Few would argue that British terrestrial television is in a golden age. Copper, maybe. Nickel, at a push. Outgunned by streaming services and paralyzed by risk-averse decision-making, the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 are stuck in the trenches, terrified to raise their heads in case Netflix blows them off. Instead, they lob dud grenades like tepid police dramas, mid-afternoon quiz shows, or unnecessary 12-week processes to find the nation's best pancake flipper.
The Misuse of Comedic Talent
Britain still produces brilliant comedians. Stand-up is as popular as ever, and social media is full of great young sketch comics. Yet TV vehicles built around funny people simply being funny are scarce. Variety specials like those of Dave Allen, Victoria Wood, or even Russ Abbott are missing. Sketch shows are expensive, but so is paying Romesh Ranganathan to go on holiday with his mum for 26 weeks a year. SNL UK has proven there's appetite and talent, albeit quietly on Sky One.
Somewhere along the line, TV has forgotten what comedians are for. They are not there to point at cathedrals, praise Harry Ramsden's chips, or explain Victorian pumping stations. You wouldn't sign Jude Bellingham and put him behind a reception desk, or book Dua Lipa and ask her to set up rigging. Yet commissioners look at a successful stand-up and think: 'Let's get them comparing caravan parks in Shropshire.'
A Spectacular Waste
We've reached a point where Britain's funniest people spend less time making us laugh than crowning Britain's best scaffolder or wandering around Whitby looking surprised by the price of a battered sausage. It wasn't long ago that if you saw a comedian on TV, they were at least doing comedy. Now, instead of being given a show and freedom to be amusing, they are shoved into tedious travelogues or presenting gigs that would embarrass a Butlins redcoat. It's TV's default setting: find someone funny, remove the funny bit, and hope nobody notices.
The only place TV seems happy for comedians to be funny is somewhere that isn't TV. Comedy has been ghettoized to podcasts and Radio 4, while primetime TV bloats with comedian-fronted travelogues and celebrity competitions. Joel Dommett's TV options are limited to introducing Davina McCall and Mo Gilligan to Dominic Littlewood dressed as a giant foam spatula. Susan Calman has spent so many years wandering around drab seaside towns for Channel 5 that she may have forgotten her original occupation.
The Numbers Speak
Nine series of Susan Calman's Grand Days Out have aired. She has gone on more than 60 holidays alone, to places like Lowestoft. It's not fair on her or on us. Give her a Sunday night ITV variety show, or at least a spot on The Great British Toss-Off. According to the article, this trend represents a spectacular waste of talent, with comedians being diverted from their core skill of making people laugh.
