When the Fast Show first came onto British screens, many people had never even heard of the internet. Now, however, pretty much everyone you know will be online – either at work, at home or at an internet café.
So, in a way, it’s unsurprising that the return of the Fast Show has been via the internet. The only place you can see it is at the Fosters’ UK site – with weekly releases of episodes on a Thursday. One of the show’s creators, Charlie Higson, has said that the only reason that he and Paul Whitehouse were convinced to go online with the show is because of the number of people searching online on youtube for fast show funny video clips.
Vic and Bob have also made an online return and can be found at fosters.co.uk as well. Are these the first of many we wonder? The advantage of being online from the comedy shows’ point of view is that you can be seen by millions of viewers, and people can watch your show over and over whenever they want to.
The Fast Show 2011 episodes so far average between six and eight minutes, so it’s a great way to get some quick laughs while you’re having a work break.
However, being online there’s a lot of other competition for our attention spans – so it may be harder for shows to build up a loyal following. Knowing something is online isn’t quite the same as knowing a programme will be on BBC2 at 9pm on a Wednesday, for example.
If you’re out of touch with the Fast Show, you might have forgotten just how funny the characters can be – get over to Fosters site and see what Rowley Birkin QC, Ted and Ralph, Our Janine and Ron Manager are up to.
