TV Burp: Maybe Last Series with Harry Hill?

I think he was joking.

If he does quit and is replaced - which I think is highly unlikely as it is his vehicle - the new presenter would be one of Avalon's stable of talent. It's their programme and they really only produce programmes that star their talent. Adrian Charles' TV Burp maybe?


Harry Hill's big problem is that he's better known for TV burp than his stand-up. I've heard him mention in interviews the confused looks he gets when he appears live and there's no knitted character or 'fight!'. It would be good to see him return to the sort of thing he did before.... but it wouldn't be right for ITV, they struggled to know what to do with him when they signed him

I'd agree there. His stand up is great. They did do a series of The Harry Hill Show for ITV, I think they aired it on a Sunday late night before they launched TV Burp. ITV also let his stand up loose on kids TV with Shark Infested Custard that only received one series, since then they've doubled up on TV Burp each year.

Its been reported that Harry's had many ideas, from new sketch shows to full comedies, including a spoof soap opera which could work really well, but I'm not sure if ITV would risk anything like this.

Not only does he bring TV Burp to a lot of viewers for ITV, but he also turned the sinking ship that was You've Been Framed around dramatically, much as people are saying that they don't know who would do TV Burp, I don't know who could take over from him on YBF either.

TV Burp had already launched by then.

DC Thomson won't like this news. Harry Hill's Adventures in TV Land in The Dandy is heavily inspired by TV Burp. Knitted Character also appears. If TV Burp is ending, bad news for them. Harry's strip is the lead feature, ever since it debuted in last October's revamp of the comic.

That sounds a bit stupid. Fiona Bruce's TV Burp on the other hand...

Harry makes the show. He has a style which lends itself to the sarcastic, playful and irreverent - and his looks-to-the-side comments have me in stitches.

And because of that, he gets away with weaker material filling the show than a lesser performer would. There's no question in my mind of that.

I'd sooner see the show rested and have him pop along for a review of the year - couple of half hours at Christmas.

All shows have a shelf life and 9 years is a long run. Brilliantly inventive at the start but I think it has started to fade more recently, although 9 times out of 10 still funnier than most stuff on TV these days.

If Harry is also walking away from YBF!, Keith Lemon seems flavour of the month at ITV. I expect he'll be voice YBF, and probably get a show in the TV Burp slot as well within 12 months.

He'd fit in well on YBF but I can't imagine the Keith Lemon character on primetime Saturday night ITV1 in anything other than a heavily formatted programme like Sing If You Can. All of Leigh Francis' characters, especially Keith Lemon, I think, are a bit too rude for ITV1. He tones it down a lot on This Morning and you can tell he's pushing it a bit there at times.

Incidently this week's Celebrity Juice was one of the funniest things I've seen in ages

I thought the show was brilliant when I first caught it (I think on Thursday nights at something like 11pm!?), when it really was a cheap little TV show with jokes about what was on telly. I think the show lost its way when it became less about what was on telly and more about itself... all this knitted character stuff, and that large woman (from EastEnders? I can't even remember) who could have been mildly amusing for one episode but has been dragged up far too many times to be funny. The skits generally go on a bit too long, and tend to all to often be excuses for soap actors to wave at a camera.

Contrast those gags with one I can remember from the early years, featuring Harry having to steal tapes of EastEnders from Greg Dyke at his local kebab shop... and that 40 second-or-so skit was probably the only one in the entire episode.

Increased budget and a family timeslot are probably the factors I'd blame.

Best of luck making TV Burp work with James Corden or whoever.

Does anyone have the clip where Cilla Black was on Emmerdale? That was the first clip I saw when flicking channels and saw TV Burp on a Sunday repeat on ITV2, before it became more well known and popular in the following year.

I think the narrator of Come Dine With Me would be an ideal replacement, he has a similar comic style.