10 ideas for Scenes We'd Like to See that didn't make it into Mock the Week
Posted by Dara O'Briain on 21 Oct 09 in Dara Ó Briain's blog, Quiz shows and TV series
Mock the Week has writers. There, I've said it. You can all go "Ah ha!" at me. Of course, the writers' job isn't to come up with jokes for the performers (or at least, if it is, they'd let me have some of that gold wouldn't they? You mean to tell me that I sit around in the afternoon, all on my own in that dressing room, struggling to pull two gags together and next door the panellists are being spoon fed the funnies? I mean, how harsh is that? Those greedy bastards.)
No, the job of the writers on Mock The Week is to supply the performers with fresh challenges each week like the headliner letters, say, or the "answer" in "If This Is The Answer..." and, most importantly, the scene ideas for the now legendary Scenes We'd Like to See. This is not a trivial task.
As we always say here in Comedyland, picking a good topic is like devising a sufficiently solvable system of linear equations! By which I mean, of course, that you can't give too much information - it'll restrict you too much. But equally, you can't have a completely blank canvas, because then the round becomes unfocussed and bitty.
Images © Angst Productions
To illustrate, let's have a look at some of the samples recently sent in by a new writer on the show, who we'll call Joe. See if you can spot the mistakes "Joe" made in some of his suggestions.
Topic 1: Things
Rejected for being too short. And too general.
Topic 2: Things you wouldn't say
A witty revision of the first idea, nixed for still being not really an idea at all.
Topic 3: Things you wouldn't say to a dentist and his wife (a teacher) if you met them on holiday in Greece
Rejected for being too specific.
Topic 4: Things you wouldn't say to the prophet Mohammed
We're not idiots Joe. Rejected.
Topic 5: Things not to say to your own scrotum
Often we've turned a chat about politics into a discussion of our own genitals but it rarely goes the other way. Rejected.
Topic 6: Things not to say to the Deaf
No.
Topic 7: Things you wouldn't say in Binary
Zero.
Topic 8: Things not to say to the mistress of Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States
Please, Joe, make an effort. This is Mock The Week, not QI.
Topic 9: Things not to say when faced with the incomparable scale of the universe, stretching across the myriad miles of infinite black, a giant cloth of darkness against which the miniscule points of light are no sure harbour of hope or life or protection against the abyss
Actually, not a bad one, but difficult to fit onto the screen without making it really hard for the people at home to read. But you're getting somewhere with this, Joe. Keep going
Topic 10: Things you wouldn't say on the set of an Iceland commercial with Kerry Katona
Bingo!
Find out when Mock the Week is next on Dave.
Comments
Displaying 1 to 5 of 17
its still good but without frankie its lacking soething but as long as dara hugh russel and andy stays in it i thing there funny enough to pull the show back together but if one more leaves i think it will go down the drain but who am i to say whats going to happen p.s i thing it would be interesting if you got someone differant on like alan davies so you dont repeat all your views and jokes xxx
I Would Never Have Thought That Mock The Week Had Writers Then Again Were Would Young Aspiaring Comedians (Like Myself) And The More Experianced Comedians Would Get Our Material from A Great Source Of My Material Is Of Course My Younger Brother And Family In General But Like Mock The Week Things Should Always Be Said Weather Or Not THey Are Right Or Rong
People you wouldn't expect to meet in a bar: pig: can i have some pork scrathings dealer: drink of coke please
People you wouldn't expect to meet in a bar: Gordon Brown: Hey, watch me pull my eye out. Jesus: Tap water please. Spartan: Guinness? This is Pepsi! Neal Armstrong: One pint for man, One crashed rocket for all mankind. Superman: You know, you can fly through that window when your drunk.
Oh my God, I don't think I have ever told anyone about how much I adore Mock The Week! Dara O' Briain is such a brilliant comedian, he and Frankie Boyle are the funniest comedians around. My favourite comedian on Mock The Week though, it has to be the brilliant Hugh Dennis. He does brilliant accents and makes everybody laugh with his fantastic quotes. Thanks Mock The Week, for a brilliant show. Saffie xxx
Displaying 6 to 11 of 17
i love the show i think that it is hilarious but still topical. i love how u will talk about something and then end up on a completely different subject. i really want 2 kno when the nxt series will b on coz i wouldnt want 2 miss it.
lol i love this!!! although i love TomFeud's idea- frankie would have a field day with that one!!! urm, how about ''things you wouldn't say to the pope'' or have i heard that one before?!!
Inappropriate things to say after sex.
Things you wouldn't say when finding out you were the love child of Gordon Brown
How is Mock the Week to survive without Frankie!?!
Displaying 11 to 16 of 17
call that a blog ? that is explaining the comdy that a 10 year old could come up with to explain the show.
Unlikely things see as a Daily Mail headline. Unlikely things to hear at Heathrow. Unlikely things to see on Blackpool pier.
Agreed.
I think Frankie would've had a field day with the last topic.
At least one of the ten could have made it to the show, I would love to see what Frankie Boyle would have said to 'Topic 10'.
Displaying 16 to 17 of 17
How about: Things not to say when appearing on Question Time. or Things not to say as a judge on X-Factor x
Oh Dara, I totally agree, the last thing we want is for Mock The Week to turn into some kind of comedy version of Family Fortunes... ...although...