killerhales

Found myself reading the Sunday Telegraph today which I don't usually see. It was pretty awful, but I saw an article about the new Ben Elton show having disastrous ratings and being at risk of being pulled if the second show wasn't an improvement.

Now I'm not a huge Ben Elton fan, but the show was very funny in parts, is recorded live, and was at least original.

There was a supportive review in the SMH the day after which I largely agreed with.

So what's the deal, or was it simply on the wrong channel for the Telegraph's owners?

iamthecreaturefromuranus

Perhaps the thread should be renamed to "Ben Elton too clever for his own good?"

Wol

I'm not a fan of him but his first show was quite amusing - except the Australian "comics" - they were of the same standard as all the rest.

Vash the Stampede

I think Elton is funniest in print. The quality of his standup has been declining for years.

Sam

yeap we watched it and i only liked the 'Ben" bits.... i thought it totally spoilt by the sketches in between bits!

DeadVim

Didn't see it, don't want to ... anyone responsible for spawning We Will Rock You does not deserve a chance

Broad Shoulders

Same here, but it was still one of those I would easily have switched over from. I d think that the Aussie "talent" was pretty average which probably didn't help. But really, what's he trying to achieve? A funny version of Hey Hey? It's Live....so what? He's better off recording the skits and getting them better acted and take his time over it to guarantee better results. He's got the runs on the board to show he can do that very well, while live....hmmmm

Broad Shoulders

Amen to that!

But come on, The Young Ones, Blackadder

DeadVim

He's done some good stuff, I even read one of his 'novels' and I had videos of all his stand up shows but he just strikes me as a smug git these days.

Sam

have you seen it????

eddie007

He ALWAYS was a smug git... A clever smug git, but a smug git no less

DeadVim

Be serious, I'm a fan of Queen's music ... I have seen 'highlights' and I have heard reports from others (also music fans), this is enough for me.

Fair enough, but I'd rather watch Hale And Pace these days

tonyk38

I think it's OK to be a smug git, arrogant and so forth if in turn you are genuinely funny with it. As others have said, I think he is at his funniest in writing scripts. Not so sure about the novels...

Haven't seen the TV show as I rarely watch telly. Is it on here?

eddie007

Dunno.. Haven't seen him since the eighties...

I happen to like his humour... But i prefer it in print nowadays...

northernbird

I was really looking forward to it as I like him and usually find his stuff funny. I have to say it was a MASSIVE disappointment, so much so we didn't watch it all.