Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor
Encyclopedia
Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor is a British television sketch comedy
show written and performed by BAFTA Award-winning comedian Karen Taylor
and produced by Avalon Productions. The genre of the show focuses largely on sex
and contains much innuendo
. The title animation was created by Joanna Davidovich. According to Taylor's MySpace
, the BBC have decided against creating another series.
A German version of the series, called Ich Bin Boes, starring Mirja Boes, was produced by RTL
in 2008
on 11 March 2006 and a full run was soon ordered. The first series consisted of six episodes and was aired on the channel from 11 June to 16 July 2007.
A second series was later commissioned, consisting of seven episodes. It aired between 10 July and 21 August 2008. Karen Taylor has stated on her MySpace page that the second series did well in the ratings, and that she hopes there will be a third, however no source has yet confirmed that there will be a third.
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
show written and performed by BAFTA Award-winning comedian Karen Taylor
Karen Taylor (comedian)
Karen Taylor is an English actress and comedian. She is a former finalist in the prestigious Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award and has fronted her own sketch show on BBC Three, entitled Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor.Taylor studied Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick 1994-1998, where she got to...
and produced by Avalon Productions. The genre of the show focuses largely on sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
and contains much innuendo
Innuendo
An innuendo is a baseless invention of thoughts or ideas. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging , that works obliquely by allusion...
. The title animation was created by Joanna Davidovich. According to Taylor's MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
, the BBC have decided against creating another series.
A German version of the series, called Ich Bin Boes, starring Mirja Boes, was produced by RTL
RTL Television
Rtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres...
in 2008
History
The show's pilot episode debuted on BBC ThreeBBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
on 11 March 2006 and a full run was soon ordered. The first series consisted of six episodes and was aired on the channel from 11 June to 16 July 2007.
A second series was later commissioned, consisting of seven episodes. It aired between 10 July and 21 August 2008. Karen Taylor has stated on her MySpace page that the second series did well in the ratings, and that she hopes there will be a third, however no source has yet confirmed that there will be a third.
Main characters
Here follows a list of the main, most recurring characters in the series.- Karen Taylor narrates between sketches in which she attempts to complete some feat by the end of the episode, such as taking part in a cheer-leading dance-off or writing a song for charity. (Series 1 & 2)
- Un-helpful woman is on scene when an old lady has been mugged, or a friend is having marital issues, and listens to their upset, before saying: 'Well, I hear what you're saying, and it sounds to me like this...' at which point she will burst into fake tears and mock the person in a baby voice. (Series 1)
- Valerie D'Enton offers budget cosmetics advice to the "poor", giving ideas such as cutting out and taping a pair of celebrity's eyes over their own, or putting black tape on their body to make it appear thinner. The original title of this sketch was known as "Beauty On A Budget" (Series 1 & 2)
- Glamorama is a fictional current affairs show, a parody of Panorama, which is hosted by a well-meaning, but seemingly unintelligent, footballer's wife type. The host invites her similarly unintelligent friends to discuss significant matters, such as war or child labour, but none of them actually have any knowledge of the subject. (Series 1 & 2)
- Miss Harper is a divorced substitute teacher, who is desperate for sex and finds herself attracted to her male students. She finds various excuses to see their bodies by, for example, making them write lines in their underwear as punishment for wrongdoings, or by demonstrating, using the boys, inappropriate conduct in the workplace. The sketch is set in Taylor's home town, Barrow-in-FurnessBarrow-in-FurnessBarrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
in the fictional Gradwell Lane Secondary School. Dani HarmerDani HarmerDanielle Jane "Dani" Harmer is an English television actress and singer. Harmer is best known as the title character in the UK television programme The Story of Tracy Beaker/Tracy Beaker Returns, and as Molly Venables in the BBC sitcom After You've Gone...
and Jamie SweeneyJamie SweeneyJamie Sweeney is a British actor best known for playing Danny Spooner on the CBBC show Kerching!.- Career :Sweeney first appeared on screen as a 'lost boy' during Michael Jackson's infamous 1996 BRIT Award performance...
feature as some of her students. (Series 1 & 2)
- Cash Cow is a late-night quiz show, clearly modelled on shows such as Pop The QPop the QPop the Q was a British interactive gameshow which became the first live format to be commissioned by MTV for their TMF network. It began life in the summer of 2005 running for two hours on Sunday afternoons....
or The MintThe Mint (game show)The Mint was a live, late night, interactive quiz show with celebrity guests and live studio contestants filmed in a large extravagant set designed to look like the inside of a mansion. The programme, which was dogged by criticism that its questions were ambiguous and arbitrary, aired on ITV and...
. It is hosted by a stereotypical, jolly, late-night quiz host with a cash prize available. Viewers usually have to guess such things as an apparently well known phrase, the name of any album since 1950, or something that exists. Viewers call in with increasingly stupid answers, until it reaches a point where the host loses her temper. (Series 1 & 2)
- Kaz and Jen are desperate to "shock and turn on" their lager-swigging boyfriends, Kaz and Jen touch each other suggestively, whilst hinting that they might be practising lesbians who "Don't need a man!" (Series 1 & 2)
- The Tao of Taylor is offered when there is a problem, such as mother unable to get a pram on a bus, or a man unable to get an erection. Taylor appears, hands out her own brand of advice (such as "If you can't get it up... you're not a real man") and turns to the camera, smiling, and giving the thumbs up. (Series 1 & 2)
- MeMeMeSpace is a fictional website, clearly modelled on MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
, to which users upload videos in which they describe themselves. Users usually have strange characteristics, such as an obsession with collecting hedgehogs, a love for drinking large amounts of wine, dressing their cat up as HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
or a hobby that could be taken as something sexually suggestive. (Series 1 & 2)
- The Brass Lady is a party-loving backbencherBackbencherIn Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
who becomes Prime Minister after the entire cabinet dies. She clearly isn't cut out for the role and is the opposite of the other, po-faced people around her, which results in her doing impulsive things such as sleeping with someone who turns out to be the leader of the opposition or asking a BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
crew member if she can get HollyoaksHollyoaksHollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
on their green roomGreen roomIn British English and American English show business lexicon, the green room is that space in a theatre, a studio, or a similar venue, which accommodates performers or speakers not yet required on stage...
televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. (Series 1)
- "MAAAN!" When Taylor cannot do something, such as putting up a shelf or throwing a TV remote to her friend, she shouts "Man! Man! MAAAN!" at which point a man will appear and help her. Occasionally a woman will come along and offers help, however Taylor refuses as she needs a man, at which point the woman goes on to explain she is a lesbian, which is approved by Taylor.(Series 1 & 2)
- Joanna is a young, lustful woman who has married a very old millionaire, whom she seemingly doesn't care for, and is only with so that she can live off his millions, whilst enjoying herself with young, attractive men. (Series 1 & 2)
- Pre-Menstrual Girl is the alter ego to ordinary office worker Penelope. When trouble arises (such as the office being held up at gunpoint or a shop being robbed) she reverses her body-clock and transforms into Pre-Menstrual Girl, a superhero who saves peoples lives by winning the villain's hearts with her neurotic sobbing and sniping. (Series 1 & 2)
- Tits Tits Titty tit Tits A woman who is paranoid that everyone she meets just wants to talk about her "tits", and proceeds to challenge them, saying that she has a brain in her head, before calling them a "shallow, evil bastard". (Series 1 & 2)
- Woman in Nightclub A man and woman are getting to know each other in a nightclub. The woman will try to explain something, for example that she and her sister fell out because she picked up her bag of peas while out shopping, and the man won't hear, so she'll shout back, making an accidental double entendreDouble entendreA double entendre or adianoeta is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is devised to be understood in either of two ways. Often the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so: often risqué or ironic....
just as the music goes down, eg. "I picked up her-peas!" (Series 1 & 2)
- The Naive Woman and her friend are always seen watching the television and impressed with what they saw, then she will make a comment or a question that shows her misunderstanding. For example, after watching the The BillThe BillThe Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
, she asks "who's bill" and after watching Mrs. RobinsonMrs. Robinson"Mrs. Robinson" is a song written by Paul Simon and first performed by Simon & Garfunkel. When released as a single in 1968, it hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, for their second chart-topping hit after "The Sound of Silence"...
, she assumes 'Mrs Robinson' is Anne RobinsonAnne RobinsonAnne Josephine Robinson is an English journalist and television presenter, known for her assertive views and acerbic style of presenting. She was one of the presenters on the long-running British consumer affairs series, Watchdog, from 1993 to 2001 before returning in 2009...
when she asks "did she do that before The Weakest Link". (Series 1 & 2)