Quote: Nick @ November 10, 2007, 9:49 AM

Well I guess any sketch show nowadays has to repeat characters and settings for financial reasons. Something like The Two Ronnies probably had a much bigger budget so that wasn't as much of a problem.

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Quote: Aaron @ November 10, 2007, 10:48 AM

This would actually be a very interesting topic to explore. Don't suppose anyone has the relevant figures...?

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Yes, very interesting. I suspect the Two Ronnies actually had a smaller budget... but that was because TV was cheaper to make in those days.

I don't have any figures for the Two Ronnies but I suspect that the six episodes of Armstrong and Miller probably cost the BBC in the region of £2m - £3m in total (but I don't know that for sure).

Quote: Nick @ November 10, 2007, 9:49 AM

Well I guess any sketch show nowadays has to repeat characters and settings for financial reasons. Something like The Two Ronnies probably had a much bigger budget so that wasn't as much of a problem.

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Surely the BBC are pumping more money than ever into sketch shows now? If you look at something like Serafinowicz, it has extremely high production values, it's all very detailed and precise and looks good on screen, but then the actual dialogue is underwritten.

Take something like the Two Ronnies or Monty Python and look how cheap the production was, the tacky sets where the walls wobbled but we haven't seen sketch shows as great as those for a long time. The focus was on the dialogue and the performances and you weren't distracted by Hollywood style sets.

Nobody has the balls or creativity anymore to make a cheapish sketch show that doesn't rely on the same sketch/character appearing week after week.

I guess the emphasis on recurring characters shows that the biggest old-school influence on current sketch shows isn't Python or the Ronnies, but Dick Emery.

Proper leg-end, him. Kenny too, but would he in turn have been influenced by Dick Emery?

All in the best possible taste, of course.

I think this is getting better and better. Just watched this week's on Sky+. Very good indeed.

Well written and acted and some great ideas too. Although there is repetition in recurring characters each show has some nice stand alone items and it had me lol quite a few times.

I particularly love the Flanders and Swann parody but would concede that one might have to be of a certain age to appreciate this.

Best skecth show about in a long long time. Hurrah!!

Quote: Blenkinsop @ November 10, 2007, 5:57 PM

I particularly love the Flanders and Swann parody but would concede that one might have to be of a certain age to appreciate this.

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Yes. Which one is that then?!

'Ere Zoo was you draggged up?

I refer of course to oneself. You see I move in rather high circles and am used to talkin' proper like and that.

Quote: Martin Holmes @ November 10, 2007, 2:26 PM

Take something like the Two Ronnies or Monty Python and look how cheap the production was

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I'm not sure about that at all. Some of the stuff on The Two Ronnies was really extravagant. For example, something like The Pinocchio sketch or the songs every week. I really can't imagine any sketch show nowadays being able to pay for all the costumes, choreography and rehearsal that were required to do those songs.

Very good point about Pinocchio. Probably wouldn't get location filming in quite the same way either. The Kingsmill ad, the yokels and so on. But then we've all seen the heiroglyphics, and that doesn't look like it could get much cheaper!

Yes I think that it's all relative to the time really. As Nick says there must have been a lot spent on costumes etc for the Two Ronnies set pieces.

Their run of the mill sketch things could get away with fairly low key cheap sets as the material, I feel, centred round the quality of the writing and perhaps didn't try, as do many of today's equivalents, to have very high production values trying to give things a very authentic look, and perhaps trying also to detract from some dip in quality of the material actually being presented.

Very true, very true. I guess the trouble now is that they're overly concerned with selling to overseas markets, who are far too picky (particularly the Americans) over high-quality, slick productions.

Which is quite ironic I think, given the quality and style of graphics on American branding and such...

Yep! Think that's correct. If you strip sketches down to their bare bones and perform them on a stage without the benefit of production techniques then that is the true test of whether or not the ideas are strong.

The Airforce Officers in A & M is realised beautifully on TV but it would go over just as well on a stage with no more in the way of props than perhaps just two peaked caps or bomber jackets.

Quote: Aaron @ November 11, 2007, 11:45 AM

Very true, very true. I guess the trouble now is that they're overly concerned with selling to overseas markets, who are far too picky (particularly the Americans) over high-quality, slick productions.

Which is quite ironic I think, given the quality and style of graphics on American branding and such...

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Yet it's an American sketch show which has come the closest to Monty Python and that was Mr.Show (for the late 90's) which was made on a shoe-string budget and is one of the best sketch shows ever, and guess what...had only two recurring characters over it's 4 season run and no repeat sketches or catchphrases.

thanks martin. hadn't checked out Mr Show before.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=y-ZNX1jqbOk

now i have !

Ooh, my first time too.
Excellent.