Anger of Green Room creator Paul Provenza

The makers of Alan Davies's new talk show have been accused of ripping off an American TV series.

Comic Paul Provenza says the Dave series As Yet Untitled, which began last night, is a near carbon-copy of The Green Room, a show he hosted and devised for Showtime in the US.

Both shows feature comics sitting around a table in free-form conversation – a format Provenza does not claim to have a monopoly on.

But he alleges As Yet Untitled, which began last night, is a 'beat for beat' copy of the look and feel of his show, which was based on capturing the banter of comedians backstage.

'The issue is not the premise - people chatting on television is as old as the hills,' he told Chortle. 'But what makes anything unique is the expression of the idea.

'There's nothing proprietary about the idea; and I welcome other people doing it. I go on so many podcasts which is basically the same idea. I had no problem when HBO did their version with Ricky Gervais hosting, but that looked nothing like The Green Room. Colin Quinn's Tough Crowd was the same basic premise.

'But the producers went out of their way to make As Yet Untitled look and feel exactly like our show. That doesn't happen by accident.'

Provenza, who also directed the comedy documentary The Aristocrats, said the art direction, production style, layout and even promotional material of Davies' show bear uncomfortable similarities with The Green Room.

Indeed, the official blurb for As Yet Untitled put out by Dave's owner UKTV, reads: 'The show recreates the relaxed atmosphere found amongst bantering comics backstage and elicits anecdotes and interaction that you simply won’t get anywhere else. There are no rules, no themes and no preparation'

And when it was launched, UKTV commissioning editor Iain Coyle said: ‘Any comic will tell you the funniest place at a comedy club is not on stage or in the audience, but in the green room or dressing room. There you get a different type of funny.'

Provenza says the 'backstage' angle not the only similarity with his show, which ran for two seasons on Showtime in 2010 and 2011 and featured guests including Eddie Izzard, Garry Shandling, Roseanne Barr, Jimmy Carr and Judd Apatow.

'Why did they shoot it in the round? Why does the set look and feel like it's shot in the exact same environment as our show? 'There's no other TV show that looks like us, and a lot of talented people worked hard to make our show look idiosyncratic. It was a unique production model, finding a new way for TV and comedy to interact.

'Before The Green Room, comedy was compromised for the format of TV; with the one-shot and the two-shot. We made this more like news and sport where the comedy drives the format.'

Provenza added that the only difference with Davies's show was 'a higher table' and the device in which the comics give the show a title at the end of the discussion, based on where the conversation lead them.

Davies has always stressed the uniqueness of the as Yet Untitled Format. In one interview, he said: 'It's quite different for other shows in that you sit comedians around a table, you have them put their backs to the audience and talk to each other and it's the collective conversation they have that makes it funny.'

But speaking from Los Angeles, Provenza, above, said: 'I like Alan Davies as a comic, I happen to be a fan of his - he slays on QI. They could easily have remade the Green Room if they'd paid us a fee and given us a screen credit. This isn't about me wanting be the host.

'It's galling as we went out of our way to fly over UK-based comics to be on the show and introduce them to US audiences: Reginald D Hunter, Glenn Wool, Brendon Burns, Jim Jefferies...'

Barbara Romen, Provenza's fellow executive producer on The Green Room, added: 'Our show was turned down by every broadcaster in Britain – including UKTV – either for importing the existing shows, or the format rights.'

And she said that although The Green Room had not been on Showtime for almost three years, it was still an active project, with live versions at festivals such as Montreal's Just For Laughs and South By South West in Texas.

Provenza added that they were talking to other networks about taking the idea on the – but could now find themselves in competition with As Yet Untitled as they try to sell the format on the lucrative worldwide market.

Provenza and Ramen have also not ruled out taking legal action over the similarities, which many viewers have commented on online.

A spokesman for UKTV said: 'We don’t believe As Yet Untitled is a copy of the Green Room as it’s broader in scope.

'The Green Room is a great, funny show which they describe as comics talking about their lives in showbusiness, but our series is different - it’s just people talking about anything and everything – plus it has formatting points, such as each group being tasked with finding a title and the episode beginning with an unusual fact about each guest.'

However Provenza said The Green Room was not confined to discussions about comedy; and indeed the official Showtime spiel for the series said: 'From politics and racism to sex and money, no topic is off limits in The Green Room.'

Judge for yourself the differences and similarities:

As Yet Untitled:

The Green Room:

Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled is being stripped across Dave at 10pm every night this week. Tonight's episode features Jason Byrne, Richard Herring, Phill Jupitus and Jessica Hynes.

Published: 17 Jun 2014