Why do the British have so many sketch shows?

[Loach]

@Banksiaman

US comedians don’t seem to play well together. Although this is based mainly on suffering through some of those appalling ‘comedy’ roasts, there is little sense of serving the show - feeding lines for others to get the laugh, knowing when to shut up, bantering, not being so full of yourself etc, which is minimum entry-level for Brit panel shows. Perhaps its a stronger theatrical tradition - many British comedians are also proper actors, and can take direction. I think stand-up in the US gives you different skills but may not crush your desire to be centre stage.

I’ve seen a number of British roast shows. It’s not uniquely American.

And sketch certainly isn’t a unique British form. See: Caesar, Sid.

[Banksiaman]

@Loach

I’ve seen a number of British roast shows. It’s not uniquely American.

I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a British version of a ‘Roast’ show and now weirdly curious. Any suggestions to pursue?

@Loach

And sketch certainly isn’t a unique British form. See: Caesar, Sid.

Carol Burnett’s show is another example - probably more comedy-variety, but you’d put Morecombe and Wise into a similar bracket.

[Loach]

@Banksiaman

@Loach

I’ve seen a number of British roast shows. It’s not uniquely American.

I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a British version of a ‘Roast’ show and now weirdly curious. Any suggestions to pursue?

@Loach

And sketch certainly isn’t a unique British form. See: Caesar, Sid.

Carol Burnett’s show is another example - probably more comedy-variety, but you’d put Morecombe and Wise into a similar bracket.

There was a show that was unimaginatively called Roast Battle hosted by Jimmy Carr. British version of the American Comedy Central but they did have two seasons.

Carol Burnett was later though. Sid Caesar’s sketch shows were some of the earliest TV shows. Let’s not forget Ernie Kovas as well. A man very far ahead of his time.

[MrDibble]

@digs

I found out that Finnemore wrote some of their best sketches

I wonder if he wrote the Hennimore! sketches?

[Stanislaus]

I recently saw on of the Fast Show boys on Twitter commenting on a clip of one sketch. His main point was that it was absurdly expensive.

The set up was a WWII bomb defusal. So you had the not just the uniforms, but also an entire set done up to look like a bombed 1940s London St. That’s not cheap! It’s a lot of work from a lot of people. And all for a 30s gag.

Then you do the next sketch set in a field, the one in a car showroom, the one in a jazz club…

This can get expensive quickly. Now obviously, one way round this is to have recurring characters who do the same sort of gag in the same place. Then you can rock up, film two dozen iterations of the same character (Brilliant!) and maximise the value per set. But if you do too much of that, it gets boring (see, Little Britain) and part of the joy of sketch shows is the freedom to do literally any situation that occurs.

Compared to a panel show, which is one set for 100s of episodes, a commissioner is going to want to be very, very sure they have a winner before they sign any checks. (Or put it on radio, where listeners build the set in their heads for everyone’s convenience).

[Lantern2]

A couple of conjectures:
The standup scene isn’t as developed in the UK as in the US and sketch shows provide an alternative outlet for the comedic talent.

Sketch comedy is just more culturally prestigious in the UK because of the early success of Beyond the Fringe and the “satire boom” of the 1960s.

[Banksiaman]

A show like Horrible Histories - which is really a themed sketch show done by masters of the art - clearly plans a whole season’s shooting and will probably have a WW1 trench day with a trailer full of uniforms and another with urban slum setting etc. Still not cheap, especially compared to most panel shows which shoot a longish day that gives them 5-10 full shows in a row, with the host changing their suit jacket.