That Comic Relief was the biggest pile of crap

[Alwx1987GG]

I have just watched 2 hours of absolute rubbish. And I need to know if I'm going mad and my expectations are too high. A previous avid watcher, never again, not even for charity.

1. Aside from the Oasis Sketch (mildly amusing) nothing remotely funny
2. Years old sketches seemingly on loop. I know it's the anniversary but come on..it's like we are too safe to be funny anymore so have to rely on past sketches
3. No Lenny Henry. It just ain't the same.
4. A depressing long Eastenders Segment half way through, full of woe and doom
5. Pete Wicks and Vicky Pattison visiting 'random' people's houses to give Amazon parcels, and 'just happen' to knock on a BBC often used Trans activist's door. Typical BBC.
6. Presenters' cringeworthy auto cues - forced and uncomfortable
7. Most of the money goes in Director's pockets anyway - I'd bet hardly any goes 'on the ground'

You are being unreasonable: Stop being a miserable menopausal old git, plus it's raised loads for charity.

You are not being unreasonable: It's a pile of cringeworthy crap.

I miss the lenny henry ,French and Saunders and all those brilliant comedians. It used to be a brilliant show.
I have not watched it for a few years now.
I still support it and buy the merchandise for my children and donate.

Comic relief has been going for 40 years, it was set up by celebrities so they could use their privilege and "celebrity" to raise money, so the whole DT lecturing is the point.

Telethons are nearly always rubbish TV however good the cause/s supported

I think it’s very easy to see oneself as not part of the “privileged” cohort when yes, the cost of living has skyrocketed and yes, our bills have gone up and yes, even those of us who were previously “comfortable” are struggling to make ends meet. But ultimately, if we’re watching Comic Relief – on a TV, with a TV licence – and posting on MN – on a device, with an internet connection – we ARE privileged and we CAN almost certainly afford a tenner donation. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for a celebrity to ask that of us, particularly one who does donate time and money to charitable causes. I don’t disagree with you that telemarathons like Comic Relief and CiN are no longer sufficient and not what they used to be in the 80s etc — not least because comparatively, they raise a lot less money nowadays — but that’s not the fault of the charitable endeavours themselves. The COL crisis and the ever-expanding wealth gap is not the fault of entertainers, no matter how high-earning they may be. Save your ire for the politicians and those that fund them.

It’s no longer relevant for celebrities to point out ‘thank god it’s them instead of you’. It is us, it’s the majority of people bar them, the presenters who are very unlikely counting every penny until the end of the month. It used to be those in the most dire of situations in Africa, then a minority of the UK where hidden poverty was highlighted. Now the struggling are the majority, there is truly a bad taste to those who lecture us about the struggle.

It’s utter shite

nah, she's probably just sick of trans people being all over the TV as the BBC try desperately to pretend it's so mainstream and these people have actually changed sex.

Are you a man?

Obviously this has to be managed, but realistically it's only the "grants given" part of that which many would regard as the money actually going to the needy; they may even say that the rest offer rather too many opportunities for ££££ to be spent on non productive areas

I didn't know they donated to Stonewall though, albeit their "housing" section, but this being tghe BBC I'm not in the least surprised

It does help, Mrsdyna - or rather it can - but it depends heavily on how recipients are chosen, what they do with the money when it gets there and what kind of overall accountability exists

My own charitable involvement's now on a purely local level, partly because most of these issues are much easier to monitor, but also because experience has taught that what's become an enormous industry has brought with it too many opportunities for graft

It is shite. As a pp said, it peaked in the 1990s. French and Saunders (their bit with the Spice Girls was brilliant!,) Ali G interviewing The Beckhams, Jo Brand, Harry Enfield, Lenny Henry, Julian Clary, Ben Elton, Alan Partridge, etc... It's all PC, woke bollocks now, and about as funny as piles.

Pretty sure much of the money does go to charity though @Alwx1987GG And a lot of people around the country/workplaces/schools etc seem to have a lot of fun with it.

So I'm on the fence a bit about whether it should be axed - or continue.

Why did you watch it for two hours if it was so bad?

It had funded many small projects both at home and abroad that have made a real difference to individuals.
It is working to support people. It's not a matter of donating once and that solving every future problem

There's a rare sketch these days that makes me chuckle, and I could barely even watch it last night, despite actually appearing on it myself in one of the filmed segments. I'm a member of Rock Choir, and I am seriously pissed off that our esteemed leader decided to make the efforts of many thousands of us, filmed all over the country for a period of weeks, all about herself. She used the choir as a vehicle for her own television appearance.

But this thread is not about Children in Need.

The way the money is accounted for will be the same as for Children in Need

That's like saying the RNLI and the RSPCA operate in exactly the same way. CR and CiN are two separate charities with different purposes and trustees.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g but the money doesn’t go into BBC hands like the OP is insinuating.

Where have the funny comedians gone though? All we see now are comedians that aren’t funny at all. It’s funny watching WILTY, when week after week the only people that make you laugh are the original fixtures, all the guests are as interesting and funny as Lisa at the till in Tesco.

I took it that she was insinuating that the charity's admin and management costs were very high, as they sometimes are in charities ( not saying they are here), rather than implying that the BBC management were taking some of the money.

@mondaytosunday Did they raise a decent amount?

There’s nothing on the BBC News website. Don’t they normally have an article stating the amount raised?

Who was it who was being paid handsomely to present a BBC charity event? Terry Wogan?

Its never been something I'd watch. It's a bunch of sycophantic celebrities pretending they care about poor people for attention.

@BarneyRonson I agree with you with the possible exception of Bob Mortimer. But yeah if D, L or R ever left the show would collapse entirely.

Excuse me, Lisa is hilarious! How f**king dare you>!

😆

I seem to have missed the bit where you explained how you were forced to keep watching, OP?