Lazy Susan

I'd seen Lazy Susan up in Edinburgh a few years ago and wondered (and hoped) that they would be picked up for a TV commission. Saw ep 1 last night and will ration the remaining three across the rest of the week - am hoping that they keep up the standard throughout. Loved it.

Let's face it, it is Smack The Pony with new girls! A short-fire sketch show, ending with a parody of songs.

That's not to say it is bad, but it's definitely not original. They were funny in The Windsor.

Slightly more surreal that Smack The Pony - like Monty Python at times, but it's still funny, and very silly.

Maybe their aim was to bring Smack up to date now the girls are getting on - Phillips is a presenter on morning tv!

The girls are talented, but I question the need to repeat Smack. We could do something original like Dead Pixels or Spaced.

Like Fresh Meat is a re- invention of The Young Ones, all the good ideas seem to have been taken now. Who knows where the next truely original format comes from?

Well somebody obviously liked the pilot enough to commission a season. Or is it just that there is a huge BBC II! (aka BBC THREE) schedule to fill now that the channel has returned to the TV?

The pilot left me cold and s1ep1 was even more irritating. The comedy is pretty basic. You either like/love this because you like/love the two leads or, like me, you dislike/loathe it because your dislike/loathe the two leads.

The radio station sketch in s1ep1 is the perfect example of just how dire this effort is.

Next slide please.

Not many pilots get made into TV shows 3 years after their inception but here we are...

I might ask why shows with much better writing and acting would be cast aside... Stuff like How Not To Live Your Life, Cuckoo, Uncle, Some Girls... Meanwhile this trash gets made in an effort to be woke and garner support of lefties and feminists... Did nobody tell the Beeb that those are the people more likely to pirate your media and thus they are trying to sell peanuts to the elephant when it's the owner that buys the sodding things not the pachyderm stood in front.

The show starts off with what I am sure is meant to be funny but genuinely is just cringe. Then there is some straight up class bashing... Because it's funny to take aim at the lowest class in the UK and act superior... This is all before you are whisked away to see what is essentially ... Well I don't know how to put it... It's a woman that being forceful and I am sure that back in 2019 when the pilot was first shown this edgy humor would have been genius... Ooooh switching the roles aren't you both smart... I see, the woman is acting like a man... I mean I would accept that had Goodness Gracious Me and other not done the same bit infinitely better 20 odd years ago (could be more I am too young to really remember it, on way past my bedtime!)

Save yourself the effort and go watch Smack The Pony or The Other Girl if you want female fronted comedy. It is out there! This just isn't it.

Poor show and an obvious desperate attempt to fill a channel now the license fee is to be abolished. They cant sell subscription service as is, as it's way too thin, so now bulking up to charge probably double what the license fee already is. The English are so smart saving themselves by having the BBC cost more and possibly have less links to education making getting into the industry even harder given how many start their careers at BBC studios be they presenter, gaffer or even foley artist.

I cannot stress enough - watch Smack The Pony. There is a reason Sally Philips is a national icon and treasure! (and yes it's more than just her but I love her and wish she were my mother cause she is so amazing!)

Dring & Parker's weird little sketch show got quite a belated commission for the relaunch of BBC Three based on their Comedy pilot from 2019 (and Edinburgh buzz) - the humour here is brilliantly silly and can get quite existentially weird. There's a nice contemporary vibe in there as well, especially with their musical pastiches which are largely fantastic. I'd love to see a longer form thing from them as the little micro episodes here never seem to give you quite enough. The brevity fits some sketches, but leaves others feeling aimless. Would love to see a Catterick-style surrealist narrative from the duo!