Attention: Please take a moment to consider our terms and conditions before posting.

Big Top - BBC1

SiSi
edited December 2009 in Not Sports Related
Has anyone else seen any of this show, a new sitcom about a travelling circus on BBC 1?

I caught 20 minutes of it yesterday. I can honestly say I have never seen anything so un-funny and cringeworthingly bad in my entire life. Certainly not on the BBC.

The cast is strong, Amanda Holden, Tony Robinson, et al, but the comedy is just incredibly poor. It's a barrage of unfunny one liners, literally piled up like cars after a bad crash on the m25. I have no idea how it got commissioned.

I'd be fascinated to know what others think. This is perhaps the first show I've ever seen where I can't think of anyone I know that would like it.
«1

Comments

  • I thought that. I saw the cast list and assumed that it was going to be hilarious.....boy was I wrong!
  • I watched about 3 minutes of it yesterday and it was utter shite
  • Amanda Holden has as much acting talent as my backside!
  • [cite]Posted By: I-SAW-POUSO-PLAY[/cite]Amanda Holden has as much acting talent as my backside!

    I've got something she could act on!
  • There was one funny line.

    "I come in my leotard. I was excited"
  • Couldn't agree more.

    Utter tosh. Like that 'Miranda' on BBC 2, always end up catching the last ten mins before MOTD 2.
  • can't agree, Miranda is hilarious.
    there are weak moments granted, but when she looks at the camera in a "don't know why i said that" way is hilarious.

    saw the advert for big top and decided to avoid when it said amanda holden was in it.
  • Really?!

    Maybe as i'm a bloke....
  • The next big risk the comedy department is about to unleash is 'delboy' played by the blonde kid from the inbertweeners is delboy from only fools and horses young years ala first of the summer wine another highly unsucessful scrape of the barrell. Nicholas 'rodney' lyndhurst is playing the role of freddie the frog.. its a one off but a series is all written and waiting to go.
  • [cite]Posted By: JT[/cite]Really?!

    Maybe as i'm a bloke....

    probably cos she's a blend of about 3 of my friends in one!

    hate the mum and her mate though - they say some rubbish things - i just like her and 'gary'
  • Sponsored links:


  • I also "caught" about 20 mins of it & thought it was just like Hi - De -Hi.
    5 mins later Ruth Madoc shows up . LOL.
    Nuff said.
  • It's absolutely shocking. I Cannot believe it got further than a pilot episode!? What's worse for me is the BBC, the same channel that commissioned real great comedy like Fawlty Towers, Patridge and The Office has allowed this to go on air. Can't decide what's worse out of the following on the BBC at the moment:

    Big Top
    Lunch Monkeys
    Coming of Age

    To say they're terrible is an understatement (of the decade of course).
  • Mrs loves Miranda as well.

    I did see Big top it looked like something the the BBC had comissioned in the 1970's
  • I caught a bit of that Big Top and I'd have to say it was gut-wrenchingly, embarassingly bad. You wonder if anyone sits down to watch these things before they're broadcast.
  • Worst thing ever? Well, I haven't seen it - but I can name three 'comedies' that I guarantee are even less funny than that in the last three years alone:

    "Touch Me I'm Karen Taylor" - I'll touch you alright love - wi a fookin shovel to the back of yer 'ead, ya unfunny, ugly, annoyin fat sow
    "Little Miss Jocelyn" - Little miss shite more like it
    "Horne & Corden" - utterly dreadful

    There is actually an even less funny one - a sketch show by some ginger twat, but I can't even remember the name of it.

    Was it on BBC3 BTW? That seems to be the home of most of these 'comedies'
  • These sort of shows should go through BBC3 first.
  • [cite]Posted By: Leroy Ambrose[/cite]Worst thing ever? Well, I haven't seen it - but I can name three 'comedies' that I guarantee are even less funny than that in the last three years alone:

    "Touch Me I'm Karen Taylor" - I'll touch you alright love - wi a fookin shovel to the back of yer 'ead, ya unfunny, ugly, annoyin fat sow
    "Little Miss Jocelyn" - Little miss shite more like it
    "Horne & Corden" - utterly dreadful

    There is actually an even less funny one - a sketch show by some ginger twat, but I can't even remember the name of it.

    Was it on BBC3 BTW? That seems to be the home of most of these 'comedies'

    I think what all those other shows that you mention have is originality, at the very least. Either in terms of the talent, or the content. Originality normally divides people, so although you might not like them, there are probably a fair few people who do. Big Top, however, is seriously outdated, and about the most unoriginal thing I've seen in a long time - which means it HAS to be funny to work. But it isn't. It offers nothing to anyone.

    It's too mainstream for BBC3, and no doubt costs too much money to make to warrant being aired on anything other than BBC1 in a near prime time slot. It's a travesty.
  • Have not seen it, all the previews said it was shite, and so it appears.

    Miranda is good - trouble is too many of us blokes see a woman and go "Can't be funny", especially if she isn't particularly attractive like Jo Brand or Miranda Hart.

    Open your mind if you can find it, and Leroy... are you gay - Karen Taylor ugly and fat?
  • [cite]Posted By: Algarveaddick[/cite]Leroy... are you gay - Karen Taylor ugly and fat?
    I resemble that remark.

    I have often been accused of having (ahem) 'esoteric' taste in women, but I can safely say, with a staunch record of unblemished heterosexuality, that Karen Taylor is a f***ing beast - she is a hideous, fat-arsed triple-bagger.
  • [cite]Posted By: Leroy Ambrose[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: Algarveaddick[/cite]Leroy... are you gay - Karen Taylor ugly and fat?
    I resemble that remark.

    I have often been accused of having (ahem) 'esoteric' taste in women, but I can safely say, with a staunch record of unblemished heterosexuality, that Karen Taylor is a f***ing beast - she is a hideous, fat-arsed triple-bagger.

    Weirdo... ;-)
  • Sponsored links:


  • The thing you need to focus on with Big Top is that is goes out at 7.30. I watched a little and was not impressed, too much focus on the situation and not enough on the characters.

    That has a drastic effect on the content and the type of humour being used. That said it is entirely possible to create a fantastically funny sitcom that can be broadcast in the early evening for family viewing.

    British sitcoms seem to really struggle in this slot. The only real success in recent years is 'My Family' which, as much as people slate it, actually gets very good viewing figures. It is also written in a more 'American' style with a team of writers involved.
  • I had the misfortune of catching this garbage the other night (see the American Office thread).

    It is without doubt the worst sitcom I have seen in a very, very long time. It's almost as if the BBC have assembled, what should be, a great cast and then thought "Right what shall we do with them? Oh I know put them in a circus that'll be different". This is despite the fact that the most successful sitcoms of the past decade or so have been completely character based rather than reliant on 'comedy' situations.

    Maybe people of a certain age make like it (Last of the Summer Wine remains popular for instance) but I doubt we'll see a second series. I blooming hope not anyway...
  • [cite]Posted By: Bournemouth Addick[/cite]I had the misfortune of catching this garbage the other night (see the American Office thread).

    It is without doubt the worst sitcom I have seen in a very, very long time. It's almost as if the BBC have assembled, what should be, a great cast and then thought "Right what shall we do with them? Oh I know put them in a circus that'll be different". This is despite the fact that the most successful sitcoms of the past decade or so have been completely character based rather than reliant on 'comedy' situations.

    Maybe people of a certain age make like it (Last of the Summer Wine remains popular for instance) but I doubt we'll see a second series. I blooming hope not anyway...

    I agree completely that the most successful recent sitcoms have prioritised characterisation. Why they've plumped for this regression in format I have no idea. Even Last of the Summer Wine had fairly strong characterisation didn't they?!

    A production company would have somehow had access to the talent, and must have sold it to the BBC on that alone. How the content was seen for what it is (ie. shyte) before commissioning a 6 x 30 series I just really can't fathom. Things don't normally slip through the net like this.
  • Tonight BBC1 7pm!!!!
  • This was this thing on TV last night (sorry I wasn't really concentrating) reviewing the greatest TV shows of the last decade. One actor came up with a theory that I'd go along with where in the past, shows used to develop through the radio and eventually make their way onto TV (The day today in the 90's is an example) but these days shows start on BB3 and if they pick up a following are moved to the mainstream. This would go some way to explaining why all the shows on BBC3 are utterly dreadful.
  • [cite]Posted By: Valley_floyd_red[/cite]This was this thing on TV last night (sorry I wasn't really concentrating) reviewing the greatest TV shows of the last decade. One actor came up with a theory that I'd go along with where in the past, shows used to develop through the radio and eventually make their way onto TV (The day today in the 90's is an example) but these days shows start on BB3 and if they pick up a following are moved to the mainstream. This would go some way to explaining why all the shows on BBC3 are utterly dreadful.

    And also beggars the question: why on earth was Big Top not trialled on BBC3 first?
  • I blame Susan Boyle. Since she helped catapult Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan into global conciousness, they seem to make it to prime-time with any old crap
  • My son insisted we watched it last time it was on, so we watched it and it was absolute turd. About halfway through he lost interest and we turned over.

    If it can't hold the interest of a 6 year old then, I would suggest, it's f***ed!!!!
  • [cite]Posted By: Si[/cite]...I can honestly say I have never seen anything so un-funny and cringeworthingly bad in my entire life. Certainly not on the BBC

    I'll see your Big Top and raise you Gavin & Stacey series 3. Absolutely dire, unfunny and has lost the plot. Series 1 was fairly good, Series 2 was pretty poor in comparison to Series 1 and well Series 3, deary dear...one series too many in my opinion.
  • [cite]Posted By: JohnBoyUK[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: Si[/cite]...I can honestly say I have never seen anything so un-funny and cringeworthingly bad in my entire life. Certainly not on the BBC

    I'll see your Big Top and raise you Gavin & Stacey series 3. Absolutely dire, unfunny and has lost the plot. Series 1 was fairly good, Series 2 was pretty poor in comparison to Series 1 and well Series 3, deary dear...one series too many in my opinion.

    Agreed it's not very funny, but is still amusing/watchable. The Big Top is cringingly awful.
Sign In or Register to comment.

Roland Out Forever!