They are paid astronomical fees for appearing on the show, so you think they'd at least pretend to look bothered

They are not paid astronomical fees for appearing in the show.

Obviously not, judging by the talent they attract. Such as an obscure comedian from New Zealand (I just looked her up) who is on tonight's show.

Do you have inside information then?
What does Paul Merton get?

We pay his wages so it could be online somewhere but reading this URL http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...-20-years.html
Fourteen years ago they got £12,000 a show and while no one will confirm the current stipend, £40,000 per show is not far off the mark for the duo described by Boris as 'the demigods of the tart rejoinder'.

It was a good episode I thought. Unfortunately Paul Merton was very lively, so we weren't treated to another page of people whingeing about bored he looks or how dialled in his performance is.

The fact that you can cite last week's input from him as "very lively" does inadvertently prove that most of the time he phones it in!

What do you call astronomical?
£40,000 has been suggested- if true it's obscene!

Lively in comparison to how he normally is. Paul can be a bit quiet nowadays, but the same complaints over and over again are getting tiresome.

The amount of Corbyn-bashing tonight is ridiculous.

Paul looks very stern when the camera went on him at various points tonight. Does he usually get on with David Mitchell?

Like when the boss you hate at work tells a bad joke and you have to try very hard to smile.

Oh and did that women who was on Ian's team actually speak?

There was. Teresa May didn't get away lightly either.

Are you referring to the regulars or the guests? Quite a few MPs appear so easy to find out what fee they got. I doubt very much that it is £40,000.

Surprised that they resisted the temptation to use the infamous picture of Chris Bryant in his Y fronts.

Yes, we could have done with a bit more.

Well Rose Matafeo was completely useless.

About the money thing, I'm surprised HIGNFY doesn't have more high profile guests, it seems to get fewer than it used to, considering it is the most watched panel show on TV.

So maybe the money isn't that much.

I wonder if it has a reputation of being a hard gig, you have to be well aware of current affairs, and be on point. On something like Mock the week, you can quickly twist the news story into a bit of your stand up routine and don't have to be as sharp.

The woman 'panellist' may as well have been in the audience....total waste of time, shouldn't even be given the fee for her appearance.

If you read the Daily Mail article very carefully you will note that the reference to £12,000 and £40,000 is NOT a quote from anyone connected to the show - although it's been discreetly placed in the middle of quotes from the former producer.

Rather than being informed quotes, these figures are actually part of the text written by the Daily Mail reporter. We cannot rely on their accuracy.

Oh, the hilarity.

Why? Isn't it a satirical program? Surely all sides should get a bashing, and they did. I was in the audience yesterday and had a great time, then tonight after simply tweeting about how much I enjoyed it and how much I enjoyed David in the chair I was tweeted abuse by a Corbyn supporter then subsequently blocked for doing nothing. The sad thing is I joined the Labour party to support Corbyn and David Mitchell is left wing. I've followed his career for many years and I know it to be the case, he made it pretty damn obvious tonight with his quips against Cameron and May. It's crazy if Corbyn supporters are going to act this way and aren't able to take a jokes and satire, they end up attacking people who would otherwise support them and in no doubt a few cases turn them away.

The odd thing about many of Corbyn's supporters is they seem to be completely uncomfortable when he's the centre of attention. If they hear one word that isn't totally positive (such as humorous satire), they move in for the attack like a pack of wolves.

I suppose that's what comes from supporting a politician who's spent his entire career invisible on the backbenches. They're not used to suddenly being in the spotlight.

Corbyn receives no more criticism in this programme than any other main party leader.

This series seems so flat, maybe it's coming in after the brilliant Wilty, with some of the same guests but it's just not happening for me this time. Paul actually seems to be trying too. Maybe it needs some better guests e.g. Ross Noble, Bill Bailey, people who are reliably funny or mix the politicians up, I mean I didn't but the majority of the country did support Brexit after all.

I said to my son after the show that they could have picked a random woman from the audience to be on the panel and she would probably as been as much use as that New Zealand comedian.

Given a choice between the two I'd still choose HIGNFY over Would I Lie To You, even though the latter has more laugh-out-loud moments. It must be a very difficult format for unknowns to slot in to, but they must feel obliged to vary the panellists from the few who are known to really thrive in that kind of improvised format.

I agree it needs proper guests again, bad series so far which is a shame because series 51 in spring was one of the best in a long time.