The Thomanory Sketch Show

Title card

Zach Smith

The Thomanory Sketch Show is a British comedy sketch show broadcast on Toffa between 2017 and 2020. The show was presented by Thomas Thomanory, who had been in the world of comedy for months, as he mocked famous TV shows, brands, supermarkets, products, and anything else under the sun.

## History

The programme was commissioned by Thomanory in February 2017 and was soon approved shortly afterwards. Before a full series could be made, Toffa bosses wanted to try out a test pilot to see how audiences would react. The pilot aired on Toffa on 22 July 2017 at 6:30pm; produced in-house by Toffa, where the show brought at least 700,000 viewers and TV critics were pleased with the format. As a result, Toffa decided to hand production of the show to Thomanory himself where his own production company Thomanory Studios produced Series 1 of the programme.

The first series aired between 2 September 2017 and 16 December 2017 on Saturday evenings at 6:30pm. Mid-way through the series, a Christmas special was commissioned which aired the week after Series 1 ended on 23 December 2017 with a Winter special commissioned shortly afterward which aired on 6 January 2018 (also the day Toffa rebranded). After a series average of 920,000 viewers, Toffa gave Thomanory Studios the green light to produce a second series between 7 April 2018 and 21 July 2018. Afterward, a third series, as well as Christmas and winter specials, were commissioned. The Christmas show aired on 22 December 2018 followed by the Winter show on 5 January 2019.

Thomanory Studios then produced what would be the third and final series which aired between 6 April 2019 and 20 July 2019. The final Christmas Show aired on 21 December 2019. Toffa later announced on 27 November 2019 that the show would be axed as part of cost-cutting action across the Toffa network and the 1989.1 branding. The decision proved somewhat controversial despite ratings pulling over a million viewers for Series 3, and the 80s aesthetics in the branding. However, a 1-hour highlight show aired on 4 January 2020 in place of a winter special called 'The Best of The Thomanory Sketch Show'.

Although the show was axed, the COVID-19 outbreak saw Toffa air reruns of some of their older and most popular shows. As of July 2020, episodes of *The Thomanory Sketch Show* have yet to be repeated, though the channel has penciled in a planned autumn slot of reruns from series one. However, it seems since Thomanory Studios move to Comedy Central Extra has made Toffa think twice about repeating the show on their channel and might move it to Comedy Central. It was announced on 7 August 2020 that Toffa would not be airing the show any longer with reruns and possible new episodes going to Comedy Central. The show was planned to have re-runs from September on Saturdays but following the move, a replacement is currently being looked into.

As of October, a new show called The Thomas Thomanory Show started airing on Toffa after Thomanory's departure on Comedy Central Extra.

## Format

The show would always start with Thomas' signature "Hello! And welcome to The Thomanory Sketch Show, I am Thomas Thomanory." Then he tells you what is coming up on the show, after that he jumps into the first sketch.

## Pilot

The Thomanory Sketch Show had a pilot on 22 July 2017 at 6:30pm. However, the logo was much different than what it was changed to. The show had an opening sketch about Thomas heading to 'get' some food from the cupboards, then he falls off the chair and then says "I have to do this for half an hour!" followed by some whimpers before the pilot intro plays.

## The Sketch Show

Toffa aired an hour-long one-off version of The Thomanory Sketch Show simply called 'The Sketch Show' where various people performed sketches and even some well-known comedians as well with Thomanory presenting the show. It aired on Toffa on 28 July 2018 at 6pm and brought in 800,000 viewers. Even though the show did well, Toffa bosses decided not to renew it as Thomanory's show was still doing well and they couldn't keep hiring celebrities and members of the public. Some viewers noted a few similarites to Toffa's former late-night comedy show, Late Night Rambles.

## Sketches

- Washmooda (Panarama spoof)

- Fake Adverts (Walkens Crisps, Drinking and The Really NOT Comfy Blanket)

- BADKTV (UKTV spoof) (Examples, Beden, Lave, Tommorow, M and Yllaer)

- Teleshoppish (Teleshopping spoof)

- CCB (BBC spoof)

- Big Hand (Big Brother spoof)