And on Ian Hislop's team...

[Hawkmumbler]

I really do still enjoy QI, and don't see myself changing on that. The show just clicks, even if there's a duff line up (someone mentioned in another thread how Russel Br*nd came across as a charismatic type, check out his fairly recent appearance on that show between Noel Fielding, Aisling Bea and of course Alan and Sandi and he spends the entire show passive aggressively sniping at Aisling and sulking in  his seat) the core duo in its current incarnation and the rotating plethora of regulars and one-off guests works way more times than the formula fails it.

The Manikin Bird sequence must come into my head at least once a week and it never ceases to make me smile.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

After the Z series, they're doing ten series on each of the digits, capped with a Christmas π special. Then they'll move on to punctuation marks.

[The Legendary Shark]

A definite ending would be cool. Z is, after all, for Zenith.

Then they could wait 20 years and try to resurrect it as Q.J. (Q.K., Q.L., Q.M., etc.), which would be like Mastermind does University Challenge in Clown School with a loveable host and machine-guns. Then people could say, "things were better back then," and Q.I. will have done it's job. Again.

[Funt Solo]

Elsewhere, I don't really watch panel shows anymore. I'm ageing myself, but I went off HIGNFY during the whole Angus Deayton thing, and although I continued watching for a time, Merton mostly appeared to be bored, and Hislop was quite often rude and up himself. I assume it improved again? (That said, this is also the show that normalised Boris Johnson and Julia Hartley-Brewer, and so it has a lot to answer for.)

Hislop's defense against being blamed for Boris is that they've had lots of shithead politicians on the show who haven't become PM. Perhaps not surprisingly, Hislop blames the voters.

HIGNFY has ups and downs, but remains a favorite as one of the few places that truth gets spoken to power.

[Jim_Campbell]

HIGNFY has ups and downs, but remains a favorite as one of the few places that truth gets spoken to power.

The gleeful willingness with which they pitched into amplifying the 'Labour antisemitism' smear has rather put me off the show, TBH.

[rogue69]

QI have already recorded the U series a few months ago so it should be back soon with some interesting new guests, maybe after the Z series they might bring their " No such thing as a Fish" podcast to the screen

[karlos]

For me, HIGNFY ended when Deayton left.

[Funt Solo]

HIGNFY has ups and downs, but remains a favorite as one of the few places that truth gets spoken to power.

The gleeful willingness with which they pitched into amplifying the 'Labour antisemitism' smear has rather put me off the show, TBH.

Ah - I missed that period. I wasn't fond of the general media's preponderance on that. It didn't help that some folk were anti-Semitic, of course. Not many column inches devoted (in comparison) to the Windrush scandal, though.

[Funt Solo]

For me, HIGNFY ended when Deayton left.

You are Angus Deayton's mum and I claim my five pounds!

[nxylas]

The gleeful willingness with which they pitched into amplifying the 'Labour antisemitism' smear has rather put me off the show, TBH.

Yes, you could see a real difference in the jokes about the then prime minister and leader of the opposition. It was "friend of the show Boris Johnson was caught running out of a woman's bedroom, the scamp" vs "Jeremy Corbyn hates Jews". Remind me again, which one was actually in power?

[The Legendary Shark]

[IndigoPrime]

Russel Br*nd came across as a charismatic type, check out his fairly recent appearance on that show between Noel Fielding, Aisling Bea and of course Alan and Sandi

I don't remember that episode at all. But a chancer like Brand on a show featuring the lightning-fast wit of Bea and Toksvig and the quiet smart humour of Davies must have been tricky for him and his wordy-birdies, or whatever rubbish he ended up spouting. (I never did get the excitement about that man. His appearances on Question Time was embarrassing. It was like someone had let in a sixth-former who had a good vocabulary and thought they knew all about the world. Only he was way older than 16.)

in its current incarnation and the rotating plethora of regulars and one-off guests works way more times than the formula fails it.

Agreed. It's very rare I get to the end of an episode and think I wasted my time. The format really helps (which only came about by accident – it was supposed to be Fry's 'clever' team vs Davies's 'silly' team). It doesn't do well with blowhards and people trying to dominate. There are issues. The token 'all women' episode is painfully obvious, and female guests should 1) be increased in number, and 2) spread more evenly throughout the series. Still, it's better than nothing. And I also recall Davies rather sweetly offering to resign when Fry quit, in case the team wanted a 'fresh start'. (Naturally, they were all FUCK NO, and I'm glad he stuck around. He and Toksvig work really well together.)

Hislop's defense against being blamed for Boris is that they've had lots of shithead politicians on the show who haven't become PM. Perhaps not surprisingly, Hislop blames the voters.

That's a weaselly excuse. It was very obvious what he was for a long, long time. Hislop as a journalist should have been more cautious. The same goes for JHB. They'd probably also no doubt argue 'balance', but these are the worst kinds of people, given repeated airings on a comedy TV show. Even today, you hear people say they'd still vote for Johnson because he's a "bit of a laugh". That's his public persona. All reports suggests he's otherwise a horrible shit, and one who's a worrying combination of smart and extremely lazy – not ideal for someone who for a time was the most senior of politicians.

Naturally, his rise wasn't all HIGNFY's fault. But that show is responsible for a lot of Johnson's mainstream exposure and helping him refine his bumbling posh boy routine. (I assume people here know how staged that is. I read something from a journalist who said the first Johnson talk he witnessed was amazing. He rocked up dishevelled, and proceeded to say he didn't really have something planned. He bumbled on. Got all the laughs. The audience was eating out of his hand. He saw him again some time later. The entire speech was identical.)

[nxylas]

Naturally, his rise wasn't all HIGNFY's fault. But that show is responsible for a lot of Johnson's mainstream exposure and helping him refine his bumbling posh boy routine. (I assume people here know how staged that is. I read something from a journalist who said the first Johnson talk he witnessed was amazing. He rocked up dishevelled, and proceeded to say he didn't really have something planned. He bumbled on. Got all the laughs. The audience was eating out of his hand. He saw him again some time later. The entire speech was identical.)

That piece was by Jeremy Vine, IIRC.

[Funt Solo]

Hislop's defense against being blamed for Boris is that they've had lots of shithead politicians on the show who haven't become PM. Perhaps not surprisingly, Hislop blames the voters.

That's a weaselly excuse.

Well, I could just as easily suggest that blaming a game show is the British public's "weaselly excuse" for continually voting in Tory governments, and Brexit - and all the things that Boris represents.

People do like him, and they liked the ideas he espoused. Brexit & Boris, ultimately, are both things that England created. But sure, blame a game show.

[The Legendary Shark]

People obviously aren't voting hard enough.