Latest news with #LastOneLaughing
The Irish Sun
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Only in UK could we be forced to pay for BBC then have to cough up for best TV on streaming services – it's got to stop
TURN on your TV today and you'll find schedules filled with true crime thrillers and celebrity reality shows or, at the other extreme, indulgent tripe pandering to Gen Z snowflakes. But unless the Big Five channels stop making so much b****ks and grow some balls, they're going to kill British TV as we know it. 5 Blind Date, a much-loved TV format that was once on ITV but has now been snapped up by Disney+ Credit: Getty Images - Getty 5 Subscription services are now making the most electrifying programmes on the planet, pictured hit White Lotus Credit: AP 5 Netflix's gritty drama Adolescence could easily have been done by Channel 4 Credit: Netflix Because BBC One and BBC Two, ITV , Channel 4 and 5 — whose listings increasingly read like a suicide note — are entering the final stages of a fight for their survival. They're up against Netflix, Sky , Prime Video and countless other corporations with deep pockets and big ambitions. Proof came this week in the unlikely form of Blind Date, a much-loved TV format that was once on ITV but has now been Only in Britain could we be forced by law to shell out for a home-grown broadcasting service, only to find the best TV shows are increasingly made by largely foreign-owned streamers Rod Yeah, that's right, Disney+. Paying through nose Years ago, the subscription services started out providing an alternative to traditional telly, then they began copying the traditional providers and, recently, they've started stealing their big-name talent — Jeremy Clarkson, Emma Willis, Amanda Holden, Holly Willoughby. Now the Blind Date deal shows that the super streamers are literally out to thrash the Big Five at their own game. The gloves have come off . . . but the increased competition won't stop us paying through the nose. Only in Britain could we be forced by law to shell out for a home-grown broadcasting service, only to find the best TV shows are increasingly made by largely foreign-owned streamers. Then — in the ultimate rip-off — we have to cough up even more money to watch them. That's the enraging situation we find ourselves in in the year 2025. Although there are some notable exceptions on the BBC , ITV and Channel 4, the consensus is that subscription services are now making the most electrifying programmes on the planet. Brassic Bids Farewell: Michelle Keegan's Final Series Think about it. Dramas including Adolescence, Baby Reindeer, Rivals, The White Lotus, Slow Horses. And consider the shows that have given us the biggest laughs over the past few years — hits like Last One Laughing, None of the above was delivered by the traditional Big Five terrestrials. So, why can't the channels we already pay for make more of the TV that gets us excited? The obvious response from the top UK channels would be that they are still giving us blockbusters — Strictly, I'm A Celebrity , Bake Off, The Traitors, Love Island and dramas like Happy Valley or Mr Bates Vs The Post Office . 5 Last One Laughing, on Amazon Prime Video, has been giving us more laughs than anything on the traditional Big Five terrestrials Credit: Supplied 5 Why can't the channels we already pay for make more of the TV that gets us excited like Brassic? Credit: Sky UK Limited. They are all, to be fair, brilliant. But so much of it is old now. It's predictable. And the new hits are few and far between. Though the streamers obviously have pots of cash to spend, it's not just a money problem either. Look no further than the recent co-production between Disney+ and the BBC on Doctor Who. It's easy to understand why other shows that are laden with CGI and big Hollywood stars end up on the streamers, but why is it that comedies like Ted Lasso never seem to pop up on ITV? Rod It was, by most people's standards, an unmitigated disaster. The studio giant pumped millions into cutting-edge special effects, sets that dazzled rather than wobbled and genuinely monstrous monsters. And what did the BBC do? They squandered it by turning a sci-fi classic into a series of woke lectures that had viewers turning off in droves. Now the Disney+ deal is hanging in the balance and they're having to bring back David Tennant. It's easy to understand why other shows that are laden with CGI and big Hollywood stars end up on the streamers, but why is it that comedies like Ted Lasso never seem to pop up on ITV? ITV, by the way, recently spent millions launching The Genius Game, with And the one thing I thought while watching the brilliant, gritty drama Adolescence was, this could easily have been done by Channel 4. Neither Adolescence nor Ted Lasso would have cost that much to produce, surely? It's not Star Wars or Bridgerton. Pure extortion Part of the problem, it seems, is that a lot of creatives and execs now don't just chase the money — they also chase trends and credibility. At last month's TV Baftas, around a third of the nominations went to streamers — a figure that's been growing rapidly over the past decade. That, too, could reach a tipping point in a couple of years. The solution is glaringly obvious, but not easy. If Disney+ steal Blind Date, come up with the next Blind Date. If they lose Clarkson to Prime Video, find the next Jeremy. If Netflix do Bridgerton, come up with another twist on the period drama. They need to stop the rot in terrestrial telly, because one day a cluster of these streamers will start offering a one-price-buys-all subscription deal that will make the licence fee look like pure extortion. Then public service broadcasting's days really will be numbered.
Sydney Morning Herald
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
This TV series will appeal to anyone who likes to laugh
If there is one thing to know about me, it is that I love comedy. I love to chuckle, laugh, guffaw - pretty much all the classics. This passion has also led me to work in comedy. While there are huge downsides to this career path (money, stability, sanity), it means I can make a valid claim that consuming comedy and engaging with funny TV, movies, podcasts, etc, is part of my job. And I am very good at my job. I watch everything from silly sitcoms to dark comedy narrative to experimental humour to internet-based improv shows (better than it sounds!), and I love using my skills and general perfect taste to recommend the great things I find. Often these recommendations are specifically targeted, knowing that comedy is especially subjective, and what I find funny (correct), other people might not (incorrect). Sometimes, however, I come across a show that I know will appeal to basically anyone who likes to laugh. If you don't love to laugh, I don't think I can help – maybe try watching about 40 minutes into Bambi. The reason I think this show can be widely enjoyed is that it is so simple, so funny, and so doesn't take your brain to engage. It's called LOL: Last One Laughing UK. The concept of the show is so simple that it could make someone scream because they didn't invent it and are instead just writing about it in the paper. Like Taskmaster (which I also love), Last One Laughing takes a bunch of funny comedians and puts them to the test, filmed for our pleasure. Except in this show the test is that 10 comedians are all locked into one big room together for six hours, and in that time are not allowed to laugh. If they laugh, they get a yellow card, and if they laugh again, they get a red, meaning they are out and have to go sit in the other room with Jimmy Carr (punishment). You might guess that the 'last one who is laughing' wins. Last One Laughing is a franchise show with seasons in places like Australia, Ireland, and South Africa, but whether through luck or planning or both, this first season of the new UK series has rocketed to the top of my rankings. Largely that's to do with the perfect cast, which included several hilarious ex-Taskmaster alums, including Judi Love, Joe Lycett and Lou Sanders, as well as the legend Bob Mortimer (JOKE), the brilliant trained comedic actress Daisy May Cooper, and the always-deadpan Richard Ayoade. It turns out it is very entertaining to see a group of people whose life revolves around making people laugh go through the extremely unnatural process of figuring out how to not. They start out fixing their faces into place, trying to walk away if they are going to laugh, avoiding the ones they know will break them, but the show forces them to interact. Some of them also go on the attack, jabbing out with jokes or bits, often endangering themselves. At regular intervals, they must sit on a couch and watch the other comics give pre-planned performances, and a couple of times, an outsider is brought in to try and get them to crack. The strength of the show lies in the diverse comedic approaches of the cast, a mix of characters and funny professionals that are sizing each other up for weak spots. They are professional comedians, which is hard enough, but as we all know, being told you can't laugh is sometimes funnier than anything you might be laughing at. Loading One comic breaks at a very funny performance, another breaks after hours of stone-face at an unintentional, not-that-funny-sound that occurs randomly. Watching Last One Laughing often feels like you're at the sidelines of a comedy sporting event, an endurance test where the best athletes in the country are competing in one room. They go through ebbs and flows, in danger a lot early on, moving into 'dead inside' later in the episodes. It's engaging, and unlike other sports (besides curling), it's very funny. The show ends with a genuinely very tense and incredible face-off between two masterful comics. It's akin to a thrilling State of Origin game three – in this case, scoring is making someone else laugh – and the people I was watching with all cheered and clapped as if Queensland had just won (I was in Queensland). In this time of heaviness and bleakness and not that much laughter, I heartily recommend this show. They are trying to be the last ones laughing, but I guarantee – you'll laugh first.
The Age
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
This TV series will appeal to anyone who likes to laugh
If there is one thing to know about me, it is that I love comedy. I love to chuckle, laugh, guffaw - pretty much all the classics. This passion has also led me to work in comedy. While there are huge downsides to this career path (money, stability, sanity), it means I can make a valid claim that consuming comedy and engaging with funny TV, movies, podcasts, etc, is part of my job. And I am very good at my job. I watch everything from silly sitcoms to dark comedy narrative to experimental humour to internet-based improv shows (better than it sounds!), and I love using my skills and general perfect taste to recommend the great things I find. Often these recommendations are specifically targeted, knowing that comedy is especially subjective, and what I find funny (correct), other people might not (incorrect). Sometimes, however, I come across a show that I know will appeal to basically anyone who likes to laugh. If you don't love to laugh, I don't think I can help – maybe try watching about 40 minutes into Bambi. The reason I think this show can be widely enjoyed is that it is so simple, so funny, and so doesn't take your brain to engage. It's called LOL: Last One Laughing UK. The concept of the show is so simple that it could make someone scream because they didn't invent it and are instead just writing about it in the paper. Like Taskmaster (which I also love), Last One Laughing takes a bunch of funny comedians and puts them to the test, filmed for our pleasure. Except in this show the test is that 10 comedians are all locked into one big room together for six hours, and in that time are not allowed to laugh. If they laugh, they get a yellow card, and if they laugh again, they get a red, meaning they are out and have to go sit in the other room with Jimmy Carr (punishment). You might guess that the 'last one who is laughing' wins. Last One Laughing is a franchise show with seasons in places like Australia, Ireland, and South Africa, but whether through luck or planning or both, this first season of the new UK series has rocketed to the top of my rankings. Largely that's to do with the perfect cast, which included several hilarious ex-Taskmaster alums, including Judi Love, Joe Lycett and Lou Sanders, as well as the legend Bob Mortimer (JOKE), the brilliant trained comedic actress Daisy May Cooper, and the always-deadpan Richard Ayoade. It turns out it is very entertaining to see a group of people whose life revolves around making people laugh go through the extremely unnatural process of figuring out how to not. They start out fixing their faces into place, trying to walk away if they are going to laugh, avoiding the ones they know will break them, but the show forces them to interact. Some of them also go on the attack, jabbing out with jokes or bits, often endangering themselves. At regular intervals, they must sit on a couch and watch the other comics give pre-planned performances, and a couple of times, an outsider is brought in to try and get them to crack. The strength of the show lies in the diverse comedic approaches of the cast, a mix of characters and funny professionals that are sizing each other up for weak spots. They are professional comedians, which is hard enough, but as we all know, being told you can't laugh is sometimes funnier than anything you might be laughing at. Loading One comic breaks at a very funny performance, another breaks after hours of stone-face at an unintentional, not-that-funny-sound that occurs randomly. Watching Last One Laughing often feels like you're at the sidelines of a comedy sporting event, an endurance test where the best athletes in the country are competing in one room. They go through ebbs and flows, in danger a lot early on, moving into 'dead inside' later in the episodes. It's engaging, and unlike other sports (besides curling), it's very funny. The show ends with a genuinely very tense and incredible face-off between two masterful comics. It's akin to a thrilling State of Origin game three – in this case, scoring is making someone else laugh – and the people I was watching with all cheered and clapped as if Queensland had just won (I was in Queensland). In this time of heaviness and bleakness and not that much laughter, I heartily recommend this show. They are trying to be the last ones laughing, but I guarantee – you'll laugh first.
Telegraph
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
This might be the funniest TV show you'll ever see – and it's not Fawlty Towers
Last One Laughing, a series recently released on Amazon Prime, might be the funniest thing I've ever seen. The schtick, if you haven't seen it or its endless clips on Instagram, is simply this: ten comedians are stuck in a room for six hours, trying not to laugh. That's it. I mean, it can't be the funniest thing I've ever seen. I've seen Fawlty Towers. I've seen Some Like It Hot, Airplane! and Groundhog Day. I've seen Eddie Izzard doing live stand-up comedy in the 1990s, I've seen Dame Edna host a chat show. An anonymous media source of my acquaintance, often quoted in this column, is the funniest person I've ever met and he's not in this series – so how could it be? It's not painstakingly crafted; it's a studio show which covers a single day and is broken into six half-hour bits. And it's broadly improvised! How could any of that result in the funniest thing I've ever seen? And yet its bang-for-buck, laugh-per-minute rate seems unbetterable; I have laughed without cessation through every episode. And that's speaking as someone ageing, tired and sleep-deprived, juggling children and pets and National Insurance (which I really wasn't when I saw Eddie Izzard doing live stand-up comedy in the 1990s) with a global backdrop that is bleak and riddled with horror, and I'm still laughing without cessation through every episode. So it certainly feels like the funniest thing I've ever seen. I should make it clear: the comics assembled for the series aren't trying not to laugh as a collective. That would be too easy. They are in competition. If anyone chuckles, they're knocked out. So the job of the contestants is simultaneously to make each other laugh while remaining totally impassive themselves. It's a very, very funny idea for a programme. Even if the comedy bits weren't funny in themselves, the importance of their onlookers not laughing would immediately render them so. It brings a wave of the ghastly hilarity we feel when someone whispers a joke during a funeral, or passes you a secret cartoon of the maths teacher. It takes me back to my days at the Edinburgh Fringe (often in the company of some of the people who make this programme), when tickets for everything were about £3 so you could see ten shows a day, finding ourselves reasonably diverted by the comedy acts but only made helpless with painful, unconquerable merriment by amateur opera, or fiery political tub-thumping, or inexpert contemporary dance. The only thing in the world that's funnier than trying not to laugh, or watching someone else trying not to laugh, is someone who's genuinely unamused for reasons of disapproval. 'This is no laughing matter' is one of the funniest sentences in the English language. And that's why the cultural era we're living through, while no doubt the most puritanical and purse-lipped it's been for over a century, is also, in many ways, the funniest. With that in mind, the show is tremendously well cast. It's hosted by Jimmy Carr, the court jester of our age, who has survived attempted cancellation so often that his whole self is a counter-argument to 'This is no laughing matter'. He just stands and stands and stands for the principle that everything is. The contestants are perfect for the game in hand, including some (Daisy May Cooper, Richard Ayoade) whom you'd particularly credit with the ability to keep a straight face, and some (Bob Mortimer, Joe Wilkinson, Judi Love) who are so deeply, naturally hilarious that it's hard not to start giggling before they even speak. This makes for a magnificent tension as the competition gets underway. We see Bob Mortimer putting on a magic show, alive with patter and veils. Lou Sanders performs a piece of expressive mime with someone who may or may not be her mother. Rob Beckett explains the role of a proctologist ('Have you ever had a check up the bum?', he asks; 'A Czechoslovakian?' replies Bob Mortimer, puzzled). Each comedian in turn is obliged to sing Lovin' You by Minnie Riperton, with its high rippling falsetto – and all of it through the prism of fellow contestants twitching and fidgeting as they desperately try not to smile. And then, somehow, the funniest thing of all is Joe Wilkinson delivering an impromptu factual lecture on the 200th anniversary of the RNLI. We all know what it's like to try and quell a laugh that comes when it shouldn't. In a customs queue, just as you've been asked whether you packed your bag yourself. During a work meeting, as you're being told that everyone's being made redundant. In a school assembly, while a guest speaker describes the challenges of their disability. I don't think that comes from the bad part of us; quite the reverse, I think it's a physical reaction to an overdose of empathy. It requires full understanding of the gravity of the scenario; a sociopath wouldn't be tickled at all. It is the very confrontation with humanity that is, sometimes, our undoing. But this wonderful series has found a way to bottle that hilarious resource, the laugh-that-must-be-stifled, without having to lean on cruelty or bigotry or anything off-colour at all. It's not about 'saying the unsayable' or 'jokes you can't make any more'; in fact it demonstrates how the most powerful weapon in the comic armoury is simple silliness. Without spoilers, that is what must and does triumph in the end.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'The gateway drug is having your teeth done': Jimmy Carr on all the cosmetic surgery he's had
Jimmy Carr is famed for his comedy, his distinctive laugh, and some dodgy accounting. But the Last One Laughing host is also known for his love of going under the knife. In a new BBC series, Alison Hammond's Big Weekend, the comedian told the This Morning presenter all about his taste for personal 'tweakments' while the pair relaxed at a London wellness spa, before bracing an icy cold plunge pool. The six episode series follows Hammond as she spends 48 hours with celebrities, including Perrie Edwards and Luke Evans. 'I've had loads done,' says Carr, flashing a smile. 'The gateway drug is getting your teeth done.' Carr says his pearly whites are a full set of veneers placed onto every tooth. His teeth were an insecurity that he was 'hung up about' and fixing them helped improve his self-esteem and confidence. 'It made me smile more, and you do genuinely feel happier, it's very odd.' Carr also details his '14 hour long' hair transplant and says that he's 'done a bit of botox'. Unlike Carr, Hammond reveals she has never tried botox and shocks the comedian during their discussion, reminding him: 'this face can move'. 'Are we buying this?' Carr says to the camera in mock-disbelief. Carr has been candid about his cosmetic surgery in the past. During an interview with friend Stuart Goldsmith at the Savoy Theatre, Carr said he was 'basically in an arms race with Katherine Ryan on plastic surgery', his co-host of Your Face or Mine? His decision to start treatments came out of 'a bit of a midlife crisis' and his desire to stay looking youthful whilst being an older parent. 'Famously you can't avoid death and taxes… I'm trying to do both', he joked. Whilst Carr doesn't claim that botox can magically make you more attractive, he does credit its ability to slow the ageing process. 'Maintaining is the thing,' the 52-year-old told Gabby Logan on her podcast The Midpoint. 'I don't think there's anything you can do plastic surgery wise, or augmentation wise, that makes you look better, you can just sort of stay the same, that's what you can hope for.' Carr is not the only male celebrity to admit to getting cosmetic procedures. Other stars such as Robbie Williams, Rylan Clark and Paddy McGuiness and Made in Chelsea's Miles Nazaire have all spoken publicly about their decisions to undergo enhancing treatments. Male cosmetic surgery is continuing to grow in popularity generally as more men are choosing to enhance their looks through treatments such as rhinoplasty and dermal fillers. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the number of Botox treatments for men increased by 27% over the past decade, and many men often use the term 'Brotox' on social media in videos and posts about getting procedures done. In particular, a rise in men requesting face and neck lifts seemingly points to a growing interest in anti-ageing procedures, reports the The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. Dr Kaywaan Khan, a Harley Street Aesthetics Practitioner and Private GP at Hannah London Clinic, has seen a rise in men opting for treatments. 'As men notice lines, wrinkles, or changes in their physique, the urge to retain a more youthful appearance can become quite strong. This often intertwines with the ambition to boost self-confidence,' says Dr Khan. Although a little tweak here and there is often motivated by wanting to look better, Dr Khan suggests that for some men, choosing cosmetic procedures is for reasons beyond vanity. 'Feeling good about one's appearance can have a ripple effect, positively influencing different aspects of life, from personal relationships to their professional image.' While conversations surrounding botox on social media tend to be female-led, Khan thinks it is important for men to be able to share their cosmetic journeys without feeling judged, and this is helped by celebrities like Carr being candid about their own nip and tucks. 'The influence of celebrities and social media has normalised these procedures and made them more mainstream,' says Dr Khan. 'This has caused a shift in perception and helped reduce the stigma once surrounding male grooming and cosmetic tweakments.'
