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ITV axe sitcoms

Tell viewers to get their comedy from Corrie (February 2019)

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JB
JasonB
“Hmmm, I want to watch something funny tonight. I know, i’ll watch Coronation Street for a laugh”
Rexogamer, Towielad and AJ gave kudos
MR
mr_vivian
Bad Move and Birds of a feather were not my cup of tea so I'm not surprised they were axed.
WH
Whataday Founding member
Clearing the way - in terms of what the slot? the budget? is there a rule its one comedy in one comedy out?


ITV is not known for having a packed comedy schedule, so if they had a big sitcom commission in mind, something would probably have to give. It's also not unreasonable to suggest that something like Birds of a Feather (working class, studio based sitcom) fits the same profile as Mrs Browns Boys.

Quote:
Poaching Mrs Brown - I know since Bake Off people think everything from EastEnders to Strictly is about to move away from the beeb, but its very unlikely


Why unlikely? Seems perfectly reasonable to me. Highly popular, incredibly commercial and not owned by the Beeb.

Quote:
Always felt like an ITV programme - How can the show which has practically single handily defined BBC One comedy over the last decade feel like an ITV programme? I sounds like you are suggesting that because it is downmarket it feels like ITV, but maybe that is what BBC One is about these days?


I'm a fan of Mrs Brown's Boys and hate the snobbery aimed at it, but it's undeniably a brash, lowbrow comedy and in my view sits far better alongside the sort of programming you'd see Ant & Dec or Paul O'Grady front. It's certainly "the people's comedy" in the same way ITV sees itself as "the people's channel".
AN
Andrew Founding member
Mrs Brown is fast running out of steam in any case. Only two episodes a year and each year it rates lower than the last.

Of course this show also shows how thin on the ground sitcoms are on BBC One as well, which had a much richer history of sitcom than ITV (The article linked to in post 1 was hailing On The Buses as the best example of hit ITV comedy!).

Always keeping it's slot on Christmas Day which no sign of anything toppling it, and also the fact that the NYD episode of the sitcom was actually the last sitcom BBC One showed to date.
BR
Brekkie
Bad Move and Birds of a feather were not my cup of tea so I'm not surprised they were axed.

I didn't know you had such power. Very Happy

The cost of a sitcom is something I'd be interested in - it's surely much cheaper than the money they have to spend on drama nowadays with just as good a chance at decent ratings as, and probably more repeat value too
NB
NicB1971
Best (unintentional) comedy on ITV at the moment is Gemma Collins still on Dancing On Ice. What a big joke. Has to be the biggest fix for that heffalump to be on our screens. Useless. Absolutely useless.
JA
james-2001
Best (unintentional) comedy on ITV at the moment is Gemma Collins still on Dancing On Ice. What a big joke. Has to be the biggest fix for that heffalump to be on our screens. Useless. Absolutely useless.


Maybe they should put the dancers with the lowest score up against the couple with the lowest votes for the skate off, rather than the two couples with the lowest votes, maybe then that would stop her being voted back in every week.
BR
Brekkie
Would make it pointless though when the judges have the final vote. She'll be gone soon enough.
JO
Jon
Why would they want to do that?
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
I'm sure sitcoms will be back in fashion in due course; gameshows practically fell out of fashion after the turn of the century (if not totally out of the schedule):

http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/History_of_the_Game_Show posted:
By 2005 or so, game shows seemed to be in a bit of a slump. The last few years had seen ITV practically axe every gameshow they had, even ones that had been running for over 20 years, and in their place came a whole string of high-profile flops: Public Property, Shafted and I'm the Answer were axed in mid-run, while the likes of The People Versus and 24 Hour Quiz played out to dismally low ratings. Even recent hits such as Millionaire? and Link weren't pulling in anywhere near the number of viewers they used to, and while there were some bright sparks among the dirge of phone-in quiz channels, things were undeniably not as good as they were at the start of the decade.


I have no doubt the sitcom format will return at some point, however it probably doesn't help when certain sitcoms run forever and a day despite having gone off the boil years ago (My Family was guilty of this, especially in the years after Kris Marshall left. Mrs Brown's Boys, as above, is on its last legs effectively). The more successful sitcoms over the years seem to have followed the Fawlty Towers model, ie capping a series at six episodes and usually (with exceptions) running for two series.
Rexogamer and Brekkie gave kudos
JO
Jonwo
Clearing the way - in terms of what the slot? the budget? is there a rule its one comedy in one comedy out?

Poaching Mrs Brown - I know since Bake Off people think everything from EastEnders to Strictly is about to move away from the beeb, but its very unlikely

Always felt like an ITV programme - How can the show which has practically single handily defined BBC One comedy over the last decade feel like an ITV programme? I sounds like you are suggesting that because it is downmarket it feels like ITV, but maybe that is what BBC One is about these days?


Mrs Brown's Boys is a co-pro between BBC Scotland, BocPix and RTE so it's unlikely to move to ITV and I think Brendan O'Caroll wouldn't want to betray the BBC since they gave him his big break

Bad Move and Birds of a feather were not my cup of tea so I'm not surprised they were axed.

I didn't know you had such power. Very Happy

The cost of a sitcom is something I'd be interested in - it's surely much cheaper than the money they have to spend on drama nowadays with just as good a chance at decent ratings as, and probably more repeat value too


I think it depend on the sitcom, a single camera comedy likely is more expensive than say a multicamera show or a panel show. Drama I think while it costs more is likely a lot easier to sell abroad than a comedy where humour is subjective
:-(
A former member
BBC has had a good number of ideas for comedy like Good night sweetheart but went for some crap remake

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