[Brekkie]

Red Nose Day will be on the 15th March with Sir Lenny Henry confirming it'll be the final time he hosts. That really does feel like an end of an era.

www.bbc.co.uk 

Comic Relief 2024: Sir Lenny Henry to host for final time - BBC News
The comic says it is time for "new faces" after hosting the BBC charit…
  Source: www.bbc.co.uk

[James2001]

Wonder if it will survive without him or just fade away after a few years?

[Brekkie]

It'll survive just as Children in Need does but I think the problem is there isn't really a new ambassador for it who can become the face of Comic Relief for the next generation.

For me the bigger issue is cutting these things off at 10pm, and the money raised is being hurt by that too. Hopefully they'll do some sort of retrospective on Lenny's best bits - traditionally that would have been at 2am in the morning once the live show finished but suspect it might air in the run up to the night if they do it this year then get repeated in the post-news slot.

[tellyblues]

No doubt it'll be sketches involving Doctor Who, Strictly etc and people are expected to like them because they are popular shows instead of them actually being funny. I suppose with Lenny announcing that it's his last show that will give the BBC an excuse to build the programme around best bits involving him but after this year then what? I can see in future there being no main show and it is short sketches and appeal videos being slotted between shows in a standard Friday night schedule.

[Flux]

No doubt it'll be sketches involving Doctor Who, Strictly etc and people are expected to like them because they are popular shows instead of them actually being funny. I suppose with Lenny announcing that it's his last show that will give the BBC an excuse to build the programme around best bits involving him but after this year then what? I can see in future there being no main show and it is short sketches and appeal videos being slotted between shows in a standard Friday night schedule.

Maybe that’s the future - glorified in-vision continuity between regular programming… Part of me actually wonders if that might actually be better than the current offering. It hasn’t felt like Comic Relief in a long time. The fact they had Alesha Dixon hosting for years proved to me that those producing the show had completely missed the point of the evening, and although they’ve thankfully moved on from that misstep I just can’t see it going in the right direction if Lenny Henry is now leaving.

[JLav25]

Maybe that’s the future - glorified in-vision continuity between regular programming… Part of me actually wonders if that might actually be better than the current offering. It hasn’t felt like Comic Relief in a long time. The fact they had Alesha Dixon hosting for years proved to me that those producing the show had completely missed the point of the evening, and although they’ve thankfully moved on from that misstep I just can’t see it going in the right direction if Lenny Henry is now leaving.

Although it had long peaked, I feel CiN has completely fallen off since the death of Terry Wogan. While again, CR hasn't been at it's best since at least 2009, and probably earlier than that, Lenny leaving will have a similar effect on it

[rick]

I feel like Comic Relief hasn't been worth watching for a long time, same with Children In Need.

When I was growing up, they were TV events that I would have sat and watched all evening with the family, but nowadays they barely get a mention when they come around. There used to be plenty of sketches and specials of popular shows that made you feel like you were seeing something really special. They seem to be light on that sort of content these days and there doesn't appear to be any sort of real buzz or excitement around them.

[Flux]

I feel like Comic Relief hasn't been worth watching for a long time, same with Children In Need.

When I was growing up, they were TV events that I would have sat and watched all evening with the family, but nowadays they barely get a mention when they come around. There used to be plenty of sketches and specials of popular shows that made you feel like you were seeing something really special. They seem to be light on that sort of content these days and there doesn't appear to be any sort of real buzz or excitement around them.

I think they do still screen a few notable sketches (e.g. French & Saunders doing “The Traitors” last year). The big issue, IMHO, is that comedians now pre-record that sketch or a message and consider their work done. No one’s actually there on the night. In its hey day, you’d have the pre recorded sketches AND many comedians would be at the studio live too. It gave you FOMO to see all these comedians and celebs hanging out together and popping up on various links during the evening. It was chaos. It was unpredictable. It was something you had to watch live because anytging could happen. That vibe has totally gone. The only comedians in the building are ones already hosting or taking part in badly conceived challenges (who thought it was a good idea for celebs to learn to sing opera for Comic Relief?!) which means they’re busy and not able to contribute to the rest of the output.

[Brekkie]

Ad now running with the theme "Where have all the celebs gone?" with a random normal person seen hosting Pointless.

[Stooky Bill]

Maybe that’s the future - glorified in-vision continuity between regular programming… Part of me actually wonders if that might actually be better than the current offering.

That was what the first few CiNs were.