They seemed to have turned it into a combination of Room 101, The Bubble and You Have Been Watching.
I think there is a problem with it being on at 8.30 because the guests can't have a proper rant. Not that they get much time.
Can't believe all the faff Skinner has to do with the levers.


A panel show must be easy and cheap to make but susly it was easier and cheaper to have one guest.

Completely agree with the time this goes out being wrong. I know the use of profanity is not big or clever but it would have been more honest if Fern had been able to say that Feng Shui is b*ll*cks.

Maybe they do a job lot when booking guests for the many panel shows around at the moment so it keeps the price down. 'Well that's one QI, a possible HIGNFY and a Mock the Week for £???'

IIRC Frank wanted to get his hand on the lever on the Graham Norton show on Friday, maybe its in his DNA now.

Robert Webb was great on this.

I like both formats. It's nice to get the one to one if it is someone who is interesting and funny, but I enjoyed the banter between the guests and Frank Skinner. (I'll leave it to Harry Hill to decide).

Final point - so Room 101 already has an extended show, why oh why are us Would I Lie to You fans still waiting for one. Maybe next series.

Not sure how they decided on the extended editions. There's the thing about classic 30 minute time slots for shows but most of these are now getting extended editions.

I don't watch the regular versions anymore so am not sure what the added content is.
On one hand I think that it's up to a good editor to snip down the show to the required 30 minutes.
On the other though if these shows are getting enough footage for the extended editions then why stick with the 30 editions?

Cheap schedule filling?

I could be completely wrong but as well as being cheap filler it might also help with selling the programme to other broadcasters.
Other channels that show BBC programmes like Dave and Comedy Central have a problem because a 30 minute programme becomes 38 minutes when you add adverts at the start, middle and end, which then makes it a scheduling nightmare. These ‘extended’ editions solve that problem because when they then add adverts that have a 60 minute programme. Just a theory…

Dave have worked their schedule to 40 minute slots for years. They don't seem to have a problem with the 9.40 or 10.20 starts.

I accept though that 45 minute programs do fit in well for them to make 1h shows such as QI XL, HIGABMNFY and Good News etc.

True, they have worked like this for years, but they obviously lose potential viewers with these ‘odd’ start times. For example an average viewer looking for something to watch at 9:30pm won’t pick Dave as they either have to watch the end of a programme that’s been on for ages or wait 10 minutes for the next one, which may then mean they miss another programme they may want to watch at 10pm on another channel.

Although TBS in the US introduced something called ‘Turner Time’ may years ago which basically had everything starting at 05 and 35 past the hour, the idea being that users are less likely to change channel is they’ve missed the start of all the other programmes on all the other channels. It lasted a good few years but was eventually scrapped.

Bottom line, it’s a good strategy to keep hold of viewers who are already watching, but has the opposite affect on viewers looking for something to watch.

I rarely watch live TV, and prefer to record what I want to see - even if I sometimes watch only 5-10 minutes behind (to skip ads).

With on-demand services, catch-up TV and the obvious stuff like repeats and +1, is it going to matter so much in the future when something is on?

I wonder what will happen in 10-20 years from now. Sure, we'll probably have rolling news channels and anything else that would likely be watched live - but for everything else, do you even need a TV channel? You can simply select what you want to view, when you want to view it - and stream it there and then. Either on a per episode basis, or the monthly subscription.

This week's ep is loads better. Skinner is clearly more relaxed - couple of laugh out loud jokes.
Plus, the guests are funnier.

That’s interesting because last weeks episode wasn’t the first to be filmed, it was the third! No idea where in the recording order this weeks episode was.

Exactly- and it's lazy; part of the soap opera cartel with ITV that's been operating with ITV for well over a decade; basically, the BBC has long given up putting effort and resources in to trying to provide alternative entertainment to ITV's soap operas.

I'm with Danny Baker on this and similar panel shows- yes, there are worthwhile exceptions, as he said- get rid of them and try harder; you couldn't try much less.

Call me old fashioned but I preferred Paul Merton.

It was definately a cosier discussion show with Merton.
I thought Dara O Briain would have been perfect to take over that format or even David Mitchell.

They fixed the levers!

Without Frank Skinner this show would die a death. His additions are sometimes the only funny part of the show.

Edited.

I agree with the Daily Mail's description - innocuous but fun.

I noticed! But the funny thing is, someone mentioned that the first week's show wasn't the first to be recorded. Maybe someone decided this week's levers should be changed to the pipe-accessory versions that we will see for the rest of the series!


This week, the massive editing effort it must take to reduce a three-hour recording to 28 or so minutes seemed more obvious. Maybe this would have benefited from a 45- or 60-minute edition, where you have loads of moderately funny stuff but few highlights.

Couldn't disagree more.

I thought "People who poo-poo the Olympics" was a bit too convenient to have been suggested, more so because the first advert afterwards featured....... The Olympics.

They have the extended edition on Sunday night.

It was ok again last night. Wallace and Millican were good.

The guest I think was the worse by far was Logan. Who told her or why does she think she is funny, witty or has a personality?



Could have had some better jokes if it was on after the watershed.
Was the condom joke in the 8.30 broadcast?

Aggrandizing, never heard of that word before.

I wonder why Skinner didn't put Moyles in, perhaps looking to be a guess on his show?

Love Packham ..... one of my secret crushes

Wow the Alice Cooper balloon man was great!