Adweek (aka Ad Week or Adweek - Eastern Edition) is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1978.^[1] Adweek covers creativity, client/agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has covered several notable shifts, including cable television, the shift away from commission-based agency fees, and the Internet.

Adweek publishes a blog, Adfreak, which covers the intersection of advertising and pop culture. Adweek is currently owned by Prometheus Global Media.

As the second-largest advertising-trade publication,^[2] its main competitor is Advertising Age.^[3]

Related publications: Adweek Magazine's Technology Marketing (Adweek mag tech market, ISSN 1536-2272), and Adweek's Marketing Week (aka Ad Week's Marketing Week, ISSN 0892-8274).^[1]

History[link]

In 1990, Affiliated Publications Inc., the parent of the company that publishes The Boston Globe, agreed to acquire 80 percent of the outstanding common stock of A/S/M Communications Inc., which published Adweek.^[4] The magazine stabilized in the 1990s^[5]

In April 2008, Adweek's editor of ten years, Alison Fahey, was promoted to publisher/editorial director. She was replaced as editor by Mike Chapman,^[6] formerly of the Economist Intelligence Unit and eMarketer.^[7]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Adweek website
• Adweek Contact
• Adfreak blog

This trade magazine–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Mark Cuban
Cuban at the 2005 Web 2.0 Conference.
Born	(1958-07-31) July 31, 1958 (age 53) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater	Indiana University
Occupation	Owner of Dallas Mavericks Co-owner of 2929 Entertainment Chairman of HDNet
Net worth	US$2.3 billion (2012)[1]
Spouse	Tiffany Stewart (m. 2002) «start: (2002)»"Marriage: Tiffany Stewart to Mark Cuban" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Mark_Cuban)
Children	2 daughters, 1 son[2]

Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958)^[3] is an American business magnate. He is the owner of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks,^[4] Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures, and the chairman of the HDTV cable network HDNet.^[5] He is also a "shark" investor on the television series Shark Tank. In 2011, Cuban wrote an e-book, How to Win at the Sport of Business, in which he chronicles his life experiences in business and sports.

Biography[link]

Cuban was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania^[6][7] and grew up in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mt. Lebanon, in a Jewish^[8] working-class family. His last name was shortened from "Chabenisky" when his Russian grandparents landed on Ellis Island.^[9] Cuban's father Norton was an automobile upholsterer.^[6][10][11] Cuban's first step into the business world occurred at age 12, when he sold garbage bags to pay for a pair of expensive basketball shoes.^[6][12] While in school, he held a variety of jobs, including bartender, disco dancing instructor, and party promoter. He paid for college by collecting and selling stamps, and once gained about $1,100 from starting a chain letter.^[6]

Rather than attending high school for his senior year, Cuban enrolled as a full time student at the University of Pittsburgh. After one year at the University of Pittsburgh, he transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in business administration.^[13] He chose Indiana's Kelley School of Business without even visiting the campus because it had the least expensive tuition of all the business schools on the top 10 list.^[14] While in school he bought a popular college hangout on Kirkwood Avenue called Motley's Pub. Before that he gave disco lessons at sororities and says he paid for his junior year with a chain letter.^[14]

Family[link]

In September 2002, Cuban married Tiffany Stewart in Barbados,^[15] with a wedding reception at the American Airlines Center. Their first daughter, Alexis Sofia, was born on September 25, 2005; their second daughter, Alyssa, was born in 2007.^[16] Tiffany and Mark also have a son born in early 2010.^[2] The family lives in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas, in a 24,000-square-foot (2,200 m²) mansion.^[17]

Early career[link]

In 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas. Cuban first found work as a bartender,^[18][19] then as a salesperson for Your Business Software, one of the first PC software retailers in Dallas. He was terminated less than a year later, after meeting with a client to procure new business instead of opening the store.^[20]

Cuban started a company, MicroSolutions, with support from his previous customers from Your Business Software. MicroSolutions was initially a system integrator and software reseller. The company was an early proponent of technologies such as Carbon Copy, Lotus Notes, and CompuServe.^[21] One of the company's largest clients was Perot Systems.^[22] In 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe—then a subsidiary of H&R Block—for $6 million.^[23] He retained approximately $2 million after taxes on the deal.^[24]

In 1995, Cuban and fellow Indiana University alumnus Todd Wagner started Audionet, combining their mutual interest in Indiana Hoosier college basketball and webcasting. With a single server and an ISDN line,^[25] Audionet became Broadcast.com in 1998. By 1999, Broadcast.com had grown to 330 employees and $13.5 million in revenue for the second quarter.^[26] In 1999, during the dot com boom, Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo! for $5.9 billion in Yahoo! stock.^[27]

Business career[link]

After the sale of Broadcast.com, Cuban diversified his wealth to avoid exposure to a market crash.^[28] As of 2011, Cuban is No. 459 on Forbes' list of "World's Richest People", with a net worth of $2.3 billion.^[29] The Guinness Book of Records credits Cuban with the "largest single e-commerce transaction", after he paid $40 million for his Gulfstream V jet in October 1999.^[30]

Cuban continues to work with Wagner in another venture, 2929 Entertainment, which provides vertically integrated production and distribution of films and video.^[31]

On September 24, 2003, the firm purchased Landmark Theatres, a chain of 58 arthouse movie theaters.^[32] The company is also responsible for the updated version of the TV show Star Search, which was broadcast on CBS.^[33] 2929 Entertainment released Bubble, a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh, in theaters and on DVD on the same day in January 2006 as a simultaneous release.

Cuban was featured on the cover of the November 2003 premiere issue of Best magazine^[34] announcing the arrival of High Definition Television. Cuban also was co-founder (with Philip Garvin) of HDNet, the first high-definition satellite television network.^[35]

In February 2004, Cuban announced that he would be working with ABC television to produce a reality television series, The Benefactor. The premise of the six-episode series involved 16 contestants trying to win $1 million by participating in various contests, with their performances being judged by Cuban. It premiered on September 13, 2004 but due to poor ratings was canceled before the full season aired.^[36]

Cuban financially supported Grokster in the Supreme Court case, MGM v. Grokster.^[37] He is also a partner in Synergy Sports Technology, a web based basketball scouting and video delivery tool, used by many NBA teams.

He has also spearheaded ventures in the social software and Distributed Networking industries. He's an owner of IceRocket, a search engine which scours the blogosphere for content.^[38] Cuban was also a partner in RedSwoosh^[39]—a company which uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver rich media, including video and software to a user's PC, later acquired by Akamai. He was also an investor in Weblogs, Inc. which was acquired by AOL.^[40]

In 2005, Cuban invested in Brondell Inc., a San Francisco startup making a high-tech toilet seat called a Swash that works like a bidet but mounts on a standard toilet. "People tend to approach technology the same way, whether it's in front of them, or behind them," Cuban joked.^[41] He also invested in Goowy Media Inc., a San Diego internet software startup. In April 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio announced that Cuban would host his own weekly radio talk show, Mark Cuban's Radio Maverick.^[42] However, the show has not materialized.

In July 2006, Cuban financed Sharesleuth.com,^[43] a website created by former St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigative reporter Christopher Carey to uncover fraud and misinformation in publicly traded companies. Experimenting with a new business model for making online journalism financially viable, Cuban disclosed that he would take positions in the shares of companies mentioned in Sharesleuth.com in advance of publication. Business and legal analysts questioned the appropriateness of shorting a stock prior to making public pronouncements which are likely to result in losses in that stock's value. Cuban insisted that the practice is legal in view of full disclosure.^[44][45][46]

In April 2007, Cuban partnered with Mascot Books to publish his first children's book, Let's Go, Mavs!. In November 2011, he wrote a 30,000-word e-book, "How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It", which he described as "a way to get motivated".^[47]

In October 2008, Cuban started Bailoutsleuth.com^[48] as a grassroots, online portal for oversight over the U.S. government's $700 billion dollar "bailout" of financial institutions.

In April 2011, Cuban placed Landmark Theatres and Magnolia Pictures up for sale, but he added that he wouldn't sell the companies unless the offer was "very, very compelling".^[49]

Magnolia Pictures[link]

Cuban owns a film distributor called Magnolia Pictures. Through Magnolia, he financed the film Redacted, a docudrama based on the Mahmudiyah killings, the March 2006 rape, murder, and burning of 14-year-old Iraqi girl Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi and the murder of her parents and younger sister by U.S. soldiers. Two of the soldiers were convicted and three pleaded guilty, receiving sentences up to 110 years.^[50] In September 2007, Cuban, in his capacity as owner of Magnolia Pictures, "redacted" disturbing photographs from the concluding moments of the film, citing copyrights/permissions issues.^[51]

Also in 2007, Cuban was reportedly interested in distributing an edition of the film Loose Change, which posits a 9/11 conspiracy theory, through Magnolia, with Charlie Sheen narrating. Cuban told the New York Post, "We are having discussions about distributing the existing video with Charlie's involvement as a narrator, not in making a new feature. We are also looking for productions with an opposing viewpoint. We like controversial subjects, but we are agnostic to which side the controversy comes from."^[52]

Insider trading allegation[link]

On November 17, 2008, it was reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit against Mark Cuban relating to alleged insider trading in the shares of Mamma.com, now known as Copernic.^[53] A stock dilution occurred shortly after a trade in June 2004, giving hints of inside knowledge at the time of the trade, and Cuban allegedly was saved from a loss of $750,000.^[54] The SEC claims that Cuban ordered the sale of his holdings in Mamma.com after he had been confidentially approached by the company to participate in a transaction likely to dilute shares of current shareholders. Cuban disputes the charges, saying he had not agreed to keep the information secret.^[55] On his blog, Cuban contended the facts were false and that the investigation was "a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion".^[56] DealBook, a section of The New York Times, reported through an anonymous source that Cuban believed the investigation was motivated by an SEC employee having taken offense to his interest in possibly distributing the film Loose Change.^[57]

In July 2009 the U.S. District Court dismissed the charges against Cuban. But the SEC appealed, and in September 2010 an appeals court said that the district court had erred and that further proceedings would be necessary to address the merits of the suit.^[58]

Dallas Mavericks[link]

Ownership[link]

On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot, Jr.^[59][60]

In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavs had a winning percentage of 40%, and playoff record of 21–32.^[61][62] In the ten years following, the team won 69% of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons. The Mavs playoff record with Cuban is 49 wins and 57 losses, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat.^[63] On June 12, 2011, the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat to win the NBA Finals. Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban flies his private Gulfstream V to attend road games.^[64]

In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development.^[65]

NBA policy controversies[link]

Cuban's ownership has been the source of extensive media attention and controversy involving league policies.^[66]

Cuban has been fined by the NBA, mostly for critical statements about the league and referees, at least $1,665,000 for 13 incidents.^[67] In a June 30, 2006 interview, Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki said about Cuban:^[68]

He's got to learn how to control himself as well as the players do. We can't lose our temper all the time on the court or off the court, and I think he's got to learn that, too. He's got to improve in that area and not yell at the officials the whole game. I don't think that helps us ... He sits right there by our bench. I think it's a bit much. But we all told him this before. It's nothing new. The game starts, and he's already yelling at them. So he needs to know how to control himself a little.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Cuban said that he matches NBA fines with charitable donations of equal amounts.^[69] In a nationally publicized incident, he criticized the league's manager of officials, Ed T. Rush, saying that he "wouldn't be able to manage a Dairy Queen". Dairy Queen management took offense to Cuban's comments and invited him to manage a Dairy Queen restaurant for a day. Cuban accepted the company's invitation and worked for a day at a Dairy Queen in Coppell, Texas, where fans lined up in the street to get a Blizzard from the owner of the Mavericks.^[70]

During the 2005–06 NBA season, Cuban started a booing campaign when former Mavericks player Michael Finley returned to play against the Mavs as a member of the San Antonio Spurs.^[71] In a playoff series between the Mavericks and Spurs, Cuban cursed Spurs forward Bruce Bowen^[72] and was fined $200,000 by the NBA for rushing onto the court and criticizing NBA officials.^[73] After the 2006 NBA Finals, Cuban was fined $250,000 by the NBA for repeated misconduct following the Mavericks' loss to the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2006 NBA Finals.

In February 2007, Cuban publicly criticized NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade and declared that he would get fined if he made any comments about what he thought really happened in the 2006 NBA Finals.^[74][75]

On January 16, 2009, after a reviewing, the league fined Cuban $25,000 for yelling at Denver Nuggets player J. R. Smith at the end of the first half on a Mavericks-at-Nuggets game played on January 13.^[76][77] Cuban was apparently incensed that Smith had thrown an elbow that barely missed Mavericks forward Antoine Wright.^[78] Cuban offered to match the fine with a donation to a charity of Smith's choosing. Cuban stated that if he doesn't hear from Smith that he will donate the money to the NHL Players' Association Goals and Dreams Fund in the names of Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore.^[79] In May 2009, Cuban made a reference to the Denver Nuggets being "thugs" after a loss to the Nuggets in game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The statement was geared towards the Nuggets and their fans. As he passed Kenyon Martin's mother, who was seated near Cuban as he left the arena, he pointed at her and said, "that includes your son". This controversial comment revisited media attention on Cuban yet again. Cuban issued an apology the next day referencing the poor treatment of away fans in arenas around the league. The league issued a statement stating that they would not fine him.^[80]

On May 22, 2010, Cuban was fined $100,000 for comments he made during a television interview about trying to sign LeBron James.^[81]

Other sports businesses[link]

In 2005, Cuban expressed interest in buying the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins.^[82] In 2006, Cuban joined an investment group along with Dan Marino, Kevin Millevoi, Andy Murstein, and Walnut Capital principals Gregg Perelman and Todd Reidbord to attempt to acquire the Penguins.^[83] The franchise ultimately rejected the group's bid.

At World Wrestling Entertainment's 2003 Survivor Series, Cuban was involved in a staged altercation with RAW GM Eric Bischoff and RAW Superstar Randy Orton.^[84] On December 7, 2009, Cuban acted as the guest host of WWE Raw, where he got revenge on Randy Orton for his attack on him at Survivor Series 2003, where he was the guest referee in his match against Kofi Kingston when he gave Kingston a fast count. He then announced Orton would face Kingston at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. At the end of the show, Cuban was slammed through a table by then No.1 contender for the WWE Championship, Sheamus.^[85]

On September 12, 2007, Cuban said that he was in talks with Vince, Linda, Stephanie, and Shane McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment in creating a mixed martial arts company that would compete with Ultimate Fighting Championship.^[86] Cuban is now a bondholder of Zuffa, the UFC's parent company.^[87]

Cuban followed up his intentions by organizing "HDNet Fights", a mixed martial arts promotion which airs exclusively on HDNet and premiered on October 13, 2007 with a card headlined by a fight between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford as well as fights featuring veterans Drew Fickett and Justin Eilers.^[88]

Since 2009, Cuban has been a panelist at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference^[89]

In April, 2010, Cuban loaned the newly formed UFL football league $5 million dollars. He did not own a franchise and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of the league nor of any of its teams.^[90] In January 2011, he filed a federal lawsuit against the UFL for their failure to repay the loan by the October 6, 2010 deadline.^[91]

Major League Baseball[link]

Cuban has repeatedly expressed interest in owning a Major League Baseball franchise, and has thus far unsuccessfully attempted to purchase three franchises. In 2008, he submitted an initial bid of $1.3 billion to buy the Chicago Cubs and was invited to participate in a second round of bidding along with several other potential ownership groups.^[92] Cuban was not selected to participate in the final bidding process in January 2009. In August 2010, Cuban actively bid to buy the Texas Rangers. Cuban stopped bids after 1:00 A.M., having placed bids totaling almost 600 million dollars. He had outbid a competing ownership group led by ex-pitcher and Rangers executive Nolan Ryan, but lost the deal before the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series.

In January 2012, Cuban placed an initial bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was eliminated before the second round of bidding. Cuban felt that the value of the Dodgers' TV rights deal drove the price of the franchise too high.^[93] He had previously said that he would not be interested in buying the franchise at $1 billion^[94], telling the Los Angeles Times in November 2011 "I don’t think the Dodgers franchise is worth twice what the Rangers are worth."^[95] However, as the bidding process drew near many speculated that the sale would surpass $1.5 billion, with Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reporting via Twitter that at least one bid in the $1-1.5 billion range was placed in the initial round of the bidding process.

Cuban also previously expressed interest in becoming a minority owner of the New York Mets after owner Fred Wilpon announced in 2011 that he was planning to sell up to a 25% stake in the team.^[96]

Political leanings[link]

Cuban is an admirer of author/philosopher Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead.^[97] About Rand's novel The Fountainhead, he said: "[It] was incredibly motivating to me. It encouraged me to think as an individual, take risks to reach my goals, and responsibility for my successes and failures. I loved it."^[98] His political views lean towards libertarianism.^[99] He held a position on the centrist Unity08 political organization's advisory council.^[100] While leaning towards libertarianism, Cuban posted an entry on his blog claiming paying more taxes to be the most patriotic thing someone can do.^[101]

Cuban has donated $7,000 to political campaigns, $6,000 going to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. $1,000 went to Democratic California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.^[102]

On February 8, 2008, Cuban voiced his support for the draft movement attempting to convince New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run in the U.S. presidential election of 2008 on his blog. Cuban concluded a post lamenting the current state of U.S. politics: "Are you listening, Mayor Bloomberg? For less than the cost of opening a tent pole movie, you can change the status quo."^[103]

Fallen Patriot Fund[link]

Cuban started the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military persons killed or injured during the Iraq War, personally matching the first $1 million in contributions with funds from the Mark Cuban Foundation, which is run by his brother Brian Cuban.^[104][105]

"The Mark Cuban Stimulus Plan"[link]

On February 9, 2009, Cuban announced his own "stimulus plan", involving what he called "an open source exchange of ideas."^[106] His plan entails individuals posting ideas that fit certain criteria (breaking even within 60 days, profitability within 90 days, no advertising, certain banking controls for Cuban) in the hopes that either Cuban will fund them, or other individuals will take up the ideas thereby stimulating the economy.^[107]

Film and television credits[link]

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (February 2011)

Acting roles[link]

• Entourage (2010 episode) as himself
• Breaking the F-ing Rules (2007 film) as Seamus
• The Loop (TV series) (2007 episode) as himself
• All In (2006 film) as himself
• Like Mike 2: Streetball (2006 film) as Drop Squad Coach
• The Cookout (2004 film) as himself
• Walker, Texas Ranger (TV Series, 2000) as Mark Smith
• Lost at Sea (1995 film) as Villain
• Talking About Sex (1994 film) as Macho Mark

As himself[link]

1. Real Time with Bill Maher – (Ep. 220) Cuban appeared on the panel along with Dan Savage, Chrystia Freeland, and Marc Maron. July 15, 2011 ^[108]
2. Dancing with the Stars – Cuban was one of the 12 contestants on the 5th season of Dancing with the Stars.^[109] He was partnered with show veteran Kym Johnson.^[109] After making the cut for four weeks, they were eliminated on October 23, 2007. They were the fifth couple to go after welterweight boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and professional partner Karina Smirnoff were sent packing the week before.
3. The Simpsons – Cuban voiced himself in the episode "The Burns and the Bees".
4. NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game– Cuban played for the West team in the NBA All-Star Weekend game on February 12, 2010.
5. Entourage – Season 7 Episode 8 – Sniff Sniff Gang Bang; Season 8 Episode 3 - One Last Shot
6. WWE Raw – Mark Cuban appeared on WWE Raw (December 7, 2009) and was put through a table by WWE Superstar Sheamus
7. Shark Tank – Season 2, Episode 1, 2 and 7 – Cuban appeared on Shark Tank as a guest shark, and has appeared throughout Season 3 (replacing Kevin Harrington).
8. Colbert Report – appeared on the show to be interviewed as a billionaire
9. Sketchers Super Bowl Commercial – appeared on the show to as Mr. Quiggly's Manager

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mark Cuban

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mark Cuban

• blog maverick Mark Cuban's personal weblog
• Mark Cuban on Twitter
• Profile at Shark Tank on ABC
• Column archive at The Guardian
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Mark Cuban on Charlie Rose
• Mark Cuban at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Mark Cuban in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Mark Cuban collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Mark Cuban collected news and commentary at The Wall Street Journal
• Profile on Forbes

Interviews

• Executive Viewpoints with Mark Cuban interview from 2000 at ThoughtAudio.com
• Beyond the Glory video biography of Mark Cuban
• Mark Cuban Interview, Gelf Magazine, March 29, 2005
• C-SPAN Q&A interview with Cuban, March 26, 2006

This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (November 2009)

The Fast Show, known as Brilliant in the US, was a BBC comedy sketch show programme that ran for three series from 1994 to 1997 with a special Last Fast Show Ever in 2000. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and Caroline Aherne. Other significant cast members included Paul Shearer, Felix Dexter, Rhys Thomas, Jeff Harding, Maria McErlane, Eryl Maynard, Colin McFarlane and Donna Ewin.

The show produced two national tours, the first in 1998 with the cast of the BBC surrealist comedy quiz show Shooting Stars and the second being their 'Farewell Tour' in 2002. The Fast Show was loosely structured and relied on character comedy, recurring running gags, and many catchphrases. Its fast-paced "blackout" style set it apart from traditional sketch series because of the number and relative brevity of its sketches; a typical half-hour TV sketch comedy of the period might have consisted of nine or ten major items, with contrived situations and extended setups, whereas the premiere episode of The Fast Show featured twenty-seven sketches in thirty minutes,^[1] with some items lasting less than ten seconds and none running longer than three minutes. Its innovative style and presentation influenced many later series such as The Catherine Tate Show and Little Britain.

It was one of the most popular sketch shows of the 1990s. The show has been released on VHS, DVD and audio CD. Some of its characters, Ron Manager, Ted and Ralph, Swiss Toni and Billy Bleach have had their own spin-off programmes.

Charlie Higson announced on 5 September 2011 that The Fast Show would return for a new online only series starting 14 November.^[2] The premiere date was changed later to 10 November.^[3]

Style and content[link]

The Fast Show was the brainchild of Paul Whitehouse and his writing partner and friend, Charlie Higson (who had previously enjoyed some success in the UK as a musician with the band The Higsons). After meeting through a mutual friend (Whitehouse's longtime flatmate, guitarist and writer David Cummings) comedian Harry Enfield invited Whitehouse to write for him and Whitehouse in turn asked Higson to help him out; soon after, Enfield got his break into TV with the series Harry Enfield and Chums and became nationally famous in the UK.^[1]

In the early 1990s Higson and Whitehouse worked extensively with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, writing for and performing in the series The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer and Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer (both of which Higson produced). These series also featured occasional appearances by future Fast Show cast members Caroline Aherne, Simon Day and Mark Williams. Higson made many appearances in minor roles, while Williams and Whitehouse had recurring roles (with Vic and Bob) in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, parodying the members of rock group Slade in the popular "Slade in Residence" and "Slade on Holiday" sketches.

Inspired by a press preview tape of Enfield's show, compiled by producer friend Geoffrey Perkins and consisting of fast-cut highlights of Enfield's sketches, the pair began stockpiling material and developing the idea of a rapid-fire 'MTV generation' format based wholly on quick cuts and soundbites/catchphrases. After unsuccessfully trying to sell the series to ITV through an independent production company, Higson and Whitehouse approached the new controller of BBC2, Michael Jackson; fortunately, he was then looking for new shows to replace several high-profile series that had been recently lost to BBC1, and their show was picked up by BBC2.^[1]

Whitehouse and Higson, the co-producers and main writers, then assembled the original team of writers and performers, which included David Cummings, Mark Williams, Caroline Aherne, Paul Shearer, Simon Day, Arabella Weir, John Thomson, Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews (of Father Ted fame), Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer and Craig Cash (who went on to write and perform with Aherne in The Royle Family). Musical director Philip Pope was also an established comedy actor with extensive experience in TV and radio comedy, and had previously appeared in series such as Who Dares Wins and KYTV; he also enjoyed success as a comedy recording artist as part of the Bee Gees parody group The HeeBeeGeebees.

The Fast Show was a working title disliked by both Whitehouse and Higson but it went unchanged through production and eventually remained as the final title.^{[citation needed]}

The first series introduced many signature characters and sketches including Ted and Ralph, Unlucky Alf, The Fat Sweaty Coppers, Ron Manager, Roy and Renée, Ken and Kenneth (The Suit You Tailors), Arthur Atkinson, Bob Fleming, Brilliant Kid, Insecure Woman, Janine Carr, Denzil Dexter, Carl Hooper, Ed Winchester, the Patagonian buskers, "Jazz Club" and the popular parody "Chanel 9".

Many characters were never given any 'official' name, with their sketches being written to give their catchphrase as the punchline of each sketch. Examples include "Anyone fancy a pint?" (played by Whitehouse), "You ain't seen me, right!" (a mysterious gangster-like character played by Mark Williams), "I'll get me coat" (Williams) and "Ha!", a sarcastic elderly woman played by Weir.

Other long-standing running jokes in the programme included the fictitious snack food "Cheesy Peas" in various forms, shapes and flavours, in satirical adverts presented by a twangy, Northern lad (Paul Whitehouse) who claims, "They're good for your teas!"and has since become a reality thanks to UK TV chef Jamie Oliver [1]. The dire earnestness of the born-again Christian was parodied in another popular group of sketches where various characters responded to any comment or question by extolling the virtues of "Our Lord Jesus" and ended the sketch with the exclamation "He died for all our sins, didn't he?" or something similar; and most controversially, "We're from the Isle of Man", featuring a stereotype of weird, surreal, townsfolk in a setting portrayed as an abjectly impoverished and desolate cultural wasteland.

Some of the characters resembled parodies of well-known personalities: for example, Louis Balfour, host of "Jazz Club" was reminiscent of Bob Harris of The Old Grey Whistle Test^{[citation needed]} and Ron Manager of football pundits Trevor Brooking and Graham Taylor. However, the parodic intent of this character is broader, and portrays how often football pundits have little to say of any real substance and sometimes waffle.^{[citation needed]} Paul Whitehouse said that Ron Manager was based on ex-Luton Town & Fulham manager Alec Stock [2]. Arthur Atkinson is a composite of Arthur Askey and Max Miller.

The show ended in 2000, with a three-part "Last Ever" show, in the first episode of which Fast Show fan Johnny Depp had a guest-starring role as a customer of The Suit You Tailors, after three series and a Christmas special.

The theme tune was "Release Me", a song which had been a hit for pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck. In the first series it was performed over the opening credits by Whitehouse in the guise of abnormally transfiguring singer Kenny Valentine. In subsequent series, the tune only appeared in the closing credits, played on the saxophone.

Major characters[link]

The show featured many characters and sketches. Some of the more prominent recurring characters/sketches are:

• 'Unlucky' Alf, the lonely old pensioner living somewhere in northern England for whom nothing ever goes right. His hook is his resigned "Oh bugger!" as something terrible happens. He often predicts a bad event that is quite obvious, only to find something else occurs as he tries to avoid the first problem. (Paul Whitehouse, all series)
• Anyone fancy a pint? A man (Whitehouse) who find himself in boring or bizarre situations, such as a dinner party where a woman is talking about how she was abandoned as a child and crying about everyone letting her down. Whitehouse then interrupts at the most insensitive moment asking "anyone fancy a pint?", before he and most of the men in the room leave. One early sketch featured Higson portraying an earnest claymation animator (a parody of Nick Park) who describes the animation process in excruciatingly tedious detail by moving each feature "just a tiny amount" until Whitehouse's character sneaks away, whispering the punchline. According to the commentary in The Ultimate Fast Show, Nick Park loved the sketch and sent copies of it to friends and family that year as a video Xmas card.
• Archie the pub bore. Talks to people in the pub, and when they mention their profession, no matter what it is and however unlikely, he always claims to have had the same profession ("I used to be a single mother myself"), saying that it is the 'hardest game in the world. Thirty years, man and boy!' He has an obsession with Frank Sinatra, almost invariably steering the conversation towards the singer and weakly singing the title line of "High Hopes", after mentioning how he and his friend Stan fared on a recent fishing trip. (Whitehouse, series 3)
• Arthur Atkinson, parody of 1940s music hall entertainers such as Max Miller and Arthur Askey, played by Paul Whitehouse, introduced by Tommy Cockles (Simon Day), himself a parody of presenters of TV history, especially Denis Norden (Whitehouse, all series)
• Billy Bleach, tousle-mopped, interfering pub know-it-all who gets it all wrong, usually ending up with others losing money. His catchphrases include "Hold the bells" and "Someone's sitting there, mate". This character starred in his own series, Grass which was shown on BBC Three, later shown on BBC Two. (Day, all series)
• Bob Fleming, the ageing, incompetent West Country host of Country Matters, who has an extremely bad cough. The character's surname is a pun on 'phlegm-ing.' (Higson, all series) 'Country matters' is also an in-joke for those who know it is a Shakespearean euphemism for cunnilingus.
• Brilliant Kid. In the first draft of the script for the pilot, the character was called Eric and was described as "a young Yorkshire man"^[4] but in the series he is never named. He delivers an edited monologue listing everyday things, all of which he declares to be 'brilliant!' or 'fantastic!' as he walks through a series of random backgrounds (filmed in widely varied locations ranging from the Tees Valley to Iceland) during which the quality and format of the images also randomly changes (e.g. from colour to b/w). In one episode it is shown that he isn't sure about whether everything really is 'brilliant' or not, and as he's walking through one solid background, an abandoned funfair, he debates with himself half heartedly ("Everything is brilliant...right? I mean...it might not be...nah, it is!") (Whitehouse, all series)
• Carl Hooper, Australian presenter of That's Amazing, a spoof of pop-science shows. Normally the person on his show was trying to pass off an everyday animal or object as something magical. The one occasion where a guest had a truly amazing story to tell was unbroadcastable due to the guest's inability to refrain from swearing excitedly while relating the tale (Day, all series)
• Chanel 9, a low-budget television channel from a country known only as "Republicca", ruled by "El Presidente" who resembled a stereotypical Latin American dictator. Chanel 9 parodied the sort of programmes that British people end up watching on holiday around the Mediterranean. The stars, usually Paul Whitehouse, Paul Shearer and Caroline Aherne, speak a concocted language loosely based on Italian, Greek, Spanish and Portuguese, mashed together with nonsensical phrases (e.g. "sminky pinky") and incongruous English names and words (e.g. footballer Chris Waddle). Early segments featured the Chanel 9 news, read by anchormen Poutremos Poutra-Poutremos (Whitehouse) and Kolothos Apollonia (Shearer), followed by the weather forecast with meteorologist Poula Fisch (Aherne), invariably reporting a temperature for all locations of 45 °C (113 °F) while exclaiming "scorchio!" with apparent surprise. Sporting news was presented by Antonios Gubba - whose name is based on the commentator Tony Gubba - (Simon Day), seated at a much lower desk and talking with a low voice. Later Chanel 9 sketches consisted of several short segments, usually interspersed with parodic advertisements for the ubiquitous "Gizmo" a bizarre mechanical product which could be used with equal efficacy in the kitchen, garden or bedroom. Other Chanel 9 programmes, including a cartoon, a current affairs discussion, a quiz show, a soap opera ("El Amora Y El Passionna") and a variety series, were added in later sketches. Key catchphrases included the Republiccan greeting and farewell, "Buono estente" and "Boutros Boutros-Ghali" (the name of the then UN Secretary-General).
• Chip Cobb, the deaf stuntman, a TV and film stuntman who, because of his hearing problems, always mishears his instructions and proceeds to carry them out wrongly before anyone can stop him, much to the despair of the film crew. (Thomson, series 3)
• Chris the Crafty Cockney, claims to be an incurable kleptomaniac ("I'll nick anything, me"). He is left alone with something valuable and invariably steals it. Because of how up-front he is of his thieving nature, other people tend to believe he's joking. In one sketch, he even alludes to being an actual clinical kleptomaniac and involuntarily steals from his friend Dan after he trusts Chris to watch his newspaper stall, after extensively warning him of the risks involved in doing so. (Whitehouse, series 2–3)
• Colin Hunt, unfunny and irritating office joker whose name gives an indication of his personality (Higson, series 2–3)
• Competitive Dad, who is overcritical and demanding of his kids, and always has to get one up on them. (Day, series 2–3). Day explained in an interview that he had based the idea for the character from a man he noticed in a public swimming pool that challenged his two young children to a race. Day thought he'd let them win, but instead he took off and stood on the other end of the pool waiting for his toddler sons to struggle their way across the pool. He (Day) thought of it as "sick".
• Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior, a classic Essex geezer who, despite his get-up and rather lavish lifestyle, is improbably concerned about saving the planet (though this is often undermined by his wife's behaviour), Mike Oldfield records, and swinging. A parody of a late-night magazine programme presented by Mike Reid. "Moonlight Shadow" by Mike Oldfield & Maggie Reilly is used as the theme tune to sketches featuring the character (Day, series 3)
• Professor Denzil Dexter of the University of Southern California and his various bizarre scientific experiments, long-haired and highly laid-back. (Thomson, series 1–2, online series)
• The 13th Duke of Wymbourne, posh, rumpled dinner-jacketed, lecherous cigar smoker, reminisces about finding himself in wholly unsuitable places considering his 'reputation'. Based on the characters of Terry-Thomas. (Whitehouse, series 3)
• Ed Winchester, an American reporter. He beams at the camera and says "Hi! I'm Ed Winchester!" in a very upbeat voice, before the camera cuts to another scene. In his last appearance in Series 2 he appears to have been cut off as he then mentions Jesus straight after introducing himself. (Jeff Harding).
• Even Better Than That!, a slack-jawed, not too bright man who comes back from the shops with something ridiculously unnecessary instead of what his wife sent him for (Williams, series 3)
• The Fat, Sweaty Coppers A squad of police officers who cannot do their job properly as they are extremely overweight due to their constant eating and drinking.(Thomson and Weir included, series 1-2)
• Gideon Soames, white-haired, posh-talking architecture and history professor, possibly a cross between Simon Schama & Brian Sewell, with some elements of Bamber Gascoigne. Despite the serious tone of his speeches, the "history" of them becomes increasingly ridiculous. (Day series 2–3)
• Giggly Woman, a woman who seems very confident until a man she likes enters the room, and then goes all childish, as if she fancies him. The character debuted in series 1 during a small segment in the credits, but only became a recurring character later on. (Weir, series 3)
• The Historian, a jubilant, but emotionally imbalanced man who patrols the corridors of an historic boys academy alone whilst telling tall tales about former traditions both cruel and unreasonable. (Williams, series 3)
• I'll Get Me Coat, a socially inept Brummie, who is unable to make any appropriate contribution to a conversation, and therefore disgraces himself with a faux pas before using the punchline and leaving (Williams, all series)
• I'm not Pissed, a family - mother (Maria McErlane), father (Williams) and son (Day) - who are regularly pointing out that they are not drunk despite the fact they are taking regular swigs from gin bottles, beer cans etc. (series 2)
• Insecure Woman, who appears in a variety of different locations, usually exclaiming, "Does my bum look big in this?" (Weir, all series)
• Invisible Woman, who tries to converse with a group of men but is completely ignored, only for a man to repeat what she said and receive congratulations from the others for such a good idea. (Weir)
• Jesse, a taciturn country bumpkin who exclaims his strange diets, fashion tastes and experiments, in a single sentence "This week, I 'ave been mostly..." - except for one sketch, where he said "This week, I 'aven't been 'ungry." (Williams, series 2–3)
• John Actor, who plays Inspector Monkfish, the tough uncompromising cop who often exclaims to the nearest woman, "Put your knickers on and make me a cup of tea!" (Day, series 2–3, online series). Loosely based on the BBC series Dangerfield. There were variations on the show's format, two examples being Monkfish as a tough, uncompromising doctor in Monkfish M.D. and Monkfish as a tough, uncompromising vet in All Monkfish Great and Small. One Monkfish sketch even crossed over onto Chanel 9. Sometime between the end of series 3 and the last episode, John Actor died yet the series is apparently continuing in the manner of Taggart after the death of the lead actor.
• Johnny Nice Painter, who is painting a scene and describing all the colours. Whenever he mentions the colour "black", however, he becomes more and more depressed, eventually going somewhat insane and shouting wildly about the despair of mankind, despite the best efforts of his wife Katie (Weir) to prevent him from doing so. His appearance is based on TV painter Alwyn Crawshaw (Higson, series 3, online series)
• Ken and Kenneth, two tailors in a men's formal wear shop, who bombard potential customers with sexually explicit innuendo about their private life, frequently interjecting the catchphrase "Ooh! Suit you sir!", much to the discomfort of the customer. They become confused and even frightened in two episodes; one when they get a customer who is gay, and another with a customer (played by Day) who is as willing to talk about sexual deviance as they are. Due to Williams absence from the online series, his character Kenneth will be written out and replaced by Kenton, played by Charlie Higson. (Whitehouse and Williams: 1,2,3, and Whitehouse and Higson: online specials)
• Louis Balfour, pretentious and ultra laid-back presenter of Jazz Club (a parody of The Old Grey Whistle Test), based on a blend of Bob Harris and Roger Moore. He also has a remarkable similarity to Geoffrey Smith, presenter of Jazz Record Requests on Radio 3). Seemingly having done his 'research', he introduces his guests by comparing them to avant-garde jazz musicians or describing their style/technique by using complex musical phraseology. These guests usually turn out to be utterly talentless 'experimentalists', much to his bemusement. His catchphrase "Nice!" was delivered by turning to a different camera for that word only. Later he delivered other words in a similar manner. (Thomson, series 2–3, online series)
• Luvvie an over-the-top thespian describes his character and mentions that he needs to spend hours being made up when he is actually done in a few seconds (Thomson, series 3)
• Monster Monster, a vampire who creeps up on a slumbering woman and gives her betting advice (Whitehouse, series 3). The set-up is a parody of a scene from the 1922 German classic horror film Nosferatu, while the vampire's voice and catchphrase of "Monster, monster" are based on Eric Hall.
• No Offence, a rude, orange-faced South African department store cosmetics saleswoman who has no qualms about informing women of their physical imperfections, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she looks like a dried-out old orange herself. (Weir, series 3)
• "Our" Janine Carr, teenage mum with a unique world outlook. She refuses to reveal who the father of her baby is because "it's not fair to grass on your headmaster" (Aherne, series 1–2, online series)
• The Offroaders, Simon and Lindsey, despite their unusually high confidence and esteem, are useless at their hobby ("sorted!", "gripped!"). (Higson and Whitehouse, all series)
• Patrick Nice, a man who tells far-fetched, sometimes odd stories followed by him calmingly saying his catchphrase, "Which was nice." (Williams, series 2–3)
• Prawn Sandwich Man, a man who seems to talk a lot about football as if a true Arsenal supporter, but makes it glaringly obvious he knows nothing about the game (Thomson, series 3)
• Ron Manager, a football commentator who speaks in incoherent sentence fragments on randomly divergent trains of thought. He usually appears with interviewer (Day) and fellow commentator Tommy (Williams), and whenever a question is posed to Tommy, Ron Manager often begins one of his nonsensical train-of-thoughts based on one of the words or names in the question. Based on former football manager from the 60s and 70s, Alec Stock.^[5] (Whitehouse: all TV and online series)
• Rowley Birkin QC, a retired barrister, tells mostly unintelligible stories at the fireside. Occasionally, his speech becomes coherent for a short while, containing strange phrases such as "The whole thing was made completely out of matchsticks" or "Snake! Snake!". Almost always ends his stories with a sly "I'm afraid I was very, very drunk!" In the final episode of series 2, his rambling anecdote appeared to involve a woman for whom he had great affection and ended with a close-up of faint tears on his cheeks, while the usual "very drunk" line was delivered in an unexpectedly moving, sorrowful voice. . The character is reprised as a working barrister in the spin-off feature Ted and Ralph. Whitehouse revealed on the UK chatshow Parkinson that the character was based on Andrew Rollo whom he met on a fishing trip to Iceland; Rollo appeared in the Fast Show documentary, which revealed how closely Rowley's speech resembled that of his real-life inspiration. At the end of a Christmas episode the caption revealed that he died. "Rowley Birkin QC 1918 - 2000", however despite this on-screen demise he will appear in the 2011 online specials.(Whitehouse, TV series 2–3, and online series)
• Roy & Renée, endless chattering from Renée and her quiet, submissive husband Roy, whom she expects to meekly agree with everything she says. Roy always embarrasses her at the end of every sketch, after which he gets a stinging reprimand from his wife. She makes her last appearance in the show during the 1996 Christmas Special, when Roy's mother finally gives in to holding back the resentment towards Renée's smug attitude. (Thomson and Aherne, series 1–2)
• Rubbish Dad, the father and opposite of Brilliant Kid who proclaims everything to be "rubbish". He is usually only seen in an industrial scrapheap area. The one thing he does like is Des Lynam. (Thomson, all series)
• The Shags, a child-less couple who are seen in the midst of very graphic sexual intercourse, much to the discomfort of their neighbours. Among other things they were seen at it in a tent in a sports shop, in a tree in the park and even on a bed being carried by removal men as they moved into the neighbourhood.
• Swiss Toni, a car salesman who compares everything to seducing and making love to a beautiful woman, usually in the presence of his bemused trainee Paul (Rhys Thomas). This was also the title of a short-lived spin-off sitcom, featuring Toni in the car dealership which he worked. Swiss is the only non-original character in the show. He had previously appeared in the second series of The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer in 1995, which was produced by Higson and featured cameos from many members of The Fast Show. (Higson: TV series 3 and online)
• Ted & Ralph – country squire Lord Ralph Mayhew attempts to strike-up an intimate relationship with his introverted Irish estate worker Ted, by way of subtle romantic/erotic subtexts in his conversations with him (Whitehouse and Higson, all series). This was also the title of a one-off, hour-long spin-off feature, reprising the characters, with cameos from a few other characters as well. (Higson and Whitehouse: all TV and online series)
• "You ain't seen me: right?" - An unknown traveller who is probably a criminal who says "You ain't seen me: right?" to some minor characters in the show and sometimes the viewer of the show. He comes up in the show in various locations and is at one point on Chanel 9 Neus sitting in the sports reporter's seat. He is also seen in the background when the "Brilliant" Kid walks past talking about the usual things.(Williams, all series)
• Inept Zookeeper - a zookeeper who is frightened and/or disgusted by virtually every aspect of his job (cleaning up elephant dung, feeding the penguins, etc.) and is thus rendered unable to perform his tasks properly. (Williams, series 3)

In popular culture[link]

• Arabella Weir later turned Insecure Woman into Jackie Payne, heroine of her novel Does My Bum Look Big in This?
• In Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow quotes the show; Johnny Depp is a fan and had a cameo role in the farewell special .
• In 2010, chef Jamie Oliver advertised his forthcoming cookery series (examining the cuisine of several European/Mediterranean countries) speaking in the made-up language used by Chanel 9 news.

Filming locations[link]

Unusually for a sketch show, a significant proportion of The Fast Show was shot externally. During the early series much of this filming was done around the Tees Valley, Yorkshire Dales and Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England. Locations include:

• Ashington, Northumberland – at least two scenes involving Unlucky Alf and one involving Brilliant Kid were filmed on Station Road.
• Aske Hall – Background in early Ted & Ralph scenes
• Darlington – 'The Running Family' were shown around various locations in the town centre, including The Cornmill Centre. Darlington was the childhood home of Jim Moir (Vic Reeves) whose longterm comedy partner Bob Mortimer was one of the writers. The Cornmill and The High Street with scenes involving Brilliant Kid.
• Durham – The market place with scenes involving Brilliant Kid
• Hartlepool – One Unlucky Alf scene saw him sat in the empty Rink End Stand of Hartlepool United's ground, Victoria Park. Also, one Ed Winchester scene is in front of the Mill House Stand. Some of the Brilliant Kid scenes were also fimed at nearby Seal Sands.
• Keld, North Yorkshire – The campsite used in a Dave Angel scene
• Langley Park – Railway Street is used in Unlucky Alf scenes
• Middlesbrough – docks used in 'hard of hearing stuntman' scenes, scene on Transporter Bridge as well as the Riverside Stadium
• Newcastle upon Tyne – including the 'Shore Leave' sketch, the scene where Chris the Crafty Cockney steals the woman's suitcases (shot in Newcastle Central station), and some of the Sir Geoffrey Norman MP sketches, such as the one where he is pulled over by a policeman for speeding and the one where he refuses to pay the taxi driver after getting out of the car (shot outside the main entrance to Newcastle Central station), one Ed Winchester scene is near Monument station. One scene from the Brilliant Kid showed him in Exhibition Park in Newcastle upon Tyne. Many scenes involving Janine Carr, filmed in greyscale, used the backdrop of the concrete flyover and underpasses of the junction of the A167(M) and the B1318 of the Great North Road in Jesmond. A few scenes were filmed inside the Newcastle City Library (which has now been demolished and a new Library building has replaced it).
• Richmond – The market place in Ted & Ralph's trip to the shops
• Scotch Corner – Garage used in Swiss Toni's early scenes
• Seaton Carew - One "You ain't seen me right?" scene sees the main character sat on a child's ride in one of the seafront amusement arcades.
• The Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear – a number of scenes involving Brilliant Kid
• Stockton On Tees, Swiss Toni scenes, filmed at a car showroom on Norton Road.

Also for the third series the production extended abroad:

• Iceland – Scenes with Brilliant Kid and Billy Bleach were shot with volcanic landscapes, waterfalls and hot springs in the background.

Down the Line[link]

In 2006, Higson and Whitehouse produced and starred in Down the Line, a spoof phone-in show for BBC Radio 4. The show also featured many of the regular Fast Show cast, including Simon Day, Arabella Weir, Rhys Thomas and Felix Dexter. Further series were broadcast in 2007, 2008 and 2011. A follow-on TV series, Bellamy's People, was broadcast in 2010.

The future[link]

Speaking on the BBC Two show Something for the Weekend on 9 September 2007, Higson mentioned the upcoming DVD boxed set release and that a reunion of some sort to help promote it was being considered. This took place at The Dominion Theatre in London on Sunday 4 November, and was a collection of some new sketches, videos of cast favourites and performances of classic sketches (including the return of Ed Winchester). Higson and Whitehouse stated they were working on a film script which would feature the Fast Show team, but wouldn't have any of the characters from the show. A new online only series was commissioned in a sponsorship deal with Foster's Lager, and aired beginning 14 November 2011; the trailer was released on 9 November on Foster's YouTube Channel^[6][7] New episodes featured the original cast with the exception of Mark Williams, who declined involvement in the project.^[8]

DVDs[link]

This section may require copy-editing.

Numerous Fast Show DVDs are available including :

• The Fast Show : Series 1 (includes cast interviews with Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Arabella Weir and Mark Williams)
• The Fast Show : Series 2
• The Fast Show : Series 3 and 1996 Christmas Special
• The Fast Show : The Last Fast Show Ever, Part One
• The Fast Show Live
• The Fast Show Farewell Tour
• A 7 DVD box set, The Ultimate Fast Show Collection, was released in the UK on 5 November 2007, which compiled nearly all their material, except the two live DVD releases and their spin-off series/specials.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Fast Show

[edit] You Ain't Seen These, Right!

You Ain't Seen These, Right! was a one-off programme, shown during BBC Two's Fast Show Night, featuring various sketches which were filmed but did not make it onto the final show. Some of these were:

• An ensemble series of sketches made by the whole male team, as members of a golf club, in which Charlie Higson's character was dating a beautiful young woman. The rest of the team are initially dismissive of him as a sad old man, but cannot help gawking over her.
• A chain-smoking car driver played by Mark Williams who rants about anything and everything through his wound-down window. A study of road rage. "Shoe shop?! Shoe Shop?!". He drives around in Harlesden, London.
• A medieval king played by Simon Day, who 'loves being king' because he gets to boss everyone about.
• A middle aged man, played by John Thomson, who always finds an excuse to leave the room as soon as the conversation gets round to "women's things."
• A Paul Whitehouse character who responds to almost every question, accusation and situation with the phrase "Sorry, but I was up all night, shagging."

These sketches are included in the UK edition of the boxed VHS videotape set of Series 3, and also on the 7 disc Ultimate Fast Show DVD box set.

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Dewhurst, Keith (2007), "The Fast Show - A Personal View" (notes for The Ultimate Fast Show Collection DVD set, BBC)
2. ^ https://twitter.com/#!/monstroso/status/110748812594790400
3. ^ http://fosters.co.uk/tagged/The_Fast_Show
4. ^ liner notes to The Ultimate Fast Show Collection, (BBC, 2007)
5. ^ http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/4024/29/}}
6. ^ http://www.youtube.com/fosters
7. ^ http://offlicencenews.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/12379/Fast_Show_returns_in_Foster_s_deal.html
8. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8744496/The-Fast-Show-returns.html

External links[link]

• The Fast Show at BBC Programmes
• The Fast Show at the Internet Movie Database