We hope that the sheer banality of so much popular culture, which predates e pandemic, might give rise to an entertainment antidote, rather like the explosion of punk music, as a rebellion against the stifling status quo of progressive rock in the 70’s.

The late Barry Cryer, a legend of comedy writing criticised modern TV comedy for focusing on ‘one-liners’ and forgetting that comedy is also about funny things happening and TV features so many panel shows that you could form the impression that their mission is as much about promoting the comedians themselves, as entertainment.

It is no surprise that Hugh Dennis and Lee Mack who bounce gags off each other in the Sitcom ‘Not Going Out’ have also gone on to present other shows like ‘The 1% Show’ and ‘The Great British Dig’ and have become comedy superstars

In an interview on ITV’S This Morning programme in 2016 Darah O’Brian who has presented Mock The Week with Hugh Dennis for 17 years said that the show often showcases comedy talent before they start playing stadiums.

Given the leftist politics of this brand of comedy which has largely replaced sitcoms on public service broadcasters like the BBC or Channel 4 it is ironic that it has apparently given rise to comedy fat cats. It’s also beyond irony that when you look at how long programmes like ‘MTW’ or ‘Have I got news for you?’ have been running, it is apparent that the comedians enjoy power for much longer than any of the politicians who they are lampooning.

A major influence for us is Victor Lewis-Smith whose TV reviews in the Evening Standard, were far more entertaining than the programmes he featured and kept me sane on commuter journeys across London for many years.   Lewis Smith also had a comedy show called TV Offal, which was inspired by the declining quality of so much of what we see on ‘The Box’ and if ‘Call The Fiiswives’ have a mission, then it will be to offer alternatives to Comedy Offal and more generally to TV entrail-ment as opposed to entertainment!