With the rising profile of comedians like Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart, it seems like making fun of politicians is America's Thing—after all, what's a presidential election nowadays without the accompanying "Saturday Night Live" sketches lampooning the candidates?

But for as adept as Americans are at political humor, the Brits certainly have much more practice in it. Take, for example, the BBC show "Yes, Minister," and its sequel, "Yes, Prime Minister," both of which were quite popular in the 1980s, and remain a cultural landmark for many Brits (and anglophiles) to this day. The success of the shows eventually led to a stage production named after the latter, which opened on the West End in 2010.

The shows' creators and writers, Jonathan Lynn (who also directs) and Antony Jay have brought the show over to the Geffen for its West Coast premiere. In this new incarnation of the story, the Prime Minister, Jim Hacker (Michael McKean, "Spinal Tap") is trying to assert the power he believes comes with his position, despite the best intentions of his secretaries, Sir Humphrey Appleby (Dakin Matthews) and Bernard Woolley (Jefferson Mays). In traditional comedy style, Hacker's relatively simple task (obtaining a large loan from the Kumranistani government) is complicated along the way by a variety of plot devices.

"Yes, Prime Minister" is a charming enough play. Lynn and Jay's book is full of witticisms and jokes that cater to an audience that is well-aware of international politics. Likewise, the performances are all pleasant, though there are some inconsistencies among the actors' British accents. Simon Higlett's scenic design and Kate Bergh's costumes are believable, but fall prey to the issue that plagues the production as a whole—while everything is nice, and well-done, nothing really hits home. None of many laughs the show elicits grow into great, belly-twisting roars of laughter that really reach the soul. "Yes, Prime Minister" reads as the personification of British stereotypes; competent, concerned with manners, inoffensive, but hardly soul-shifting. There's so much more to British culture, though—"Fawlty Towers," another BBC show that preceded "Yes, Minister" elicited greater laughs, and there is a plethora of British cultural contributions that tell transformative and thoroughly engaging stories (see: Shakespeare, Austen, "Doctor Who," et al., just to name a few).

There's nothing specifically wrong with "Yes, Prime Minister," nothing that direly needs fixing. Indeed, it's a pleasant diversion, and enjoyable to watch, but it never makes a strong impression. Certainly, there are worse transgressions for a play to commit than being forgettable, but one could hope for more from the highly-touted franchise.

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"Yes, Prime Minister" is playing at the Geffen Playhouse (10886 Le Conte Ave, Los Angeles, CA) through July 14. Tickets are $40-$75. More information can be found at GeffenPlayhouse.com.