ITV orders full series of Comedy Rocks
ITV has announced a full series of Comedy Rocks, the entertainment format which mixes live comedy and music.
The announcement was made at the Broadcast Comedy Forum, during a session in which the channel commissioners explained the sort of shows they were looking to order. ITV's Elaine Bedell told the conference that ITV1 was trying to develop new formats to showcase stand-up talent. She said the channel had produced two not-for-broadcast panel show pilots but had yet to find a formula that would be a success. However, Comedy Rocks which was piloted on TV in March, will be returning.
The pilot was hosted by Jason Manford (pictured), and the comedian will host the full series too, working it around his other commitments, including his new job as host of The One Show. As in the pilot, each week the host will be joined by guest stand-ups and musical stars.
When the pilot was broadcast earlier in the year it created some controversy, as Joe Pasquale - one of the performers on the show - was accused of stealing a joke about a rollercoaster. Frank Skinner said on his radio show: "I was watching Comedy Rocks the other night and Joe Pasquale was on and did one of my gags. I wouldn't mind, but it was something I used to do as a kid. Me and this mate of mine used to go on the big wheel when the fair came. We had this big metal bolt and we used to drop it on the floor and pretend it had dropped out of the workings to frighten people. I did the joke on a DVD about 15 years ago. Joe's obviously thought it's a shame now not to keep it going. Joe's become my tribute act. It's not good."
Other comedians who performed in the pilot included Jo Brand, Stewart Francis and ventriloquist Paul Zerdin, who can be seen in the video clip below performing his 'human dummy' act on Comedy Rocks...