New Hero of Comedy
| New Hero of Comedy | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | New Heroes of Comedy |
| Genre | Comedy documentary |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | England |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 3 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Channel 4 |
| Release | 22 February – 7 March 2008 |
| Related | |
| Heroes of Comedy | |
New Hero of Comedy, also known as New Heroes of Comedy when covering more than one person, is a three-part
Production
The first two episodes were commissioned by Darren Smith, the comedy editor for Channel 4. The third was commissioned by Shane Allen, the Channel 4 comedy
Reception
Complaints rose before the series had begun. Gareth McLean said, "I'm not sure if it speaks more of the desperate barrel-scraping at the idea-free zone that is Channel 4 or the blunting of our critical faculties and the ease with which we're impressed nowadays concomitant with the devaluing of the terms "genius" and "hero", but this is some sort of joke, right? Are we seriously meant to believe that Gervais et al. are heroes? Unless, of course, the measure of comedy heroism is the amount of merchandise you can shift."[2]
One review in The Times compared the series unfavourably to Heroes of Comedy, a previous Channel 4 programme saying, "The old Heroes of Comedy strand on Channel 4 wasn't simply an entertaining combination of clips and talking heads. Because it had the benefit of hindsight, it was able to place comedians in a broader historical context, so laughter was combined with painless social and cultural history. New Hero of Comedy, starting tonight with a profile of Ricky Gervais, will lack that crucial ingredient."[3]
Sam Wollaston in The Guardian said that the Gervais episode, "is just a Ricky love-in, a mass worship at the feet of Gervais." However, he did comment positively on the quality of guests appearing in the episode, such as Michael Palin and Chris Rock.[4]
The first episode received poor ratings, despite large amounts of advance publicity, including appearing a cover feature for the
References
- ^ a b Holmwood, Leigh (6 February 2008). "Channel 4 to spotlight comedy heroes". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
- ^ a b "News - C4 to show 'new hero' comedian documentaries". British Sitcom Guide. 6 February 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
- ^ Chater, David (22 February 2008). "Tonight's TV: Unreported World; Natural World; Ricky Gervais; Freezing". The Times. London. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
- ^ Wollaston, Sam (23 February 2008). "Last night's TV". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
- ^ Tryhorn, Chris (25 February 2008). "Just 1.6m 'avin a laugh at Gervais show". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
External links
- New Hero of Comedy at IMDb
- Satirical article about New Heroes of Comedy in The Guardian.
