Fit
- TV sketch show
- CBBC
- 2013
- 12 episodes (1 series)
Childrens' sketch show based around sport and health. Created by the production team behind Horrible Histories. Stars Peter Serafinowicz, Aisling Bea, Tony Way, Dan Wright, Camilla Beeput and more.
Press clippings
While the humour in the fitness-based sketches is hardly sophisticated, the underlying messages about a healthy lifestyle come through clearly. A spoof ad for fizzy fun balls cereal or fudge hippos (with 2,000% of your daily fudge allowance) should put youngsters off sugary breakfasts, while the one about trendy trainer lacing is funny and relevant.
Jane Rackham, Radio Times, 28th January 2013The best sketch shows are still on kids' TV. CBBC, the channel that brought you Sorry I've Got No Head and Horrible Histories, hits the target again with this vaguely sports-themed series. 10,000m races that aren't over until the public votes on their winner, SWAT teams patrolling schools confiscating chips, and the new discipline of trifle shooting (in the Misspelt Games) are a few of the nice set-ups. Plus, Peter Serafinowicz's legendarily awful TV salesman Brian Butterfield is back! Rugby manager's shoes, anyone?
Radio Times, 15th January 2013CBBC's been trying to produce a range of sketch shows that can be enjoyed by both adults and children, such as Horrible Histories and the now axed Sorry, I've Got No Head. While these shows have been big hits - and the former has become one of most awarded sketches of recent years - I've never been that keen on them myself. Having said that, for the purpose of this column, I thought I'd give this new sketch series a go...
Fit is - you guessed it - a sketch show based on health and fitness. It has a wide range of sketches, which include an epic coin toss in the latest test between England and Australia; the Misspelt Games, which holds "trifle shooting" instead of "rifle shooting"; drinking fountains working out of sync; and a reality TV show take on athletics.
Some sketches, especially some of the one-joke quickies, fail to hit the mark, and others seem to have little to do with the show's theme (what have two mimes putting up shelves got to do with fitness?) But there were plenty of others worth an airing, like a charity collecting farts to help Britain's wind farms, and a sports wearhouse run by Peter Serafinowicz's long-running character Brian Butterfield (which I loved and I must admit is the main attraction for me.)
Despite its scattergun approach, this show's definitely worth a second chance - though how many kids it will encourage to get fit I don't know. Maybe the problem's that they spend too much time watching sketch shows on CBBC...
Ian Wolf, Giggle Beats, 14th January 2013Fit, the latest sketch show from CBBC, is based upon the themes of sport, fitness and general well-being. However, it is elastic enough in its approach to encompass a spoof charity appeal requesting fart donations to help power wind turbines. Indeed, fart gags are such an inherent part of the CBBC comedy output that I sometimes suspect they have a quota to fill.
Like most sketch shows the quality of the humour is wildly inconsistent, but the performances are energetic, the observations sharp and the approach imaginative. Most importantly, the turnover is satisfyingly rapid, with no sketch allowed to outstay its welcome.
Harry Venning, The Stage, 11th January 2013This is a new comedy sketch show for sports fans and lazy bones alike. Fit combines traditional sketches with clever physical comedy, larger-than-life characters and quick-fire gags with the aim of inspiring a generation to see the fun side of health and fitness. Today the team learns about an unusual new sport involving flying puddings.
Jane Rackham, Radio Times, 7th January 2013A rather wonderful - and decidedly Pythonesque - new sketch show riffing on all things sporty, from a Swat Health team on a school dinners raid ("Put down the unhealthy option!") to a sight gag involving a drinking fountain that wouldn't disgrace the Marx Brothers. Starring a bunch of top character comics, including Peter Serafinowicz and Tony Way, and penned by some equally gifted comedy writers, Fit (along with Horrible Histories) confirms what parents have known for ages: that some of the best BBC comedy is being seen by children first.
Ali Catterall, The Guardian, 6th January 2013Peter Serafinowicz to star in new CBBC sketch show Fit
Peter Serafinowicz is to star as his overweight character Brian Butterfield in a new CBBC sketch show themed around exercise.
British Comedy Guide, 6th July 2012