📺 Sunday Edition: Comfort Viewing

A guide to my cure-all genre: British Comedy Panel Shows

Good morning. Hope you enjoyed Jess’s True Crime solo episode on Thursday! I’m coming to you with a very different genre that just so happens to be my favorite type of TV to watch on weekends. These are the perfect shows to keep the Sunday Scaries at bay and to play in the background while you fold laundry. Welcome to my unofficial guide to the glorious world of British Comedy Panel Shows.

– Jenni Cullen

In Today’s Issue:
The BCPS genre, explained
Five picks to get you started
Taskmaster | Would I Lie to You? | QI - Quite Interesting
Big Fat Quiz | 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown

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What is a British Comedy Panel Show?

I preach the gospel of the British Comedy Panel Show to whomever will listen. It’s a beloved genre in UK television that hasn’t historically had a clear-cut equivalent in the US. The closest examples I can think of in the American entertainment universe are Whose Line is it Anyway? or Wait Wait...Don’t Tell Me! on NPR.

Photo: Taskmaster, Channel4

Essentially, panel shows are game shows where the hosts and participants are well-known comedians and public figures. While the competition element provides structure, the real draw is the half hour of good-natured banter, riffs, and comedy bits woven in. These programs feature a unique brand of amiable, roving conversation that is hilarious, often endearing, and always entertaining.

If you’re a fan of the Great British Bake Off, picture the guilt-free bliss that GBBO provides and multiply it by a whole universe of these panel TV shows. If you didn’t know about this genre already, trust me. Your life is about to get so much better.

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My Top 5 Picks to Get You Started

1. Taskmaster

Competition level: high
Keywords: antics, critical thinking, strategy

Greg Davies hosts with sidekick Alex Horne in this innovative competition series. Five comedians are pit against each other to compete in ridiculous (and often seemingly impossible) tasks. Each season features a new set of hilarious contestants which means the chemistry and jokes of the group are ever evolving. It is truly an excellent and joyful show and I encourage you to use an episode to pull yourself out of a funk on some particularly gloomy Sunday evening.

Watch: the first eight seasons are available in the U.S. for free on YouTube.

2. Would I Lie to You?

Competition Level: High
Keywords: wit, quick thinking, interrogation

If you like parlor games like Spyfall or Mafia, where success is based on either lying well enough to not get caught or being able to sniff out a well-crafted fib, this show is for you. Rob Brydon moderates as two teams compete, asking questions and watching body language to determine if outlandish statements are true or false. The participants can’t see the statements ahead of time, so they won’t know if they’re reading something that actually happened to them or something the crew made up for them until the very last second.

An American adaptation of Would I Lie to You? finally came out this year with Daily Show veteran Aasif Mandvi as the host. I’ve seen an episode — seems like they’re still getting their sea legs for the style, but it was enjoyable!

Watch: clips and full episodes available on BritBox or YouTube.

3. QI - Quite Interesting

Competition level: low
Keywords: niche trivia, intellectual, history

QI is the least competitive trivia game I’ve ever experienced. The host – previously Stephen Fry, now Sandi Toksvig, – asks guest panelists specific questions, often with incorrect obvious answers. They play for points...but not really. Instead of succumbing to the cutthroat pub quiz vibes you’re probably used to, the contestants of this show often goof around and learn collaboratively. It’s silly and fun and very informative. The seasons also follow the letters of the alphabet, so presumably there will someday be 26. Right now they’re up to ‘S’.

Watch: clips and some full episodes available on AcornTV or YouTube. Seasons 9-12 are available for free with ads on Tubi Seasons 11-19 are available on BritBox.

4. The Big Fat Quiz

Competition level: medium
Keywords: pop culture, trivia, team chemistry

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year and The Big Fat Quiz of Everything each have one episode annually, and I look forward to them every time December rolls around. The former features trivia specifically from events in the 365 days prior while the latter features questions about, well…everything. There are also specials of The Big Fat Quiz for every decade starting with the ‘80s. In every iteration, Jimmy Carr poses questions to three teams of two, and his interactions with the comedians, as well as the teams’ internal bickering and antics, are a prime source of entertainment. My favorite contestant pairing of all time has got to be Richard Ayoade and Noel Fielding.

Watch: all full Quizzes are available on YouTube.

5. 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown

Competition level: low to high (depending on the contestants)
Keywords: word and number puzzles, corny humor

Countdown is a classic British game show that alternates between rounds of mathematic reasoning and word smithing — first the teams must use randomly chosen numbers to reach a goal integer, then they must reorganize randomly chosen letters in an attempt to make the longest word. Cats does Countdown combines this premise with comedy sketches and banter. It’s like a mathy, wordy, comedy variety show and I love it so much.

Watch: a few seasons are available on BritBox, while most full episodes are available on YouTube.

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Upcoming new releases:

• Conversations with Friends: Released today, May 15 on Hulu

• The Time Traveler’s Wife: Premieres today, May 15 on HBO Max

• Angelyne: Premieres May 19 on Peacock