The 5 Best British Comedy TV Panel Shows
The Comedy Panel Show is such an institution within British television, it’s hard to imagine a world in which the following shows never aired or airing on Dave 8 years after its original broadcast. The Comedy Panel Show brings the brightest and funniest individuals together in one studio and lets the cameras roll. The format involves friendly banter between comedians to downright character assassination combined with topical news questions, giving the panels a lot of material to work with. There is usually a quiz master and a point scoring system that nobody pays attention to. It’s not about who gets the most points, but rather who gets the biggest laughs. In no particular order, these are my top 5 British Comedy TV Panel Shows.
- 8 out of 10 cats
We start our rundown with 8 out of 10 cats, a weekly panel show that looks towards opinion polls, surveys and statistics. The show comprises of two opposing teams, both of which having team captains, and different celebrity guests each week. The different teams battle for points by correctly answering questions based on the results of the different polls and surveys. Jimmy Carr has been the quizmaster for the show since its debut in 2005, whilst a number of different team captains have taken up the role, with Rob Beckett and Aisling Bea being the current team captains. The title of the programme is a nod to the Whiskas advertising tag-line ‘8 out of 10 cats prefer Whiskas’, which is in keeping with the shows poll theme. The programme also has a spin-off being ‘8 out of 10 cats does Countdown’, in which the two teams play the classic TV game show Countdown.
2) Never Mind the Buzzcocks
The now defunct Never Mind the Buzzcocks was a panel show in which the current state of rock and pop music was laid down on the chopping block, along with sarcastic humour and scathing attacks on some of the celebrity guests that appeared, including Preston from the Ordinary Boys storming off the show. The most well-known segment of the show is when the two members of each team get given a song to perform with no instruments, and the remaining member has to figure out what song it is, leading to some very funny improvisation. The show’s title is a spin-off from the Sex Pistols debut album Never mind the Bollocks, here’s the Sex Pistols. The first episode aired in 1996, but the BBC sadly decided to stop the show in 2015. However, you’ll be able to find a lot of old episodes on YouTube.
3) Mock the Week
Mock the Week is arguably the most well-known panel show, combining traditional panel show questions, stand-up and improvisation. Since its debut in 2005, the show has been hosted by comedian Dara O’ Briain and has been home to the nation’s most-loved comedic performers including Frankie Boyle, Jack Whitehall and Michael McIntyre. The content of the show heavily relies on the news over the past week, hence the show’s title, ranging from major international news stories to less newsworthy and somewhat trivial regional stories. Like most panel shows, the show comprises of two rival teams who are competing to have the most points. However, even the host isn’t entirely sure on how the point system works even though he is the one who awards them and on more than one occasion, Dara has pleaded to the audience to stop e-mailing in about the elusive point system.
4) Have I Got News For You
Since its debut in 1990, Have I Got News For You has often been held responsible for creating a growing demand for panel shows in this country and is held in high-esteem as one of the greatest of the genre. With its satire heavy look at the news, on more than one occasion the comedians on the show have been accused of libel and slander, making it arguably the most controversial show on this list. Have I Got News For You continues to have an incredibly diverse panel list, including politicians, journalists and other public figures alongside British comedians. Due to the show’s incredible longevity, there has only been one constant throughout and that’s the Private Eye editor Ian Hislop, a figure who’s highly regarded in the world of satire. The format of the show consists of different rounds, including rounds on different Tabloid headlines and a missing word round. A must-watch for those who enjoy a good old-fashioned swipe at the news.
5) Big Fat Quiz of the Year
We end our rundown with the Big Fat Quiz of the Year, which happens to be a pub-quiz style panel show which looks at all the major events over the past 12 months. The show debuted in 2004, with Jimmy Carr being the host every year since. The show comprises of three different teams, made up of two celebrities/comedians and an electronic board in front of them in which they write down their answers, scoring a point for each correct answer. The Big Fat Quiz, due to its annual appearance, is usually two hours long and has an incredibly strong line-up of guests, including Jonathan Ross, Russel Brand and Richard Ayoade among others. Alongside the pub quiz format, every year the children of Mitchell Brook Primary School in London act out a news story in traditional school play style, making for a very heart-warming sequence and a great way to end the year.
