Following on from the hidden camera antics of Trigger Happy TV, the BBC decided to commission a show that brings an `ethnic spice' to this formula by letting three black female comedians loose on the streets to interact with the public in a variety of personas. With a budget that must have extended to all of the change from the Director General's pockets, I can understand why BBC3 were happy to give this the green light - not only does it fill 30 minutes of screen time but it does it cheaply and, if nobody watches it, it doesn't matter because NOBODY watches BBC3!
Being a fan of Trigger Happy TV, I gave this a try as I thought that it might be able to do something with the genre or at least be funny. However this show lacks any imagination, wit or humour and instead just falls into very basic and lazy stunts that are more embarrassing than funny - forget the weird and wonderful acts of Dom Joly, this stuff is a million years behind that. Some of the sketches are just plain stupid with little real reason behind them; these ones are very short as they can't even sustain a few minutes. The majority of the sketches involve brash characters just being rude or socially weird as people try to just humour them until they go away - in fact this happens most times, and it just isn't very funny at all. Most of us have to deal with rude people - whether it be people in a rush who are more important than you, people who push into queues or weirdoes on the street who just won't leave you alone, however these interactions are not funny and usually we just grin and nod and be polite as we just walk away or wait for them to leave. So who thought that it would be hilarious to exaggerate these characters and film them as the public just try and put up with them?
The three comediennes are just brash and unfunny - I don't wish to make general statements BUT their whole comedy seems to be drawn from just being loud and rude - here and in their various stand-up guises. They play the worst characters one could imagine but they do it without wit and humour and they come off as just annoying - not only to those being filmed but to the audience as well. The `hidden camera' thing is a crock as well - most sketches are filmed by three cameras and you can see the other cameras being held (!) or `hidden' inside of backpacks that people are wearing on their chest! It makes a mockery of even the idea of hidden camera that they are so blatantly being filmed from very close range.
I understand why this got the green light - it is cheap to make and can be knocked off at a rate of an episode every two days depending on the breaks. However it is not the low budget that is the blame for this, rather it is the complete lack of imagination and wit and is really just annoying. Take my advice, go and rent the dvd of Trigger Happy TV and see how the hidden camera formula can be delivered with a bit of imagination.
