Harry Hill doesn't think channels would commission TV Burp now
Harry Hill doubts that his hit comedy series TV Burp would be commissioned by channel executives now.
Harry Hill doubts that TV Burp could be made today.
The 61-year-old comedian hosted the ITV show – which lampooned shows on the small screen – from 2001 to 2012 but doesn't think that channel executives would take a risk on such a programme in the current climate.
Harry told the Beyond the Title podcast: "I think they don't like taking risks. It's commercial TV, they've got to make money or they feel like they have to, so they don't develop anything new or risky.
"Comedy is never right the first time. History is littered with it.
"You identify a spark in it and think, 'We will get it right'. It took us two or three series to get TV Burp right, no one was keeping an eye on us, so somehow we managed to get away with that.
"We could easily have been cancelled after the first series and we would be now."
Harry also lamented the "bland" nature of Saturday night TV and its reliance on "celebrity quiz shows".
He said: "TV Burp was a cheap show to make.
"It's not just ITV, BBC One is the same. The danger is everything becomes a bit bland.
"If you look at Saturday night schedules now it's celebrity quiz show, celebrity quiz show, celebrity quiz show, really. There's some really funny ones but you think, 'Really?'
The You've Been Framed! narrator explained that he is looking at alternatives to traditional TV for his next project and could even turn to YouTube.
Hill said: "The good thing is it's never been easier to make TV. You can make stuff yourself and you can put it on YouTube. Often it's not about production values, the make-up and lights, it's actually about ideas."
The comic revealed earlier this year that he is surprised that a broadcaster hasn't tried to revive TV Burp with a new presenter.
He told the Radio Times magazine: "I don't have any plans [to bring back Harry Hill's TV Burp].
"These things are best left undone. We did all the jokes. Trying to re-create that, I'd be on a hiding to nothing, but I'd love someone else to do it.
"There's a space for that sort of show and I'm surprised no one's filled it."
