[Scrotnig]

The charity is Comic Relief. The day itself has always been referred to as Red Nose Day. Right from the start.

[JMT1985]

Can I ask, has anyone on here contacted the BBC and told them of how they felt about the style of Comic Relief and Children in Need, and how you would like to see it changed?

If not, then you are wasting your time. Contact the BBC, tell them. The more who contact them, the more chance they will listen and change (a bit hopefully).

[Brekkie]

People criticise the presenter line ups as not being comedians, 1999 had Peter Snow from Newsnight and Davina McCall, plus Johnny Vaughan, Zoe Ball and Chris Evans

Though the "presenters" were usually paired up with the comedians, and it was the younger funnier presenters getting the gig.  

And the show wasn't presenters just presenting - they were very much put out of their comfort zones too.


As for what to do today - if the Big Night of Musicals can be packed with back to back musical performances then no reason why Comic Relief can't be packed with back to back comedy performances.

[fanoftv]

The charity is Comic Relief. The day itself has always been referred to as Red Nose Day. Right from the start.

I know the day has been referred to as that, but I was wondering about the programme, though after looking through Genome it shows that it is still referred to as Comic Relief, it’s just the in studio graphics focus more on Red Nose Day. 

As for previous presenters back then Chris Evans, Zoe Ball & Johnny Vaughan had all had fantastic live TV experience (notably all presented the Big Breakfast).

[tellyblues]

Can I ask, has anyone on here contacted the BBC and told them of how they felt about the style of Comic Relief and Children in Need, and how you would like to see it changed?

If not, then you are wasting your time. Contact the BBC, tell them. The more who contact them, the more chance they will listen and change (a bit hopefully).

Discussion forums generally are a waste of time if it's analysing other people because those people don't have to listen and can do what they want. In the end, declining numbers may force their hand but there is now the quip that because many shows on TV don't rate as well as they used to and a rating above 2m is good that the BBC don't have to change anything, and supposedly neither they should because these are experienced professionals making decisions while people on forums are somehow clueless.

As for what to do today - if the Big Night of Musicals can be packed with back to back musical performances then no reason why Comic Relief can't be packed with back to back comedy performances.

It's easier with musicals because you have a wealth of existing material to draw upon whereas with comedy it is expected to be all new, but the big difference is that comedy is more subjective.

[Steve in Pudsey]

I wonder if there is an effort to not do the same thing as Channel 4's Stand Up 2 Cancer which is basically a comedy gig.

The early days of Comic Relief had lots of panel show crossovers like the Spitting Image Question of Sport sketch, or a mashup of Have I got news for you and Buzzcocks. I suspect if you try that now you'll get accused of ripping off Catsdown.

Plus there was a lot more scope for celebrity versions of quiz formats when they weren't standard fare.

[Scrotnig]

I suspect just making the presenter parts live throughout, and not just blindly reading an autocue, and not all the usual safe choices, would make it seem much better even with the same content. I didn’t think the content was terrible.

Also it does need Lenny Henry live on the night. He’s still the name and face most people associate with Comic Relief.

However I don’t think it’s as badly broken as many seem to think.

[Steve in Pudsey]

How many presenters do the BBC have left who could hold down a show of that nature without heavily relying on autocue? We don't have the training grounds of the Big Breakfast or Saturday morning kids TV these days.

[Scrotnig]

How many presenters do the BBC have left who could hold down a show of that nature without heavily relying on autocue?  We don't have the training grounds of the Big Breakfast or Saturday morning kids TV these days.

I suspect some of the existing ones could, were they allowed to.

I’m not saying entirely unscripted of course, it was never that.

[Newshound47]

People criticise the presenter line ups as not being comedians, 1999 had Peter Snow from Newsnight and Davina McCall, plus Johnny Vaughan, Zoe Ball and Chris Evans

Though the "presenters" were usually paired up with the comedians, and it was the younger funnier presenters getting the gig.  

And the show wasn't presenters just presenting - they were very much put out of their comfort zones too.


As for what to do today - if the Big Night of Musicals can be packed with back to back musical performances then no reason why Comic Relief can't be packed with back to back comedy performances.

I suspect the last thing Comic Relief would want is a joke to be controversial enough to cause a controversy and three hours of comedy would be a lot to fill baring in mind a lot of current comedy is political or other sensitive issues based.