In a news story printed earlier this week, I reported comments from Father Ted creator Graham Linehan about the state of British comedy, and in particular BBC3’s output, which he described as trying too hard “to be risky”.
The man himself has responded to the article in his own blog, and seems somewhat put out that these comments were lifted from the larger interview I did with him, and included in a news story.
Linehan seems to think I was only interested in a bit of “argy bargy”, but I would like to point out that The Stage is going to carry the full interview with Graham in a couple of weeks’ time, to coincide with his appearance at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, where he will deliver a masterclass in comedy.
In the full article, Linehan includes some very useful tips for writers looking to create a TV comedy, which we are sure will be very interesting to many of our readers.
Linehan’s comments about the state of TV comedy were reported now because, as a leading figure in the comedy business, we felt his comments would undoubtedly be valued and respected by many of our readers.
Valued and agreed with - thank goodness someone's finally said it!
I thought he made a valid point... I've always had issues with E4 and BBC3 trying to hard to be cool. It's so full of effort to try and be "down with the kids" (of which I am one, apparently) that's it's such a turn off, making them the exact opposite of "cool" and "risky". Only programmes I feel are a bit more down to earth, and yet still fun (like Missing Top Model, various documentaries, and, of course, Gavin and Stacey) really get me tuning in.
Indeed, he made a valid point, and then got a little touchy in his blog with the "argy bargy" comment. Taking quotes out of a larger interview to illustrate a point is a valid and reasonable thing to do. He should know that - after all, he was a journalist himself once.