Comments on: Guest Host Syndrome

By: NM

NM — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:18:20 +0000

The Now Show from 7/7? I imagine the effective thrust of the limp-wristed liberalism on the show is that We All Had It Coming?

By: Bobsy

Bobsy — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:48:40 +0000

I listened to some old Now Shows last night, circa 7/7 bombings. I was amazed at how much funnier they were. I’d always assumed that the Now Show was forever the runt of the litter, but now I’m less certain. Perhaps… perhaps even John Holmes was capable of being not-rubbish.

By: Fat Zombie

Fat Zombie — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:38:14 +0000

*of

By: Fat Zombie

Fat Zombie — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:37:29 +0000

Great. Now I feel bad for enjoying the recent series’ or ISIHAC and the Now Show.

Won’t you let me enjoy ANYTHING, you sour-faced lot? If not these, then what is there to enjoy? I’d like to know what I should be enjoying instead.

By: Pace

Pace — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:15:09 +0000

Calm down a bit, the pigeon scene is surely going somewhere. As all the rest of that caprica stuff must. Have faith! If we hold out till next week, I’m sure we’ll see that that pigeon is an angel from god or a harbinger of death or a harbinger of life or a harbinger of small city dwelling birds or something. But yeah I wish they’d get around to the business of letting us know what’s going on.

(sorry, me no tweet, yet see your updates over yonder and feel need to reply…)

By: John Walker

John Walker — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:31:26 +0000

I’m really surprised by all the ISIHAC love. Between Barry Cryer’s lousy showing off, Tim Brooke-Taylor’s painful pretences that he’s not reading from the script handed to him, and Graeme Garden’s clear boredom, I don’t know how it can be anything other than excruciating. Jeremy Hardy’s avant guarde singing was funny for a while, a few years back, but has now become yet another weary piece of repetition.

But most of all, it’s the screeching stupidity of the audience that makes it too awful to listen to. A few years back, when there would be a gleeful whoop at the announcement of Mornington Crescent, I was on board. Now the same Pavlovian hollering happens at the naming of each and every tiresome round. Shitting themselves with convulsions of pleasure because it’s sodding Swanny Kazoo – good grief, it’s worse than Any Answers for making me want to release a lethal bacteria across the entire country. Screaming like 13 year olds at a Jonas Bros. concert because they’re going to torture us for up to ten minutes with One Song To The Tune Of Another. No. Just no.

Someone explain to me how that programme is possibly defensible.

By: EGTF

EGTF — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:07:41 +0000

I think the beeb relies on the captains Merton and the hateful Hislop to be the anchors of the show rather than the host. I’d rather they had a stable host, though occasionally I like the choices they come up with like Tom Baker. Buzzcocks is different nowadays but immensley enjoyable on a whole new level. My favourite moment has to be Simon’s retort of “I’m a jew!” to when that woman threw water on him saying “Christ compells you”.

For the radio I do still quite like the news quiz and the now show, as well as the unbeliveable truth and does the team think. Just a minute I think is the best of them but that’s just personal opinion, ISIHAC I could never finish listening to. If they’re so afraid of people not liking the new host why dont they create a new programme with a similar format, as opposed to filling dead men’s shoes.

Entirely unrelated but it amuses me when people get so riled up about Clarkson, as that’s pretty much the point of his humour. He’s not good off script with banter though, it’s really his rants and absurd statements that make him amusing.

By: Bobsy

Bobsy — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:15:50 +0000

Can’t agree with you on your smashing of Clue, but you’re spot on about the whole guest presenter thing. It’s utterly irritating. Everyone – EVERYONE – thought that Alexander Armstrong was the ideal host for HIGNFY, but the insistence to keep a rotation meant it just meant we got filled up on Jeremy Clarkson and a slew of retired news anchors, who the writers thought it hilarious to have deliver low-grade innuendo.

And lest we forget, it was the rotation on HIGNFY that elected Boris bloody Johnson to the office of Most Powerful Tory.

To be honest though, the era of the panel show is fading. Simon Amstell is perfectly funny on Buzzcocks, but he’s not hosting a talk show, not a panel game. HIGNFY lost its edge a good seven years ago and even Mock The Week is starting to look like it’s stagnating.

If New Clue turns out to be utterly awful with its guest hosts, just think how much worse it will be when Nicolas Parsons pops his clogs. There’s no way the Beeb will let Just a Minute die, which should have happened some time ago.

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:34:14 +0000

When John goes on holiday RPS should have a series of “Guest Walkers” taking his place writing gaming entries for the site. Such as Murray Walker.

By: Masked Dave

Masked Dave — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:25:17 +0000

Since when did two occurrences SEVEN YEARS APART count as a syndrome? Your anger bemuses me.

Personally I like all three presenters and am looking forward to being able to enjoy each of their goes.

It’s a half hour of chuckles and smiles on the drive home from work, it is possible to just switch to something else if its not for you. Like I do every Thursday for that bloody awful Old Harry’s Game.