Comic's Choice

Comic's Choice
Genre	Chat show Clip show
Written by	Bill Bailey Lee Stuart Evans
Directed by	Peter Orton
Presented by	Bill Bailey
Theme music composer	Bill Bailey
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	5 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Amanda Kean Mark Brosnan
Editor(s)	Gavin Ames
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	45 minutes per episode
Production company(s)	Unique Television
Distributor	Channel Four Television
Release
Original network	Channel 4
Original release	16 January 2011 – 20 January 2011
External links
Website
Production website

Comic's Choice is a British comedy chat show hosted by the comedian Bill Bailey, and broadcast on Channel 4. The programme ran for a single series of five episodes, and was shown during January 2011. Each episode, Bailey would interview another British comedian, and invite them to discuss some of their favourite comedians or comedy television programmes.^[1] The series was produced by Unique Television Production.

History

Comic's Choice was broadcast in anticipation of the British Comedy Awards, which were being shown on Channel 4 for the first time on 22 January 2011, having been broadcast on ITV for 20 years^[2] – Comic's Choice was broadcast in the week leading up the event. The five guests on the show were Alan Davies, Lee Mack, Jo Brand, Jessica Hynes and Sean Lock.^[3] Each guest picked three nominations for various British Comedy Award categories (such as Best Sitcom and Best Male Comic), and would then discuss them and select their winner during the episode. Discussing the show, its producers stated: "With other smaller, alternative categories and audience interaction thrown in, the show will be not just informative and entertaining – but fun, funny and memorable."^[4]

Reviews of Comic's Choice were generally positive, with Steven Cookson of Suite 101 describing it as "a great deal of fun".^[5] Bailey's hosting was praised, with Tom Sutcliffe of The Independent calling him the programme's "saving grace", and stating: "[He's] got a manner that somehow makes the format work."^[6] A review of a more critical nature came from Henry Venning of The Stage, who described the show's format as "flimsy" and "confusing".^[7]

Episodes

Winners are given in bold. The Guilty Pleasure category had only one nominee.

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate
1	"Alan Davies"	Peter Orton	Bill Bailey Lee Stuart Evans	16 January 2011
Best Male Comic: Dave Allen Noel Fielding Tony Hancock Best Comedy Breakthrough Artist: Sacha Baron Cohen Chris Morris Isy Suttie Best Comedy Actor: Rik Mayall Richard Ayoade Paul Eddington Guilty Pleasure: It Ain't Half Hot Mum Best Comedy Entertainment Programme: The Morecambe & Wise Show Tiswas The Graham Norton Show
2	"Lee Mack"	Peter Orton	Bill Bailey Lee Stuart Evans	17 January 2011
Best Male Comic: Tommy Cooper Frank Skinner Ben Elton Outstanding Contribution to Comedy: The Comic Strip Presents... Peter Cook Galton and Simpson Guilty Pleasure: Freddie Starr Best Comedy Actor: Steve Coogan Leonard Rossiter Sid James Best Comedy Entertainment Programme: Shooting Stars Friday Night Live An Audience with Kenneth Williams
3	"Jo Brand"	Peter Orton	Bill Bailey Lee Stuart Evans	18 January 2011
Best Female Comic: Beryl Reid Victoria Wood Morwenna Banks Best Sitcom: Only Fools and Horses The Worst Week of My Life Pulling Best Children's Comedy: Horrible Histories Sorry, I've Got No Head The Basil Brush Show Best Comedy Panel Show: Have I Got News for You Would I Lie to You? QI Outstanding Contribution to Comedy: Jerry Sadowitz Malcolm Hardee Hattie Hayridge
4	"Jessica Hynes"	Peter Orton	Bill Bailey Lee Stuart Evans	19 January 2011
5	"Sean Lock"	Peter Orton	Bill Bailey Lee Stuart Evans	20 January 2011
Best Sitcom: Porridge I'm Alan Partridge Father Ted Best Stand-up: Sam Kinison Lenny Bruce Johnny Vegas Best Comedy Actress: Penelope Keith Kathy Burke Catherine Tate Best Comedy Entertainment Personality: Mark Lamarr Les Dawson Barry Humphries

References

1. "Biography (Part Two)". Billbailey.co.uk. 2011. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
2. Lambert, Doug (23 January 2011). "Miranda Hart wins big at British Comedy Awards". Felling, Tyne and Wear: ATV Today. Archived from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
3. O'Donovan, Gerard (13 January 2011). "Today's TV highlights". The Daily Telegraph (London). ISSN 0307-1235. OCLC 613316876. Archived from the original on 15 January 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
4. "Bill Bailey talks funny". Chortle. 9 November 2010. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
5. Cookson, Steven (17 January 2011). "Comic's Choice: Alan Davies on Channel 4". Vancouver: Suite 101. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
6. Sutcliffe, Tom (17 January 2011). "The Weekend's TV: Gordon Ramsay: Shark Bait, Sun, Channel 4, Comic's Choice, Sun, Channel 4". The Independent (London). ISSN 0951-9467. OCLC 240904920. Archived from the original on 18 January 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
7. Venning, Harry (21 January 2011). "TV review". The Stage (London: The Stage Media). Archived from the original on 3 November 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2013.

External links

• Official website
• Comic's Choice at the Internet Movie Database
• Comic's Choice at TheTVDB.com