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Another Ben Elton comedy killed off by Twitter

Deja vu for Ben Elton as a new UK comedy is axed after being savaged by Twitter users.

ben_eltonBen Elton’s latest sitcom The Wright Way has been axed by the BBC after a savaging from social media.

The comedy, set in a local council’s health and safety department, ran for 6 episodes (all of which aired) but BBC BBC’s controller of comedy Shane Allen has confirmed it will not be renewed.

Some press noted “It was like turning back the clock 30 years — and not in a good way. We’ve never had a comedy get such overwhelmingly bad reviews.” One TV critic noted its “lazy gender stereotypes, middle-aged self-pity and mild misogyny.”

But Allen also warned that the instant reaction and “crucifying” of new comedies on social media made it harder for new programmes to bed in.

Elton is no stranger to Twitter critics after his Channel Nine sketch show Live from Planet Earth was derided by Twitter users in 2011 on its first outing and axed not long thereafter.

Elton isn’t alone in social media letting rip into new comedies. While audiences seem to be more forgiving for new dramas to find their feet, woe betide a new comedy that doesn’t burst out of the gates with hilarity ensuing.  Twitter is an electronic form of heckling, but it’s usually anonymous and the target doesn’t have the same right of reply they could deliver in a stand-up room.

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Daily Mail, Guardian

8 Responses

  1. No, no, no! What was he thinking? Like a couple of others I didn’t mind bits of Planet Earth, but this left me speechless. I don’t even know where to begin except to say it’s just sad. I’ve always loved Ben and absolutely everything he ever did. I even went to see him live in the 90’s but I don’t think his comedy style suits todays audience. Simply saying Youtube & Hashtag doesn’t instantly modernise what is otherwise just embarrassing, double entendre & toilet humour of a bygone era. Again, just sad.

  2. Ben, Man, what has happened? Blackadder only became hilarious after you started writing for it. I loved your novels from the ’90s, your standup, the stuff you wrote for Rowan Atkinson, and the stage adaptation of Popcorn.

    But this? This is just awful, really awful, for all the reasons people have already said. Dad’s Army and Are You Being Served were (sort of) funny back in the ’70s but that tired, lazy schtick just won’t cut it any more. I’m now waiting for someone to do a Hitler’s Downfall parody.

  3. I too enjoyed Live from Planet Earth, but this canned-laughter extravaganza, with most of the cast from The Thin Blue Line, looks appalling. It makes When the Whistle Blows look like classic Britcom. Are you havin’ a laugh?

  4. Yes. That is what happened. People on Twitter didn’t like it so the Comedy Controller of the biggest broadcaster on earth cancelled the show. No chance that it just didn’t rate very well?

  5. Well, someone liked it, one person favourited the utube clip. I seem to be in the minority, but I liked his Live from Planet Earth shows. People are very harsh these days. I mean, how do they even know those people on Twitter were watching it, it would be easy for people who hate him and know what time his show is on to go on Twitter and bag him out.

  6. It does seem to me that Elton doesn’t “get it”. He is an amazingly talented individual with a solid background in comedy, but when it comes to TV production, he seem stuck in some other era so stubbornly, that it seems he suffers from a huge dose of arrogance. It’s a shame because he has a lot to offer. Just has to find the right medium again – or better still, change his gameplay.

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