Quote: Ben @ September 1 2012, 8:38 AM BSTThey still had pound notes when I was growing up and there's no place for them now.
But there still is a place for good audience sitcom.
BBC One V Sky1 Page 3
Quote: Ben @ September 1 2012, 8:38 AM BSTThey still had pound notes when I was growing up and there's no place for them now.
That's only because they were withdrawn by the bank. You still carry around £10 and £20 notes, thus proving it's not a dead concept.
Quote: Punk Anarcho @ September 1 2012, 11:21 AM BSTHowever I see no reason why in 2012 when you can get pretty good High Def from a Go-pro, which comes in a box about two or three inches wide (excuse the old measurement) that we have to make comedy in a fixed set? I just don't get it.
We don't have to. Have you not heard of any of the following titles?
Rev
Peep Show
The Thick Of It
The Inbetweeners
Bad Education
Pramface
Shelfstackers
Outnumbered
Benidorm
The Royal Bodyguard
The Royle Family
The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff
White Van Man
Mostly BBC comedies, all recent or active productions, just listed off the top of my head, and none made "in a fixed set".
You don't have to do comedy in any specific way, or achieve any specific look. There is plenty of room for variety. Different types of comedy suit different types of narratives and different audiences. Some lend themselves more to one type of staging, whilst others are more suited to the opposite. They're just different styles, there's nothing inherently wrong with either.
I can't wait to see The Thick Of It return next week. Equally I would be delighted if the BBC commissioned the non-identical twin to Are You Being Served?.
Variety.
Quote: Matthew Stott @ September 1 2012, 12:26 PM BSTBut there still is a place for good audience sitcom.
Forgive me, Matthew, for I was being facetious.
Quote: Aaron @ September 1 2012, 1:07 PM BSTWe don't have to. Have you not heard of any of the following titles?
Rev
Peep Show
The Thick Of It
The Inbetweeners
Bad Education
Pramface
Shelfstackers
Outnumbered
Benidorm
The Royal Bodyguard
The Royle Family
The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff
White Van ManMostly BBC comedies, all recent or active productions, just listed off the top of my head, and none made "in a fixed set".
You don't have to do comedy in any specific way, or achieve any specific look. There is plenty of room for variety. Different types of comedy suit different types of narratives and different audiences. Some lend themselves more to one type of staging, whilst others are more suited to the opposite. They're just different styles, there's nothing inherently wrong with either.
I can't wait to see The Thick Of It return next week. Equally I would be delighted if the BBC commissioned the non-identical twin to Are You Being Served?.
Variety.
I don't think it's desputed that single camera comedy drama has been made in the past..
It's BBC One current obsession with four people stuck in a living room and endless commissions of dull, samey, unimaginative situation comedy that is being called into question.
What I'm asking for is something different something that feels 2012 rather than 1970s.
Two weeks of their Friday night output and I'm reaching for the remote and discovering other people make comedy and actually it's better than BBC. I don't think anyone could have imagined that 10 years ago.
AP Scene
Quote: Punk Anarcho @ September 1 2012, 2:51 PM BSTIt's BBC One current obsession with four people stuck in a living room and endless commissions of dull, samey, unimaginative situation comedy that is being called into question.
I dispute that. By far the majority of BBC sitcoms are single camera affairs, at the great expense of studio sitcoms. That they've managed to pull 3 together in one night is a great surprise.
What we should be discussing, if anything, is how depressing it is that the BBC's comedy output has got to such a stage that in Friday night prime-time, they have only ONE new programme to show - regardless of its quality - alongside hours of repeats.
Quote: Ben @ September 1 2012, 1:57 PM BSTForgive me, Matthew, for I was being facetious.
I'm a simple man, please don't confuse me.
Quote: Aaron @ September 1 2012, 2:58 PM BSTI dispute that. By far the majority of BBC sitcoms are single camera affairs, at the great expense of studio sitcoms. That they've managed to pull 3 together in one night is a great surprise.
What we should be discussing, if anything, is how depressing it is that the BBC's comedy output has got to such a stage that in Friday night prime-time, they have only ONE new programme to show - regardless of its quality - alongside hours of repeats.
To be fair to the BBC, we're at the tail end of the summer. People are still on holiday, kids haven't started back at school yet etc. New schedules traditionally don't start until September (which we've only just entered). If in a months time we're still getting a majority of repeats in prime time then we should be concerned.
Quote: chipolata @ September 1 2012, 3:07 PM BSTTo be fair to the BBC, we're at the tail end of the summer. People are still on holiday, kids haven't started back at school yet etc. New schedules traditionally don't start until September (which we've only just entered). If in a months time we're still getting a majority of repeats in prime time then we should be concerned.
Summer isn't always quite the drought we tend to think of it as, but you make a good point, yes. Look back over recent months however, and you'll likely only find one comedy on a Friday, and very few more over the entirety of the week. For me, the worrying pattern has already been established.
I'm not quite sure what I find most depressing: having next to nothing on, or being served up repeats in what should be the best slot of the week. I suppose at least the repeats indicate that channel bosses now know what they want?
Quote: Aaron @ September 1 2012, 2:58 PM BSTI dispute that. By far the majority of BBC sitcoms are single camera affairs, at the great expense of studio sitcoms. That they've managed to pull 3 together in one night is a great surprise.
What we should be discussing, if anything, is how depressing it is that the BBC's comedy output has got to such a stage that in Friday night prime-time, they have only ONE new programme to show - regardless of its quality - alongside hours of repeats.
Lets hope the BBC have David Attenbrough lined up for a big wildlife job or they're really in trouble.
Just to add to my four people in a living room condemnation Ab FAb recently jumped the shark, and Citezen Khan fits the mould.. So even having dropped My Family (which was another) they still have endless output of this stuff..
I've not caught 'REV' and will give it a go, lets hope its not another Vicar of Dibly or Green Green Grass of home..
Oh for the return of the 'Young Ones' perhaps they could set it in an Old Peoples home?
AP Scene
Quote: Punk Anarcho @ September 1 2012, 3:18 PM BSTJust to add to my four people in a living room condemnation Ab FAb recently jumped the shark, and Citezen Khan fits the mould.. So even having dropped My Family (which was another) they still have endless output of this stuff..
There's a big difference between condemning something and endlessly saying you don't like it. Condemnation generally comes with reasoning... endlessly saying something is old over and over is just having a fit.
Quote: MTpromises @ September 1 2012, 6:23 PM BSTThere's a big difference between condemning something and endlessly saying you don't like it. Condemnation generally comes with reasoning... endlessly saying something is old over and over is just having a fit.
Well yes its always easier to crisicize than do something better..
But believe it or not some of us care about the BBC, it is after all ours..
This is the Channel that bought us Black Adder and One foot in the Grave..
We have a right to demand they create more challenging and Different Television as Denis Potter correctly pointed out to them in 1993..
As long as we pay the licence fee we have a right to demand better quality output. The question is how is that going to be done? Who has the courage to put creativity first?
APS
Quote: Punk Anarcho @ September 1 2012, 7:14 PM BSTWell yes its always easier to crisicize than do something better..
But believe it or not some of us care about the BBC, it is after all ours..
This is the Channel that bought us Black Adder and One foot in the Grave..
We have a right to demand they create more challenging and Different Television as Denis Potter correctly pointed out to them in 1993..
As long as we pay the licence fee we have a right to demand better quality output. The question is how is that going to be done? Who has the courage to put creativity first?
APS
If you want challenging sitcoms, you aren't going to find them on BBC1. BBC1 sitcoms are intended for a mass audience, something the whole family can watch.
It's easy to criticise the Beeb but this isn't 1993 anymore. The Beeb is cash strapped and Sky are throwing money at anyone well known in the comedy industry.
I'm not saying the Beeb are faultless but they do make plenty of sitcoms across their four channels and I'm sure the cater to everyone through those four channels on the whole.