Very interesting news about the planned BBC3 series, Popetown, being cancelled (free reg. req’d – or read the BBC statement here).
I’m actually pretty pleased about this. Not because, as someone who was raised a Catholic, I can see that a savage and witty comedy about the Catholic Church would be fine if done well, but because I think it’s double standards – some religions are easier targets than others. You could argue that the Vicar of Dibley ridicules the Church of England, but it’s more a lampooning of some individuals who happen to be churchgoers (and follows in a long tradition comedy TV vicars). But this isn’t a sitcom with some funny characters, one of whom’s a vicar. It’s about a Pope and his entourage – the head of the Church, and reportedly quite juvenile in its humour. If it was more sophisticated, would it be better? I don’t know, and really, without viewing the material, I can’t tell.
But I think the big question is, would the series have been commissioned if it was set around Judaism or Islam? Absolutely no way. There’d have been an uproar of “biblical” proportions.
There shouldn’t be any “sacred cows” in comedy, but the key thing is to do it fairly and do it right.