QI - Sandi Toksvig

[Gompo]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Gompo said:

I don't watch much of any of them these days, but I don't think' Buzzcocks and Mock the Week are really comparable with HIGNFY and QI.

You're missing my point - I wasn't comparing them on quality, but on concept. They are all comparable in the sense of relying on guest panellists.

Fair enough, yes I understand that their field of potential guests if ever diminishing compared with HIGNFY's; and that the world of media, politics and whatever moves quicker than popular music and therefore more to discuss.

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Gompo said:

'Buzzcocks never appealed to me either, was it meant for students and the type of people who like Big Bang Theory?

It was obviously meant for people far less superior than you.

So because it doesn't appeal to me it means I must think it's inferior to me? That seems a bit narrowminded. I was too thick/lazy to be a student, so no I'm not superior. Yes I am pigeonholing students (you can read that various ways), believe it or not I wasn't being totally serious.

Edited by Gompo on Sunday 21st January 00:43

Edited by Gompo on Sunday 21st January 00:45

[Morningside]

Mock the Week. Only part I wait for is "scenes we like to see". Milton Jones is running out of steam but it's nice to see new (to me) James Acaster and his style.

So much better than some of the other offerings

[FiF]

There are a number of shows mentioned that have stopped watching. HIGNFY being an example. The programme has gone firmly down the route of lazy humour based on operating in a particular bubble. Much as I dislike Farage, Trump, some of the clear idiots behind the Leave campaign, they are increasingly going for cheap easy laughs based on their studio audience bias. Hislop, in particular, has gone down in my estimation. Other examples of shows going down a similar route are available. So far QI, largely has avoided this.

[snuffy]

FiF said:

There are a number of shows mentioned that have stopped watching. HIGNFY being an example. The programme has gone firmly down the route of lazy humour based on operating in a particular bubble. Much as I dislike Farage, Trump, some of the clear idiots behind the Leave campaign, they are increasingly going for cheap easy laughs based on their studio audience bias. Hislop, in particular, has gone down in my estimation. Other examples of shows going down a similar route are available. So far QI, largely has avoided this.

That is very true.

All Paul Merton did in the last series was shout "Donald Trump is a fking idiot, I want to punch him in the mouth" over and over again. And Ian Hislop is pretty much the same (apart from the shouting bit).

[Halb]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Indeed. It's a format that really works and, as you say, has a ready pool of non-comedians.
When Never Mind the Buzzcocks was cancelled, I thought that it too was self-sustaining because there was a ready supply of musicians, but with hindsight I can see that it was not the same - because many musicians are not, by nature, that entertaining and talking is not necessarily their forté. With HIGNFY, by contrast, MPs, ex-MPs, journalists, political commentators and the like are by profession able to talk about politics and the news and they don't even have to be funny so long as they will tolerate having the piss taken out of them by Paul Merton, Ian Hislop, the guest presenter, and any comedians on the panel.
QI seems to be suffering from the same problem that Mock the Week is experiencing - a shrinking pool of comedians meaning that the same old faces pop up more often than before. Mock the Week more so than QI.

Yeah, I think is what has saved HIGNFY, as opposed to the others. I sometimes flip on MtW, but there's not really much to it, and if you don't happen to find the comedian's (from the shrinking pool) funny, then there's nothing else to invest interest in. At one point there seemed to be an explosion in panel shows, every lame option was thrown at the wall. That seems to have calmed down a bit thankfully.

[Europa1]

Halb said:

thanks to the dkitat by that pratt who was in charge and cancelled Zen.

I'm glad I'm not the only one still annoyed by the cancellation of Zen.

[Janluke]

snuffy said:

FiF said:

There are a number of shows mentioned that have stopped watching. HIGNFY being an example. The programme has gone firmly down the route of lazy humour based on operating in a particular bubble. Much as I dislike Farage, Trump, some of the clear idiots behind the Leave campaign, they are increasingly going for cheap easy laughs based on their studio audience bias. Hislop, in particular, has gone down in my estimation. Other examples of shows going down a similar route are available. So far QI, largely has avoided this.

That is very true.

All Paul Merton did in the last series was shout "Donald Trump is a fking idiot, I want to punch him in the mouth" over and over again. And Ian Hislop is pretty much the same (apart from the shouting bit).

Totally agree
This is true of so much UK tv and radio output at the moment(and maybe even PH). The constant knocking of Trump and Brexit is repetitive,boring and lazy comedy. The News Quiz on Radio 4 is more or less the same

[FiF]

Janluke said:

snuffy said:

FiF said:

There are a number of shows mentioned that have stopped watching. HIGNFY being an example. The programme has gone firmly down the route of lazy humour based on operating in a particular bubble. Much as I dislike Farage, Trump, some of the clear idiots behind the Leave campaign, they are increasingly going for cheap easy laughs based on their studio audience bias. Hislop, in particular, has gone down in my estimation. Other examples of shows going down a similar route are available. So far QI, largely has avoided this.

That is very true.

All Paul Merton did in the last series was shout "Donald Trump is a fking idiot, I want to punch him in the mouth" over and over again. And Ian Hislop is pretty much the same (apart from the shouting bit).

Totally agree
This is true of so much UK tv and radio output at the moment(and maybe even PH). The constant knocking of Trump and Brexit is repetitive,boring and lazy comedy. The News Quiz on Radio 4 is more or less the same

Don't even think of tuning into C4 on Friday night with The Last Leg then.

[Janluke]

FiF said:

Don't even think of tuning into C4 on Friday night with The Last Leg then.

As a below knee amputee myself I used to love the disability humour, it was fresh and edgy but now, as above

[FiF]

Janluke said:

FiF said:

Don't even think of tuning into C4 on Friday night with The Last Leg then.

As a below knee amputee myself I used to love the disability humour, it was fresh and edgy but now, as above

Precisely put.

[Europa1]

Janluke said:

Totally agree
The News Quiz on Radio 4 is more or less the same

My heart sinks when Jeremy Hardy is on the panel - you just know he will be fed a question which will be a springboard for a lengthy diatribe, which he delivers in a dreary voice like it's a chore. It's a real shame, as on other shows like I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, he's very funny.

[Halb]

Europa1 said:

Halb said:

thanks to the dkitat by that pratt who was in charge and cancelled Zen.

I'm glad I'm not the only one still annoyed by the cancellation of Zen.

yeah, still rankles
It was by the far the best drama the Beeb had come up with for years
but then we did get Peaky Blinders.
thankfully the pratt left

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Janluke said:

Totally agree
This is true of so much UK tv and radio output at the moment(and maybe even PH). The constant knocking of Trump and Brexit is repetitive,boring and lazy comedy. The News Quiz on Radio 4 is more or less the same

Knocking Trump? I think mostly it's just reporting what crazy he has done this week. He's pretty much killed satire as you literally couldn't make up most of the ridiculous things he says and does, as it would be too implausible.

[Janluke]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Janluke said:

Totally agree
This is true of so much UK tv and radio output at the moment(and maybe even PH). The constant knocking of Trump and Brexit is repetitive,boring and lazy comedy. The News Quiz on Radio 4 is more or less the same

Knocking Trump? I think mostly it's just reporting what crazy he has done this week. He's pretty much killed satire as you literally couldn't make up most of the ridiculous things he says and does, as it would be too implausible.

Yes of course, I'm not defending him in any way. I just feel he is over used on these shows and it's less funny because of the reasons you say. Trump provides his own material and I can't remember the last time I heard someone say anything original and funny about him

[Halb]

Janluke said:

Yes of course, I'm not defending him in any way. I just feel he is over used on these shows and it's less funny because of the reasons you say. Trump provides his own material and I can't remember the last time I heard someone say anything original and funny about him

JOn Culshaw was on TW a while back and did an extremely funny version of Trump for about 40 seconds. It was very good, confusing Angela Merkel with whomever one of the royal sorts is marrying. But he then went on to say that one can do two or three jokes about Trump but then pl switch off, it's just too boring/ubiquitous/not as crazy as what he actually does etc. So he has to be careful not to have too much Trump.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Janluke said:

Yes of course, I'm not defending him in any way. I just feel he is over used on these shows and it's less funny because of the reasons you say. Trump provides his own material and I can't remember the last time I heard someone say anything original and funny about him

Indeed. There is very little comedic value in Trump simply because he is so inherently ridiculous.