Is anybody watching? Jonathan Ross at the 2007 British Comedy Awards. Photograph: Ken McKay/Rex Features
The annual British Comedy Awards were handed out, amid much hullabaloo, in London last night, but unless you got an invite you won't have been able to see it. I wasn't invited either, so until I checked the results on the comedy website of record, Chortle, I had no idea who'd won what. I can't say I really cared, however, because whenever I've watched this bunfight on TV I've always been bored rigid. It's just the same with the Oscars, and every other awards show you can name. I mean, where's the fun in watching a bunch of other people win prizes?
The reasons why last night's ceremony wasn't broadcast are a bit difficult to fathom - especially for me. Bizarrely, ITV have still taped it, paid for it and may still screen it at some later date - although personally, I can't see it happening. As if an old recording of an awards show could ever be remotely newsworthy, after all the results have been reported elsewhere. The compere was Jonathan Ross. "If you're watching at home, it's only because someone at the back recorded it on their phone and put it on YouTube," said Woss at the end of the night.
ITV's main motivation may actually have been to stop a rival broadcaster screening the show (which is filmed by an independent production company), but even if this is the real reason, I still don't quite get it. I mean, why not just change the format? After all Match of The Day is still going strong, even though there are no prizes for Goal of The Month.
So what do the results say about the state of TV comedy? Search me. Simon Amstell and Alan Carr are rising stars, Gavin and Stacey is very popular and Peep Show is very good - but we knew all that already. And how can you compare a drama and a cartoon? Truth be told, the only time this show was edgy was when Julian Clary said he'd been backstage fisting Norman Lamont in 1993, and the ceremony has been dining out on this inspired faux pas ever since.
If there was any justice in showbiz (and there isn't) Clary should get a big share of the royalties. A genuinely alternative talent, he sacrificed his mainstream status to give an anarchic veneer to a show that's really completely mainstream. "We expect the usual outrageous behaviour," said executive producer Michael Hurll before this year's show. "In fact, we're banking on it." Despite its supposed irreverence, however, the British Comedy Awards is really just as cosy as any other awards fest. How could it possibly be anything else?
