The news that The Inbetweeners will return for two TV specials (and presumably end after that) is great, but got me thinking - why does British comedy just never last?
Think about the American comedy stalwarts such as Seinfeld, Friends & Frasier, the latter two were on our screens for over a decade each and churned out 236 and 264 episodes respectively, whereas excellent new british comedy such as Gavin & Stacey and The Inbetweeners have both only maaged three series and haven't broken the 20 episode mark.
And this got me wondering why? Is it bad writing, are we just not funny/clever enough to keep thinking up new material? Or do we not create formats which are sustainable and do we not invest the money that is needed to make sure they are?
So often we hear writers say "we just don't think these characters can be taken further". And that was the case with Gavin & Stacey; the titular characters ran out of steam after the first series and Smithy & Nessa - the series' true heroes - began to get stale by the final series too. Nessa getting married and having a baby began to normalise her too much, and we lost that weird and wonderful sense of mystery.
It also fell into the usual trap of having to build drama and emotional impact. Though this can often work really well - think Cold Feet - the Nessa marriage storyline spoilt her character. She ceased to be funny and quirky, and ended up being heavy and slightly depressing.
Much as this show is brilliantly funny in terms of characterisation, the story arcs didn't leave it much room to maneuvre: marriage, baby, marriage. The format essentially sets itself up for a fall from the off by not allowing the characters to be able to grow much further. Corden & Jones said they never expected the success, and never expected to write a second or third series. And maybe that's part of the problem; writers don't try to build longevity into their scripts in case more series' aren't commissioned.
It's right that these kinds of shows want to end on a high - and there is no better example of why a show should bow out early than My Family, which ceased to be funny a long time ago. It's just a shame that the 'high' couldn't come 8 series' down the line, rather than 3.
In my opinion My Family stopped being funny after Kris Marshall lef at the end of S4t. While in a drama the idea that any character is expendable is great, it keeps us guessing whether someone will make it into the next series, in a comedy suddenly the whole dynamic is changed - imagine Friends without Chandler. Lose one character, and you lose an integral aspect of the humour.
When the cast of Friends were teetering on the decision to leave suddenly the cash started to come out, and the actors were reportedly earning £1m per episode of the final season (granted this is a bit ridiculous, but they realised how important keeping all 6 actors meant). With regards to My Family, did the BBC just not have the money, or not think it worthwhile investing some extra spendsies to keep Kris Marshall that little bit longer?
And this all becomes a little bit worrying given the current financial outlook for the BBC. If they can't spare the extra funds to develop something a bit different (like they did with Gavin & Stacey which rose from the murky depths of BBC3 and ended up on prime time BBC1) then are we just going to see the same old copper/inspector/courtroom drama starring Martin Clunes/James Nesbitt/Robson Green?
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