The British Comedy Awards 2011

This year's ceremony will be on Channel 4 on 16th December, starting at 21:00.

However, before that Channel 4 will also be televising the nominations on 11th December at 22:20.

I wonder if it will be funny, being there looks good but watching, on TV, self congratulating celebrities get drunk and perform the same self publishing acts which everyone did last year is boring.

The British Comedy Awards are about the only awards I look forward to. Some years are better than others, and it helps when it's live, but there's been some classic moments, the best being Spike Milligan's response to the Prince Charles letter - totally floored a room of comics with one sentence. :D

Tsk, on the same night as BCG Christmas drinks? That's practically an open invitation to gatecrash :D

Generally predictable and reasonable nominations...

...except for Victoria Wood in the category of 'Best Female TV Comic'. For what, exactly? As far as I'm aware, she's done no TV comedy in the last year. Or did they just need a well-known name to make up the nomination numbers?

She did a special show for the British Heart Foundation, IIRC, which was broadcast by Sky at Christmas. The Angina Monologues, I think. We have a guide somewhere but I'm feeling lazy...

I'm not really sure why Psychoville getting a nomination is being described as "embarassing for the BBC". Shooting Stars, yeah, but the utterly dismal viewing figures Psychoville got more than justified its cancellation.

When Whitehall wins the public vote award people will be doing their best to disassociate themselves from these awards anyway.

There's some depressing toss up for awards (Twenty Twelve, Fresh Meat and Pyschoville to name three deeply average shows that looked like they took 5 minutes to write).

Quote: chipolata @ December 12 2011, 9:00 AM GMT

There's some depressing toss up for awards (Twenty Twelve, Fresh Meat and Pyschoville to name three deeply average shows that looked like they took 5 minutes to write).

Could you write me some comedy, chipolata, I'd like to write them all in fifteen minutes.

More to the point, those three seem to be more liked than Life's Too Short, and Psychoville is aimed to a minority audience anyway (lovers of horror films-average in the same way that Garth Merenghi's Darkplace was average) so it is unsurprising that it didn't do too well...

Pyschoville didn't do well because unlike the first series it was unfocussed and slapdash, and felt more like a lazy cash-in sequel than a fully realised show in its own right.

Quote: chipolata @ December 12 2011, 9:42 AM GMT

Pyschoville didn't do well because unlike the first series it was unfocussed and slapdash, and felt more like a lazy cash-in sequel than a fully realised show in its own right.

I imagine the big wait between series didn't help, and the lack of repeats to keep people on board.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ December 12 2011, 9:50 AM GMT

I imagine the big wait between series didn't help, and the lack of repeats to keep people on board.

Certainly by the time the second series arrived we'd all forgotten the myriad of plot strands and who'd survived and who hadn't, but it just wasn't as good as the first series and seemed to take an age to get going.

Anyone else shocked that Come Fly With Me got a nomination?

Yes. Firstly because it seems like it was on years ago, and secondly because it was awful.

Quote: zooo @ December 12 2011, 11:00 AM GMT

Yes. Firstly because it seems like it was on years ago, and secondly because it was awful.

To be fair, apart from Peep and Shooting, everything up for an award was awful.