A CS thread on a “Vicar of Dibley” reunion for Comic Relief got me wondering how the British view this event. (I’m an American and have no firsthand experience with the event.) Do people view it as a beloved commitment to charity, just an obligation to be done with for good reasons, or another excuse for celebrities to put themselves in the news? What is the overall quality of the sketches and have any become part of pop culture? Are there any major names who refuse to participate and why?
Hate it. Don’t watch it, don’t contribute any money. I think it’s tasteless.
I don’t like it, but it’s quite a big thing. Takes up a whole night on the BBC.
This is one of the things from 2011 (Doctor Who):
Personally, I loathe it.
Not seen one for beards. When it first started (late 80s I think) it seemed like a big deal, had a lot of impact. Was watchable as I recall, obv you’re going to get a lot of dross in something like that but there were some highlights. Didn’t Blackadder do an original piece for one of them?
I guess if BBC1 is still clearing the schedule for it for an evening it must still carry some weight / respect as a charity event.
As a charity, it is a popular cause, and there are lots of fundraising events – for example, many schools let the kids wear casual clothes in exchange for a donation. It’s encouraged to do something “wacky” and get sponsored for it – the stereotypical one is sitting in a bath full of baked beans.
The telethon itself, however, is pure crap. The sketches tend to be of terrible quality and not funny at all – possibly because they’re trying to be “family friendly”?
There’s also a weird whiplash effect, from switching between comedy sketches and videos of starving children in Africa…
Yeah, that’s why I can’t watch it. I’ve nothing against it as a charity though, it raises shedloads of cash. The last one raised over £93 million, which is pretty impressive I think.
They did, but then Blackadder co-writer Richard Curtis is also the co-founder of Comic Relief.
I think it’s crass. It usually catches me out when it replaces a show I actually like and expected to watch. I might consider sending money if you kept that crap off and left the stuff I actually want to watch in place. Oh well, let’s see what’s on channel 5 tonight… oo, The Mentalist, bye bye BBC
And - enough with the red nose crap, there’s nothing at all amusing it - what is with the nose with faces on them? What sick weirdo thought those up?
I like some of the sketches – enjoyed the ‘Call the Midwife’ skit this year, and there’s been some classics (Tony Blair and Catherine Tate, Smithy giving the England quad a pep talk, although I doubt American viewers would get these are they are very British comic characters) but I do agree that it isn’t what it used to be.
I remember watching the first one, which appears to have been in 1988, so I would have been eleven. I recall it being quite exciting and anarchic with Lenny Henry, Griff Rhys Jones (Jonathan Ross?) ‘invading’ neighbouring TV studios at the BBC centre, so they’d appear on that channel too. And just the prospect of them cobbling together a marathon of comedy sucked me in, even if the result was patchy.
I don’t watch it these days - from trailers it does appear to have gone ‘family-friendly’ and I would rather drown in a bath of baked beans than sit through a normal edition of Dr Who or Call the Midwife, let alone a novelty episode with some doofus National Treasure giving a cameo with a knowing wink.
Then again, according to Wikipedia it has gone from raising £15 million in 1988 to around £100 million in recent times, so you can’t fault them, pragmatically-thinking.
I think the concept is fine, I don’t tend to watch it myself, but I’m sure it makes good family viewing and can be a good way for kids to understand more about the world around them.