The Sketch Show

To be honest, I'd pretty much written off British comedy in recent years. After producing comedy classics one after another for so many years (as well as numerous pointless timeslot fillers), the BBC & Channel 4 seem to have had all comedy and creativity and independent thought drained from them by the humourless PC Marxists who succeeded in infiltrating and ultimately taking over. After seeing programs like "The Fast Show", "The Office", "Brass Eye" and "The League of Gentlemen" hyped, and then trying to force a laugh when watching them, I'd pretty much assumed that the last of Britain's comic talent (apart from Borat) must have either retired or moved across the Atlantic. The sudden eruption of outstanding comedy TV programs from the USA starting in the 1990's, after decades of canned laughter abortions, made me think the latter.

After seeing the, promos for "the Sketch Show", and considering that it was on commercial TV on first run, I held out little hope for it. I thought it would be like the aptly named Skithouse. Then I accidentally saw an episode. Wow! A genuinely funny sketch! and then another! And then another!!! Granted, I haven't seen every episode, but what amazed me was how many of the sketches were genuine belly laugh sketches - more than 50%, an outstanding ratio. The production values were high, the acting was good, and even the women were funny. There is a pleasant absence of tedious political hectoring - Ben Elton take note. It lacks the surreal elements, stylistic gimmicks & recurring themes that make for cult comedies but can also be used to mask a lack of funny ideas. Instead it's just good unpretentious sketch comedy that delivers laughs. What more can you ask for?

"The sketch show" is one of the funniest shows I have ever seen!

The sketches are funny and entertaining.

I don't know how they come up with it all! The actors are amazing at acting different characters.

The humor is one-of-a-kind, but oh...so funny! "The sketch show" always makes me laugh.

Personally, I just love British TV-series ( most of them), and the sketch show is one of my favorites. The humor maybe weird, and different, but that is just exiting, isn't it? Hilarious!

I recommend the show to anyone who cares for a laugh!

but thats not coz i think its not good, it's coz i think it's too good! I have nearly died laughing at every episode! Whenever my mum and dad come upstairs while i'm watchin it in my bedroom, they think i'm a bit mad coz they can always hear me going crazy laughing at it! I once made the mistake of eating a packet of crisps while watchin it! I was laughing so much i nearly choked on them! Some sketches aren't as funny as others but they are all very funny and very clever! When the show starts the first five minutes might not be as funny, they seem to save the best sketches til the end in most episodes! But give it a chance! Don't just switch off after five minutes! You don't know what British comedy is all about until you've seen this! The new series is due to start on ITV1 very soon(should be sometime in february i think!) so my advice to you is watch it! If you don't like this, you don't like comedy!

Re: Transparency of jokes.

The Sketch Show is the sort of comedy that is hilarious without trying to be too clever. That's what I like about it - its simplicity. The humour comes from the way its acted and delivered - without needing to resort to excessive crudeness or political impersonations which you find in a lot of comedy shows these days. It's light entertainment that is a good filler for half an hour every Monday night.

With a line-up including Ronni Ancona and Jim Tavare, plus writing credits from the likes of Ricky Gervais, and production by Steve Coogan and Henry Normal, you'd think that this would be something special. BIG mistake! Without a doubt, this has to be one of the poorest comedy shows ITV has put out in the last 20 years - and as you can imagine, it's up against some pretty stiff competition!

The punchlines to the sketches are so transparently obvious, you can see them coming as the sketch starts, but not in a fun intelligent way (see The Fast Show for a better example of obvious punchlines). Example: Man #1 is collecting money in a bucket. The bucket reads 'Pickpockets In Need'. Bet you can't guess what happens next?? That's right, Man#2 takes money from the bucket rather than putting some in. Oh, hilarity!

I can't stress highly enough how much this should be avoided. Think Three of a Kind without the laughs and you're getting pretty close.

ITV - must try harder!