I Found Cool Stuff -- Chapter 3: Q.I. (Quite Interesting)
For today's entry, I'll be veering across the Atlantic instead of the Pacific, and talking about a British Panel Show. Q.I., short for "Quite Interesting", is hosted by Stephen Fry, an upperclass british actor who is often described as having the "most soothing voice in the world." If you're not familiar with his extensive body of UK work, you may have heard him as the narrarator in Little Big Planet, and he also had an important supporting role in the recent "V For Vendetta" movie. He also starred in "Jeeves and Wooster" alongside Hugh Laurie of "House" fame.
The premise is that Stephen Fry poses various trivia questions to his panel of four celebrity guests. The questions are deliberately made to be misleading, strange, and difficult as all hell. The expectation isn't for the panelists to actually know the answers (although it's good if they do), but for them to be able to have interesting discussions about it. Like many panel shows from the BBC, the panelists earn "points", but more as a framing device and perhaps bragging rights than for any sort of competition. You gain points for having something interesting to say, even if it's complete bullshit (as long as it's convincing), and you *lose* points by giving predictable and obvious but *wrong* answers. The classic example being a question, "How many moons does the Earth have?" If panelist buzzed in and said "one", a siren would go off and the word "one" appears on the backdrop screen -- because technically, the earth has five moons, just that only one can be seen with the naked eye.
Fry's accomplice in all this is perpetual guest panelist Alan Davies, who acts as buffoon and instigator, stirring things up with weird commentary if the other guests are slow on the trigger. He's actually very smart, but is shockingly good at playing the fool, and is a major part of the show's charm. The other three panelists vary, although there are some actors or other personalities that are on with some frequency, like Clive Anderson, Jo Grant, and so on.
More often that not, the quiz show structure breaks down as Fry, Davis, and the panelists get into extended discussion about something related to a question. The results are funny as hell, and interestingly informative, which is entirely the point. The humor is firmly british, which means that there might be some jokes that we Americans just won't get (like a joke about the mindset of Yorkshire folk), but overall, it's very accessible. The discussion can get rather randy at times, and just fair warning for those sensitive about this -- Fry is openly gay, and completely unapologetic about it, and bravo for him, but I'd wager that American TV audiences would be somewhat shaken up with just how open about it he is. This show would not air on mainstream network tv here, more likely it would be a cable show.
Each series (or season, if you will) is centered around a letter of the alphabet, in alphabetical order. So the first set of episodes were about A, the second set about B, and so on. They're up to F or G at this point, and Fry has said in interviews that he'd like to make it through the whole alphabet if possible.
Big thanks to coeli and her housemates for introducing me to this one!
Here's a YouTube clip for folks to get a sense of the show.
The premise is that Stephen Fry poses various trivia questions to his panel of four celebrity guests. The questions are deliberately made to be misleading, strange, and difficult as all hell. The expectation isn't for the panelists to actually know the answers (although it's good if they do), but for them to be able to have interesting discussions about it. Like many panel shows from the BBC, the panelists earn "points", but more as a framing device and perhaps bragging rights than for any sort of competition. You gain points for having something interesting to say, even if it's complete bullshit (as long as it's convincing), and you *lose* points by giving predictable and obvious but *wrong* answers. The classic example being a question, "How many moons does the Earth have?" If panelist buzzed in and said "one", a siren would go off and the word "one" appears on the backdrop screen -- because technically, the earth has five moons, just that only one can be seen with the naked eye.
Fry's accomplice in all this is perpetual guest panelist Alan Davies, who acts as buffoon and instigator, stirring things up with weird commentary if the other guests are slow on the trigger. He's actually very smart, but is shockingly good at playing the fool, and is a major part of the show's charm. The other three panelists vary, although there are some actors or other personalities that are on with some frequency, like Clive Anderson, Jo Grant, and so on.
More often that not, the quiz show structure breaks down as Fry, Davis, and the panelists get into extended discussion about something related to a question. The results are funny as hell, and interestingly informative, which is entirely the point. The humor is firmly british, which means that there might be some jokes that we Americans just won't get (like a joke about the mindset of Yorkshire folk), but overall, it's very accessible. The discussion can get rather randy at times, and just fair warning for those sensitive about this -- Fry is openly gay, and completely unapologetic about it, and bravo for him, but I'd wager that American TV audiences would be somewhat shaken up with just how open about it he is. This show would not air on mainstream network tv here, more likely it would be a cable show.
Each series (or season, if you will) is centered around a letter of the alphabet, in alphabetical order. So the first set of episodes were about A, the second set about B, and so on. They're up to F or G at this point, and Fry has said in interviews that he'd like to make it through the whole alphabet if possible.
Big thanks to coeli and her housemates for introducing me to this one!
Here's a YouTube clip for folks to get a sense of the show.
Click to view