Friday 11th July
I used to really love “Have I Got News For You”. You know, back in the old days when Angus Deayton held court between Ian and Paul. The script-writers were probably the same as the ones they use today, but somehow it was the straight-faced delivery of Angus that made me laugh. Is it me or were the comments a bit more daring, a bit more satirical; or is it that we have scraped the barrel so thoroughly that only soggy wood is served up for us today. The show was incredibly successful and ran for a few years until tragedy struck. Angus was exposed in the tabloids, prostitutes and cocaine I believe though I never actually read the muck that was raked up. Embarrassment all round and the BBC dropped Angus. Maybe it would have been more daring, more in keeping with the ethos of the show to have kept him in the chair. A novel solution was adopted of having guest presenters. This worked for a while, but apart from a few like Jo Brand this idea has palled. Angus was the perfect foil to the big-headedness of both Ian and Paul. I have tired of the tiredest of tired shows and hardly bother to watch it today.
When Mock the Week began I suspected that it would be a weak imitation of HIGNFY. I was wrong. Although the format wasn’t revolutionary, it was still basically a panel show, it was instantly irreverent, and more importantly very very funny. The best bit is the finale where all six (mostly male) comics had to compete with quick one-liners on a chosen subject such as “Things you wouldn’t want to hear at the Olympic Games”. Hilariously they try to cap each other with brilliant jokes. The host Dara O’Briain is brilliant with his sardonic comments and obvious joy at some of the jokes. I suspect that the panel do actually know the subjects before the show, but even so it knocks the socks off Have I Got News.