Tonight's BBC 90 minute offering Page 2

Agreed.

But why the thinking that you require half a dozen people in a room set in front of a live audience with a Multi Camera set up. When for half the money you can put a small crew together with an ALEXA and go film anywhere in the British Isles and edit at home on a MAc Pro..

Add a decent Grader, as they did with 'Great Expectations' and bobs your uncle.. Cheap single camera that looks a million dollars

Isnt it the mind set at the BBC Comedy that's just out of touch and rather old fashioned?

Lets face it most people like Sherlock and its a 90 minute single camera

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I have sympathy with your views , though I think you slightly oversimplify the filming process in terms of cost.
Costumes, props , lighting set-ups for dozens of locations apart - you need actors, ones that draw an audience - and they need paying.
Your average quiz show celeb turns up for peanuts 'cos the exposures good and ensures good gig crowds and DVD sales.
It's cheap, lazy telly.

Hardest of all though is getting good writing.
A quiz show requires a few gag-hacks and the rest is provided by the 'celebs'.
Decent writing is hard to come by and even harder to get everyone to agree on - especially if there are increased costs at stake.

Eventually things like web-tv will impact on what the perceived costs of single-camera TV should be.
The challenge will be, as ever, finding the artistic talent to make something worth watching.

Quote: Lazzard @ August 25 2012, 3:24 PM BST

I I think you slightly oversimplify the filming process in terms of cost.
Costumes, props , lighting set-ups for dozens of locations apart - you need actors, ones that draw an audience - and they need paying.

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Absolutely true. Its usually the poor old actors who take it on they chin unless they are known. Putting under short term contracts (Soap esc) might me worth thinking about..

Python and League of Gentleman got around the problem by playing lots of characters themselves. But I agree its expensive.

I still think you can cut on crew. Have the Focus puller doing several jobs, the DOP doing the lighting. As I said they did that small crew thing very well on 'Great expectations' but you still require budget. Audiences are very unforgiving to directors who scimp on Make-up and costume.

However I stand by my claim that you can cut post and camera hire costs. But your absolutely correct that the one thing you can't cut is decent writing. Thats time consuming and knowone seems to want to invest in it.. Perhaps the BBC should just cut its sitcoms and invest it in writers and pilots until they hit something. I understand they get better figures from old 'Dads Army re-runs anyway.

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Now I've watched channel 4's top best ever comedy..

Ali Gee comes in at 10

The inbetweeners at 5

And Sit com 'Father Ted' at number one?

Yes they're still playing that shit now, expecting us all to bow down to channel 4 comedy brilliance..

I might be new to these boards but am I missing something?

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Quote: Punk Anarcho @ August 24 2012, 8:38 PM BST

Miranda, In with the Flynns and Mrs Browns Boys

Reaction here is that we should refuse to pay the licence fee

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Miranda means nothing to me and I haven't seen Mrs Browns Boys (although it does sound like a euphemism for the shits) but I have just seen a bit of In With the Flynns.

Utter, utter dross. How does shit like this get made in the first place?

Punk Anarcho, I'm with ya, buddy.

Quote: Ignatius Rake @ August 27 2012, 2:47 PM BST

Miranda means nothing to me and I haven't seen Mrs Browns Boys (although it does sound like a euphemism for the shits) but I have just seen a bit of In With the Flynns.

Utter, utter dross. How does shit like this get made in the first place?

Punk Anarcho, I'm with ya, buddy.

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Cheers Rake

I guess the problem is that its easy to Criticize and difficult to do anything constructive about it..

As Lazzard points out writing good sitcom isn't easy.

My gripe with Channel 4 and the BBC is when it comes to comedy at some piont around ten years ago they took their foot off the accelerator and started coasting along cheap TV Quiz shows and putting nothing into development. Yes I understand that location filming has costs attached, however especially at the BBC money (Lots of it) was found to put into DRAMA. But instead of comedy drama someone thought that money best put into expensive detective series or endless soap series like Waterloo Road.

I don't think this had been the case in the 1990's. The first series of Black Adder (Still the best in my opinion) was shot on location so it can be done.. Imagine if it had of been shot in High Def or 35mm.

Anyway I came hear to promote my own comedy series.. Two more scenes to record today and teh first episode is complete. Please look out on the Critique page in the next couple of weeks.

Time to put my head above the parrapit and see if I can do any better..

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When I was about 14 I told my parents I had found some really funny stories by P G Wodehouse. I might as well have blasphemed. The room temperature dropped by 40 degrees and my father ( ex-bomber command) suggested I shove the book into the bin as he would not have any books by P G W in the house. So I did. I wonder how big the fine has got since 1959.
Having viewed tonight's interpretation of a Blandings event I can only confirm my father's judgement to be entirely sound.

I can't imagine Noel Coward broadcasting on behalf of Goebbels or Hitler.

Even William Joyce departed this life at Wandsworth for his broadcasts.

eh?