Dave Gorman: Modern Life Is Goodish | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Genre | Stand-up comedy |
Written by | Dave Gorman |
Directed by | Paul Wheeler |
Presented by | Dave Gorman |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 5 (+1 highlights series) |
No. of episodes | 36 (+3 highlights episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Jamie Isaacs Iain Coyle (Series 2–3) |
Producers | Nick Martin James Fidler |
Running time | 45 minutes |
Production company | Liberty Bell |
Original release | |
Network | Dave |
Release | 17 September 2013 – 19 December 2017 |
Dave Gorman: Modern Life Is Goodish is a British comedy television show that ran for five series between 2013 and 2017, with a revival series due on U&Dave in 2024. [1] It was broadcast on Dave and presented by Dave Gorman. The series mainly consisted of Gorman presenting comedic PowerPoint presentations in which he attempts to argue that modern life is neither bad nor good, but "good...ish". The series began on 17 September 2013. A fifth series began airing on 31 October 2017. [2] Gorman announced on 18 December 2017 that the show would conclude after the final episode of series 5 aired the following night. [3] In July 2024, it was announced that four brand-new hour long specials had been ordered by UKTV for their rebranded Dave channel. [4]
Each episode sees Gorman present a stand-up show using PowerPoint, on a particular theme about modern life. Examples include celebrity culture and social media. Each episode features a recurring section called the "Found Poem", in which Gorman reads out a selection of bizarre comments left on news websites, all covering a particular story. Gorman performs the Found Poem with a lone spotlight shining on him, while accompanied by the Billroth String Quartet [5] (Billroth Ensemble from Series 4) playing 'Sarabande' from George Frideric Handel's Keyboard suite in D minor (HWV 437). The title of each episode comes from a line out of the Found Poem. [6]
The programmes were recorded at the Tabernacle, Notting Hill. The episodes were recorded in pairs. Prior to the final recordings, Gorman did "dry run" performances of each episode's content in small theatres. Gorman frequently rewrote portions of the performance after the dry runs. [3]
The show was labour-intensive to create; in the final three weeks before taping a pair of episodes, Gorman would work for over 100 hours a week. [3] The heavy workload was one of the contributing factors to the decision to end the show in 2017. Another factor was Gorman's decision to tour in 2018. [3]
The show's title is similar to that of the 1993 Blur album Modern Life Is Rubbish . When asked if the title was an intentional reference, Gorman said 'I think it's a Blur reference if you want it to be. The "rubbish" version, I think, comes to mind anyway. I just like that'. [7]
Series | Episodes | Original broadcast | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Series premiere | Series finale | |||
Series 1 | 6 | 17 September 2013 | 22 October 2013 | |
Series 2 | 8 | 9 September 2014 | 28 October 2014 | |
Series 3 | 8 | 8 September 2015 | 27 October 2015 | |
Goodish Hits | 3 | 11 May 2016 | 25 May 2016 | |
Series 4 | 6 | 8 November 2016 | 13 December 2016 | |
Series 5 | 8 | 31 October 2017 | 19 December 2017 | |
Total no. | Series no. | Title | Director | Writers | Original air date | Viewers [a] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Not a Very Nice Biscuit" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 17 September 2013 | 518,000 |
2 | 2 | "Badgers Don't Vote" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 24 September 2013 | 457,000 |
3 | 3 | "I Is Da Queen" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 1 October 2013 | 441,000 |
4 | 4 | "A Prince, Not an Estate Agent" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 8 October 2013 | 512,000 [b] |
5 | 5 | "I Like Eggs" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 15 October 2013 | 643,000 [c] |
6 | 6 | "Will It Make Toasters Cheaper?" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 22 October 2013 | 513,000 |
Total no. | Series no. | Title | Director | Writers | Original air date | Viewers [a] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 | 1 | "I Call Mine Sally" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 9 September 2014 | 612,000 |
8 | 2 | "Winston Churchill's Pants" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 16 September 2014 | 550,000 [d] |
9 | 3 | "Just Chips That Haven't Been Made Yet" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 23 September 2014 | 495,000 [e] |
10 | 4 | "Poogle" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 30 September 2014 | 533,000 [f] |
11 | 5 | "I Would Drink That Bathwater" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 7 October 2014 | 588,000 |
12 | 6 | "Dat Is Data Dat Is" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 14 October 2014 | 650,000 [g] |
13 | 7 | "I Like Hot Bananas" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 21 October 2014 | 523,000 |
14 | 8 | "The Dirt Collects There" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 28 October 2014 | 573,000 |
Total no. | Series no. | Title | Director | Writers | Original air date | Viewers [a] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 | 1 | "Why Are There Still Chickens?" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 8 September 2015 | 638,000 [h] |
16 | 2 | "The Veneer of Civilisation" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 15 September 2015 | 685,000 [i] |
17 | 3 | "Ova Is Latin. For Eggs" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 22 September 2015 | 611,000 |
18 | 4 | "Too-Ra Taloo Rye-Eh" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 29 September 2015 | 592,000 |
19 | 5 | "Negative Nancy" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 6 October 2015 | 525,000 |
20 | 6 | "Stuck on Level 342" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 13 October 2015 | 668,000 |
21 | 7 | "That's What We Grow In" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 20 October 2015 | 706,000 [j] |
22 | 8 | "A German Tradition" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 27 October 2015 | 696,000 |
Total no. | Series no. | Title | Director | Writers | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | 1 | "Series 1 Highlights" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 11 May 2016 |
– | 2 | "Series 2 Highlights" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 18 May 2016 |
– | 3 | "Series 3 Highlights" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 25 May 2016 |
Series 4 of Modern Life Is Goodish was confirmed on 7 August 2015. The series contained only 6 episodes because Gorman took a break to look after his expected baby.[ citation needed ] The show began airing on Dave on 8 November 2016.
Total no. | Series no. | Title | Director | Writers | Original air date | Viewers [a] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
23 | 1 | "It Was an Accident and I Was Hospitalised" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 8 November 2016 | 608,000 (7 days) 671,000 (28 days) |
24 | 2 | "If You Put a Sausage in It, It's Not a Viennetta" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 15 November 2016 | 637,000 (7 days) 643,000 (28 days) |
25 | 3 | "That's What Debt Actually Is, Actually" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 22 November 2016 | 755,000 (7 days) 797,000 (28 days) |
26 | 4 | "Vicars, Horses, Doctors and Smurfs" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 29 November 2016 | 631,000 (7 days) 690,000 (28 days) |
27 | 5 | "Nobody Wants Vom on Their Cheerios" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 6 December 2016 | 698,000 (7 days) 733,000 (28 days) |
28 | 6 | "Spray Gravy" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 13 December 2016 | 515,000 (7 days) 539,000 (28 days) |
Series 5 of Modern Life Is Goodish was also confirmed on 7 August 2015;[ citation needed ] the series contained 8 episodes. It was confirmed on 18 December 2017, by Gorman, that there would be no sixth series.
Total no. | Series no. | Title | Director | Writers | Original air date | Viewers [a] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
29 | 1 | "Like Top Gun All Over Again" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 31 October 2017 | 515,000 (7 days) 573,000 (28 days) |
30 | 2 | "I've Never Seen a Cat" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 7 November 2017 | 517,000 (7 days) 549,000 (28 days) |
31 | 3 | "A Helicopter Is Quicker Than a Car" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 14 November 2017 | 574,000 (7 days) 583,000 (28 days) |
32 | 4 | "You Use a Spoon for Licking Custard" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 21 November 2017 | 601,000 (7 days) 620,000 (28 days) |
33 | 5 | "It Does Not Bong" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 28 November 2017 | 539,000 (7 days) 582,000 (28 days) |
34 | 6 | "Drippy Strummer" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 5 December 2017 | 502,000 (7 days) |
35 | 7 | "A Physically Large Head" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 12 December 2017 | 445,000 (7 days) |
36 | 8 | "My Childhood Is Ruined" | Paul Wheeler | Dave Gorman | 19 December 2017 | 457,000 (7 days) |
Blur are an English rock band formed in London in 1988. The band consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bass guitarist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Their debut album, Leisure (1991), incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegaze. Following a stylistic change influenced by English guitar pop groups such as the Kinks, the Beatles and XTC, Blur released the albums Modern Life Is Rubbish (1993), Parklife (1994) and The Great Escape (1995). As a result, the band helped to popularise the Britpop genre and achieved mass popularity in the UK, aided by a widely publicised chart battle with rival band Oasis in 1995 dubbed "The Battle of Britpop".
David James Gorman is an English comedian, presenter, and writer.
Modern Life Is Rubbish is the second studio album by the English alternative rock band Blur, released in May 1993. Although their debut album Leisure (1991) had been commercially successful, Blur faced a severe media backlash soon after its release, and fell out of public favour. After the group returned from an unsuccessful tour of the United States, poorly received live performances and the rising popularity of rival band Suede further diminished Blur's status in the UK.
Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu. The series follows the adventures of slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1,000 years and revived on December 31, 2999. Fry finds work at the interplanetary delivery company Planet Express, working alongside one-eyed mutant Leela and robot Bender. The series was envisioned by Groening in the mid-1990s while working on The Simpsons; he brought David X. Cohen aboard to develop storylines and characters to pitch the show to Fox.
Daniel Frederick Wallace is a British filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor, and presenter of radio and television. His notable works include the books Join Me and Yes Man, narrating Thomas Was Alone and as Shaun Hastings for the Assassin's Creed game series, and fronting TV series How to Start Your Own Country.
Dave is a British free-to-air television channel owned by UKTV, a subsidiary of BBC Studios. It broadcasts mainly comedy, with some factual programming. The channel took the name Dave on 15 October 2007, but it had been on air under various identities and formats since October 1998.
Money Pit is a British television series first broadcast on Dave in 2015. It is presented by Jason Manford and Dominic Frisby, and allows investors to support crowdfunded projects.
Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive is a British television show, first aired on BBC Three in July 2006. Devised by Paul Duddridge, it concerns the making of a comedy panel game show called Annually Retentive, themed around historical events, and hosted by Welsh comedian Rob Brydon. The show is deliberately parodic, as Brydon plays a hyper-realised version of himself, while the game show blatantly steals ideas from other, similar shows such as Have I Got News for You, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Mock the Week and QI.
The Museum of Curiosity is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd. He acts as the head of the (fictional) titular museum, while a panel of three guests – typically a comedian, an author and an academic – each donate to the museum an 'object' that fascinates them. The radio medium ensures that the suggested exhibits can be absolutely anything, limited only by the guests' imaginations.
Genius is a comedy game show on BBC Two, adapted from the original radio series hosted by the comedian Dave Gorman. On Genius, members of the public submit a range of unusual ideas and inventions for Gorman and guest celebrity judges to decide whether the idea is "Genius". The first series began airing on 20 March 2009, following the success of an unbroadcast pilot.
The Keyboard suite in D minor was composed by George Frideric Handel, for solo keyboard (harpsichord), between 1703 and 1706. It is also referred to as Suite de pièces Vol. 2 No. 4. It was first published in 1733.
All the People: Blur Live at Hyde Park is a pair of live albums by British band Blur, recorded during their Hyde Park reunion shows on 2 and 3 July 2009. The albums were initially exclusively available on the Sandbag website at £15 for the double CD, or £10 for the mp3 download. The title All the People is a lyric from their song "Parklife".
Whose Line Is It Anyway? is an American improvisational comedy television series, and is an adaptation of the British series of the same name. It originally aired on ABC and ABC Family from August 5, 1998 to December 15, 2007, hosted by Drew Carey. A revival of the show, hosted by Aisha Tyler, began airing on The CW on July 16, 2013.
Blue Bloods is an American police procedural drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 24, 2010. Its main characters are members of the fictional Reagan family, an American, Irish Catholic family in New York City with a history of work in law enforcement. Blue Bloods stars Tom Selleck as New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan; other main cast members include Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, Will Estes and Len Cariou for all 14 seasons, plus Amy Carlson, and Sami Gayle.
Happy Endings is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from April 13, 2011, to May 3, 2013. The single-camera ensemble comedy originally aired as a mid-season replacement. The show was created by David Caspe. Caspe and Jonathan Groff served as the show's executive producers and showrunners.
"All Mixed Up" is the first episode of the second season of the American television sitcom Cougar Town. It originally aired on September 22, 2010, in the United States on ABC. In this episode, Jules sees a therapist named Glenn in order to relieve the stresses of her issues. Meanwhile, Bobby is troubled with the reality of Grayson's relationship with Jules, and Travis prepares for college.
"Home Wrecker" is the seventeenth episode of the sixth season American Dad!. It aired on Fox in the United States on May 8, 2011. This episode mainly centers around the couple of Stan and Francine, whom become divided over the architectural style wanted for the renovation of their kitchen. Greg and Terry, the Smiths' gay neighbors, intervene in the situation. Greg and Terry criticize the strength of Stan and Francine's marriage, much to their frustration. A bet is made in regard to the Smiths' rocky relationship: if Terry and Greg were to win the bet, they would receive the marriage license of Stan and Francine. Meanwhile, Steve, his friends, and Principal Lewis take advantage of Barry's proficient ability to count cards; however things become awry when they try to remove Lewis of his cut.
Josh Widdicombe is an English comedian, presenter and actor. He is best known for his appearances on The Last Leg (2012–present), Fighting Talk (2014–2016), Insert Name Here (2016–2019), Mock the Week (2012–2016) and his BBC Three sitcom Josh (2015–2017). He also won the first series of Taskmaster in 2015 and the show's first Champion of Champions special in 2017. Widdicombe also hosted Hypothetical with fellow comedian James Acaster (2019–2022). During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, Widdicombe started the Parenting Hell podcast with fellow comedian Rob Beckett.
Motherland is a British sitcom set in London, which explores the trials of middle-class motherhood. A pilot episode, written by Graham Linehan, Sharon Horgan, Helen Serafinowicz and Holly Walsh was first broadcast on BBC Two on 6 September 2016 as part of its "Sitcom Season". The BBC subsequently ordered a full series of six episodes, the first of which aired on 7 November 2017.