Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 01:53:02 PM

Login with username, password and session length

"The Fast Show" - how come nobody talks about it anymore?

Started by 23 Daves, July 03, 2004, 03:13:21 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

23 Daves

Something I've been wondering recently...

Around about the mid-nineties when "The Fast Show" phenomenon really hit full tilt (probably around the time of the repeats of the first series) critics regularly gushed about how the programme was a "comedy classic", had been "accepted into the classic comedy ranks alongside Monty Python" and other similar stuff.  Since its demise we seem to have heard little more about it.  It's almost never mentioned whenever anyone does an obligatory 'classic British comedy' list, seems to never be quoted by annoying types down the pub or the office anymore, and generally seems to have fallen quite quickly from grace.

Even more curiously, shortly before I left Britain I found some old "Fast Show" videos (of the first series) around my parents house and decided to play them.  I tittered a couple of times, but generally did not find them particularly funny anymore - maybe I was in the wrong mood for it, maybe the material was over-familiar, but something just didn't gel for me, despite the fact that I actually cried with laughter when I first saw it.

I bring this up now because a lot of people in Australia are huge fans of it, a fact I've found genuinely surprising.  I've had Aussies quote lines from it to me in pubs, something I haven't heard in Britain for yonks.  For them, the show appears to still have a lot of currency.

The question has to be, then... Why the subsequent quiet back home?  Did everyone over-rate the programme at the time and completely exaggerate its 'importance', or was it genuinely innovative?  Was the market flooded with so many pale imitators that it rubbed off badly on the originators, causing the programme's ideas to seem stale?  Did we become far too familiar with the material due to incessant repeating and over-hype?  

One thing I noticed when I rewatched it that I did admire (despite not especially finding it funny) was how the central concept worked, and how alien it seems in comparison to the present batch of sit-coms and comedies.  Whilst they all stretch embarrassing scenarios out to the point of pain and periodically tedium, "The Fast Show" did (for the first couple of series at least) stay true to the concept of 'set up the situation, build the gag quickly, and finish'.  It does seem astonishingly quickfire and almost traditional in comparison to the present load of new comedy on Channel 4 and BBC2.

mikeyg27

QuoteDid we become far too familiar with the material due to incessant repeating and over-hype?

Yes. Also, The Fast Show's legacy was ruined somewhat by the last ever shows, which were not at the same standard as the earlier series. Not to mention spin-off sitcoms which show that what may be funny in a 30 second sketch ain't neccessarily funny in a 30 minute show. It's a really big shame, because when it was good, it was really good.

A Passing Turk Slipper

Quote from: "mikeyg27"Not to mention spin-off sitcoms which show that what may be funny in a 30 second sketch ain't neccessarily funny in a 30 minute show.
Well, they weren't all shit. I thought Grass was great and really enjoyed it. I fell asleep watching an episode of Swiss Tony that was on BBC1 ages ago though so I'm not sure if the same can be said for that.

MarmiteCarpenter

Quote from: "A Passing Turk Slipper"
Quote from: "mikeyg27"Not to mention spin-off sitcoms which show that what may be funny in a 30 second sketch ain't neccessarily funny in a 30 minute show.
Well, they weren't all shit. I thought Grass was great and really enjoyed it. I fell asleep watching an episode of Swiss Tony that was on BBC1 ages ago though so I'm not sure if the same can be said for that.
Wasn't Swiss Tony a Reeves and Mortimer product? In R&M I though he was hilarious, mainly because the sketches had that surreal R&M atmosphere. In the Fast Show the atmosphere was gone, and the whole joke revolved around the line 'is like making love to a beautiful woman', completely missing the point IMHO.

Lumiere

The Swiss tony spinoff show....was shit.

The posh gay chap/Farmer Ted spinoff show....was shit.

The last few episodes of The Fast Show were shit.

Regular John

Quote from: "MarmiteCarpenter"
Quote from: "A Passing Turk Slipper"
Quote from: "mikeyg27"Not to mention spin-off sitcoms which show that what may be funny in a 30 second sketch ain't neccessarily funny in a 30 minute show.
Well, they weren't all shit. I thought Grass was great and really enjoyed it. I fell asleep watching an episode of Swiss Tony that was on BBC1 ages ago though so I'm not sure if the same can be said for that.
Wasn't Swiss Tony a Reeves and Mortimer product? In R&M I though he was hilarious, mainly because the sketches had that surreal R&M atmosphere. In the Fast Show the atmosphere was gone, and the whole joke revolved around the line 'is like making love to a beautiful woman', completely missing the point IMHO.

Yeah it was a Bra men sketch! "Yer can keep yer bloody car!"

Lumiere

The Swiss Tony spinoff show failed in my eyes because: It was the constant rehashing of what was not a particularly funny joke in the first place. At times they were hinting at a feeling similar to "the office", but it was nowhere near as good as the office was.

The post gay chap/Farmer Ted spinoff show failed in my eyes because: Much like the Swiss Tony spinoff, it was just a pretentious retelling of a lame joke most people had got tired of anyway.

On the fast show these sketches were fine, because they were short and sweet. Presented in their own series, they were overblown and useless. Just like the two impertinent chaps who ran the clothes shop, hearing "suits you sir!" once in an evening is OK, but hearing it every five minutes is annoying.

The last few episodes of the fast show were shite because: the series had already started to get tired and boring, and because it was so massively successful they seemed to think they could get away with the characters just streaming out their catchphrases and some cliched, familiar skits.

Lumiere


Ben Ordinary


MarmiteCarpenter

Quote from: "Regular John"
Quote from: "MarmiteCarpenter"
Quote from: "A Passing Turk Slipper"
Quote from: "mikeyg27"Not to mention spin-off sitcoms which show that what may be funny in a 30 second sketch ain't neccessarily funny in a 30 minute show.
Well, they weren't all shit. I thought Grass was great and really enjoyed it. I fell asleep watching an episode of Swiss Tony that was on BBC1 ages ago though so I'm not sure if the same can be said for that.
Wasn't Swiss Tony a Reeves and Mortimer product? In R&M I though he was hilarious, mainly because the sketches had that surreal R&M atmosphere. In the Fast Show the atmosphere was gone, and the whole joke revolved around the line 'is like making love to a beautiful woman', completely missing the point IMHO.

Yeah it was a Bra men sketch! "Yer can keep yer bloody car!"

"and he wants winders that go up....and then go back down again"

Emergency Lalla Ward Ten

Lots of funny bits in Swiss Toni, eg:

TONI: Any idea how we can increase profits? Anyone?
SECRETARY: I still think we should set up a website, Swiss.
TONI: I meant *sensible* ideas! This isn't Star Trek.

I think it's as good as Black Books or 15 Storeys High, or any of the other stuff you're allowed to like.

The Fast Show had a great debut series - willfully hit and miss, unlike anything else on at the time. Series 2 was a bit slicker and more assured, although not necessarily better, and Series 3 and beyond was generally useless. Trouble is, people tend to lump all three series together, either in damnation or praise - I think you have to deal with them separately.

A Passing Turk Slipper

Quote from: "Emergency Lalla Ward Ten"Lots of funny bits in Swiss Toni, eg:

TONI: Any idea how we can increase profits? Anyone?
SECRETARY: I still think we should set up a website, Swiss.
TONI: I meant *sensible* ideas! This isn't Star Trek.

I think it's as good as Black Books or 15 Storeys High, or any of the other stuff you're allowed to like.
Heh, that's great. Was Swiss Tony ever shown on BBC2? I only ever caught one episode which was on that BBC3 on BBC1 thing and that was always on so bloody late that I went and fell asleep. Again though, I thought Grass was great, I wish I taped it now because not only do I really want to watch them all again but I went and missed one of the episodes.

Lumiere

Quote from: "Emergency Lalla Ward Ten"Lots of funny bits in Swiss Toni, eg:

TONI: Any idea how we can increase profits? Anyone?
SECRETARY: I still think we should set up a website, Swiss.
TONI: I meant *sensible* ideas! This isn't Star Trek.

I really didn't find that funny.

I was thinking about this the other day.

Back in the 6th Form it used to be one of those "quote sketch-shows" of the 90s.
Now I watch episodes that are repeated now - and I cringe at it.

It could be that I've discovered more "sophisticated" (comedy snob was we?) or "clever" stuff that's out there... Cook, Morris, Iannucci and co. or it could be that the very nature of the sketch-show with it's user-friendly quotable_ rinse_ repeat formula is that we've now seen the very flaw which we once adored in it's delivery.
Bo Selecta is probably where the Fast Show was back then.  I can't see it's going to preserve that well in 5-10 years.  Fucking hell - look at the Day Today/ On the Hour from the mid-90s - nowadays they are almost standard proceedings for "proper" News.  A far longer life span.  Sit-coms like Father Ted, Faulty Towers or the Young Ones seem to have superb longevity as comedy - despite being able to date them to a particular era.

The Fast Show (and Enfield and co) - has similarities with the Python, Milligan and Pete & Dud sketches... the use of the established archetype we need to know to "get the gags"... but it is also different as Python & co were far more varied and clever than the highly quotable week-in/week-out repetitions of Whitehouse & chums.             The parrot sketch is only quotable in it's familiarity - but a series of Monty Python seems way more varied and interesting than a series or two of the Fast Show.  (as an aside, Terry Gilliam's animations really raised that show head-and-shoulders...)

Sure there is still some goodness & humour watching the Fast Show now - but maybe it wore itself out with the very formula it used.
and we wore it out (and our attention span to boot) by quoting it to buggery every week...
The format is to make it recognisable so the jokes are second nature to us, but the life-span is reduced for the same reason. People like to be "in on the jokes" - if you repeat the joke/punchline/catchphrase enough then people are happy that they know what is coming next - it's a social thing... reenact it back at the pub.  You feel part of a group don'tcha.  You feel like you have something in common with the others don'tcha.  that's why you watch Big Brother isn't it.  To get people to like you coz you know what they know don'tcha.

In our maturity we have come to think that repetition ad infinitum is not a virtue and the humour is diminished.

Jemble Fred

There's a new series of Swiss Tony just being finished up. Despite starring Rhys Thomas, the first series wasn't bad.

I was, however, chuffed to find most of the Ted & Ralph special on an old tape recently, and it was the perfect way to expand the story, even if the 'find a bride, lose the bride' thing was predictable. Amazing cast, and pitched just right for a one-off Christmas special.

benthalo

I remembered Ted & Ralph very fondly, dug it out recently and it dragged its heels like buggery. Even with Declan Lowney directing there's no discipline - the party scene does little and goes on forever, and much of the plot flagging is a fairly gag-less attempt to inject drama and momentum. Sixty-five minutes to utterly ruin a double act's mystique was an indulgence too far. Mind you, Gina Bellman's rather good.

Never cared much for The Fast Show initially, although I warmed to it with series 2. I think the rot set in when they became wrapped up in their own success and gained further control on the The Fast Show franchise. As ELW10 says, it's rubbish from thereon. Series 3, The Last Fast Shows Ever from 2000, that hideous Top 100 Lists special for BBC2, The Fast Show Farewell Tour for BBC3. The last of these featured a closing sequence where they were walking along a sea front discussing what they could do next. "Another special? BBC3 will have us." I'm sure they enjoy working together, but they've been crap since Caroline Aherne left.

Swiss Toni and Grass are both great shows. I hazard a guess that Jumpers For Goalposts wasn't.

Purple Tentacle

In all honesty the only bit I clearly remember from Ted and Ralph was the bit where Ralph goes on the date with a closet nazi.

"Do you like Wagner?"

Very funny. I'd like to see the show again to see how it holds up.