Big Top

Having just watched an episode of Big Top, I was moved to write my first IMDb review in years! What a piece of ****!!

Some of the best comedy ever penned has been for the BBC so it amazes me that they could commission something as banal and witless as Big Top.

The gags are obvious, clumsy, and devoid of any humour and I was constantly reminded me of the spoof Ricky Jervais comedy, 'When the Whistle Blows'.

Got to be seen to be believed.

PS. If you are someone who enjoyed this show (statistically there must be some), I suggest you check out Ballamory and Mr Tumble on Cbeebies.

In one episode of this 'comedy' series someone suggests the lead character should sleep with a Health and Safety Inspector to pass a routine inspection. Maybe this is a case of art imitating life and the sales pitch to the BBC involved a little indoor wrestling on the casting couch.

Seriously, I came across this on the cable channel BBC Entertainment and just sat hypnotised by the sheer awfulness of this show. I mean, was this the organisation that gave us Tony Hancock and Fawlty Towers? How did a member of the 'Blackadder' team end up spewing out trite one-liners which were nowhere near as venomous and cynical as his former master (but were obviously intended to be)? Could the cast read? How hungry do you have to be to do this sort of stuff? Added to the terrible scripting was a cheap, shoddy production in which the principle characters were backed up by extras doing nothing in particular in the background, and obvious inserts of a real circus audience for 'performance' sequences.

If you need something to take your mind off a toothache don't watch this, live with your toothache, it will be funnier.

Very possibly the worst alleged comedy the BBC has produced in years. With few rivals for worst ever you need only see Amanda Holden's name in the credits of anything to know it's bad but this has to be her personal best/worst. This turkey was moved to a late night slot after the 2nd or 3rd ep to limit the damage. Contrived plots with wooden acting combine to swallow the hopes and dreams even the most dedicated career actor who has the misfortune of being cast in this, the 2nd worst ver sitcom to come from the same management team. It is hoped that just this once the BBC go back to the practise of reusing video tape to insure the complete erasure of this embarrassing pile of ick.

I just caught an episode of this dreadful "sitcom". The writing, acting, sets and costumes can only be described as appalling and dated. You'd think it was a repeat of something made in the early 70s.

I agree with the other reviewer who couldn't believe our licence fee was spent on this. I also can't believe that people like John Thompson (of Fast Show fame), Tony Robinson (of Blackadder and Time Team fame) and Sophie Thompson (who was amazing in the film version of Emma) got involved in this tripe!

Even Amanda Holden is above this. She should clearly stick to Britain's Got Talent. Even if this is a classic example that it clearly has not.

1st of all, an apology to any overseas viewers.

If you tuned in expecting the sardonic writing of The Office, the eloquence of Yes, Minister or the raw genius of Fawlty Towers: Sorry! This can only be blames on current "blue sky" thinkers at the BBC's programming department.

Amanda Holden, With minimal talent (ahh, the irony!) to start with, must have pulled in every favour/loan/threat in her portfolio to get this made. Poor comic timing, dire scripts, sets recycled from "Crossroads" & something approaching no appreciable acting talent on display.

Oh, & what the hell is Tony Robinson doing in this mess?! what a way to see the 00's out. We saw it in with the aforementioned "Office" in 2001, & this wipes the ass of the decade!!

Still, there IS a plus side to this. There cannot be anything worse than this in the 2010 schedule.

can there????