Not Tonightly...
No second series for C4 show
Channel 4 has announced that its daily comedy show Tonightly will not be getting a second series – but said the team behind it are working on another programme to showcase new talent.Revealing the plans, the broadcaster’s head of comedy, Andrew Newman, blamed ‘embittered bloggers’ for making the job of making new comedy more difficult.
Tonightly, hosted by Jason Manford and featuring new faces such as Andi Osho and Jack Whitehall, ran over 16 nights last August. The topical show was seen as a natural successor to The 11 O’Clock Show, which helped launch the careers of Sacha Baron Cohen and Ricky Gervais – but like its predecessor attracted its share of poor reviews.
Newman told trade magazine Broadcast: ‘Some bits worked and some less so, but that's what you'd expect – a nightly show can never be as polished.
‘The danger of taking risks in comedy is that you get slagged off disproportionately. If it launched today, The 11 O'Clock Show would be strangled at birth by embittered comedy bloggers.’
The as-yet untitled weekly series – which will be broadcast on Channel 4 this summer – is being made by Tonightly producers Objective. The show is said to be more of an entertainment programme than its comedy-based predecessor.
Published: 25 Mar 2009
