IF phrases such as ‘Suits you, sir’ and ‘You ain’t seen me, right?’ make you chuckle, you’ll probably be delighted to know that The Fast Show is back. Not on the telly, but on the internet.
Nothing beats a good catchphrase, and no comedy show ever had quite as many wonderful catchphrases as The Fast Show.
Anyone old enough to watch post-watershed telly back in the 1990s will remember classic characters such as Competitive Dad, Ron Manager, Swiss Toni, and I’ll Get Me Coat bloke.
Now they’re all back for a new series, but you can’t watch it on your telly. It’s all being broadcast on the internet.
The original Fast Show writers and cast have got back together to create six new episodes. Not for the BBC, but for a brand of lager.
You can watch them all at www.fosters.co.uk/tagged/the_fast_show
It’s great news for comedy fans of a certain age, but it also highlights a deeper issue: the slow shift of media of all kinds towards the internet.
Newspapers and magazines are seeing a surge of new readers from handheld e-readers and tablet computers. In the US, younger viewers are turning their backs on traditional cable TV connections and downloading shows on demand instead.
Here in the UK, online catch-up services pioneered by BBC iPlayer but now available for ITV, Channel 4, Sky and other channels have been a massive hit.
Media companies everywhere are looking at the net and the success of the apps culture and asking themselves: is that our future?
Don’t worry, we’re still a long way from internet-only TV. Not everyone has a fast enough internet connection to make that work.
Until then, we’ll have to make do with telly on the web, financed by beer drinkers. Cheers.
Giles Turnbull
BROWSING AROUND... COOL WEB TOOLS
If This, Then That automates the internet for you: www.ifttt.com
Pushnote, for annotating the web:www.pushnote.com
British-made Lanyrd, the conference organiser:www.lanyrd.com
Bookmarks for images at Ffffound
www.ffffound.com
Shortmail: like email, but shorter:www.shortmail.com
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50 Lego models with 50 simple bricks: goo.gl/BEyAh
(Giles Turnbull has a website at gilest.org)