I doubt that he'll go down the Stephen Fry route as he's not that well-known outside the comedy niche/Radio 4 audience. Sir Stephen has always been more visible for his continual forays into the medium I like to call 'the haunted fishtank'.
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme Page 3
In general though, very many of the most talented sketch-writer/performers give it up when they go on to doing something else.
Who's been listening to series nine - nine! - of JFSP? If you haven't, and you want to, look away now, there are spoilers.
The fact that one can even have spoilers for a sketch show proves what an odd beast this is. After episode 1 I thought it was pretty drab, a bunch of barely connected sketches that were mostly not funny at all. After episode 2 I realised what the format was, and by the time we'd got to the end of episode 4 I was pretty immersed in the story (such as it is). I'm looking forward to this week's, where hopefully some questions will be answered, especially about parentage. Episode 5 left a lot still to be explained (although, I was very happy with the ending - "MR James, be born, be born!").
The only thing to note is, it's still mostly not funny at all. At least, not funny like a sketch show...and certainly not funny like Finnemore's previous sketch shows. But it is highly pleasing. As an incremental, long-form depiction of a quirky family, it's quite novelistic; I found myself thinking of Salinger's Glass family (sans suicide), a tiny bit of Wodehouse, and a fair bit of HE Bates (HE Bates, be born, be - oh, wait, that doesn't make any sense).
My only real criticism of it is that it shouldn't have been under the name JFSP. It has far more in common with Double Acts than the other eight - eight! - series of sketch shows, and to be honest I smell some commissioning jiggery-pokery. That's only an issue if someone tuned in for ep 1, and was bemused, and didn't have the trust to tune in again; then again, how many Radio 4 listeners have not built some Finnemore trust by now?
I'm fascinated to find out how all pieces will fall into place. It's almost like a whodunit (PD James, be bo-...no, you're right, best not).
I've just discovered this as I wake up at 5.30 in the morning and listen on Radio 4 Extra.
Strange concept to get your head round but on the whole very funny.
Quote: Chappers @ 25th October 2014, 10:14 PMNever heard of this or him and missed this thread before. I'll try to look out for it. Is it on iPlayer?
In the days before I listened to radio comedy.
Having listened to all 6, I really enjoyed it. It was great fun (though not greatly funny). The structure was impeccable, as we've come to expect from Finnemore. My only niggling concern (well, apart from the fact that I wrote a Desert Island Disc sketch just a few weeks ago in which someone chooses sound effects records then the show's theme tune) is that I can't work out why Oswald was not drafted in WW1 (we know it wasn't flat feet nor an eye for the other soldiers).
Also, did I miss why he was called Newt, and what his sister Gally's real name was?
Quote: gappy @ 12th June 2021, 8:21 PM(we know it wasn't flat feet nor an eye for the other soldiers).
I think the reason was actually that he was gay. That option wasn't discounted, nor actually spelled out, simply heavily implied.
I inferred he was definitely not gay. Maybe I'll listen again, I'm sure there are thigs I missed throughout the series.
I'm wondering if there's some clever overarching theme to it all that I've missed. I've heard one half-formed theory that sometimes it's the dogs who are talking rather than humans, based on the fact that some of the dogs have the same names as humans. Finnemore does like to portray talking animals, so there might be something to it.
I have to admit I listened to the first episode and had to double check I was still listening to JFSP. felt very different in style and tone and to me on an initial listen not very funny.
I didn't really get into Double Acts and did wonder if the change was due to new ways of working because of covid - everyone in a separate location? Sounds like it was a more conscious decision to do something different.
Why o why has this never come to tv?
Since I haven't seen any news one way or the other, I'm assuming there'll be a JFSP Series 10 out sometime before the end of the year. And presumably it'll be back to the Series 1-8 format.
Anybody know a projected first episode air date? I'm looking forward to it!
They changed the format slightly of the last series, didn't they? I remember not enjoying it as much.
Quote: chipolata @ 4th October 2022, 11:49 AMThey changed the format slightly of the last series, didn't they? I remember not enjoying it as much.
He did, yeah. He used COVID distancing as an opportunity to do something different and told the story of a family backwards through five generations via sketches. The vibe was more like Double Acts. Someone said they thought of it more as John Finnemore's Souvenir Family.
I'm glad he did it, but I'm looking forward to some more good old fashioned pure sketch!
Definitely the cleverest sketch writer out there. And by that I mean funny and clever.
A 45 minute special was aired a few days ago
Available on BBC sounds now