Fast Show better and better

The Fast Show is just getting better and better. There was always the danger that the return of the hit comedy sketch show from the nineties would ring a little hollow with its modern day online only return; but not a bit of it.

 

The new punchier format, online at Fosters.co.uk,  really hits the mark. If anything, it’s better than ever because of the shorter length and internet base. The really wise decision the creators made was not to try and introduce any new characters, but simply to put our old favourite characters in brand new situations that are up to date with technology.

 

It was great, for example, to hear Ralph asking Ted if he was familiar with Twitter. Ted, not a little befuddled at this point whilst responding to his employer when shifting a few hay bales in the barn, communicates his confusion to Ralph who comes back with the fantastically simple line “Do you Tweet?”

 

If you enjoy funny video clips, you’ll surely love the new series. Billy Bleach has also made a welcome return to our screens this time advising a lady in the pub in which he spends his life dispensing unasked for advice about her new smart phone.

 

Professor Denzil Dexter of the University of Southern California is also back with us – telling us about his latest scientific research work. As always, Denzil is dressed in his classic Open University type of style, continually flicking his long hair over his shoulders. His latest weird experiment goes all around the houses before Denzil concludes with the comment: “And finally, when Heston approved it, we put it on the menu.”

 

Just make sure you get the new Fast Show on your menu.

Comedy classics and afternoon delights

If you’ve been catching the brand new web-only based series of the legendary comic sketch show from the mid 1990s, the Fast Show, you won’t have been disappointed.

It’s at least as good as it ever was – maybe even a little better.

The legendary cockney eco warrior Dave Angel is back strolling down a country lane to the tunes of “Moonlight Shadow” in his beige bomber jacket, trilby hast and shades.

These days, Dave is worried about the lack of fish in the rivers, urging us to eat the “crap” ones instead to help maintain fish populations – before heading off bashing aggressively at the foliage with long stick in hand.

Ken and Kenneth, the “Oooh, suits you sir” gentlemen’s outfitters are back. But this time, they’re attempting to measure up a lady – but they can’t seem to grasp her gender somehow as the lady in question plans to marry another lady and is in search of a black suit to mark the occasion.

“How queer” as music hall star and Fast Show creation Arthur Atkinson might say.

Thank goodness the show’s creators have also resurrected Swiss Toni – the car dealer with endless advice for his long-suffering assistant Paul; continually likening every situation facing Paul as “like making love to a beautiful woman”. Paul continually refers to the boss as simply “Swiss”. Fantastic!

The Fast show 2011 won’t disappoint; have a look at it on Fosters.co.uk.

Also on the site are afternoon delights courtesy of Vic Reeves and Bb Mortimer. Reeves and Mortimer are somewhat Marmite like in their “you love them or you hate them” nature. Well, perhaps hate is a little strong; but you know what I mean.

Make sure you don’t miss Vic and Bob’s “free running in the environment” – made for today’s yoof innit – with key phrases continually repeated by a Stephen Hawking-like voice synthesiser.             

Have you been missing The Fast Show?

The new online series of The fast show launched in early November and it feels as if the cast has never been away.

Writers Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson are joined by Arabella Weir, John Thomson, Caroline Aherne and Simon Day and are already delivering the same level of humour which made the show an instant success in the 1990s.

Over a decade has passed since the three-part “Last Ever” show aired on British television, but the team has picked up where it left off all those years. Ted and Ralph, Swiss Toni, Ron Manager, Rowley Birkin QC - all the old characters are back and as funny as ever.

Whitehouse and Higson have resisted the temptation to introduce new characters, instead relying on the same household names and catchphrases which made the show such a big hit in the mid-90s – “Does my bum look big in this?”

The new series features a good blend of classic one-liners and present-day humour, with a mention for Lady Gaga in the opening episode and a Downton Abbey/Upstairs, Downstairs spoof.

The web-based series will run for 12 episodes, each one lasting around eight minutes. Watch the opening episodes of the new series, simply by searching YouTube Fast Show.

Plenty of sketch shows have come and gone since The Fast Show left our television screens – Little Britain, The Catherine Tate Show. Few, though, have managed to match the standard set by Whitehouse and Higson.

Judging by the opening episodes of the new online series, The Fast Show has lost none of the appeal which made it one of the most popular sketch shows of the modern era.

The Fast Show returns – this time on the net

Over a decade after the show last aired on British TV, The Fast Show is back with a new series, this time on the World Wide Web. The comedy sketch show which made its name on the BBC in the mid-1990s has teamed up with Foster’s Funny and will run for 12 episodes, the first of which went live on the internet on November 10th. That is right – you can Watch the Fast Show right now online!

Co-writer Charlie Higson raised expectations at the premiere for the new series. He told reporters: “I don’t think I know of anything that’s been made for online that’s going to look as good, and as big-budget as this. It was very important to us that it looks as good as it used to.” Higson and household name Paul Whitehouse have written new material for the comeback series, yet the comedy hasn’t lost any of the characters which made it so popular all those years ago.

Professor Denzil Dexter and Rowley Birkin QC are just two of the many instantly recognisable characters in the first couple of episodes and there will be plenty more to come as the weeks go by. If the first two online shows are anything to go by, the new series will be a big success. Ted and Ralph continued their awkward relationship, the Chanel 9 news team is as mad as ever and The Suit You Tailors as inappropriate as ever. Searching for funny videos on the internet has never been more exciting. The Fast Show has joined the likes of Alan Partridge and Vic & Bob in reinventing itself on the web.