The Incomplete Guide to Last One Laughing and importing formats
In which Elliot watched people not laughing and Vanessa looks beyond our shores for imported ideas
Last One Laughing UK
Last One Laughing (LOL) is possibly the best new comedy format in a decade.
I feel okay saying that, because this autumn, Taskmaster (TM), the behemoth of TV that’s seen 18 seasons and 90 comedians (as well as the odd celebrity) take on Alex Horne’s bizarre and joyous mind of silly games and adventures, turned 10 last year. It is possibly oversaturated with the 171 episodes we’ve had in the last decade.
LOL feels fresh, but surprisingly, it isn’t outside of the UK. It originated as Documental in Japan, a country I have never associated with developing comedy formats, back in 2016. That makes the show only two years younger than TM! Besides the age comparison, almost everyone on the UK’s LOL edition has been on TM UK. Only Richard Ayoade, Harriet Kemsley (whose profile is still on the rise, no doubt accelerated by this appearance), and the host, Jimmy Carr, have yet to appear on TM.
Massive adverts for it everywhere. Everyone’s watched it surely?
LOL is an entertainment show that involves judging people for being funny. Jimmy Carr probably wasn’t even booked, he just spawned in there. I was particularly pleased to see Harriet Kemsley, as I gigged with her when I was starting out a decade ago, and she’s always been down to earth, yet full of outrageously funny ideas. And now she’s deservedly got her face on massive billboards, looking terrified of laughing.
Pure joy:
The premise is so damn simple, it’s amazing that this show didn’t already exist. The 10 funny fighters are put in a room, with a stage area for the odd bit of competitive performance, and are forbidden to laugh. One laugh and you get a yellow card. Another and you’re out. Some of the comics don’t last the first hour.
The parlour game plays out over 6 hours, but only 6 half-hour episodes for viewers. Quite frankly, I would love a 2000s-style 24-hour Big Brother House channel. Richard Ayoade proves the toughest nut for all to crack, with his intense anti-comedy front. Bob Mortimer has every trick in the world, from implausibly funny anecdotes, to clownish sing-songs, and proper jokes.
Initially, Jimmy Carr leaves the competitors to battle over small talk and simply cope with being in each other’s company, but later interferes by forcing them to each play a joker. At first this seemed against the spirit of the whole thing to me, but, so quickly, each of them got a wonderful chance to shine. From Joe Wilkinson’s unexpectedly intense speech about the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, to Bob Mortimer’s near-satirical magic routine, these jokers punctuate the episodes with surprises and unique humour.
From a production point of view, I estimate we’ll get one or two series a year, if they can book the right mix of comedy talent. It’s cheap to make. Beyond the booking of talent, it’s only a couple of days in the studio: by my guess, the challenge was genuinely filmed in a day, with just one additional day for the talking heads and title sequence. The set likely awaits reconstruction for the second series.
What will make this a recommissioned success is that everyone can play along at home. Whilst the comics are suppressing laughter, the audience is giggling, chortling, guffawing, nay laughing out loud, as the title’s acronym suggests. There’s something so wonderfully releasing about laughing when you’re told you’re not allowed to. How are we not all playing this amongst ourselves?!
Last One Laughing UK is available to watch on Amazon Prime UK. Who would you like to see in the inevitable future seasons?
The Incomplete List of… Foreign TV Imports to the UK
Both Elliot and Vanessa quickly binged Laughing Out Loud UK after its 20 March release date. Its Japanese origin makes it one of several fantastic cultural imports, or localised adaptations, and here are some more that Vanessa recommends to explore.
Humans, based on the Swedish science fiction drama Real Humans
This Channel 4-AMC collaboration had real potential, but a disrupted commissioning history - with AMC coming on board after Microsoft had to drop out, and a year’s delay on the third series, with a rumoured fourth season never coming to pass. The show examined a disruptive technological force, which feels prescient in the AI-enthused times we live in now. Synths are mass-produced robots used in a variety of settings, raising ethical questions, and the future of human meaning.
You can watch Humans for free on Channel 4 on Demand in the UK.
The Tunnel, based on the Danish-Swedish crime series The Bridge
A French-British collaboration, this production takes advantage of its unique parallels between the Danish-Swedish bridge and the French-British Channel tunnel. The Tunnel effectively channels the Nordic noir vibes, while telling the story in its own anglo-franco-manner (though admittedly, the first episode is a complete remake). It’s especially compelling in light of brittler UK relationships with the continent after Brexit.
You can (possibly?) watch The Tunnel on Sky Atlantic in the UK.
You Bet!, based on the German entertainment variety show Wetten, dass…?
Revived after nearly three decades, You Bet!’s German counterpart has been a far more successful show, running without interruptions since 1981 - though it was marred in 2010 by the paralysing accident suffered by one of its competitors. Famed for often overrunning, foreign guests not understanding the format, and for spawning several great ideas, the UK version feels far less zany, but also avoids as much criticism by keeping the guest list to Brits, with no translation issues. Losing Holly Willoughby as a host is also no real loss.
The Traitors, based on the Dutch entertainment variety show De Verraders
The absolute mega hit that has appeared around the world that mixes Big Brother with Werewolf, (or, Among Us for the lockdown generation). The show that’s gotten Elliot into mindless reality TV shows again, (okay, just this one, but still). The BBC have been keenly cashing in, importing lots of other English-language versions: from New Zealand, the USA, and Australia. The UK’s ratings for the show seem to vindicate this, for now…
You can The Traitors on BBC iPlayer
What cultural imports and remakes have you been enjoying? Are they better in their native countries or in their UK iterations?