The Comedy Downturn – Part Two

Part Two of the blog I like to call ‘The Comedy Downturn’ is here now, and is about comedy shows which have been axed, by what the corporation that goes by the name of the ‘BBC’ and I’ll wonder why they have been dropped, as well as giving my view of the few good comedy shows on the television.

Recent news tells us that the BBC 1 show, ‘Not Going Out’ has not been commissioned another series. It has two great comedians which ‘act’ in it, Lee Mack and Tim Vine, whom are both well known comedians on the stand-up scene and are quite clever with their comedy. They did manage to get to series two of it on BBC 1, although they haven’t finished showing the rest of the second series, and we will have to wait until later in the year to watch the last two episodes. I’m not going to be hypocritical and pretend that I loved it, because I didn’t, but it was still a good Sitcom, which made me laugh and was still reasonably clever. And yet the show has now been sent to the ‘Sin Bin’ of television, when there is lots of rubbish on telly, which should have been sent there after the first viewing, like some of the ones mentioned in yesterdays blog.

Joining ‘Not Going Out’ is Peter Serafinowicz, whose show is, or should I say was, a fast paced, original comedy sketch show which was shown in the undergrowth of BBC 2 viewing, which meant it was hard for it to get brilliant viewing figures. Even the Christmas special was shown quite late on BBC 2. And now it has been dropped and won’t get another series, which it deserves. It was pretty clever, and although you probably could say it went too far with certain things, it still was brilliant for a laugh and is what the comedy sketch show should be like in my opinion, instead of this Al Murray and Horne & Cordon stuff.

You can’t really say that there is anything on Television at the moment which can stand the test of time and in twenty years time, still make people laugh. Show’s like Monty Python. Although over 20 years old, is still a great example of comedy which came out of Great Britain, and can is considered funny by all generations, and the lines can be heard repeated where ever you go, from the school classroom to on the street. It shows that even over twenty years later, it can be shown to us now, and still make everyone laugh, which is something that cannot be said for any new comedy on television these days.

A new favourite of mine is ‘Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle’. It’s not because we share the same first name (although spelt differently), or because he reminds me of one of my old school teachers, Mr Robinson. It’s because it’s good old fashioned satire, with sophistication worthy of BBC 4. It mixes stand-up, with sketches throughout which relate to the subject Stewart is talking about, performed by other comedians, such as Tim Vine and Peter Serafinowicz. Stand the test of time, it may not, but funny it sure is. I hope the show isn’t sent straight to the ‘Sin Bin’ and is allowed another series because I am really enjoying this one.

Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe/Newswipe on BBC 4 is very good too. Although technically he is only a columnist, who is occasionally let onto the Television, he is extremely funny... and right. Although he may express his views rather strongly, you cannot argue with what he is saying, because he is right about pretty much everything. As well as being funny and entertaining, his shows are also a good way of finding out how the media works, it’s quite factual as well I suppose is a better way to put it. His shows are something I make sure I watch every week, because they are very entertaining.

There is a lot of bad television programs around, which people class as ‘comedy’ these days, which clogs up space in the Radio Times, and is quite popular for some unknown reason and therefore the old fashioned comedy, which are funny, are being dropped. It’s a real shame. I’ve now been forced to buy boxsets of comedy shows, like ‘The IT Crowd’ and ‘Mr Bean’ and awaiting delivery of ‘The Ronnie Barker Collection’ to keep me amused while comedy writers have meetings to discuss the best way to get out of this ‘Comedy Downturn’ and solve the ‘Laughter Shortage’, or so I wish. I expect comedy is going to worse before it gets better...
Although on April 24th, Have I Got News For You returns to our screens, so that’s something to look forward to and see us a through this dark patch in comedy.

Toodles m’dearys
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