Erm… Spitting Image To Return? News Posted by John Hoare on 25th July 2005, 22:17 Oh dear. There’s a horrifying piece in today’s Independent. Almost as horrifying as that site design; a website is not a newspaper, and putting things into columns just means you have to scroll back up again to read the fucking thing. But I digress: Here’s some news to send a shiver down the spines of politicians and celebrities everywhere. There are moves afoot for a new run of Spitting Image shows, being spearheaded by Jon Culshaw. The comedian, who writes Dead Ringers and did the voices of more than 40 characters on the satirical puppet show, tells me that the cast is ready to reform and cut the current crop of public figures down to size. “We, the producers, the cast and everyone have been discussing it and we’d love to get back together. I am actually working with one of the producers from Spitting Image on Dead Ringers now so, to that extent, part of the team is already working together. “We’re talking to ITV about it: we’re just waiting to hear whether they are prepared to put the money up for a couple of series. It’s expensive to make the puppets but if we can persuade them that the time’s right for a return, it’ll be back.” This, of course, comes after the John Lloyd attempt seemingly failed. I won’t waste too much energy on deconstructing this; suffice to say that Jon Culshaw has never made me laugh, and I have severe doubts that any revival spearheaded by him would be any good whatsoever. Sigh. Thanks to tim_e on NOTBBC’s Comedy Forum for the info; and thanks to Vintage Times for the piccy. Not that I asked them if I could use it, of course. Erm, sorry about that. Go there though, as its great. UPDATE: 14:45, 26th July by Ian With respect, John, that’s utter shash. Nev “Cunting” Fountain, also on the Comedy Forum, says this: This is utter nonsense of the nonsensical kind. Jon was asked by Mr Pandora at a junket if he thought it would be a good idea to bring ‘Spitting Image’ back. Jon said, yes, it would be nice, but it would be incredibly expensive and not many people from the original are interested, and I don’t see it happening, etc, etc. In fact all the reasons that have been well aired around web-boards and the like. This gets translated into the story you see before you. Naughty journo. Naughty bankrupt newspaper. So there.
Hold on…Jon Culshaw is a comedian?! There’s some news to send a shiver down the spines of anyone with a television set.
If Jon Culshaw succeeds in this he’ll turn Spitting Image into a DOESN’T HE SOUND JUST LIKE HIM! DOESN’T HE! show. Or one with an emphasis on celebrity nonsense rather than decent politically-oriented satire.
> Or one with an emphasis on celebrity nonsense rather than decent politically-oriented satire. To be fair, once Grant Naylor got involved, there was loads of celebrity stuff as well as the political side. And the show was much the better for it.
It would only really work now with more celebrities and soap stars (see how I seperated the two) than politicians. Maybe that’s why the world’s going down the shitpan, because more people are bothered about how Martine Mcfuchcheon got a supposedly ‘flat’ stomach than whether the people governing this country are actually doing a decent job about it. I hated that 2DTV, and that’s exactly what Spitting Image would be if it came back, but with puppets obviously. And it wouldn’t be biting enough. Rory Bremner still does a decent enough job with the political side. Bo Selecta did a great job of ripping the shit out of celebrities (well it did before it turned into A Bear’s Tail, which I reckon is a mistake. The funny thing about the Bear was the celebrities he was interviewing and their reactions to the mentalness. On his own and all scripted it’s just pointless. The whole ‘taking the piss out of sitcoms’ thing could be done in one fucking sketch, not the entire series!! ahem.)
> The funny thing about the Bear was the celebrities he was interviewing and their reactions to the mentalness. Surely the reaction was completely fucking identical each week? Except in later episodes, when the celebs were in on the joke, thus making the whole thing completely pointless.
“It would only really work now with more celebrities and soap stars (see how I seperated the two) than politicians.” No, it just needs someone with a decent political mind to make something with a political-satirical emphasis to work. I agree with everything else you’ve said. But I think it’s because Culshaw wants the helm that it would become celebrity / soap actor (see how I’ve avoided the word “star”?) oriented, rather than a vacuous tabloid mentality being inescapably “of this time”. The people who want Spitting Image back are people who want something astute and aggressive. Culshaw is of the breed that knows Spitting Image is a brand that will sell well because it has a past. I’m sure there were people who wanted to re-mount Doctor Who with similar motives. He’s somebody I perceive as fitting well with the apparent ITV protocol to disregard “anything intelligent” as an unwelcome minority interest.
I would add a crude comment about wanting to mount the latest ‘Dr. Who’, but I fear that’s too far off topic *ahem*
I’ve not got a huge problem with things being OT here, to be honest. If anyone’s got something relevant to say, they’ll say it anyway and it’ll get discussed – it’s hardly the busiest site in the world, so it won’t get lost amongst anything else. Obviously there’s limitations to that rule, before anyone take decides to TAKE THE PISS.
We now live in a world where David X. Cohen, Billy West, John DiMaggio and Phil LaMarr have credits on Spitting Image. And the new theme music is aboo. Look at me, bumping old posts like a satirist or sutin.
Why are there so many ex-Futurama writers on Spitting Image? Bill Odenkirk, Patric Verrone and Jeff Westbrook (the last of whom is still a Simpsons writer) on it too.
“Why are there so many ex-Futurama writers on Spitting Image? Bill Odenkirk, Patric Verrone and Jeff Westbrook (the last of whom is still a Simpsons writer) on it too.” Well, even writers gotta eat….
