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One woman on all BBC comedy panel shows - I'm not sure what I think

87 replies

breatheslowly · 11/02/2014 20:39

Apparently all BBC comedy panel shows will have a woman on them reported here.

I really don't know whether this is a step in the right direction. It seems at the moment that when shows have a woman on the panel, they only ever have one. I think that this policy might improve things (by having at least one). But I think it might entrench the tokenism of having only one woman on each show, in a "we've booked our woman, who else are we going to have on" way.

I also sometimes wonder whether there is an element of racial tokenism in comedy panel shows, where you tend not to get more than one comedian from an ethnic minority.

OP posts:
Hexbugsmakemeitch · 12/02/2014 06:44

Julia I believe that Caitlin Moran does just that.

She won't be used as a token woman.

sashh · 12/02/2014 06:33

I wonder whether the informal networking and mentoring that is common in many professions doesn't happen between women in comedy in the same way.

Even with only 1 woman this will increase because things like QI are filmed in blocks of 3 so at least 3 women back stage.

Freyalright · 11/02/2014 23:11

If the usual women panelists refuse. You will easily fill the panel with other women. There are plenty of comedians on the circuit and writers looking for a break on TV. It would be good to see some new talent given a go. Brand and Perkins don't bring much to the table.

Lottapianos · 11/02/2014 21:56

Great idea Julia. I'm in favour of positive discrimination - the old boys club needs a huge kick in the arse, we can't just rely on things to change through magic and goodwill

Original poster
breatheslowly · 11/02/2014 21:13

That's a really interesting idea Julia.

The existing tendency to only have one woman per show (if that) must mean that these women don't actually meet each other very often backstage. I wonder whether the informal networking and mentoring that is common in many professions doesn't happen between women in comedy in the same way.

OP posts:
JuliaScurr · 11/02/2014 21:06

Equity should have a campaign, too

TheFutureSupremeRulersMum · 11/02/2014 21:00

That would be really interesting Julia. It could really force the production companies hands if the usual suspects on panel shows (Sue Perkins, Sandi Tosvig, Victoria Coren, Sarah Millican, Jo Brand etc) signed up to that.

JuliaScurr · 11/02/2014 20:58

women should refuse to appear as the only one

TheFutureSupremeRulersMum · 11/02/2014 20:56

I think I would prefer is they had said 30% of guests across a series should be women.

PenguinsDontEatKale · 11/02/2014 20:54

The tokenism thing is a worry.

I am not convinced by the 'I want to get there on merit' argument. Because if women were given a fair crack of the whip, you'd surely not get so many panels with no women. So at the moment it seems like merit isn't enough to get you there if you are a woman.

Starballbunny · 11/02/2014 20:54

All well and good as long as we see lots of Jo brand, Sue Perkins and some new faces, but not if we see lots of Sarah Millican.

TheFutureSupremeRulersMum · 11/02/2014 20:47

I read two interesting articles about this today. This one in the Guardian, by a comedian I hadn't heard of, saying she wants to get by on merit. Whilst I understand the sentiment I do wonder whether they need to enforce this policy of at least one woman to break through and make it normal to see women panellists regularly and thus letting future women get there on merit because people expect to see women equally represented. I don't think I've put that very well. I do agree with her point that the token female if often there for reasons other than intellect or wit.

I also read Robin Ince's blog about it. I like the way he said he has gained from positive discrimination for years and therefore supports it for others.

It would be nice to see HIGNFY or QI have a majority of women panellists on occasion. In the early nineties HIGNFY had two women guests a week several time.

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