5 Quizcoms every Brit needs to watch!
The British public love quizcoms, with their mix of wit and wisdom, but some are more than simple comical quizzes, some are part of our national identity.
We are a nation who love to laugh. Our stiff upper lip can’t help but tremble when presented with wit, which is why we love our quizcoms. A quizcom encapsulates everything brilliant about the British, intelligence, quick wits and banter. The quizcom is so successful almost every major comedian seems to either be a host or a team captain for one show or another. With so many quizcom out there it’s easy to see why so many blend into one another, but there are a few that stand out from the pack. These outstanding few deserve to be praised and cherished as national treasures of British culture, like a bowl of strawberries and cream balanced on a cricket ball held by the Queen having afternoon tea while watching the The Great British Bake Off.
5. Never Mind The Buzzcocks
Sitting at a mighty 28 seasons, Never Mind The Buzzcocks is one of two quizcoms on this list to currently be off the air. However, do not count that as a mark against the show, Never Mind The Buzzcocks accomplished everything it could have ever hoped for and more. Serving as a fantastic blend of music knowledge quiz and a platform for rising artists and comedians, every episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks is hilarious and, in many cases, displays a different aspect of the contestants as they relax into the familiar format. This is one I can fully recommend binged watching, in my opinion the Simon Amstell period is the best but any era of the shows epic history is worth you time.
4. 8 Out Of 10 Cats
The majority of the these shows are produced by the BBC, which is only fitting as these are British institutions, but 8 Out Of 10 Cats swings in from left field of Channel Four. Presented by Jimmy Carr with a rotating group of comedians, including many lesser know up and comers, 8 Out Of 10 Cats manages to make statistics interesting in a way my year 11 maths teacher never could. If you want to dive into the series it’s probably worth starting around season ten as earlier series can feel a little dated.
3. Shooting Stars
I adore this show, it’s bonkers, mental and can never die. Although Shooting Stars, is currently canceled for the second time in the series history I am almost certain that when the BBC find a way to inject Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer with pure caffeine without killing them it will be back on the air within a week. Shooting Stars is a quiz in the same way that Monty Python is a sketch comedy show, sure that’s one way of defining it but really it is something so much bigger. A typical segment on Shooting Stars tends to comprise of Vic Reeves operating a puppet to carry a set of firecrackers over to a contestant and then setting them of in their face. If you want to jump on board the crazy train I recommend watching the show after it came back from cancellation as the budget is slightly improved.
2. Mock The Week
A good comedian doesn’t just tell jokes to an audience instead they work with the audience, they improvise. With Mock The Week Dara O’Briain puts comedians to the test using current events to spark witty discourse and improvisation. The ‘scenes we’d like to see’ round is a particular nugget of comedic gold as contestants compete to improvise scenes in a comedic setting. Mock The Week also serves as a whose who of the British comedy circuit making it almost a right of passage for a lot of comedic talent. I recommend almost any series of this fantastic show but if your struggling for a place to start Netflix has the majority of the series in it’s library.
1. QI
We all knew it was going to come down to this. There is no series with a better place in the hearts of the British public than QI. Steven Fry and Alan Davis traverse an endless sea of useless quite interesting knowledge sparking witty banter between some of the greatest comedians and guests that can be found on any TV show. The show has now become a staple of the BBC’s winter line-up and is set to run up to one series for each letter of alphabet. Special mention has to go to Stephan Fry as his fatherly, almost school teacher-esq approach to the show has made it something more than a quizcom giving it a more relatable school room style. Any episode will leave you in fits of laughter and with a few small grains of knowledge, but if you want a place to start there is no better place than the very first series as each episode is timeless.
