The word on the street is that Peep Show is going to be axed after "poor ratings" for the third series. The show clocked about 1.3 million on a Friday night, which was not deemed enough by C4 bosses after the heavy promotion.
Note to C4 commissions: PEEP SHOW'S TARGET AUDIENCE IS IN THE PUB ON FRIDAY NIGHT!
This is very disappointing. C4 produce their first classic sit-com since Spaced and then axe it! There's no reason top end it now. Sure, series 3 was a notch below series 1 and 2, but it was still the best British comedy of 2005. I've read interviews with the Peep Show cast and writers who seemed keen to continue making the show, citing long-running US comedies as examples to follow. Why do modern UK comedies get killed after 2 or 3 series (be it execution or suicide)? Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Cheers, Frasier, Friends etc. all ran for 100+ episodes. Even old UK comedies like Only Fools and Horse and One Foot in the Grave ran for numerous seasons, but the "Fawlty Towers" rule (propogated by Gervais et al) is now taken as the industry standard. The previous examples prove the ridiculousness of that notion.
There are a lot of directions Peep Show could go in: the inevitable break-up of the El Dude Brothers; Mark and Sophie getting married, having kids or splitting up. Can you imagine Mark as a father? Trying hard to avoid his own father's mistakes but making them anyway? Jez slowly realising his music career will never take off - retraining as a nurse perhaps? Anyway, the point is there's loads of life left in the set-up and the characters. Even the minor characters have potential plotlines. Superhans sent to prison? Going straight? Finding God? The possibilities are endless.
I guess it's cheaper to make tosh like Balls If Steel, 9 out of 10 cats or the Friday Night Project (which get similar viewing figures, incidently). Oh look, a naughty man is daubing doggy doo on traffic light buttons. Simply hillarious!!! There's Justin Lee Collins interviewing former Grange Hill cast members in his "comedy" yokel accent. LOL. Cue one million morons guffawing over crusty copies of Zoo Magazine.
Anyway, all Peep Show fans should sign this petition to keep the series. Doubt it'll have much effect, but it's worth a try.
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