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Re: Thank God You're Here

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SeDi_98Feb 2, 2008
 

 
I really did want to love "Thank God You're Here", because I've missed
seeing Paul Merton do that kind of improvisation on TV. However, his
contribution to each show is really very small (only one sketch). The
guests were variable, but no more than you'd expect.

The main problem with the format is that all the other actors in each
sketch appear to have pre-scripted lines, leaving the improviser
trying to second-guess the writers' intended responses. Too often it
became a string of non-sequiturs. (Personally I like a bit of surreal
humour, but too much of it in a single show gets wearing.)

Also, the interviews with the performers were totally unnecessary and
slowed down the show a lot. Imagine if, at the end of each round of
JAM each panellist was made to go over it again blow-by-blow. That's
kind of the effect.

Basically, it could have been a very good series, but it was too slow,
underused the talent, and didn't give each scene enough room to develop.

That's what I thought, anyway.

--Darren

--- In just-a-minute@..., Dean Bedford <dbedford@...> wrote:
>
> The reviews and ratings for Paul Merton's new TV show seem to
suggest it
> will soon be pulled from the air. I've been looking out for comments (I
> haven't seen it) and have yet to see even one that was positive.
>
> Has anyone here seen it?
>
> Paul has had huge success in so many things - and yet equally he's
tried
> a lot of things that haven't worked out - his TV sketch series, his TV
> series adapting Tony Hancock, his movie.
>
> I'm sure he loves Have I Got News For You, and the freedom it gives him
> to experiment with other forms of comedy. But he must also wonder
> sometimes why some of these other things have been flops.
>

 
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