Dead Air

Watching 10 O' Clock Live on Channel 4 last night was a baffling experience. Certainly, C4 have hyped the show to the skies to the degree that even someone as ignorant of modern culture as me knew about it. I can see the logic in trying to put together a British version of the enjoyable The Daily Show, and it would appear that this was a move of doing so.

And yet, what we were left with was a show exposing the worst aspects of modern British comedy. A whooping, irritating audience lapping up Jimmy Carr jokes about Alan Johnson being replaced by Ed Balls because their names can refer to parts of the male genitals. Brilliant, and not just the same kind of shit that the average 12 year old could knock together. The whole routine had the grim inevitability of a Monday morning.

Later on, Carr was given the task of interviewing a scientist on the subject of climate change. The guy made some good points, principally that current moves to cut carbon emissions are doomed to failure because people in the developed world won't change their lifestyles (very true) and people in the developing world want their share of cars and fridge freezers. In Carr's hands, the guy was made to look like a bit of a mad professor cliche.

As with C4's election night coverage (which must have been some kind of success to merit this), Carr was joined by Charlie Brooker, Lauren Laverne and David Mitchell. Brooker is a man I have some respect for going back to his time as a journo on PC Zone magazine, but live TV is not his medium. Laverne's presence is baffling and her main role seemed to be to act in a beyond dreadful "skit" on trying to make the news of the Sudanese political situation amusing, in which it crashed and burned like the Hindenburg hitting a fireworks factory.

Mitchell was the one saving grace and the one and only reason I may tune in next week. His monologue was a superb piece of opinion and comedy and his interviews showed no shortage of interest in the subjects. It's not his fault also that interviewing three guests on the matter of banker's bonuses and only having about five minutes to cover the subject is a pointless an exercise as can be.

If Channel 4 are serious about bringing a comedy/satire show onto our screens that will last any length of time, they may consider:

a) Dropping the whole 'Live' aspect. It's a weekly show, not daily, so it's nothing but a gimmick to add an edge that isn't needed.

b) Make David Mitchell the main host of the show. Get rid of Carr and Laverne, keep Charlie Brooker on to make pre-filmed inserts. I'm sure he'd be happier spending his Thursday nights tucked up with Konnie Huq anyways, the jammy get.

c) Get in some quality writers. I know we're not in the 60s, when a show like That Was The Week That Was could call on John Cleese or Michael Palin, but surely there's some young writers out there that can write a political joke that doesn't resort to "huh huh... Johnson, Balls" levels.

d) Get rid of all cuts to the audience laughing. I don't care about them!

Not that I expect any of these to happen, of course. Indeed, I expect that over the next few months that the show runs, most of us will instead tune over to Question Time in the hope that Will Self is on to provide us with some laughs.