Quote: Aaron @ April 18 2013, 7:36 PM BSTGraham Duff? Has he ever been a stand-up? Or do you think Johnny Vegas wrote it?
Graham Duff was a stand-up. He set Ideal in Salford because he always enjoyed doing gigs there.
Sitcoms written by stand-ups Page 3
He must have been a direct to DVD. He certainly keep things quite doesn't he.
Quote: Raymond Terrific @ April 18 2013, 8:59 PM BSTGraham Duff was a stand-up. He set Ideal in Salford because he always enjoyed doing gigs there.
Ah! 
Interesting there's no reference to a stand-up past on his website.
I think I got that from one of the extras on the series 3 DVD, there was another extra where all the stand-ups involved in Ideal put on a stand-up night somewhere. I didn't realise so many of them were stand-ups, even Joanna Neary and Emma Fryer. Also Cartoon Head did a set 
"White Van Man" is written by Adrian Poynton who is/was a stand up.
Too many is the answer, and the list is likely to double in 3 years judging by the way commissions are given out now and looking at new the pilots list on here. It's a very worrying trend, that I don't think the Beeb even see as a problem. They're idiots. More -
Sue Perkins - Heading Out
Simon Amstall - Grandma's House
Jo Brand - Getting On
Steve Coogan - Saxondale
Lee Evans - So What Now
Alan Davies - Get Real
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ April 19 2013, 12:42 PM BSTSimon Amstell - Grandma's House
Jo Brand - Getting On
Two of the best TV shows in the last 10 years.
Jack Whitehall - Bad Education
Quote: zooo @ April 19 2013, 12:44 PM BSTTwo of the best TV shows in the last 10 years.
Haven't seen Getting On.
Personally didn't like GH, had a couple of good characters and a couple of good scenes but didn't like it as a sitcom and thought it was very uneven. Maybe poor competetion made it look better than it was? To some.
No, it was good in and of itself.
Is fine if you didn't like it though!
Too many for me are flops as sitcoms and would not have been entertained if they hadn't been written by comedy names. I wonder how many good well written sitcom projects were ignored just to feed these big egos even more? Imo, the growing flood of them is damaging TV's reputation for sitcom. It's changing what viewers will think a sitcom should be too, because most of them structurally are diabolical.
TV sitcom broadcasters - stand-up is not Sitcom. You mix the two and what we get is standcom. That's what these shows should be called. Poor excuses for sitcom to extend the comic's portfolio, to make them more famous, more money, at the great expense of sitcom's reputation and all genuine sitcom writers who try hard making the real thing only to be rejected in favour of this false, self indulgent imposter. All because they have names elewhere in comedy with their own fanbase already and you want this to take the place of the honestly crafted original sitcom. You make me 
you pathetic worms.
I think the large number of stand up written sitcoms is less to do with "feeding giant egos" and more to do with the fact that stand ups have more contacts in the industry and are more likely to network with producers etc.
That is a big problem which shouldn't even be a factor, in my book. Just because they have access to the network of producers and directors should not mean they can abuse the privilege, which is what they do. To me it's akin to a group of successful public toilet architects getting entry to the annual architects conference and using their niche fame to win them contracts for plush leisure centres they have never worked on before, and halfway through the build, it shows. But they are famous, so this draws people in, making money for both parties, while putting better architects out of work and putting the standard of civil architecture down.
It is very ego driven because they always want more, deludedly think they can produce great sitcom because they've made a success from stand-up and naturually the prods they're chatting up get seduced by the reflected glory, the fame that comes from working with them, and they just say 'Oh shame about the much better crafted and more genuine sitcom draft I have on on my desk sent to me by erm...who was it? Oh what the hell, they're an uknown, let's get it on with trendy Micky-Sue Brandkintyre.'
This is what's happened, and it's been disastrous for sitcom and real sitcom writers, who at the very best may get a barely noticed co-writing credit with a stand-up totally incapable of getting away from their own stand-up routine or thermselves, usually both are the same thing. The broadcasters themselves are to blame, someone high up needs to put a warning out - stop handing out sitcoms to famous names to better your social life. Start giving viewers and licence payers real genuine sitcoms again. Or go! The head honchos are too f**king lax, as ever, they don't know what's going on in those executive offices. They need to get a f**king grip on it and stop this crap practice!
Don't forget the audience who gives some of these shows a damn good rating.
Like the people who prefer the talent show shite to "real" music.
Just out of interest, which of these shows are you equating to The X Factor?
No show in particular. Alfred was implying, that some of these "stand up shows" are not up to the quality what could be expected from a conventional sitcom craftsman. And that executives are to blame for the fact that the audience is confronted with such low quality shows.
I was just pointing out that a lot of people like stuff what is otherwise considered to be shit by "comedy hardliners".
(Excuse my low quality English, I'm doing my best to make myself clear)