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Thursdays Are (Mostly) Funny

BBC Two are running a new comedy strand on Thursdays under the umbrella "Thursdays Are Funny". The line up as of last night is The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle, The Peter Serafinowicz Show, and The Graham Norton Show. The latter I won't discuss, because it's just the latest iteration of the format he's been running with for years now. The first of the three is Jennifer Saunders' new Dawn-free project, co-written with Dr Tanya Byron from the brilliant House of Tiny Tearaways, and is the story of a daytime discussion show host. The first episode last week was very funny. Last night's second helping was funnier - really laugh out loud funny at a number of points, and Vyle herself is a brilliant creation - one of those you think is going to be pure sub-Edina stereotype and actually isn't.

And then, oh dear oh dear oh dear, there's Peter Serafinowicz. Frequently very funny indeed in projects like Look Around You, and his minor recurring role in Spaced, in his own sketch show he's just terrible. We gave programme one about fifteen minutes to make us laugh, and didn't so much as crack a smile, and against our better judgement gave programme two about five minutes, and if anything it was worse. Painfully, horrifyingly unfunny in a way that's so extreme it's difficult to watch even in a 'car crash TV' way. Worryingly, it's even reusing sketch concepts from the last unbearably unfunny 'personality' based BBC sketch show I recall - Touch Me I'm Karen Taylor.

So I submit that BBC two needs to change its strand title, and I offer the one from this posting as an alternative.