{"id":324526,"date":"2025-12-19T11:24:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T11:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/324526\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:24:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T11:24:09","slug":"harry-hill-admits-his-popular-itv-hit-would-be-cancelled-today-as-he-takes-aim-at-bland-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/324526\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry Hill admits his popular ITV hit ‘would be cancelled’ today as he takes aim at ‘bland’ shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harry Hill has launched a scathing attack on both ITV and the BBC, describing their output as “bland” and insisting he would face cancellation if his comedy show, TV Burp, launched today.<\/p>\n

The 61-year-old comedian, whose real name is Matthew Hall, became a household name through programmes including TV Burp and You’ve Been Framed.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the Beyond the Title podcast, Mr Hill reflected on his satirical show that ran from 2001 to 2012, offering comedic commentary on the week’s television.<\/p>\n

“TV Burp was a cheap show to make,” he said. “It’s not just ITV, BBC One is the same. The danger is everything becomes a bit bland.”<\/p>\n

\"Harry<\/p>\n

Harry Hill’s TV Burp ran from 2001 to 2012<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GREAT COMPANY WITH JAMIE LAING<\/p>\n

Mr Hill believes broadcasters have become excessively cautious, stating: “I think they don’t like taking risks.”<\/p>\n

The comedian revealed that TV Burp required several series before the team perfected the format, benefiting from a lack of oversight during its early years.<\/p>\n

“It took us two or three series to get TV Burp right, no one was keeping an eye on us, so somehow we managed to get away with that,” he explained.<\/p>\n

The comedian suggested this creative freedom would be impossible in today’s broadcasting environment.<\/p>\n

\"Harry<\/p>\n

Harry Hill thinks his ITV show would be ‘cancelled after one series’ in today’s world<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

“We could easily have been cancelled after the first series and we would be now,” he added.<\/p>\n

Mr Hill argued that comedy rarely succeeds immediately, noting: “Comedy is never right the first time. History is littered with it.”<\/p>\n

The key, he suggested, lies in recognising potential: “You identify a spark in it and think, ‘We will get it right’.”<\/p>\n

Mr Hill took particular aim at the current state of weekend television, observing that Saturday night schedules have become repetitive.<\/p>\n

\"Harry<\/p>\n

Harry Hill in 2010<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

“If you look at Saturday night schedules now it’s celebrity quiz show, celebrity quiz show, celebrity quiz show, really,” he remarked.<\/p>\n

While acknowledging some programmes are entertaining, he questioned the lack of variety: “There’s some really funny ones but you think, ‘Really?'”<\/p>\n

The comedian attributed this creative stagnation to financial pressures facing commercial broadcasters.<\/p>\n

“It’s commercial TV, they’ve got to make money or they feel like they have to, so they don’t develop anything new or risky,” Mr Hill said.<\/p>\n

\"Harry<\/p>\n

Harry Hill reflected on today’s weekend television schedules<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GREAT COMPANY WITH JAMIE LAING<\/p>\n

Mr Hill’s criticism echoes sentiments expressed by John Cleese earlier this month, with the Fawlty Towers creator similarly condemning the BBC’s approach to comedy.<\/p>\n

The 86-year-old told LBC Radio’s Nick Ferrari that executives lack the knowledge required to foster comedic talent.<\/p>\n

“In the case of the BBC, there isn’t the executive understanding of how to nurture comedy, which is why there’s not much great comedy these days,” Cleese said.<\/p>\n

He blamed former director-general John Birt for transforming the corporation into a bureaucracy, adding: “Bureaucrats aren’t very good at humour – because they try to decide things in committee.”<\/p>\n

At the Slapstick comedy festival in Bristol, Cleese declared: “There has been nothing funny since The Office.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harry Hill has launched a scathing attack on both ITV and the BBC, describing their output as “bland”…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[243,6491,830,96,347,2331,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-324526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-celebrity","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-itv","13":"tag-sgg","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}