Maybe it's me but does anybody find the guest hosts on the Comedy slot from 10pm on 4Extra funny? I find them to be irritating, self-indugent wannabes who get in the way of the comedy . . . . .or, as I ask, is it just me?
Radio 4Extra Continuity Announcers
Quote: smudger @ 22nd November 2013, 1:29 PM GMTMaybe it's me but does anybody find the guest hosts on the Comedy slot from 10pm on 4Extra funny? I find them to be irritating, self-indugent wannabes who get in the way of the comedy . . . . .or, as I ask, is it just me?
Interesting timing. I normally listen to the comedy slots broadcast earlier in the day. Last night, I was tuned to R4E sometime after 10pm - Clare in the Community etc - and thought "who on earth is that really dreadful continuity announcer?" A pity because the station as a whole is better than any other currently.
Quote: smudger @ 22nd November 2013, 1:29 PM GMTMaybe it's me but does anybody find the guest hosts on the Comedy slot from 10pm on 4Extra funny? I find them to be irritating, self-indugent wannabes who get in the way of the comedy . . . . .or, as I ask, is it just me?
No, it's not just you. I commented here on the same thing a month or so ago. Self-indulgent and irritating sums up most of them. Sarah Pascoe and Isy Suttie would lead the pack if not for the utterly dire Peacock and Gamble. Who ever told them they were funny? Arthur Smith aside, the only host who actually does the job - which is to say, host without thinking they're funnier than the material they're presenting - is Tom Wrigglesworth.
Yes that's why I asked if it was me. Maybe I'm getting too old for this business and its a young persons game but I don't find those aforementioned ladies funny at all. But yet I'm open minded to love the new radio stuff like . . .(not fully exhaustive) . . .Deep Trouble, Reardon, Claire, The Castle, Cabin Pressure . . . .so I can't be totally out of touch . . . . . can I?
Quote: Tim Azure @ 26th November 2013, 9:44 AM GMTThe viewers of Peep Show and Twenty Twelve, for one...
Are you saying only one person in the whole wide world watches both those programmes?
Quote: Tim Azure @ 26th November 2013, 9:44 AM GMTThe viewers of Peep Show and Twenty Twelve, for one...
Nice deliberate misread/misquote of "who told Peacock and Gamble they were funny?" That aside, as you cite, audiences do find Sarah Pascoe and Isi Suttie funny. Working from good scripts written by others. Their problem on the Comedy Club is working from their own scripts.
Quote: smudger @ 26th November 2013, 5:09 PM GMTYes that's why I asked if it was me. Maybe I'm getting too old for this business and its a young persons game but I don't find those aforementioned ladies funny at all. But yet I'm open minded to love the new radio stuff like . . .(not fully exhaustive) . . .Deep Trouble, Reardon, Claire, The Castle, Cabin Pressure . . . .so I can't be totally out of touch . . . . . can I?
I'm thinking what you're thinking on this one and would also endorse I's positive comments about Tom W. My principal concern, though, is whether the BBC is pitching this right. If R4E are getting the - youngish? - audiences in for the post 10pm slot, I'm content even if I prefer the continuity style during the daytime.
Arguably the big issue in radio is how to increase the figures among younger age groups while not losing the older ones. The future of individual stations - and radio itself - depends on that being done successfully. For what we know from research is that radio has to attract people early on in their lives if they are to stick with it. Plus if young people are attracted to radio, it is virtually a guarantee that it will have them for life.
Isn't it just a way of throwing a few bob and a bit of profile at upcoming talents?
Quote: Tursiops @ 27th November 2013, 2:04 PM GMTIsn't it just a way of throwing a few bob and a bit of profile at upcoming talents?
Yes, I guess so. The proviso I would add to my comments is that we should not simply be saying "the public gets what the public wants". The ambition for content and style needs to be far reaching. I think there are two issues here that are often lost. One is that there is a genuine movement of the grass roots upwards in every generation. It has its distinctive traits. Those need to be represented in radio and on television. The second is that while the media has a very significant impact on early lives, teenagers can only select from the range of possibilities given to them and develop from those. So - the broader that range, the better.
What worries me - or irks - is that the range provided mostly emanates from decisions made by middle aged executives. If it is narrow, that narrowness can become a feature of youth culture. It is then taken up by those same executives time and again, believing they are reflecting a new mood. That process is cyclical in the very short term. In the longer term, currency stagnates. It all becomes a bit like the kings' new clothes.
Quote: Tursiops @ 27th November 2013, 2:04 PM GMTIsn't it just a way of throwing a few bob and a bit of profile at upcoming talents?
It would be a decent policy if they were up and comers but they're hardly that. Jon Holmes? They all have profiles. For the most part, unfortunately, they just get in the way of what they're hosting. What's needed is some quality control.
Its the ones that do the Seventh Dimension section that I can't stand - Nick Briggs, and the other one. I think his name is Toby hadoke!
Quote: smudger @ 22nd November 2013, 1:29 PM GMTMaybe it's me but does anybody find the guest hosts on the Comedy slot from 10pm on 4Extra funny? I find them to be irritating, self-indugent wannabes who get in the way of the comedy . . . . .or, as I ask, is it just me?
Its not just you!
I mostly don;t find them funny, but I do like the idea of them being there: makes 4E seem like something a bit different from a standard station.
I think I rather have bad jokes than someone quietly not telling any. Although, I must say, I do think there might be a better third alternative that I can't quite put my finger on...