Initially funny, ultimately annoying. (Fast Show, The)

Member Name: feucht

Product:	Fast Show, The
Date:	28/08/00 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some great gags, particularly in first series

Disadvantages: Lack of originality lead to boredom

I must admit to being quite a big fan of the Fast Show when it first appeared on our screens. Well written, sharp and pacey, a guaranteed winner. When the second series was announced I was as excited as anyone. Once I had seen a couple of episodes, I realised the terrible truth, the Fast Show was starting to become unfunny. Much like the Harry Enfield show, putting the same old characters with their hilarious catchphrases into ever more contrived situations proved that there is more to great sketch comedy than extrapolation, however good the original characters are. The fact that there was no third series suggests to me that the undoubtedly talented participants realised as much, and decided to kill the programme before they found it too tiresome themselves. I doubt if they really wanted to make a second series, if truth were told.

The one major exception to this was the sketches featuring Ted and the Lord of the manor, which had surprising depth, and were successfully made into a full-length one-off. The original sketches were written by the Father Ted team, who ironically had rather less success with Big Train, which was written specifically with the aim of avoiding catchphrase comedy, with most of the sketches standing entirely on their own. Admittedly it was hit and miss, but it contained some real gems in every episode.

I don't want to slag the Fast Show off completely, as it had some great moments, but its shelflife was very short, and in the overall scheme of British comedy, I don't see it as a defining moment.

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