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Fist Of FunFist of Fun was a popular British comedy television and radio programme, written by and starring Stewart Lee and Richard Herring. Each episode featured several disparate sketches and situations - for example, a series of sketches involved Rod Hull and his supposed love of jelly, whilst another series of sketches featured a school teacher (played by Stewart Lee), desperately trying to be cool. Fist of Fun began as a BBC Radio One series in 1993, before becoming commissioned as a television series on BBC Two in early 1995. It was broadcast at 9pm on Thursday nights, and was successful, but not a major ratings winner. The second series was aired on Friday nights, and although its ratings were relatively good, the show suffered from a lack of preparation and poor promotion. The show was not given a third series, and Lee and Herring went on to write This Morning With Richard Not Judy, for BBC Two.
History (from fistoffun.net http://www.fistoffun.net) Fist Of Fun is the series that Lee & Herring are possibly best known for. Running over three series and four years, spanning radio & television, it drew material from the duo's previous works and live shows as well as a number of new ideas. Starting life on BBC Radio One in late 1993, it ran for six episodes and maintained a similar delivery and performance style that the duo had already established within their previous radio show, Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World. However, the content of the show was vastly different. Whereas "Nimrod" set a theme for each show, thus creating a context, Fist Of Fun's only context stipulation was that the material should fit into the format of a "Lifestyle show presented by two blokes in their mid 20's who live in separate, but equally unpleasant, rented accommodation in South London'". That meant that pretty much anything was allowed to be included, giving Rich and Stew more freedom in their material, and the incessant talk of daytime TV and other mundanities coming from two people who were clearly very intelligent struck a chord with the nation's listeners. Maintaining a stay of only one series on radio one, as the station moved away from the half hour comedy show format, Fist Of Fun returned on BBC2 television in early 1995. Broadcast over six weeks, going out at 9pm on Thursday nights throughout April & May, it was an immediate success, although not an instant rating winner, and Lee & Herring enjoyed a brief tenure as media darlings while they were hailed as the next big thing. A tour on the back of the first series saw Rich & Stew taking in a number of venues across the country before they returned to the airwaves in November '95 for the third and final series of "The Lee & Herring Radio Show". A selection of Lee & Herring merchandise was released around this time too, in time for the Christmas cash-in period. A recording of a live show from the tour made its way onto BBC video, an edited compilation of the radio incarnation of Fist Of Fun was put out, and a tie-in book was released. Shortly after the third radio series aired, Fist Of Fun burst back onto BBC2, this time as part of the prime Friday night comedy line-up going out opposite the Channel 4 American heavyweight of the time, Roseanne. It performed well in terms of ratings, but suffered from lack of budget (a third of the previous series), timescale (the series was only commissioned the previous November), and advertising (the BBC's trails for the show were minimal). However, as rushed as the production was, the material and performances in the show were certainly up to the same standard as the previous year's outings. Regular contributors to all three series included Kevin Eldon, who performed as a one man supporting cast throughout the radio series, and brought hobby king Simon Quinlank to life; Peter Baynham was a collaborator of note who provided his character "Peter" to the Lee & Herring universe; and a revolving door of female contributors - including Sally Phillips, Rebecca Front, Jo Unwin, and Ronni Ancona.
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