I heard the policeman was farming the Arathi Highlands to get the All the 'Old World' achievments.
TV Comedy Executives Page 3
Quote: Jacob Loves Comedy @ July 2 2009, 12:30 PM BSTI've decided to start this thread after reading the Ricky Gervais thread about him "slagging off British comedy".
What really annoys me is how writers tend to get blamed for the state of comedy these days. I'm not saying that's what Ricky was saying (if indeed he actually said anything on the topic at all, it was The Sun that reported it after all) but it frustrates me.
Nobody seems to blame the Executives at BBC or ITV or C4 for the rubbish that is on our screens. John Cleese said that he received a letter from a BBC Executive after the second episode of FT went out, the letter read 'I can't see this being anything other than a disaster', John Cleese went on to say "It shows what these Executives really know".
What do these Executives really know? Who decided that it was a good idea to make Reggie Perrin AGAIN? If we're going to make Reggie Perrin, why not do another Dad's Army, Rising Damp, or Steptoe & Son?!
It just baffles me how these Executives seem able to wash their hands of most of the rubbish that makes it onto our screens. It's ok for them to sit in their plush offices pushing out crap show after crap show, but do they get questioned for it? No. I know evereybody has their own tastes but Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps has to be one of the worst shows I have ever seen, yet we keep getting series after series of jokes about sex, and cocks etc etc etc.
These Executives have so much to answer for, instead of writers being blamed for "not working hard enough" why don't these Execs start doing their jobs and spotting decent talent rather than remaking old shows, or making new series' of worn out shows. The state of British comedy is rather pathetic right now, as is America's at the moment. However, we show no real signs of recovery unless some of these Execs get a grip. After all, aren't Execs just like comedy fans, they only put into production what they like, I hate to think how many great ideas/scripts have been ripped up because it wasn't to an Executive's taste.
Unfortunately there's no magic formula for good comedy, so I think it's unfair to put the blame for dodgy shows squarely on anyone's shoulders - writers, performers, commissioners or whoever. All we can do is our very best, and hope that elusive mystical glue that brings all the parts together in a pleasing way is in abundance.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, sometimes it only half-works. It's always been like that ever since comedy was invented. You can have the most talented people in the business with fantastic track records, and yet somehow it never quite gels. (Green Green Grass?) And in other cases you can have relative newcomers with little or no experience of TV who absolutely nail it first time. (League Of Gents?)
I suppose Wwe just have to hope that at least once in our comedy "careers", we get lucky and get the odd sprinkle of that magic fairydust.