I switched off half way through the Weak Link round.
Improv can be brilliant live. Not sure it works well on TV any more, and from what I saw this was so similar to Whose Line in format that you wonder why they gave it a new name.
Hugh Dennis didn't look entirely comfortable in his role.
Quote: chipolata @ January 14 2011, 11:12 PM GMTthe one where that woman goes back to her home town after her failed marriage
With Emma Fryer? I've still not watched the last episode of that... 
(This is very different from either of those two shows though, I'd argue. Cheap and easy to produce, and rotating stars will get different groups of fans tuning in each week. Could be another winner for Auntie.)
I'm betting alongside Chip that this gets quietly binned after one run.
Quote: Badge @ January 14 2011, 11:49 PM GMTI switched off half way through the Weak Link round. Improv can be brilliant live. Not sure it works well on TV any more, and from what I saw this was so similar to Who's Line in format that you wonder why they gave it a new name. Hugh Dennis didn't look entirely comfortable in his role.
I heard him talking about it on the radio earlier in the week, and he sounded uncomfortable then. Like he knew it was a stinker and he felt guilty trying to persuade us all to watch it.
Quote: Badge @ January 14 2011, 11:49 PM GMTHugh Dennis didn't look entirely comfortable in his role.
I thought he looked - and felt - slightly awkward at the beginning; not 'heavy' enough, more like he should be competing rather than adjudicating, but he seemed to be more into it by the end. I certainly don't recall noting, after about half way through (probably where you turned off) that he still seemed uncomfortable.
Quote: Aaron @ January 14 2011, 11:52 PM GMTWith Emma Fryer? I've still not watched the last episode of that...
It's extreme cheapness is one thing in its favour, I'll give you that.
It needs a bigger set, Josie Lawrence singing at any given excuse and the Party Quirks game.
I demand the sitting, standing, leaning over game!
And get Ryan Styles and Colin Mochery (Or whateer his name was) on. They were awesome.
And maybe a young Tony Slattery!
Quote: Blenkinsop @ January 14 2011, 10:24 PM GMTA curious melding together of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Mock The Week that manages to emerge with little or no endearing qualities whatsoever.
I mostly agree with this, but I did laugh at a few things, mainly from the We Are Klang chaps (strangely).
Quote: Badge @ January 14 2011, 11:49 PM GMTImprov can be brilliant live. Not sure it works well on TV any more, and from what I saw this was so similar to Whose Line in format that you wonder why they gave it a new name.
Presumably because Hat Trick own the name, while Fast and Loose was made by Dan Patterson's company.
I kind-of liked it, but was a big fan of Whose Line, both UK and US, anyway. With plenty of new comedians available I have always wondered why Channel 4 had never brought it back when it is a cheap and easy way to get some new talent on TV while being very funny when it works.
While I liked the literal song, it did go on too long. Just a verse and chorus would have been enough. But the sideways game on the red mat was excellent. Both very funny and not a variant of something seen on Whose Line or similar.
The problems I had were firstly that the cast, which I like, was just too big.
This was noticeable in the dinner party round were there were just too many people playing that there was little time for interaction and it all felt disjointed. And when they did the bad pickup lines it meant one from each, which in a hit and miss format is never a good idea. I am sure they actually did several and someone picked the best to use, but being subjective the problem still stands.
And if six people was not enough, they brought in David Armand while four of them sat around doing nothing.
Another problem was the long cutaways to close ups of audience members, why do I want to watch them? Brief wide shots of the audience laughing I get, but this was verging on voyeurism.
And what were the secret fact and party piece rounds about? Some weird cross between a talk show and a straightforward gag seemed totally out of place with an improv show.
Finally, the games saw a mixture of some very tired and basic - bad chat up lines - and overly complicated - the dinner party in five genres. Assuming that there is some copyright reason they cannot just reuse ones from Whose Line, they still needed something that gives the performers something to work with. Expecting someone to find humour in showing the right way to propose to someone?
Wow, scripted improv. It'll never catch on...
Pippa Evans is one of the best improvisers I've ever seen. Not that you got a chance to see that last night... It's why I'm not going to be too harsh on the chap who wasn't Marek, Greg or Justin. He seemed rubbish, but it might just be context.
Generally, I thought it didn't work. Lacked any real shape. And not masses of actual improvisation. Some bits were Mock the Week style fake-impro, I felt (how were the chat up lines or job interview bits anything other than Scenes we'd like to see?). The funniest bit was three minutes of heavily prepared dance.
When improv was actually done, it was too curtailed. The multiple genre pile up, in particular, consisted of pretty much one line per genre, said by whoever came in, with no attempt to tie it together before the next person came in. Might as well have just said 'say something associated with costume drama'.
Some parts were as funny as anything I have seen on TV in a long time. The orange floor/wall and David Armand were superb.
