UK TV Panel Shows

General Discussion Entertainment
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I love U.K. Panel shows. I think they’re funny as hell, even if they are scripted at times. Here’s a snippet of one of the funnier ones called 8 out of 10 Cats. The name is like 9 out of 10 doctors in the U.K. so they’re making fun of bullshit TV and political tropes.

Anyways, all you have to know about this clip is there are two teams led by two captains. (Points don’t matter, it’s just a fun contrivance) Sean, the one with the glasses, is probably the most like our group of foul mouthed curmudgeons. He’s brash, not considered terribly bright, and his persona has been likened to a school yard bully. Jon is the short, brainy fucker with severe OCD. His personality isn’t an act. He’s really that anal, and he’s really very smart.

Knowing this, watch this clip. Comedy gold.

I’m really a huge fan of this genre, and if I can get even one of you fuckers exited about any of these shows, I’llnhave considered it my good deed for the year.

Here’s a snippet of Would I Lie To You, a show where one person at a time on team tells a truth, or lie to the other team and they have to figure out if it’s BS, or the truth. This fucking hilarious. (Keep in mind the one telling the story is Scottish, so you’ll have to listen closely)

And finally here’s a show that’s being remade for a US audience with American participants right now. It’s going to be good, but until then, I suggest watching an episode of the U.K. version first. This is a live version for a bunch of television muckety mucks. I wish I could have shown you a real episode with real comedians, but they’re behind paywalls. Alex Horne, the creator will explain the show better than I can in the first four or five minutes.

I bring you Taskmaster. So funny.

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Does it count if I watch and enjoy all 3 of these?

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I don’t know if you reddit it all, but to forum has pretty much all of these shows listed, and will post fresh episodes as they come out.

Some are dumb, and an American audience is never going to get it because it’s too inside Britain for any of us to make out…Chatty Man and Celebrity Juice are two of the bigger ones we’ll probably just never get.

The rest are pure comedy gold.

Watch the Big Fat Quiz of the Year on YouTube as well. Always a good laugh.

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Don’t worry, you’re picking up on all the good ones.

Chatty Man requires you to like Alan Carr and I think Celebrity Juice is fucking terrible.

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Mock the Week is also good, I think it used to be better but the last round is always good for a few laughs.

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Mock the Week’s been weak ever since they got rid of Frankie.

I prefer HIGNFY, but it really is too much inside baseball with U.K. politics for most people outside the country to care.

If I had to rank them I’d say QI is hands down the best.

Taskmaster could be considered a number one as well, but QI has a longer track record.

In third comes WILTY followed by 8oo10cdc, the regular version, and then HIGNFY.

Mock the Week maybe comes after with The Last Leg a strong eighth.

Then we go downhill. A League of Their Own, and Celebrity Juice are just crap, and shit respectively.

I don’t mind Alan Carr too much, but he gets really camp on his show and too often loses the plot… Alan Carr… too camp… who’d have thought. He’s best when he has limits.

Also, I love Gadget Man, and Travel Man. Richard Ayoade can do no wrong in my eyes.

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That is a popular opinion on MTW but I’ve always loved it.

HIGNFY and Never Mind the Buzzcocks are both good but not excellent.
The former is very politics focused, I don’t get all of it.

QI is good but less comedy and more interesting.

8oo10cdc = 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, for anyone who couldn’t translate that.
It can be amusing but sometimes the random person they have on for light entertainment between purposes is just weird.

I have only watched The Last Leg a few times and I think they discuss things a bit more seriously, so less comedy and more some entertainment.
That one is a bit closer to a chatshow.

I’ve not watched the last two. Richard Ayoade is amazing though.
Seen a few of the shows that Romesh Ranganathan has done though.

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Romesh’s new show is pretty good.

HIGNFY is good because it’s pretty daring. The U.K. has no first amendment, so while they may say they have free speech, they really don’t. Libel laws are seriously strict over there, and since the BBC is government chartered, and the government is always quick to issue D-notices and use official secrets, it can be tough to get at some news stories… Jimmy Saville cough cough.

Ian Hislop is the editor of Private Eye and he’s pretty much in the know, so when he skirts around an issue you can fill in the blanks to figure out what he’s trying to say.

The best show is when Merton was teamed up with a tub of lard, and won.

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Also, I still consider the Last Leg a panel show because they do skits. It might not be entirely a panel show, but it’s not strictly a chat show either.

This is the best Last Leg ever. Johnny Vegas FTW

Unfortunately NMTBC is dead. It’s the only show Simon Amstel’s ever been any good on, and he burned all his bridges hosting it.

Rhod Gilbert ran that show into the ground. Such an unfunny guy.

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I’m not a Johnny Vegas fan.

I haven’t watched NMTBC since Amstell, he was amazing on it - some brilliant moments there.
I’d share clips but I never know which ones will be blocked in the US…

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None of them. If it doesn’t show on BBC America, they won’t block it in the US unless it’s a drama. It’s why full shows like Graham Norton, QI before H, and pretty much every quiz show the BBC has is allowed through. Shows on Dave are blocked though.

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Most of the stuff on Dave is just repeats.

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Alan Davies has a show on it that’s blocked here. So does Greg Davies. Have you ever seen the movie Twins? I wish those two were twins like that movie. It’d be sort of the inverse of Arnold and DeVito.

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Even though I hate Jedward, and am so glad they’ve gone to pop culture heaven(or hell… I only care that they’re dead) they were comedy gold when people got fed up with them.

This is my favorite Jedward smackdown. They shit on them for the whole show, and those two idiots never really cottoned on… maybe one of them for a second, but not really.

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No. Was it funny? It looked terrible.

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Ahahahahaha

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It was meh. It’s only memorable for the purpose of my joke. Otherwise feel free to forget you ever heard of it. It won’t change your life.

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Really? You’re Canadian, right? I thought you guys weren’t really using the BBC much anymore.

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Surprised we have a European contingent. Thought we had a strict no Narnia rule.

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Well I’m not allowed to use the wardrobe but otherwise it’s OK.