Rolling UK Comedy Thread - "Ricky Don't Lose Larry David's Number

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p08vxrgx

I worked on this, so be gentle

Artwork by the guy who does Scarfolk

okay, watched the first two episodes of Ghosts. It's okay! Worth sticking with, I think.

I was halfway through the second when i had the very clear thought this was gonna be bought by a premium cable channel to screen and then remade by another premium cable channel for a US audience. Found out this morning it's new to HBO stateside, so halfway there.

And I listened to the Sink and enjoyed it. Reminded me of Blue Jam, but gentler, which is good given these times. Also, Alice Lowe.

nobody watching sara pascoe's thing on tuesday's? i'm not sure i blame you, i'm not sure what she's trying to do is working. (it's half like her books and half traditional sitcom, but it's curdling rather then mixing smoothly, i think)

favourite other thing recently, and not strictly comedy but is comedian, is susan calman's Secret Scotland thing on channel 5 on fridays. it's the same every week (Susan stands next to some oversize thing, Susan does something slightly John Noakes, Susan feeds some kind of animal / gets close to huge raptor, someone tells Susan that the public aren't normally allowed to sit on this chair / bed but as it's her...) but she does a good job of being impressed / enjoying said thing and it's infective.

(frankie boyle did something similar for bbc which was a bit grittier and i enjoyed that too. this goes out at 8 and is perfect family fodder)

I'm completely indifferent to Sara Pascoe.

it feels like she’s been coasting for a long time.

i mean, i would too, tbf

can ukers help me please. youtube algo has given me a tranche of QI, and i'm completely addicted, and it's terrible. worse than the jokey quiz shows on NPR.

the women are generally funnier than the men, i guess, sara pascoe et al. phil jupitus is not funny. alan davis is crushingly unfunny. the sex jokes are skin crawling. they think foreign accents are just the height. what is the draw of this show? is there something better i can watch? must stop. tia

i'm a uker and everything you've said is true and i don't get it either

i mean it's watchable because of interesting facts (don't google the facts, they're not all as true as the show makes them out to be) but it's not comedy in the sense of you wouldn't watch it if you just wanted a laugh

Idgi either and it has the worst fucking theme tune of any tv program, ever.

idk i sort of like chintzy airport reggae

the relief you feel when sandi toksvig just steps on whatever bit they're beating to death to say yes actually there was a doctor in 1804 who experimented on etc etc, exquisite

Nobody should have to be discovering how insufferable qi is in 2020 I’m sorry

Not sure I've ever watched a whole ep.
Is it all Sandi or have you got Stephen Fry too?

there's some Fry clips but no full eps that i've seen

strangest introduction in the bunch was one Gyles Brandreth, one of those "ah he's charming, you should have killed more of these people 300 years ago" kind of things

phil jupitus is not funny. alan davis is crushingly unfunny.

The Special Relationship is back on.

Now the fact that British comedians are the worst in the Western World is out there, I feel this is a good thing.

No Such Thing as a Fish > QI

Idgi either and it has the worst fucking theme tune of any tv program, ever.

― Maresn3st, Monday, 9 November 2020 18:58 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Seriously

I can't manage more than 10 minutes of No Such Thing as a Fish - it has the same smug bones as QI.
'

How do we feel about 'Only Connect'?

It's a good game show, it's not a comedy at all.

this is all very otm

I'd still rather watch qi than not watch it.

The two they recently filmed without an audience were fascinating - there was no audience to pander to or try and impress and the little bits of chat got deeper and more personal. Had a different feel to it.

Fewer knob gags now Sandy's doing it. More women. One week was 60% female and 80% gay.

Would I Lie to You is my panel show guilty pleasure, particularly when Bob Mortimer's on it.

The two they recently filmed without an audience were fascinating - there was no audience to pander to or try and impress and the little bits of chat got deeper and more personal. Had a different feel to it.

this is true, these had more of a homey feel, and it seemed like they were trying to make each other laugh and cheer each other up. the best ones i've seen.

Scroobius Pip turned up on Sara Pascoe's show tonight

Tears during the cocktail task on taskmaster last night, first time in a while.

(it also revealed that DaisyMae's shouting out 'I LOVE THIS' in the trailer wasn't her enjoying herself but was part of what seemed like a trauma-inducing task)

How do we feel about 'Only Connect'?

― Maresn3st, Monday, 9 November 2020 21:07 (three weeks ago) link

It's a good game show, it's not a comedy at all.

― chap, Monday, 9 November 2020 21:54 (three weeks ago) link

this show rules, ty

Since I moved to NZ I miss Only Connect more than any other British TV show

Only Connect gets put on youtube p consistently

Shit you're right, I just found a channel with all the latest series on. Thanks!

Enjoy!

Dunno if anyone else does it, but there's a guy (and it is a guy) called wheelsongenius who puts all of Only Connect up after broadcast, so that's the guy to subscribe to.

Yeah that's the channel I found

Ayo, thanks for turning me on to Only Connect. I'm terrible at it but it's great fun without all the whoopdeediddlyay bullshit of QI

You get better at it the more you watch it. I hadn't the first clue the first few times I watched it, but you pick up the rhythm before long.

lol my partner HATES it, she has no idea what's going on and has a hard time with that.

only connect : possibly the lowest budget for a tv show ever.
despite having never got a question right, i still really enjoy it whenever i happen to end up watching it.

The entire budget is blown on the giant Winnebago in the studio car park that David Mitchell hangs out in during filming for him and Victoria to go and have lunch in so they don't have to hang out with filthy civilians.

decent eating options are limited in Cardiff to be fair

My partner loves Only Connect but I find it so so so very hard, except for the missing vowels round and the music rounds.

Unrelated, but we watched Daniel Kitson's streamed live show from the Union Chapel on Tuesday, and it was wonderful, moving and very very funny. I'd never seen his stuff before, but he was excellent.

Only Connect does belong on the UK comedy thread for that weird moment at the end of every ep where Coren-Mitchell tells a shite joke into the void, prime anti-comedy imo.

heavily redolent of those video gags at the end of hignify

yeah, OC talk seems slightly offtopic here when we all know it should be offtopic in the university challenge thread 8)

classic taskmaster stitch-up last night on richard herring which backfired when he nailed it. nice to see Histor as well.

Have never seen Taskmaster but keep meaning to watch it based on talk here. Is it ok to jump straight in to the current season or would it be best to start at the beginning?

current season is 80% through now. i'd start at the start of a season, but the season doesn't really matter, although people do have favourites (all4 has them all apparently)

bob mortimer was good, i liked lisa tarbuck and rose matefeo and sally phillips. can't think of a bad series tbh.

I agree with Koogs. If pushed I'd probably start with the series that had James Acaster on. We watched one show at random from somewhere late-on (might have even been the season before last) and thought it was good enough to start from the very beginning.