Entry: After blackadder, why bother? Friday, September 07, 2007

Radio 4 seems to be having a spate of "historical comedies" at the moment. Unfortunately they're nearly all bollocks. The best of them (that I've heard) is "Bleak Expectations" which had some genuinely funny moments despite sharing the same sense of over-indulged whimsy with which all R4 comedy seems to capitulate these days. It also had an awareness that it was a radio comedy, so there were speech-only jokes, good sound effects... the MEDIUM was taken advantage of.

"1966 and all that", a show whose title parodies that of a book of parody (putting it next to scary movie 3 on the satire food chain), doesn't do that. I love Craig Brown's column in Private Eye, so it's odd that just after reading one of his best ones yet (Germaine Greer - check it out if you haven't already) I should flick on the radio and find myself listening to this, his complete arse of a show. It's like a poorly-produced audiobook farted and then spent half an hour laughing about it. Baseline gags, criminally unfunny, miserably predictable puntastic nonsense, and - and this is worst - entirely lacking in the intelligence which is R4's hallmark. "Just A Minute", I need hardly remind you, is cleverer and funnier and improvised.

Caught between these two shows in quality is "The Castle". I'm afraid I couldn't make myself listen to the whole thing because I've just had enough of this subgenre for one week. But the part I heard resonated with those same misplaced ideas I'd heard in the other two; the idea that referencing current affairs in a show set in the past is funny de facto, the idea that changing slightly the name of a famous historical figure and then constructing an elaborate pun heirarchy based on the new spelling is a profitable use of your time - above all, the idea that any of these are new ideas at all. Well, they aren't.

Radio is easily the most underexploited genre of anything, ever. Of course great comedies have appeared on it, and there is a glimmer of hope to be had from the BBC's upcoming Dirk Gently effort. But I really hope they make the whole thing less fass and less patronising soon, because the current season is really grinding my gears.
   2 comments

fO
September 8, 2007   11:56 PM PDT
 
Not at all - it's always good to have someone other than me rambling on this thing..

Firstly, GQT is like, my God. So let's just leave that RIGHT there.

I'm afraid I still like You and Yours, preserving British Inanity, a national characteristic which, like so much of our great nation, is in decline. I blame the french. BUT I agree with you about Revolting Peoples, which I'd have talked about in the original post if I'd remembered it. THAT'S how good it wasn't.

Ianucci is, as in all of his efforts, a bit hit-and-miss. Though I still get enough genuine chuckles out of him to think it worthwhile. In general though I agree with you that evening radio could use a bit of a beating - however, what REALLY bothers me is the "dead zone" between the World at One and PM. That and the Archers, but we'll never kill that one.

Critics of R4 (hi Chatwin) should remember that it's still by far the highest-quality media source in the WORLD, public or private, and that it's only because it *does* experiment with bollocks like The Castle that it scrapes up the occasional H2G2 every once in a while. Also, as well as the shows which Rupert mentioned (I even like woman's hour when Jenny Murray isn't around), let me remind you of the following:

* Today
* Saturday Live
* CLIVE ANDERSON
* Excess Baggage (Sandi!)
* From our own Correspondant
* Any Questions?
* Money Box (don't understand a word, but find it mysteriously relaxing)
* From our own Correspondant (it's worth mentioning twice)
*EVERYTHING ELSE
Rupert
September 7, 2007   11:32 PM PDT
 
Hurrah for (certain parts of) BBC Radio 4!!

I'm sorry I haven't a clue about some of their dreadful 'comedies' of late although as you say Bleak Expectations super - I loved the whole 'Bastardball' game and how one went about scoring a 'Bastard' with the youngest boy and a bucket of You and Yours...

Along with the dreadful Y-and-Y are most of the 1830 programmes at the moment, Just A Minute aside...and The News Quiz and ISIHAC being off air currently. Armando Ianucci is sometimes quite boring and really repetitive in his approach to everything, although this evening had funny bits when I was washing up...

Revolting Peoples is a bit dull I say - wonderful though Scumsporn's boss is elsewhere.

The Discworld radioplays have been quite good I thought and The Card (by Arnold Bennett) ((you know - "Denry" Machin)) play on the last two Sundays was entertaining. The last 'Book at Bedtime' Descent was rather perfect I thought in a steely aerospacey CCCP sort of way...I'm looking foward to reading the actual book next.

And it goes without saying how fun Womens' Hour and Gardeners' QT are...

...and then Radio 3 is just one station away with a glorious and simply splendid lack of 'Rush' which Radio 4 rather suffers from most of the day. R3 just doesn't care what time it is or who's dying in the news (unless he's an Italian opera god) which is perfect if the continual treadmill-on-max speed of life today vexes one more than usual.

Sorry I'm rambling like a...well rambler. And it is your blog!

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