Is the sketch show dead?

Nevermind the sitcom being a dying beast, the real casualty of recent years is the sketch show. As far as I'm concerned, you have to go back to The Fast Show for a generally great sketch show. Nowadays sketch shows have become a kind of bland comedy muzak, clogging up the schedules with mediocre writing and acting. Take out the dreary sketch shows from BBC3 schedules and you'd be left with Two Pints Of Lager repeats and documentaries about people who only eat spaghetti hoops.

Okay, Mitchell and Webb was okay, but it was patchy. As for Catherine Tate and Little Britain, the phrase "overated tat" springs to mind. My suggestion would be to put a stop to all sketch shows until somebody can come up with something truly different and original.

Is the sketch show dead? Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. All I know is that by doing something about it, as we are hoping to do with the current sketch show project, is the only way to break the general malaise and indifference, courtesy of the industry.

I don't think so but I'm quite forgiving. I like Rush Hour a lot, Mitchell & Webb was really original and sublime in places and Man Stroke Woman is really, really excellent in my opinion. Lots of radio sketch stuff is good too.

Re: older stuff. Two Ronnies is class but Monty Python is very hit and miss, much like Big Train was.

I think my point is that it's no different to how it was in the past!

Dan

There is nothing to lead the way anymore. There are no trail blazers. As in the music industry, nobody gets picked up on anymore as the string pullers only want a safe bet with the normal formulae. Consequently, you just seem to get a watered down version of everything that has gone before.

I don't listen to radio, but am struggling to think of decent sketch show in recent times on the TV. I think we're going back to the Fast Show and Big Train (sorry Dan, but in my opinion it was quality!) I was disappointed with Mitchell and Webb, I was expecting so much more. it had brilliant moments (the smackhead getting christmas presents) but then some of it just irritated me (Numberwang). And Man Stroke Woman, apart from the odd sketch here and there was bad.

It needs someone to take a risk.

It seems to be writhing around in agony at least. Rush Hour is atrocious. Space Hopper was lame. Ruddy Hell It's Harry and Paul was almost ok.

It seems like everyone has run out of ideas and energy to do something exciting and fresh like Big Train. I thought Man Stroke Woman stood a chance but was so lacking in enthusiasm and class (apart from the one sketch with Nick Frost waking up next to a fat lady and trying to sneak out until he realised it was his wife) it was just turgid.

Sorry. Sketch shows make me angry these days. That's why I've almost finished making one myself!

Spacehopper was a pilot but i thought it was great, but that's all i have to say on the matter until i have something better to add.

I thought Spacehopper was good too.

Green Wing was a good sketch show but the rest have been tripe

Blunder-Awful
Man Stroke Woman-Too repetitve, look hes in the gimp suit again
Mitchell and Webb Look-Number Wang was genius
Little Britain-I don't like it, lazy comedy
Catherine Tate Show-Ditto
Rush Hour-Should have been a radio show with Adam Buxton's DJ characters
Space Hopper-WTF
Spoons-Same as MSW, look she wants a baby again

I think people are more concerned with reinventing the genre or developing catchprases there missing the obvious, they're not being funny.

Is sketch dead? Is sitcom dead? Answer to both is 'no'. Just in a cycle which, to many of us here at least, isn't necessarily brilliant. There's always been shows which have repetitive characters (The Dick Emery Show) and shows which have more variation (Monty Python's Flying Circus). It's another one of those things that's very much down to personal perspective.

It's also a good and interesting point people have made about MPFC. If we're honest, it's very hit and miss, but still it's greatly revered. Why? Probably because it changed things. There was similar stuff beforehand, but there wasn't anything which quite 'clicked' and made such a big impact. Why? Buggered if I know. (Same with the Beatles. Mediocre at best really, but they were different and of-their-time.) Anyway, yes. Point is, I'd love to see what the reaction to it would be if it was a 'modern' show.

Spike Milligan didn't get enough acclaim for the Q series which pre dates Python or at least at first it did. He was the first to have sketches that didn't really end. What am I gonna write now...what am I gonna write now...ad infinitum.

Err, no, it isnt dead; there just hasnt been a really good one for a while, thats all. All it would take would be a few really funny people being given the chance to launch a new and distinctive show.

They just need a bit of consistency - most of them can't sustain half an hour of good original humour. Maybe we've been spoiled in the past and all the good sketches have been written.

I like Rush Hour as having a theme and some of Man Stroke Woman worked well but the same 4 actors turning up sketch after sketch - generally in normal clothes made it seem monotonous. If they had a few more actors it may have seemed better.

They always used the same voice and names aswell unless it was sketch related. Imagine if the Fast Show had done that.

I loved shows like The Fast Show and Harry Enfield's Television Programme/and Chums when I was younger, but now I've realised that all this does is result in the general public endlessly repeating catchphrases and impressions. I think that now I prefer shows with more variety, whether they are hit or miss, or both.

Sketch shows are for sketches, not purely characters. Sitcoms are better for that, because it's one situation to get comedy from. I'd like to see the next Monty Python or NTNOCN or Fry and Laurie come along and do something new and funny, but because they were all so innovative and ahead of their time, new shows may just end up being compared to them. What was good about these shows as well is that they knew how cheap their sets were and how small their budget was, whereas now emphasis is placed on money over actual comedy. As soon as an executive sees "new young comics" they think "Ooh, perfect for BBC3!" without even seeing how good or bad they are.