In reply to Roy Scarborough knocking US comedy (Letters, January 18), I suggest he simply doesn't understand it (or, indeed, anything American).

Has he, I wonder, ever heard of Phil Silvers (Sgt Bilko), Hogan's Heroes, MASH, I Love Lucy, etc?

All were hugely popular shows in Great Britain when shown.

Not all Americans watch Seinfeld, Friends and so on.

But I must defend these shows when some people describe them as crude.

The British invented crude, lewd humour with a series of movies under the title Carry On... (just how smutty and lavatorial can you get?).

Now the average Brit rushes to hear the rubbish of Roy "Chubby" Brown, Jim Davidson and the foul-mouthed Billy Connolly.

So check out your own smut cupboard before - as usual - knocking the US.

-David (the Mad Yank) Jayssen, themadyank@cwctv.net