i quite like the show in the main but do agree it has good/bad weeks. for those who've faithfully analysed it from the start, has it always been as manic or have they gradually turned up the manic dial as the series have rolled by? reason i ask is i feel they could actually calm it down slightly and it would still be fun and distinctly different from the normal/daily show.

i tend not to like the joe sections, sometimes funny sometimes not. for me, that part of it needs canned.

i tend to still like the rachel riley sections and i've occasionally thought audience members at the front left seating section i.e. corner beside rachel must get pretty good views ... and i ain't talking letters or numbers

History is one of those subjects where you don't need to have a particularly high IQ. Just being of "above average" intelligence, i.e. in the range 105-120 will be enough. Once you are over the boundary of not being a moron, being more intelligent isn't going to help you do better at your history degree, even at Cambridge. There is nothing particularly taxing on the intellect in it. The ability to write good English is about the only thing you really need, and most people I met at university didn't even grasp that particularly well. The rest of it is just proportional to how much effort you put in.

As it happens, if you read David Mitchell's autobiography, while he was never an idiot, he never did particularly well at school. From an early age he put most of his effort into drama and theatre, and at Cambridge this became even more true. He put all of his effort into the Footlights and various stage productions, as well as going to the pub and trying to get an agent for after he graduates. One year he neglected his studies so much (essentially doing nothing at all for the whole year) that he was nearly thrown out, and only through talking to a professor who happened to like him, did he stay in.

In my experience you have to be way above average in everything in order to get into Cambridge and Oxford. Any of the top universities in fact. They demand straight A*/A right across the board.

Yes that is true, but what does an A grade mean? It means you can store and regurgitate information. It discourages critical thinking which is a true measure of intelligence.
Any idiot can regurgitate information

That rather depends on the subject.

Have to say that most 'idiots' I know don't have any A grades.

Another Beardy & then the Teeth!!

You need to have A Levels appropriate for the type of course you want to do as well as good grades in GCSE level English and Maths. You certainly don't need A Level Maths to study History, just a pass at GCSE Maths. The A* grade at A Level has only existed for a few years, it certainly didn't exist when Mitchell did A Levels.

The very fact that he has written an autobiography shows he has some facility with words. Much of his humour is based on it, too. For that reason it's reasonable to expect him to be better than average at a word-based game.

His explanation of why he isn't was shrewd, I think. He probably has a bigger than average vocabulary, but he's about the words rather than the letters. In the same way that a mathematician might be good at visualising 5 dimensional spheres, but not very good at arithmetic. I also suspected that if he wanted to be good at it, and worked at it, he would get good. It is the sort of game where practice helps, and there are teachable techniques that help.

i think there was one celeb from cambridge on there not too long ago and he sucked.

I'm surprised that Jimmy Carr went to Cambridge, he always seems pretty dim to me.

Much better this week without Joe Wilkinson, but Jimmy said that he was on holiday, so it looks like he will be coming back.

Agree.Loved the music.

It is the last episode of the series next week (3 of 3) - It is time this show was put to bed, it has become rather stagnant and predictable.

I had to laugh at Joey Essex, How is he even able to function in society? I assume his IQ is lower than his shoe size!

At least he's not on next week as well. But I do agree, much better without him this week.

If they could have just had someone else in Dictionary Corner we could have actually had an entire episode that I could have watched without fast-forwarding chunks of it.

Ahh, but how long do holidays last? You might as well ask how long is a piece of string...
I still think his appearances on Celebrity Squares will take priority especially as ...Cats is filmed in Manchester (ref.>www.sroaudiences.com) and CS is recorded in London (ref.>http://www.applausestore.com/mobile/...s2.php?id=2865).

It feels a bit like they've run the format into the ground now - we've been having a series every other month and we've only had one run of the proper show this year!

I was relieved to get a break from Joe Wilkinson as it does feel like his bit in particular has gone beyond its natural lifespan.

Alex Horne! Fantastic!

I can't work out whether Sean Lock and Jon Richardson are genuinely bored rigid or it's predominantly an act. Either way, it sucks a bit of the life out of the show for me.

I think they should use the Joe Wilkinson section as a showcase for new comedians from now on. If they are rubbish, no matter, they won't be back the following week.

He's mostly playing up to an act now, because that's the source of his 'fame'

He was kind of rumbled when they asked him why he had a watch if he couldn't tell the time (I presume the watch was analog)

Love this show, Although I would love to see a shake up,
Maybe have Rachel and Susie as captains then have Sean and Jon do Dictionary corner along with the the numbers and letters rounds.

Is it bad that I find Joey Essex more amusing than most of the actual comedians they have on the show though ?

Would love to see Nick on the Show as well.

Also maybe have Sean and Jon pair up for a season to see who can beat them.

They could go against

Vic and Bob
Baddiel and Skinner
Jedward
Chuckle Brothers
Also Lee Mack and Rhod Gilbert are great additions when ever they appear.

At the end of the series if they have won more than they lost they get to dunk Jimmy in a tank of water or if they loose overall they have to do a forfeit of some sort.

Just to shake it up a bit and make the individual games seem more important.

I actually really like the idea of Jon & Sean teaming up against others. Like The Chuckle Brothers could be comedy heaven. Or against two established comedians. That would make it interesting.

I think as a "one off mashup show" Cats does Countdown has gone on far too long now. I prefer actual 8 out of 10 Cats - can't remember last time it was on now!
Alex Horne was good though - Wilkinson is getting very old now.

I don't know what the viewing figures are in comparison with each other but the spin off has effectively taken over from the parent show.

Much better with Alex Horne and I thought Joey Essex did ok. Again, sometimes when you get people like that e.g. Danny Dyer, it can work and sometimes they are better than established comedians.


I do agree though that I think they are being OTT with Cats does Countdown and should limit them to a few specials a year and get back to the [proper series.

From the looks of it this Friday's episode is Jo Brand and Vic Reeves on teams.

Adam Buxton (The Youtube Comment Guy) back in Dictionary Corner and by the looks of it Rachel Riley's assistant is Rob Beckett (So probably some gag about who Joe Wilkinson sent to replace him is on the way again).