The current audience figures for ITV are truly pitiful aren't they. Harry Hill is the only success story that they have and it's actually quite depressing. I think Moving Wallpaper is the most promising sitcom for some time but it will be difficult to make another series and Al Murray is still doing badly. I can understand people not watching Thank God You're Here because it's shite but do people pre-judge ITV comedies due to their bad track record?
Quote: Nick @ January 22, 2008, 12:10 PMdo people pre-judge ITV comedies due to their bad track record?
Yes. 
I don't pre-judge them, I'm just not used to seeing them have any.
Moving wallpaper is a poor man's 30 Rock, but its decent enough if not spectacular.
Harry Hill's TV Burp is just a great concept and well delivered.
Thank God You're Not Here is not working because you need really good improvisational comedians. Its funny that the Oz version had Ross Noble and we have some barmaid from Corry. Also the scripted intros sound awful, Merton is funnier when he's talking to the guests. Personally, I don't think the top comedians are risking it and don't need it. Its like a celebrity reality show.
They should bring back Whose Line... it has a lot more scope for improvised humour.
Rising Damp was one of the few good ITV comedies.
And the New Statesman.
It's always been the case I'm afraid.
Apparently it's the extra couple of minutes BBC can squeeze in that makes all the difference.
What's ITV comedy?
One of the problems has it that it hasn't got an inbuily comedy audience the way that BBC and Channe3l 4 have. They have an audience more used to Midsommer Murders/Robson Green Vehicles and comedy dramas with Caroline Quentin. And the truth is, a lot of comedy fans probably are quite sneering about ITV comedy. I welcome the new trend in trying to develop comedies, but I fear that it's doomed to failure.
Something which died a good 15 years or so ago.
Has anyone else noticed that sometimes ITV has adverts for Channel 4 shows? That's kinda odd. At first I thought my television was broken or something, but it's not.
If Channel 4 buy the broadcast time...
I'm also pretty sure that I've seen adverts for UKTV Gold and the like on ITV1.
Did anyone realise that News at Ten had started back up? They put so little effort in to publicising it, I almost missed out. (Tongue is in cheek here)
ITV have yet to get a truly great comedy. Didn't they buy up the Goodies just in time for the Goodies to die a death, like it's some comedy version of the Elephants' graveyard.
Please ITV become the new Beeb because the Beeb seems determined to become the old ITV. And it pains me to say that.
Quote: SlagA @ January 30, 2008, 9:40 PMDid anyone realise that News at Ten had started back up? They put so little effort in to publicising it, I almost missed out. (Tongue is in cheek here)
I honestly didn't know anything about it until the day, and only then because it was in the free papers...
Quote: SlagA @ January 30, 2008, 9:40 PMDidn't they buy up the Goodies just in time for the Goodies to die a death
Story as I heard it was that they vastly underestimated what it took, both financially and in terms of 'effort', to make a single series, and decided that they couldn't afford to make any more. like it's some comedy version of the Elephants' graveyard.
Quote: SlagA @ January 30, 2008, 9:40 PMITV have yet to get a truly great comedy. ... Please ITV become the new Beeb because the Beeb seems determined to become the old ITV. And it pains me to say that.
Slaggothy, you're the last person I'd have expected to succumb to the ITV myth. 
There have been many great ITV sitcoms. There just haven't been any in the last ten years or so, with the exception of Benidorm. Here is a list of what I regard classic ITV Sitcoms:
On the Buses
Two in Clover
Rising Damp
Men Behaving Badly (the first two series)
Only When I Laugh
Mr Bean
Never the Twain
Bless this House
Barbara
Please Sir
The Fenn Street Gang
The Lovers
Duty Free
The Doctor Series
Up the Elephant and Round the Castle
Benidorm
The Fosters
Jack, you negated the rest of your argument by implying that Benidorm was any good!
(In total seriousness though, I do agree. They've got a bad rep' 'cos they've been so shite over the past about 20 years or so, but some of Britain's best - certainly most successful and long-running at very least - comedies have been on one ITV channel or another.)