Speaking exclusively on FUBAR Radio’s Tom Latchem show, David Quantick, former writer on Harry Hill’s hit weekend show revealed to hopeful fans that it would not return. “TV Burp will never come back, because TV companies are wise. There is a thing in telly called ‘fair dealing’, which means you can have anything for free, as long as you’re reviewing it. You’re not supposed to take the mickey out of it and say ‘(Corrie star) Beverley Callard looks like a fire extinguisher’. You’re supposed to make erudite comments.”
The show was a massive hit for 11 years, regularly winning seven-million viewers and loads of awards for ripping apart our favourite TV programmes until comedian Hill decided to quit in 2012. Quantick confirmed just how hard it was near the end to even acquire footage. “Channel 4, I can reveal, were bastards, because we’d ask for a clip and they’d say ‘It’s too sensitive’. You’re like ‘It’s not that sensitive when you’re showing a documentary called something like ‘I’m a Stupid Disabled Person.’
Quantick also confirmed that ITV mooted the idea of replacing Hill with another presenter after he decided to jump ship before agreeing it just would not have been the same. “When Harry gave it up, the first thing we thought was, ‘Is this is it?’ because it was called ‘Harry Hill’s TV Burp’. There was talk about doing it with someone else. But, the thing is, it wouldn’t work. If it had been anybody else, the humour would have been ordinary. The thing with TV Burp was we all contributed jokes but Harry wrote the script and it was Harry’s opinions. So if Harry said he did or didn’t like something, you knew he meant it and he was knowledgeable, so if he talked about EastEnders you knew he knew all the characters.”
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