Dawn French says BBC would 'never make' French and Saunders today in harsh reality TV jibe

express.co.uk:

Comedian Dawn French has spoken out against reality TV in a new interview, where she has said that broadcasters are more interested in producing “populist programmes”.The star added that money is now valued over quality, claiming that there is “no longer a budget to try more ambitious things”.Dawn, 64, explained how reality TV is cheap to make, as shows like Love Island are able to provide “hours” of television without having to pay anyone very much.She said: “We live in the world of reality TV where it's so cheap that even if you take everyone to Love Island, the people are costing you nothing.“A couple of houses and your cameras and your crew.

Why would you spend money on comedy?“We'd never be able to make French and Saunders in this day and age,” she told the Sun.Dawn went on to detail how the cost of production demands, including prosthetics and set design, would simply not be met today.She remembered: “We would go to them and say we want to do some characters, we need you to build a dentist office, prosthetics that cost £3k each and I don't know quite what we're gonna do when we're in the prosthetics.“They are not making the kind of comedy we used to do – they want populist programmes.There isn't a budget to try more ambitious things,” the actress concluded.Dawn is best known for writing and starring on the BBC comedy sketch show French and Saunders with her best friend and comedy partner, Jennifer Saunders.French and Saunders originally broadcast on BBC Two from 1987 to 1993, and the pair have since filmed a number of holiday specials for the BBC.The hit show was given one of the highest budgets in BBC history to create detailed spoofs and satires of popular culture, films and various celebrities.Aside from the.