Arena: Just a Minute

Paul Merton and long-time panelist
Clement Freud, on a different episode

Arena: Just a Minute
BBC4
26 December 2002
Documentary
DVD
B

A television look at the long-running radio show, which I own several episodes of.  We see the history of the series, mixed in with the taping of one episode, as well as interviews with those contestants.  Some of this is almost '60s experimental and it shouldn't hold together as well as it does.  And, yes, Paul has the best lines, like usual.

(I would've reviewed this earlier, but my ex-husband mislabeled it as October '07.)

Room 101: Ross Noble

Room 101: Ross Noble
Channel Four
1 December, 2003
Talk Show
DVD
B-

Despite his dislike of cats, I mostly enjoyed the Geordie comic's interactions with Paul here.  He has a high success rate of banishment, ironically his only failure to get into the Room being his objection to people who look like cats.

The South Bank Show: Paul Merton

The South Bank Show: Paul Merton
Channel Four
26 September 1999
Documentary
DVD
B

This isn't quite a biography but it does feature different points of a life, from a boyhood as Paul Martin to success as a comedian in the '90s.  If you want to know about Paul's (by then defunct) marriage to Caroline Quentin, you're out of luck, as there's just one sentence in passing.  However, we do see footage of him as a scruffy, bearded teen living on the dole, as well as a star in hit television programmes.  My favorite part was the taping of a Comedy Store Players session and the analysis by the team in a pub afterwards.  And Paul's honesty, including about his stay in a psychiatric hospital, is refreshing.  Note that Julian Clary appears not only in television clips but in an interview, where he indeed comes across as a good friend to Paul.

Room 101: Julian Clary

Room 101: Julian Clary
Channel Four
10 September 1999
Talk Show
DVD
C+

Although this has its moments, like Julian telling Paul, "You're wasted in the heterosexual world," I would expect something better from two comedians who had worked together for so long.  This was, incidentally, the final episode of the fourth series, the first Room 101 series to be hosted by Merton.

Paul Merton in Galton and Simpson's...: Lunch in the Park

Paul Merton in Galton and Simpson's...: Lunch in the Park
ITV
21 October 1997
Sketch Comedy
DVD
B

This has a slow start but stay with it, as the two-person show gradually moves from small talk to shared confidences to confessions of love to...treason?  Paul and Josie again work very well together and it's a pity they didn't appear more regularly as a team on television.  (Even on Whose Line is It Anyway? it was never more than a couple times a year.)

Paul Merton in Galton and Simpson's...: Sealed with a Loving Kiss

Paul Merton in Galton and Simpson's...: Sealed with a Loving Kiss
ITV
16 February 1996
Sketch Comedy
DVD
B

The concept behind this programme was that Paul would act in updated G & S scripts that had been performed more than 30 years earlier.  As I haven't seen the earlier versions, I won't compare them.  On its own terms, this is solid, not only giving Paul/Josie shippers much fodder but being an interesting character study.  The humour is gentle and, yes, a bit old-fashioned.  Note that both characters lie and their lies are never revealed, but at some point she'll presumably see photos of his father and the truth will come out.  And, amusingly (in light of Caroline Quentin's Room 101 items), Paul's character refers to a Teasmade.

This is sort of the 200th British show I've reviewed, although I guess I should've counted the music videos of Paul McCartney, the Spice Girls, etc. as well, but not all of those were shot in Britain, despite the national origins of the performers.  It gets a bit murky sometimes with the tags.

Paul Merton Live at the Palladium

Paul Merton Live at the Palladium
BBC
27 September 1994
Variety
DVD
C+

This almost hour and a half is uneven, although I suppose if you haven't heard Paul's stand-up, or watched Paul Merton, The Series, some of it will feel fresher to you, and a B- or B might be fairer.  The best bit is the lengthy three-man panto of Aladdin, with Paul apparently improvising jokes that not only play on the situation (including Vranch in a bikini!) but call back to earlier bits in the show.  John L. Spencer and Andy Wilson are both listed as director, but neither of them worked on any other of my shows, so I'm not tagging them.

London Underground: Emo Philips, Kit Hollerbach, Paul Merton, and Richard Belzer

London Underground: Emo Philips, Kit Hollerbach, Paul Merton, and Richard Belzer
BBC
1990
Stand-Up Comedy
VHS
C-

Merton is of course the best of the lot, although we'd hear some of these jokes on Paul Merton, The Series.  Smith does a nice job hosting, but the episode never recovers from opening with the painfully unfunny Philips.

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 2.6

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 2.6
Channel Four
8 October 1993
Sketch Comedy
DVD
B-

The best thing here is the Christmas filled with holograms, which is absurd yet thought-provoking.  I wish they'd done more things like that.  Damian Hunt had also appeared on Josie, while John Barrard was Anatole on Jeeves and Wooster and is a Teacher here.  Thea Bennett, Amanda Dickinson, Peter Guinness, Robert Harley, David Jackson, and Ben Miller return.

Paul Merton in its second series averages out to a low B-, not a big drop from Series One.  It's not terribly different but just a shade less funny.  After awhile, it becomes easier to predict the jokes, like the lemon detergent for, yes, lemons.  Still, overall, it's a better packaging of Paul's talents than Josie was of Josie's.

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 2.5

Merton and Quentin

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 2.5
Channel Four
1 October 1993
Sketch Comedy
DVD
C+

The best sequence here comes last, with Quentin as a chanteuse as Merton floats by using special effects.  John Woodnutt, who had played Sir Watkyn Bassett on Jeeves and Wooster, is Lord Coatbridge here.  Robert Harley, Ben Miller, Kathryn Pogson, and Bill Thomas return.

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 2.4

At one point, Paul
claims to be Cilla Black

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 2.4
Channel Four
24 September 1993
Sketch Comedy
DVD
B-

This is a more absurd episode than lately, from a romance between lamps to a gang planning a bank robbery with elaborate props.  Amanda Dickinson, Robert Harley, Ben Miller, P.J. Nicholas, Kerry Shale, Jonathan Stratt, and Flip Webster all return.

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 2.3

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 2.3
Channel Four
17 September 1993
Sketch Comedy
DVD
B-

The best thing here is definitely Paul as Frankenstein, but I'll always have a soft spot for his "Golden Years of Hollywood" segments.  Robert Harley, Ben Miller, and Kathryn Pogson are back.  Nigel Whitmey, who was on one episode of Josie and was terrible on Jeeves and Wooster, makes an appearance here.  Peter Benson, who was Mr. Rowbotham on Jeeves, is also in this episode.  This is the first of two episodes for Peter Guinness.

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 2.2

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 2.2
Channel Four
10 September 1993
Sketch Comedy
DVD
C

Most of the humour in this episode didn't really work for me, although it was interesting to hear one of the jokes from Paul's stand-up, with a British figure (Lloyd something) rather than the more accessible Dan Quayle in the version from London Underground.  

Along with Daws and Mullarkey, Robert Harley, Ben Miller, P.J. Nicholas, and Flip Webster are back.  Amanda Dickinson appears for the first of three times, Thea Bennett and David Jackson for the first of two.

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 2.1

The dolphin-head returns.

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 2.1
Channel Four
3 September 1993
Sketch Comedy
DVD
B-

The highlight of this series-opener is Paul bending the laws, including of gravity, about a scene set on a submarine, with Robert Daws (Jeeves and Wooster's Tuppy) appearing as the Captain.  The "Abominator" ad is also quite good.

Robert Harley and Flip Webster return from the first series, while Gabrielle Blunt again plays an Elderly Lady, this time the one in the deck chair.  P.J. Nicholas and Kathryn Pogson make their first of three appearances each on the show, while Ben Miller does his first of six.  Ian Collier had recently played Seppings on Jeeves.  Liddy Oldroyd takes over as director.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 5.3

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 5.3
Channel Four
19 March 1993
Improv Game Show
VHS
B-

Paul Merton's welcome return to the show is unfortunately his last appearance on the programme, although fortunately not at all the last we'll see of him.  He has some priceless stuff here, especially him and Tony reacting to each other.   The best moment is of course during Party Quirks, when Paul responds to Tony's very sexy Chippendale with "You've come as Tony Slattery!" And, yes, Tony makes a Twiglets callback.  Sweeney & Steen aren't as memorable but as always they're not bad, and I'm glad they'd be back for another episode.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Series Four London Compilation [fragment]

I think this is the game where
Ryan is a taxidermy expert.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Series Four London Compilation [fragment]
Channel Four
28 February 1992
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

Even the "highlights" aren't too memorable.  My favorite moment is Paul off-camera trying to supply "purple" and "Would you like an orange?" as rhymes that Josie has to include in her song.  Note that he truthfully tells Tony he's 34.  And there's Sweeney & Steen shipping in Narrating for Each Other.  I'm omitting Chip Esten from the overcrowded tags.  This is the 200th show I've reviewed from the '90s.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 4.3 [fragment]

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 4.3 [fragment]
Channel Four
7 February 1992
Improv Game Show
VHS
B-

At some point, I lost a videocassette with six WLIIA episodes (as well as some other stuff) on it.  I did, however, keep the tapes that had "highlights" of the first four seasons, edited down episodes with my favorite games.  With the previous episode, that meant the entire thing.  With this one, I think two of the games from the Comedy Central airing were omitted.  This is not to say that the complete episode might not have averaged out to B-, but I have to judge by what's in front of me.

And one thing that is in front of me is significant Paul/Tony.  Not only does Paul tease Tony as much as he recently teased Josie, but he twice expresses a wish to have sex with Tony, who is of course game for it.  Also, everyone but the almost always polite Jim makes fun of Clive's baldness, to the audience's delight.  Oh, and Paul manages to insult the departed John Sessions.

This line-up, with some crossing of the pairs (because there's always Sweeney & Steen of course), would be repeated the following year, I believe the first repeated line-up.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 4.2

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: Episode 4.2
Channel Four
31 January 1992
Improv Game Show
VHS
B

This episode has a lot of teasing: Paul of everyone, especially Josie; Greg mildly of the others in Video Play; Ryan of Josie (although he is apologetic about it); and Clive of Paul, although he has Paul win.  The episode is funny even without the teasing, but the teasing does enhance it, as with "What are you doing with that squeezie bottle?" and the end of the "baby care" Helping Hands.  I remember my then-husband coming home from work on the day I taped this (off of Comedy Central of course, a few months after it debuted on Channel Four) and telling him, "Paul made fun of Josie a lot but he really wanted to do Porno with her."  (In FATS.)  Paul annoys her so much that during the first ever Scenes from a Hat she just audibly tells him, "I'm going to fucking kill you," but he also still amuses her.  The Greg/Josie and Ryan/Josie aren't particularly strong here, but later episodes would show that those ships were far from dead.  The Greg/Ryan would be stronger on their other British episode together that year.  As for Paul and the Americans, they don't seem to really connect, and yet that helps somehow, with them not knowing what to make of each other adding to the odd chemistry of this episode.

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 1.6

Victor Spinetti from the Beatles movies

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 1.6
Channel Four
30 October 1991
Sketch Comedy
DVD
C+

The weakest sketch is the one about a murder in an ambulance, the strongest the one about an incompetent spy.  Another Comedy Store Player, Mullarkey, plays Mr. Bassett.  Felicity Montagu, who was on Josie twice, plays Various Characters here, while Neil McArthur makes his third and last appearance on this programme.

Paul Merton's first series is uneven, sometimes even within one episode.  It earns 2 C+s, 2 B-s, and 2 Bs, so it's easy to average.  I'm curious to see what if any changes were made when the programme came back in '93.  (It's been a long time since I've watched, and just once through.)

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 1.5

Paul Merton, The Series: Episode 1.5
Channel Four
23 October 1991
Sketch Comedy
DVD
B-

The newstand stuff is definitely the best part of this episode, from the "There are two tattoos that I do do" routine to Paul just telling a series of implausible stories.  It's sort of a shame to cut away to the sketches, although they're not bad.  This is the second episode for William Todd Jones and Neil McArthur.  Elderly Lady Gabrielle Blunt would be Lady in Deckchair the next series.