TV Burp

I'm rather sad that tomorrow (27th November, 2004) is the end of the current series of Harry Hill's TV Burp. Now, I can't call myself a great fan of Harry Hill, but I classify his comedy as a bit hit and miss.

In this show, he takes moments from TV shows (in Britain) and makes fun of them. For instance, Hill might say, 'Let's see the man who chews his coffee.' an then we'd see a clip of a man from some soap opera taking a sip of coffee and then chewing away as if he was eating rock cakes!

On the other hand, some things don't appeal to me. But I do find TV Burp a great Saturday tea time thing. It ranks quite highly on my list of current comedy, and if you are a fan of Harry Hill or TV bloopers style things, you will enjoy this unique blend of humour.

On ITV there is almost no comedy output. That is except a few 30 min latenight comedies. One of which is this gem. Each week Harry Hill casts a eye over what has been on TV. By using his unique brand of humor he does it in a very funny manner. Highlights include comparing everyday objects to the appearance of a TV star and fights to decide topical issues. This has caused me laugh out loud a number of times. Though this is not for everybody's taste if you like comedies, which tend not to be mainstream then this is worth a gander.

Each week Harry Hill comes to our screens to pick over the bones of the week in popular television. Looking mainly at the soaps, the popular dramas and various specials Harry looks for the more unusual touches that may have been overlooked by the casual viewer. Of course many reviewers will recognise this as the same technique used by people like Jasper Carrot and Chris Tarrant who do the same for adverts and television clips from around the world, so how is this better or cleverer?

Well, simply it comes down to your opinion of Harry Hill. Personally I think the guy is hilarious and his unique sense of humour is what makes this programme work. He rarely goes for the easy gag and he is genuinely imaginative with even the basic sight gags he does in regards things in the TV shows. Whereas Chris Tarrant's clips generally don't require much delivery, Harry Hill's jokes are more about his delivery and imagination than about the actual content of the clip and is never just 'oh look how funny other cultures are'. It does depend how much you like Hill of course but I find his unique sense of craziness to be a blessed addition to Saturday night line-ups that are normally full of derivative stuff that lack imagination.

One problem with it is that fans of Hill might not appreciate the fact that his humour has been watered down for a primetime audience. Certainly the heavy use of clips means that about a third of the 25 minute running time is taken up by the TV clips and this is not as good as Hill's other shows where he had the full running time, lots of characters and all sorts of craziness going on. But this is the price we pay for a primetime and we can just hope that he will get another show later in the evening to do what he does best and, until then, I'll be going to see him live in 2005.

Overall this is a very funny show that is lifted out of its ponderous unoriginal premise and made something much more inventive and off the wall than the usual Saturday night servings would allow us and, if he manages to get a wider audience for his fuller shows and crazy sense of humour then that can only be a good thing.

Once a rich source of popular television comedy, I.T.V. seems to have thrown in the towel. The jewel in its crown in recent years has been 'Harry Hill's T.V. Burp' in which the eccentrically attired Mr.Hill pokes fun at the week's television. He would not be the first person to do this; the B.B.C.'s 'Saturday Night Clive' had Clive James up to the same kind of mischief in the early '90's.

Harry Hill is the nearest we have right now to a Spike Milligan or a Kenny Everett in that he also uses surrealism as the basis for his humour. Of course he is helped by the sad fact that British television in the Noughties is a bad joke, and thus a perfect target for comedy. Try watching a soap opera with the sound off ( the grimaces and leers of the cast are hilarious ) and you'll see what I mean! Quiz shows and documentaries also come in for similar ribbing.

One of my favourite moments was when Harry did 'If...British television continues to get worse' in which he led an assault force against the television studios where much of the pap we have to endure is made. There's an unmistakable anger lurking behind the gags. Rather than get mad, Harry has decided to get even. He has fashioned a good show simply by laughing at the bad ones.

This is one of the few jewels in the ITV schedule. Not known for doing anything other than a total banker this little gem popped onto ITV screens several years ago and has quickly become a weekly staple of people who are fans of all types of comedy.

The format of mostly, just Harry sitting and giving glib comments of the weeks T.V. showing the clips concerned is simple enough, but the delivery and timing makes the interaction between viewer and presenter into a 'conversation in the pub' arrangement. This appears effortless but must take huge preparation.

Harry Hill's ability to get a bizarre angle on something which passed everyone else by is key to the comedy.

Most of all it is truly funny family entertainment, and let's face it, family comedy is usually only funny for the younger generation.