnes whole family look like bumbling fools!!
2006-11-02 06:19:47 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Most Americans would not know the difference, anyway. On the other hand, most Brits would not know the difference between a mid-western, southern and western American accents.
2006-11-02 07:43:28 · answer #4 · answered by boleiano 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You mean a bit like Sean Connery's russian accent in 'The Hunt for Red October' ?
2006-11-02 06:21:11 · answer #5 · answered by 'Dr Greene' 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's television shorthand, something that registers immediately with an audience and gains their interest/sympathy.We have Dick Van Dyke to blame, I think. But we do it too - although we mask it with appeals to irony or comedy. Just think of the appalling German, French and Italian accents in Hallo Hallo....Luvverly Lydees..Klop!...Eet eez I, Leclerc...hmm
2006-11-02 06:35:54 · answer #6 · answered by zoomjet 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I would guess because the Americans think the English speak that way, or maybe they wouldnt understand the Manchester accent.
Stereotyping can be hilarious.
2006-11-02 06:13:26 · answer #7 · answered by brianthesnailuk2002 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Hahahaha nice one! Her "brother" in the show is American thats why! I'n only surprised he didn't say Gor Blimey Guvnor!
2006-11-02 06:14:10 · answer #8 · answered by Sir Sidney Snot 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm led to believe that this load of crap is of American origin, so what else do you expect when it comes to them knowing anything about the English people, let alone the whole of the UK ! !
2006-11-02 07:17:24 · answer #9 · answered by Dover Soles 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
That was my question too LOL
2006-11-02 06:16:08 · answer #10 · answered by . 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋