Dan Patterson, the producer behind Mock the Week and Whose Line Is It Anyway, has developed yet another comedic series, inspired by improvisation: Fast and Loose. Fast and Loose is going to have a difficult time stepping out from under Whose Line Is It Anyway's overbearing and colossal shadow. Can it really beat its older brother?
The panel is larger, the games are sillier, and the host is a man that sounds a lot like Hugh Dennis. Six guests must succumb to Hugh's dastardly games, improvising rumours, sketches, and songs. Unlike Whose Line Is It Anyway there is no fake scoring system to hold the game together, no objective, no reward for these participants. They're there merely to amuse us.
The show suffers slightly for this loose style. With no purpose, the games seem like silly distractions, rather than anything meaningful. Mock the Week and other quiz shows are held together by arbitrary points and teams. There's a sense of conflict, a direct competition between the comedians. Fast and Loose has none of this drama. There's just a collection of amusing people, playing improvisation games.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Without the forced and contrived structure governing the show, there is a sense of freedom. It's less serious, more carefree. They play their games for our amusement, no burdens weighing down their actions.
It's fun, which is the root of all entertainment. It doesn't wrap itself up in satirical banter, attempting to appear more important than it is. Fast and Loose is a program that knows its place. It wants to make you laugh. It knows you want to watch men and women acting outrageously, messing up, and generally making fools of themselves.
Fast and Loose is the jester on our television sets. It juggles jokes, and occasionally drops them on its head, looking absolutely silly as it does. It's a clown, with a huge red nose, staring bemusedly out at us. It tries so hard to keep us happy, to make us smile, and you can't help but to laugh. It's not meant to be serious, it's not meant to change the world.
When you just need to be cheered up, when stress is clinging onto your shoes, when it's one of those days, then just slump on your sofa and watch BBC's resident buffoon attempt to act out a scene sideways.
It'll make you giggle, and that's all it's trying to do.
