Monday 26 July 2010

We're all winners in the 21st century quiz show!

If somebody asked me what kind of TV progammes I enjoy most, I’d have to say game shows and quizzes. In times gone by this might have defined me as a shallow and combative type, but these days my favourite quizzes offer witty, cerebral and satirical material in completely non-competitive style.

There’s QI, lorded over by Stephen Fry as the benign omniscient being, challenging all that we thought we certainly knew. 

In Shooting Stars, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer borrow from Monty Python and Spike Milligan to create their own 21st century version of 'zany’. 

Have I Got News For You is now a fully-fledged British institution of political satire, while Dara Ó Briain’s Mock The Week follows in that tradition, adding the improvisational flair of Whose Line is It Anyway?

Never Mind The Buzzcocks might not be the same since the loss of its excruciating host Simon Amstell, but it still serves to raise a smile as it plays with world of modern music, while Jimmy Carr’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats has improved and become sharp enough now to cut the burlesque mustard.

Watching the above I’m entertained by parody, mayhem and mirth, informed by caricature and educational truffles. Nobody in any of these shows gives a toss about scoring points or who wins or loses. 

Not sure why that makes me feel so good, but it does. Maybe there’s hope for us all.

6 comments:

Paz said...

agree with you on the quizshows, only good thing about being on the road is thst I get to watch them without argument from the 'trouble an strife'

Charlie Adley said...

Have to say I'm lucky there. On the day we moved in together, the Snapper said

"You've got the testicles - you get the remote controls!"

Not one who sits easy with simply imposing my will, my lot is made easier because she likes football, historical documentaries, David Attenborough et al; she has also been known to smile at Top Gear.

Oh, and sometimes I even leave the house and live life.

Paz said...

good to hear that you venture out now and again to see the world, hopefully get Galwayed on an odd occasion.
I've heard myths about these women you speak off, I thought that it was an old wives tale like the Faeries or the honest Politician.

Charlie Adley said...

No myth, she exists and eats chocolate. But you know how it is Paz, a game of relationship swings and roundabouts. She's as delightfully mad as the rest of them, just in different ways.

Just as well, I suppose, because she has to survive living with me. But as you've no doubt found with Mrs. Paz, there is no easy way, just the way that works best for both concerned.

And yes, getting Galwayed is still on the menu. Watch this space!

Anonymous said...

I do really exist Paz! I am Legend!
The Snapper.X

Paz said...

funny :D