# Why are the Brits so in love with panel shows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-brits-so-in-love-with-panel-shows/642730 "2012-12-02T03:37:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-brits-so-in-love-with-panel-shows/642730/21 "2012-12-02T21:06:24Z")
> [@Charley](#): > > …I cannot listen to _Just a Minute_ because the host, Nicholas Parsons, make me stabby. Humourless, pompous arsehole, hate him at an unreasonale level. Perfectly understandable. I wanted to kill him watching _Comedy World Cup_. > [@Smeghead](#): > > IMHO, British comedians are actually clever and witty, able to produce spontaneous banter funny enough to make a show out of. Americans are not. And yes, it is [sadly true.](http://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/) To our credit, we knew enough to dump the unfunny Rich Hall on the Brits. I forgot about _Whad’Ya Know?_ which has been picked up by the local Socialist station after years of being on our National Communist Public Radio outlet. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-brits-so-in-love-with-panel-shows/642730/22 "2012-12-02T21:18:19Z")
> [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > I’ve always assumed there were two, interlinked reasons for this. Until very recently US television comedy tended to be very sentimental, simplistic, with tiny pools of satire adrift in a tide of glurge. Something like _Have I Got News for You_ wouldn’t work in the US, where there isn’t a tradition of intellectual, informed satire; a US version would either be utterly toothless or basically two lots of people shouting Drudge Report headlines at each other. Although there certainly is a healthy tradition of both highbrow and lowbrow political satire in Britain (mind you, there is in America too), I see virtually no evidence of on HIGNFY (and only faint traces on Mock the Week). Those shows are mostly empty banter. Furthermore most of the other British panel shows have nothing to do with satire or politics at all. The main British comic tradition they tap into is the “low comedy,” sexual _double entendre_. The nearest American equivalent of HIGNFY (actually a ripoff of BBC radio’s _The News Quiz_, of which HIGNFY is the TV version) is _Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me_ on US public radio. In my opinion it is a lot smarter and funnier than either of the British shows (although its audience share is miniscule by comparison). > [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > In general, Americans have a curious, puppy dog faith in their government and state, which defies satire. :eek:Have you ever heard an American conservative, or even a fairly apolitical but slightly conservative-leaning American, talk about their government? About half of America apparently believes that their government is at war with them, and will only vote for candidates who claim (usually falsely) to be political outsiders with no experience in government, and who promise to do their utmost to reduce the government’s power and its influence over their constituents lives. A large proportion of Americans hate and fear their government (even when teh party they voted for is in power), unlike the British, who only hate the party in power (or perhaps the opposition party, if they are very strong supporters of the party in power). You will find _plenty_ of evidence of this if you ever venture into the **Great Debates** or **Elections** sections even of this (by American standards) very liberal (which, in America, means, roughly, “welfare statist”) message board. > [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > They also worship famous people in a way that we don’t in Britain. Look at any tabloid newspaper or magazine rack in Britain. There is _plenty_ of celebrity worship here too. Having lived for a long time in both Britain and America I would be hard put to say that celebrity worship is more pervasive or fawning in America than in Britain. (Though at least America’ newspapers are not saturated in it the way that British tabloids are.) If there is a difference, it is that Britain does not have enough decent celebrities of its own, and has to fawn over American ones too! > [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > US chat shows are cosy affairs in which coddled celebrities are allowed to publicise their newest thing, whilst the sycophantic host massages their ego. This goes on to a certain extent in the UK, but the audience would quickly tire of it (the few attempts to emulate David Letterman et al - and indeed the brief attempt to show his programme over here - crashed and burned). We prefer gruffer, less respectful hosts. Which occasionally goes wrong, e.g. [this famous Parkinson interview with Meg Ryan](http://www.upstart.net.au/2011/10/06/50-interviews-just-wrap-it-up/), or Clive James with the Bee Gees.[/INDENT] > > I’ll quote from the comment at the bottom of that article, which is absolutely true: > _“Perhaps the reason Meg found the interview such a tough exercise is because celebrities such as her are to used to the empty, bland and shallow questions that American chat show hosts ask of their guests. Michael Parkinson asked intelligent questions and wasn’t only interested in the sell sell sell angle.”_ This part is largely true, but you really have not explained why it is so. [Incidentally, in my view the American political landscape might well be vastly improved if major American politicians were subjected to regular, tough and trenchant broadcast interviews the way that major British politicians routinely are. Robin Day, who instituted this tradition on British TV, and Jeremy Paxman, his successor, have done a great service to British democracy. They have _no_ American counterparts. Unlike political satire, the tradition of the tough public political interview is something America does lack, and I do not know why. However, this is getting us way off topic.] > [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](#): > > So, in summary, Britain and America have different television landscapes because the farmers and landscapers who shaped the land were bred from different stock, and grew up in different environments; the Americans were too busy taming the land to waste time making their media sophisticated, whereas Britain’s environment was tamed a very long time ago. We are in the “where shall we eat” phase, they are still in the “what shall we eat” phase. Perhaps in fifty years they will have caught up. Oh good grief! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-brits-so-in-love-with-panel-shows/642730/23 "2012-12-02T22:17:28Z")
☹ I thought **Ashley Pomeroy** and **Smeghead** were trying to woosh us. I still think\*\* Smeghead\*\* is. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-brits-so-in-love-with-panel-shows/642730/24 "2012-12-02T23:01:02Z")
Sometimes I wonder if it has to do with the fact that you guys still listen to shows on the radio. A panel show is easy to do in both radio and TV formats, unlike a lot of other shows. Even our late night talk shows use a lot of visual gags–even The Late Late Show, which is probably the most British (as the host has actual conversations rather than just allowing promotions). ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-brits-so-in-love-with-panel-shows/642730/25 "2012-12-02T23:10:12Z")
**BigT** -The fact he’s a Scot might have someting to do with that. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-brits-so-in-love-with-panel-shows/642730/26 "2012-12-04T02:42:57Z")
[quote=“GuanoLad, post:7, topic:642730”] Presumably you’ve heard _I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue_. If not, you have 40 years of episodes ahead of you.[/QUOTEI acquired by alternative means a bunch from the '80s and listened during my commute. My, that was dreadful! Not because it was topical in Thatcher’s Britain–I’m familiar enough to get most of those jokes–but because the jokes were old, tired, and wouldn’t have been funny except to people’s grandmums. As the cast is much the same, I assume it is now aimed at those same great-grandmums, though I might track down one hosted by Rob Brydon because I like him. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-brits-so-in-love-with-panel-shows/642730/27 "2012-12-04T07:35:19Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > …but because the jokes were old, tired, and wouldn’t have been funny except to people’s grandmums. I grew up with that gentle naughty humour, so I giggle at it a lot. Modern comedy for me is just a bit too crude and on-the-nose. Though perhaps that means I am now officially old. ---
**Author:** ![kbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbear)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-brits-so-in-love-with-panel-shows/642730/28 "2012-12-04T08:06:47Z")
When I first moved to London I was shocked at the language and subject matter on some of these shows…not in a prudish way but in a “wow they get away with that here?” kind of way. I’ve gradually become hooked on these shows. They have lost their bite over the years but I still find them amusing. When I was a teenager I used to fall asleep to Johnny Carson. Now I fall asleep to Mock the Week reruns on Dave. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-brits-so-in-love-with-panel-shows/642730/29 "2012-12-07T01:30:38Z")
I’ve gallantly soldiered on with my pirated _ISIHAC_ and found some that were fairly easy to listen to (request for future pirates: don’t record programs for personal posterity with a portable cassette player and a microphone held up to the speaker). I was wishing today that I was more familiar with the geography of London I so, too, could play “Mornington Crescent,” a game that could be localized for commuters anywhere. I was saddened when I found out that it is intentionally nonsensical and that it is not a game one team trying to get to Mornington Crescent while the other team, in its turn, giving the first a bum steer. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-brits-so-in-love-with-panel-shows/642730/30 "2012-12-07T01:56:10Z")
My word! There are so very many of them! > **[British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/genre/panel_show/)** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-the-brits-so-in-love-with-panel-shows/642730.md?page=1)