Yeah i read that on here that someone had read that cat & patrick had both been signed up to do FA 3 in the Autumn,
think it was a magazine interview about her leaving CD:UK.

Nick you brought back some memories there!

FA 1 had

30 minute BBC1 7pm show
late night BBC1 review show.

30 minute weekday BBC Choice presented by Donal? & Vanessa
The late uncut BBC Choice late night show.

Live streaming on Digital which was much more extensive
you could see if not hear the rehearsals for showdowns!

Showdown shows Friday nights on BBC1


In FA2 Lite as we know

The only BBC1 output Saturday or Sunday Showdown shows

Live streaming on Digital

BBC3 weekday Claudia show.

Tez

It'd be great if they did a highlights show every day at 6.30 on BBC2 like they did for Strictly Come Dancing..

The more i've seen fame academy as the week goes on, i can't see the BBC dropping it altogether, like Celeb Come Dancing i think they might re-invent it with some charity angle?

Make it event TV

Tez

Carrie & David at the end of live streaming were going over what a huge success this series has been & as David said not just for Comic relief but also for the programme.

That it wasn't about eating bugs or humiliating people, it was about building something & people have got hooked.

While it might be about ratings anymore but you can't get away from the fact that BBC1 beat ITV1 in the ratings on a Wednesday night for the first time in 10 years!

Tez
Last edited by Tezzer : 11-03-2005 at 10:04

does anybody think they're over doing the "look how successful we're doing" thing. I don't think the show needs to brag about how well it's doing in viewing figures, as surely the point is about raising money for Comic Relief

Also I'm a bit confused about their "beating ITV for the first time on Weds" thing, there have been several occasions in last 10 years when BBC1 has had a better Weds peaktime share (usually to do with football, occasionally a documentary or a drama).

Maybe they meant it was the first time BBC1 had outperformed The Bill/ITV drama on a Weds night

That's actually exactly what David said - that it was the first time in 10 years that the BBC had beaten "The Bill"'s viewing figures on a Wednesday night.

Steve.

P.S. I really must try to get some work done...

That's what David was saying, (sorry mentioned it in another thread on here forget to add it here) you can't blame them for trying to up the programme.

Tez

work???

what's that

so, in fact, not really derivative at all?

i'd really like to see another series - have been really enjoying this one - its proved popular, and they've addressed a few of the criticisms levelled at previous series - not least no longer having david and carrie in dual roles as teacher and judge.

the whole issue of the BBC not having derivative shows, or chasing ratings could perhaps enable FA to become the sort of show it almost was, but was never quite.

it needn't rely so much on the karaoke circle of fear thing, and could place more emphasis on the "academy" side of things. because all the stuff about seeing them develop and learn, and work together on music, learn the choreography stuff, and generally see them develop as all round performers is hugely interesting. when they work together and do group songs, its often very satisfying seeing the results - and this isn't anything you ever see on 'pop idol'.

i think ideally they could have an hour long show on BBC1 at 8 or 9 early in the week with all the academy stuff, and the performance show on a friday or saturday, perhaps with a 30 min show later on on BBC1 on another night, plus FA on 3 with claudia, with a good balance of bonkers claudia stuff, bits from the academy, and decent guests from the industry. heck, you could even tie in a serious parallel programme about the industry, perhaps following up and coming artists already going through the early career industry machinations on BBC4 maybe.

but basically, as a format, or idea, i still think it has sufficient non derivative potential to be given another shot.

and hopefully, having sorted out a few things for CFA - the new academy especially - not least having gone to all that trouble and expense already, it would surely be worth having another punt.

Iain

I so loved FA - remember Malachi & Ainslee's double act. I've never laughed so much. They should do a follow up programme on the students of each series to see where they all are now.

James Fox has just one the lead role in Movin Out on Broadway so he's not done too bad from it.

Iain very well put!

Couldn't agree more!

Tez

think we all may get what we want the way this has gone .

Iain - very well put indeed.

my personal opinion of David Sneddon was that he was very similar to Gareth Gates. I felt the most talented student in FA1 was Lemar, but obviously more people felt otherwise (it didn't harm Lemar in the long run).

Also it seemed like FA was looking down on Pop Idol/Star, when to my mind the basic concept was very similar ie: a member of the public gets a record contract

some of the stuff you mentioned above was done original Popstars, but I suppose ITV/Simon Fuller didn't think that was worth emphasing during the main shows.

I know huge numbers of people would be disappointed if FA didn't come back, but BBC is caught in a Catch 22 situation (damned if does and damned if it doesn't)

you're not wrong there!

i guess the whole thing with sneddon was that he could play the piano. lemar does have an amazing voice tho', and that i think will see him to have continued success.

i remember from the first series seeing 'keep me a secret' develop from a sketch to a fully fledged pop record - and over the two series there were a few pretty decent fledgling tunes. its a shame nothing more came from ainslie and the stuff he was doing with the guys from james. or some of the stuff pete did in FA2 such as 'secret suicide'.

so although there was the odd bit of vocal tuition on 'pop idol', it seemed far more just a bit of coaching to do well on the saturday shows, whereas with FA its far more involved with a greater long term view.

i guess it comes down to two things :

1. whether or not there's any great desire within the BBC to even do FA3.

2. whether or not they think they can do it in a way that is not perceived as being 'too derivative'.

Iain

Well the Pop Idol coaching was done by Carrie and David so I would have thought it would have been exactly the same.

I've heard Fame Academy being grouped with Ground Force and other programmes that Mark Thompson doesn't want the BBC to be doing many times by BBC News presenters - but I wonder if this is because the people in the news departments are compartmentalising FA as being a clone of Pop Idol/Big Brother because of the reality aspect.

As many here know, Fame Academy has many unique qualitys that aren't taken from other shows and based on the success of Celebrity FA2 I wouldn't be surprised to see Fame Academy back later on in the year.

Up until now, it's the refusal of planning permission for Witenhurst House that put FA on hold. Now that it has a new home in Potters Field, in the old Lambeth College building (at least until the public enquiry (http://www.pottersfields.com/) into what to do with the site is over) I hope there's a good chance for it coming back.

I went down to look at the site last weekend - it's a huge effort for a 10 day show. I fancy this is effectively a pilot for the site being used later on in the year as a venue for Fame Academy 3...

aerialplug thanks for the background!

Tez

well, yes. i_get_that.

but on 'pop idol' is was something of an appendage to the primary premise of the show, whereas on FA its a far more fundamental part of the whole show.

Iain

be interesting to know why the left Pop Idol to join FA

interesting stuff, hopefully FA fans will get what they want.

I've only posted what I have to give people 'the bogstandard facts' as I know it, the BBC can make an argument for bringing back FA and an equally good one for not.

There is nothing to stop Five, Channel 4 or Sky from picking up FA (though I'm sure read years back that C4 turned down FA).

after the success of this latest series wonder if they would turn it down if offered now

This series of Fame Academy has been hugely entertaining. The new "circle of fear" is so much better than the last one, which made it look like they were singing in a cupboard, taking Carrie and David off the judging panel has been very effective and given them more credibility as teachers, and the learning curve that was ignored in FA2 seems to have returned.

The ratings success shows just how well Fame Academy has gone down with the public, and any third series would have a strong fanbase to build on. To be honest, if all the BBC are prepared to give us is a re-run of FA2, or as tezzer rightly puts it, "FA-lite", I'd prefer it not to return. But if they would just put the commitment back into the format and really push it like they did with the first series, with the fantastic performances at the Shepperton series, the probations (which encouraged musical development in the students) and greater coverage of the live streaming, I would be absolutely delighted.

However, if Fame Academy doesn't return, I hope the BBC find a new show for Claudia Winkleman, because I think she is fantastic and her BBC3 show has been one of the highlights of both FA2 and the current series.

R-H17 - agree with everything you say - except about Claudia - she's just terrible.