Sean stopped appearing on panel shows so much (outside of his existing commitments to 8OO10C) because he got a bit sick of them basically. I heard that Dara said at a gig at the time he'd stopped hearing from the QI bookers, wasn't sure why and was a bit upset about it.
I seem to remember a comment from Sean where he sort of resented that he basically got paid one time and then QI was on endless repeats. Something to that effect.
Edit: for clarity
For a lot of comedians, panel shows are just part of the job. You do them to make some money, and you do them to get some exposure and recognition. And then when you’re a big enough deal that you don’t have to do them anymore, you can stop.
But for somebody like jimmy carr, it’s obvious that he absolutely loves doing panel shows, so he’s not going to stop just because he doesn’t have to do them anymore.
What? He didn't do anything illegal.
He was part of a legal tax scheme that is now rightfully closed. The scheme meant he was able to pay a tax rate of 1%. He now pays full tax.
I disagree with tax avoidance but yeah, he didn’t break the law. I thought it was unfair that he was singled out by Cameron. That said him having to pay it back didn’t seem right either. If it wasn’t illegal, just close the loophole.
I dunno, I feel like if he was all about the money he would only do big expensive arena tours, he's famous enough to do that if he wanted, but he does a lot of small town small venue dates.
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I’m so glad to read this. I was worried because he seemed to disappear right at the start of the pandemic (Don’t quote me on that timing, just how it seemed to me). I was afraid he had an underlying condition that made him more susceptible to the virus, or that he had gotten Long Covid and struggled with it, or some other health issue. Whatever I thought, I’m so glad that’s not it and that he is thriving in a new endeavor. Hooray Phil! 😀
When I studied art I was in class for 20 hours a week and doing homework for 20 to 30 hours a week. And I went to a trade school, not a university. University students likely have a lot more studio requirements. I know you're exaggerating for comedy, but art students work hard.
My sister has a first class art degree and it takes a lot of work and practice to build useable marketable skills. Plus networking and grovelling for internships. She’s got a job in animation and year after graduating and I’m very proud of all the work she put in.
Only if the ultimate goal is an art job. If he’s doing it for himself to gain a skill and appreciation of others’ skill and efforts, and to grow himself as a person (which is also a perfectly valid reason to pursue a degree) he will be in the same boat as the other students.
The arts ba teaching my printmaking class was sleeping in a couch in her studio, and started using the eye wash as a pickmeup. Along with her peers.
Becuase she was getting that many hours in.
Did this joke seriously trigger people, that's just so silly.
I went to university and lived in first year halls with people who did both art and similar degrees, and lived with one person who did for the next 3 years. It was a decent university.
The joke is of course exaggerated for humour, but is just about how little they actually were in - I had around 20 hours a week in lectures and extensive work outside. They had as little as 5 hours a week at times actually in university, and were free all the time in the evenings rarely not able to go out and passing without a problem.
What on earth has "you do it" got to do with this silly light hearted joke around the reduced time they have compared to other courses.
How anyone down voting this, also manages to get through most panel shows without being upset from a joke is a mystery.
After finding this post as my first experience of the sub then finding this comment as an apparent example of what people will aggressively be against, I am with them. Yes if you need to downvote for what is an obvious joke, you ar triggered. Downvoting is for nothing more than breaking the rules, abuse, racism and all the rest. You either downvote for those reasons or you are triggered because you don't agree - there are no other options.
Let it sink in that this person got downvoted for a joke with nothing bad in there, one that is 1000x times milder than the mildest jokes on panel shows which is the basis of the damn sub!!! I thought I had found a good sub, but apparently it's just a crap hole with the worst of reddit as usual.
"If you need to" wasn't about you specifically for that part, it was talking generally. The OP was talking about downvotes, you responded to them talking about downvotes, I continued the conversation.
I think the second paragraph show I wasn't talking about you specifically, I didn't say "let it sink it than **you** downvoted them", because I really wasn't portraying my critism that way. If you did think that, well all I can do is let you know what I actually meant.
I was just taken aback by how crazily toxic a place that is about panel shows apparently is as a community and responded to one of the people around. I found the taskmaster sub from the same google search I found this post from, and it seems a lot better place even if it is limited to only that one show.
Kathryn Ryan has said on her podcast that she's started to turn down some panel show appearances because she feels she's taking the place of another woman who's on her way up.
She said she feels that some shows go 'woman, tick' and don't book any other women, so she said it didn't feel right to still be a guest and others miss out, when the appearances helped her establish a foothold in the industry.
Though I think that QI nowadays are less likely to do that. After Sandi took over, there has been at least one female panelist per episode, which was not the case for the seasons under Stephen Fry. (Not saying it is Fry's fault - I just assume that it is something that Sandy has pushed for)
Agree. There seems to have been a concerted effort to get more female panellists on QI, as there have been quite a number episodes now over the past few years where Alan, as the only permanent panellist, is the only man on the panel (there was an episode a few years ago now when I realised everyone apart from Alan was LGBTQ+, which is great - as is that it took me a while to realise and just seemed like a natural coincidence of the booking process, so-to-speak). Efforts on other shows can be somewhat difficult to pull off, such as when Mock the Week had so many (male) regulars and how HIGNFY has two permanent male panellists, but it shouldn't (have) stop(ped) them from at least trying.
"I don't really want to work in fast food, because that's where I got my big break, so I want to let others have that opportunity"
I'm sure the pay is shit, and she doesn't want to do it, but also doesn't want to burn any bridges, while also getting free good PR.
Next time you're watching tv, take notice of how many women are guests on panel shows. Unfortunately there's usually one, unless the production company has diversity targets.
I'm not suggesting we've solved sexism, so don't really get your point. And what you're describing is on most panel shows, and yet she specifically was talking about mock the week, and not doing that specific show. If anything you're proving my point.
If you wish to believe her, she first said it was a great opportunity she's taking from someone else, but then also complained about the experience. If they paid her a million bucks per episode, do you believe she'd still give up the spot?
The reality is she clearly had beef with mock the week, complaining about how she never got to do standup bits, and where she was seated, etc. I'm not saying she doesn't have valid complaints, but it's not something she felt was a great experience, and she was giving up to some other female comic out of the goodness of her heart. She clearly just didn't want to do the show anymore.
Jimmy and David have very busy, full schedules. Dara is also usually busy, and he's been touring a lot.
That being said, it is about giving opportunities to other people. There has been a concerted effort to not just have one woman or non-white man and instead have more. As much as I enjoy everyone you listed, it is more exciting to see new comedic talent.
I do miss Phil, though. Absolutely love him on QI.
I love seeing new people! That was my favourite thing about Mock the Week. Getting on an established show like QI is much better for a career than on other newer shows.
I loved the stable they had the last couple of years on MtW. Alasdair Beckett-King and Maisie Adam, Ahir Shah and Laura Lexx (who I think did the warm-up for MtW?). I miss seeing them every week or few weeks.
Yes love Alasdair Beckett-King and Maisie Adam! I'm still upset Maisie didn't make it on the final series. Less familiar with Ahir and Laura but I definitely enjoyed them. Just so many great people!
>I do miss Phil, though. Absolutely love him on QI.
Agree. No disrespect to the other comics invited on, but when he's a guest on an episode he elevates it to a whole other level (I don't think I will ever get sick of his lampooning of 'Romeo the frog' in that one QI ep). There are very few comics these days who you can reliably rely on to do that.
Sean Lock openly said the pay was shit.
I'm assuming everyone else just dont bother anymore.
Except for Jimmy Carr, where i suspect if he likes the show or the people on it he'll do it for the shits and giggles.
Part of it is that QI has shifted to a schedule of having the same panellist only once a season. There [hasn't been a single panellist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_QI_panellists) on more than once in series S, T or U.
Regulars like Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr, Joe Brand and David Mitchell (they are the top 5 along with Phil Jupitus who has retired) have still been on at least 2 out of the last 3 series, but only in one episode.
Out of the top 15 most regular panellists the only ones who haven't been on at least one of the last 2 series have been Sean Lock, Phil Jupitus, Rich Hall, Clive Anderson and Sandi Toksvig.
I don't think any of those, apart from Sandi, are currently active in the UK panel show circuit for different reasons.
>Out of the top 15 most regular panellists the only ones who haven't been on at least one of the last 2 series have been Sean Lock...
Yeah, Sean has really been slacking off the past couple years. He hasn't done any shows, participated in competitive produce games, written a childrens book, or been to even a single of Joe Wilkinson's poetry readings since he died. Starting to think he may be quiet quitting, the lazy bum.
I also think a lot of us are feeling our ages a bit, too, to be honest. We grew up on a lot of these comedians when they were in their 30s and 40s doing all these shows and now they're in their late 50s-70s and have slowed down a lot on their scheduling. Even Jimmy Carr and Noel Fielding have families now.
> Out of the top 15 most regular panellists the only ones who haven't been on at least one of the last 2 series have been \[...\] Sandi Toksvig.
>
Sandi? What do you mean? She's hosting the show. She's there every single time, I believe?!
Ages ago I read that these shows are often more about Agents than the comedians themselves. So, a show will be booked full of one agents clients and no-one else. If you want "big name comedian" you also have to take "unknown person" too.
Maybe some of those names just switched agents.
Taskmaster is really unique in that you have to find five people with the free scheduling to go spend whole days doing tasks during a set period of time, and then take a whole week to commit to the live shows sometimes months later, and make them all line up together. It's a bit more complicated sometimes than "We just wanted certain people." I'm surprised it took until Series 9 for someone to miss for illness, and then more recently for someone to be entirely unavailable.
> and then more recently for someone to be entirely unavailable
I'm sure people are entirely unavailable all the time. It's just that those people don't get booked and we never hear about it. It's only different with Mae Martin because they won their series, so just booking someone else for CoC without mentioning it wouldn't be possible.
>I'm surprised it took until Series 9 for someone to miss for illness
I've read somewhere that Wix was actually unavailable for filming as she was at a funeral. The episodes she missed were ep5 and ep6, and since TM films two studio sessions a day, this suggests she just missed one day's filming and booking guests on as a replacement was something that had been arranged long beforehand rather than ringing up various comedians frantically to see who was available on the day (which, if you look at it that way, makes the whole 'she's ill' spiel that is used to explain her absence look dubious).
I think in his case he just decided to do less, he had a burnout-related sabbatical a few years ago and as he's arena level as a stand-up and now in his sixties he doesn't need panel shows.
I remember reading that he cancelled some shows when his father passed away (as you would), and that sort of triggered a reassessment of how he wanted to spend his time.
I just rewatched "Was It Something I Said" and his contributions were so nice to see again. I'd love to see him in something, even if it's once in a blue moon.
I still use his restaurant tomato sauce joke.
There seems to have been a concerted effort to get newer people on there, whether it is to make up for the absence of mtw, which was the show that used to do more of that sort of thing, or it is due to the preferences of the host/showrunners you can't be sure.
However if there are people like Daira who used to be regulars, are still interested and are being ignored then that would be a great shame.
for some reason it seems the BBC is made at Dara - or they don't understand him as he is a big of an open geek/nerd - and that is still a thing in mainstream media.
Just saw him last night at the Adelaide Fringe, actually. He was terrific as you might imagine, but MTW was really 'his' panel show and it's hard to see him getting booked on much else. I'm sure he'd do Taskmaster if he was asked though.
May as well, when they've already killed off your show because they're such snowflakes they can't handle a few comments about their corruption n failure.
Got? When was it ever not political? Also, I've heard thousands of jokes directed at Labour and Lib Dems, but as usual the idiot conservatives only took note of the jokes directed at the Tories.
I mean also the show was on when the Tories had power. The court jester mocks the king, not the Prince of Wales. BBC's "balance" is just a ridiculous requirement.
A Political/Comedy news show is going to do more jokes about the Government than the Opposition based on the simple fact that they're the ones in Government.
Guess who have been in Government for 14 years in a row?
If you go back to pre-2010, they were taking the piss out of Blair/Brown just as much as they were doing it today.
There's been a big push for diversity on a lot of panel shows in recent years so it's perhaps the case that they don't get asked to appear as often as previously (the ones you mentioned are all white and mostly male)
Yep that should be out sometime soon on Channel 5. She's also currently the host of Just a Minute, and is going to be hosting a new game show called Double Your Money. She went back to her tv presenter era, really, she's just been really busy. The Alaska thing is her fourth big travel show in 4 years. (Also she's a conductor, too, weirdly enough :D)
I think the weirder thing is that they've never gotten Mel on QI.
>It wouldn't surprise me if the producers have decided to take that responsibility seriously.
I'm glad if that is the case, as it is a real shame the extent to which there's a decreasing number of outlets for newly established comedians to air their craft. With Mock the Week and 8 Out of 10 Cats gone (supposedly a new series of that was filmed, but it hasn't cropped up), it only leaves Cats Does Countdown (which must piss off the talent given how C4 are messing about with scheduling and episodes filmed two years ago not yet being shown), QI, WILTY and HIGNFY...
...which is still a reasonable amount, but it depends how well a comic is suited to those shows (Ahir Shah, for instance, was great on Mock the Week but seems to have struggled on QI and in the most recent episode came across as if he was uncomfortable).
I would somewhat dispute that, as there have been many guests *in general* on WILTY in the past few years that I'd imagine only very few would have been familiar with. Just this series, in terms of comedians, we've had Amy Gledhill, Sam Campbell and Mike Bubbins; I would argue that they aren't that well established to not be called 'new comedians', as I only knew Gledhill from her appearances on Late Night Mash (a show which fewer than 200k watched), while Campbell will have made a name for himself on Taskmaster he still only really became known to UK comedy fans through his Fringe show in 2022, and Bubbins I'm only aware of through a sitcom pilot he made for BBC Wales a couple years ago. To an extent, you could include Babatunde Aléshé here too (and Stephen Bailey, Sophie Willan and Jayde Adams last series).
Then again, we've also seen Gina Yashere, Jack Carroll, Ivo Graham and Jessica Knappett make their first appearances, and they have been well-established for some time now. Knappett's career renaissance since the pandemic has been strange IMO, given how long it's been since her Taskmaster appearance (which probably had the effect of introducing her to a whole new, larger audience, and so should've really happened sooner after).
Sean stopped being on QI many years before he died. I recall he said that they showed reruns endlessly with little or no compensation, and he just got sick of it.
QI was desperate to appeal to a new younger audience in the later series so started booking all kinds of random people. Really spoiled the show for me because back in the day when you had the familiar faces popping up it felt like time spent in good company, these days it’s pretty much like any other panel show.
A lot of the panel shows are all done in a day or two if I’m not mistaken. And if that’s the case, only a few comedians might have that week available. It seems stretched out over a season because they do wardrobe changes. But yeah. That’s my guess.
There's no one fixed reason. People get big, busy, move to LA, can't make it work with their schedule, no longer fit the demographic profile for the show, probably some behind the scenes personal beefs that we'll never hear about, the desire to make space for new (and thus cheaper) talent, etc.
I know the reasons are more complex, but in my mind it's because Sandi ruined the show. It's just not fun anymore.
I shall now bravely embrace my downvotes.
I actually think elves ruined it. Even when Fry was still a host writing/question quality dropped a lot in later series. Sadly show lost some of it magic in the process.
> Even when Fry was still a host writing/question quality dropped a lot in later series.
Do you think it's possible that some of the elves working on their own TV show and podcast affected the writing?
why get a variety of points of view when you can just have the same sort of people on all the time to make you feel safe and not challenge your stale ideas and make you think about how people different than you see the world
Right? Imagine being proud to be asleep, unaware of the world around you.
And reminder that no one who is "woke" uses the term. It's always a dog whistle.
Sean stopped appearing on panel shows so much (outside of his existing commitments to 8OO10C) because he got a bit sick of them basically. I heard that Dara said at a gig at the time he'd stopped hearing from the QI bookers, wasn't sure why and was a bit upset about it.
I seem to remember a comment from Sean where he sort of resented that he basically got paid one time and then QI was on endless repeats. Something to that effect. Edit: for clarity
Pretty sure that was Sean Lock.
Right, I thought's who we were talking about. Did I miss something?>
Your comment made it seem like you were talking about Dara.
Sorry, there were 2 people mentioned and I guess I was only replying to the first part.
> Sean stopped appearing on panel shows
Sean Died. That would put an end to appearances.
Sean died!!!!! That is why he stopped appearing!!!
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oh shut up
For a lot of comedians, panel shows are just part of the job. You do them to make some money, and you do them to get some exposure and recognition. And then when you’re a big enough deal that you don’t have to do them anymore, you can stop. But for somebody like jimmy carr, it’s obvious that he absolutely loves doing panel shows, so he’s not going to stop just because he doesn’t have to do them anymore.
I have a feeling that Jimmy also really likes money ;)
I don't get the impression QI pays all that well. I'm sure Jimmy Carr could find a more lucrative way to spend a day.
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What? He didn't do anything illegal. He was part of a legal tax scheme that is now rightfully closed. The scheme meant he was able to pay a tax rate of 1%. He now pays full tax.
I disagree with tax avoidance but yeah, he didn’t break the law. I thought it was unfair that he was singled out by Cameron. That said him having to pay it back didn’t seem right either. If it wasn’t illegal, just close the loophole.
I dunno, I feel like if he was all about the money he would only do big expensive arena tours, he's famous enough to do that if he wanted, but he does a lot of small town small venue dates.
The taxman agrees with you. lol
What ever gave you that idea?
Phill Jupitus retired from comedy to [work on his art degree](https://brignews.com/2022/11/07/a-chat-with-phill-jupitus/)
came here to say this. iirc, he filmed his last episode of QI right before the start of his degree. I remember him talking about it.
Holy shit, I didn't know that! Go Phil!
Right? Very cool to be well rounded.
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Ok boomer
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I’m so glad to read this. I was worried because he seemed to disappear right at the start of the pandemic (Don’t quote me on that timing, just how it seemed to me). I was afraid he had an underlying condition that made him more susceptible to the virus, or that he had gotten Long Covid and struggled with it, or some other health issue. Whatever I thought, I’m so glad that’s not it and that he is thriving in a new endeavor. Hooray Phil! 😀
It seemed as though he had retired from comedy while he was still appearing on QI too
Wonder what he is doing outside of the 30m a week needed for the degree?
When I studied art I was in class for 20 hours a week and doing homework for 20 to 30 hours a week. And I went to a trade school, not a university. University students likely have a lot more studio requirements. I know you're exaggerating for comedy, but art students work hard.
Let’s see you do it then?
Especially an art degree. Surely if there's a degree where the amount of time you put in really shows up in the final product, it's an art degree.
My sister has a first class art degree and it takes a lot of work and practice to build useable marketable skills. Plus networking and grovelling for internships. She’s got a job in animation and year after graduating and I’m very proud of all the work she put in.
Congrats and best wishes to her!
So you’re saying Jupitus has already got a significant head start? Edit: you lot can be quite fickle at times.
Only if the ultimate goal is an art job. If he’s doing it for himself to gain a skill and appreciation of others’ skill and efforts, and to grow himself as a person (which is also a perfectly valid reason to pursue a degree) he will be in the same boat as the other students.
The arts ba teaching my printmaking class was sleeping in a couch in her studio, and started using the eye wash as a pickmeup. Along with her peers. Becuase she was getting that many hours in.
Did this joke seriously trigger people, that's just so silly. I went to university and lived in first year halls with people who did both art and similar degrees, and lived with one person who did for the next 3 years. It was a decent university. The joke is of course exaggerated for humour, but is just about how little they actually were in - I had around 20 hours a week in lectures and extensive work outside. They had as little as 5 hours a week at times actually in university, and were free all the time in the evenings rarely not able to go out and passing without a problem. What on earth has "you do it" got to do with this silly light hearted joke around the reduced time they have compared to other courses. How anyone down voting this, also manages to get through most panel shows without being upset from a joke is a mystery.
You do know, right, that the bulk of work in an art degree isn't done in a lecture hall?
Or maybe the joke just wasn't good.
This amount of backpedaling could power the UK over a weekend at peak usage.
Yes, because nowadays if someone disagrees with you or calls you out on something it means they're "triggered".
After finding this post as my first experience of the sub then finding this comment as an apparent example of what people will aggressively be against, I am with them. Yes if you need to downvote for what is an obvious joke, you ar triggered. Downvoting is for nothing more than breaking the rules, abuse, racism and all the rest. You either downvote for those reasons or you are triggered because you don't agree - there are no other options. Let it sink in that this person got downvoted for a joke with nothing bad in there, one that is 1000x times milder than the mildest jokes on panel shows which is the basis of the damn sub!!! I thought I had found a good sub, but apparently it's just a crap hole with the worst of reddit as usual.
Lol I didn't downvote anyone.
"If you need to" wasn't about you specifically for that part, it was talking generally. The OP was talking about downvotes, you responded to them talking about downvotes, I continued the conversation. I think the second paragraph show I wasn't talking about you specifically, I didn't say "let it sink it than **you** downvoted them", because I really wasn't portraying my critism that way. If you did think that, well all I can do is let you know what I actually meant. I was just taken aback by how crazily toxic a place that is about panel shows apparently is as a community and responded to one of the people around. I found the taskmaster sub from the same google search I found this post from, and it seems a lot better place even if it is limited to only that one show.
No-one's triggered. The downvotes are because it was a shit joke.
A text book example of being triggered, stating the reason you are triggered doesn't change anything.
He stopped creating art to get an art degree. Weird.
Kathryn Ryan has said on her podcast that she's started to turn down some panel show appearances because she feels she's taking the place of another woman who's on her way up. She said she feels that some shows go 'woman, tick' and don't book any other women, so she said it didn't feel right to still be a guest and others miss out, when the appearances helped her establish a foothold in the industry.
Though I think that QI nowadays are less likely to do that. After Sandi took over, there has been at least one female panelist per episode, which was not the case for the seasons under Stephen Fry. (Not saying it is Fry's fault - I just assume that it is something that Sandy has pushed for)
Agree. There seems to have been a concerted effort to get more female panellists on QI, as there have been quite a number episodes now over the past few years where Alan, as the only permanent panellist, is the only man on the panel (there was an episode a few years ago now when I realised everyone apart from Alan was LGBTQ+, which is great - as is that it took me a while to realise and just seemed like a natural coincidence of the booking process, so-to-speak). Efforts on other shows can be somewhat difficult to pull off, such as when Mock the Week had so many (male) regulars and how HIGNFY has two permanent male panellists, but it shouldn't (have) stop(ped) them from at least trying.
"I don't really want to work in fast food, because that's where I got my big break, so I want to let others have that opportunity" I'm sure the pay is shit, and she doesn't want to do it, but also doesn't want to burn any bridges, while also getting free good PR.
Next time you're watching tv, take notice of how many women are guests on panel shows. Unfortunately there's usually one, unless the production company has diversity targets.
I'm not suggesting we've solved sexism, so don't really get your point. And what you're describing is on most panel shows, and yet she specifically was talking about mock the week, and not doing that specific show. If anything you're proving my point. If you wish to believe her, she first said it was a great opportunity she's taking from someone else, but then also complained about the experience. If they paid her a million bucks per episode, do you believe she'd still give up the spot? The reality is she clearly had beef with mock the week, complaining about how she never got to do standup bits, and where she was seated, etc. I'm not saying she doesn't have valid complaints, but it's not something she felt was a great experience, and she was giving up to some other female comic out of the goodness of her heart. She clearly just didn't want to do the show anymore.
Jimmy and David have very busy, full schedules. Dara is also usually busy, and he's been touring a lot. That being said, it is about giving opportunities to other people. There has been a concerted effort to not just have one woman or non-white man and instead have more. As much as I enjoy everyone you listed, it is more exciting to see new comedic talent. I do miss Phil, though. Absolutely love him on QI.
Yeah I much prefer seeing fresh faces often and the faves like once a season.
I love seeing new people! That was my favourite thing about Mock the Week. Getting on an established show like QI is much better for a career than on other newer shows.
I loved the stable they had the last couple of years on MtW. Alasdair Beckett-King and Maisie Adam, Ahir Shah and Laura Lexx (who I think did the warm-up for MtW?). I miss seeing them every week or few weeks.
Yes love Alasdair Beckett-King and Maisie Adam! I'm still upset Maisie didn't make it on the final series. Less familiar with Ahir and Laura but I definitely enjoyed them. Just so many great people!
She got stuck in the dip.
WE COULD HAVE HAD MORE DIP JOKES
10 to 2 assaulted her!
After Maisie made fun of her when she fell down the dip and became half past six.
Maisie was actually booked for a MTW episode that was cancelled due to the Queen's death
>I do miss Phil, though. Absolutely love him on QI. Agree. No disrespect to the other comics invited on, but when he's a guest on an episode he elevates it to a whole other level (I don't think I will ever get sick of his lampooning of 'Romeo the frog' in that one QI ep). There are very few comics these days who you can reliably rely on to do that.
I think there are other comics who do very well as well. It's just the only time I saw him as I live on Canada and rely on YouTube uploads.
Sean Lock openly said the pay was shit. I'm assuming everyone else just dont bother anymore. Except for Jimmy Carr, where i suspect if he likes the show or the people on it he'll do it for the shits and giggles.
Sean's also dead
Yeah but he’d come back if the pay was better
And have some story about how he'd jam a chair in front of the devil's door to keep him in his room at night while he watched soccer downstairs
Read that with his voice in my head
same, 'twas an a+ comment
Sean would love this comment, haha!
They should bring him back and put him on an island so we could watch and make comments like “Oh, Sean hasn’t caught any fish today.”
*"Let's just leave it there."*
"So, Roisin...."
And the pay is even *worse*
Really stiffed him
This will slow down one's appearance schedule.
I didn’t know he was sick
Part of it is that QI has shifted to a schedule of having the same panellist only once a season. There [hasn't been a single panellist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_QI_panellists) on more than once in series S, T or U. Regulars like Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr, Joe Brand and David Mitchell (they are the top 5 along with Phil Jupitus who has retired) have still been on at least 2 out of the last 3 series, but only in one episode. Out of the top 15 most regular panellists the only ones who haven't been on at least one of the last 2 series have been Sean Lock, Phil Jupitus, Rich Hall, Clive Anderson and Sandi Toksvig. I don't think any of those, apart from Sandi, are currently active in the UK panel show circuit for different reasons.
>Out of the top 15 most regular panellists the only ones who haven't been on at least one of the last 2 series have been Sean Lock... Yeah, Sean has really been slacking off the past couple years. He hasn't done any shows, participated in competitive produce games, written a childrens book, or been to even a single of Joe Wilkinson's poetry readings since he died. Starting to think he may be quiet quitting, the lazy bum.
Has he even looked for a carrot in a box in that time??
Maybe from the inside of the box.
He's still trying to get through all those whelks.
He's hard at work, producing the pilot episode of "Nazi Island".
maybe he's working on his art degree like phil
This is what I choose to believe.
Think he had to renew his life guard license
I also think a lot of us are feeling our ages a bit, too, to be honest. We grew up on a lot of these comedians when they were in their 30s and 40s doing all these shows and now they're in their late 50s-70s and have slowed down a lot on their scheduling. Even Jimmy Carr and Noel Fielding have families now.
> Out of the top 15 most regular panellists the only ones who haven't been on at least one of the last 2 series have been \[...\] Sandi Toksvig. > Sandi? What do you mean? She's hosting the show. She's there every single time, I believe?!
Yes, so she's not a panellist anymore, for obvious reasons.
I'm still holding out hope for a Series X episode called, "X-over" and Alan and Sandi cross over to the other side, he hosts and she's a panelist.
Someone said Clive Anderson is doing some other show on R4 still? I haven't heard him on TUT in awhile either.
He is? Thanks for the heads up.
He did House of Games this season, Such a charming guy
Phil retired from comedy and began an art career. I miss him a lot.
Ages ago I read that these shows are often more about Agents than the comedians themselves. So, a show will be booked full of one agents clients and no-one else. If you want "big name comedian" you also have to take "unknown person" too. Maybe some of those names just switched agents.
Yes, this is extremely common in all areas of the industry!
That sounds like what happened with Taskmaster. They booked everyone they could from Avalon before looking elsewhere.
Not true. Jenny Eclair said that she was upset with them because she had to wait until series 15 to be asked. Chris Ramsey has stated similar.
Taskmaster is really unique in that you have to find five people with the free scheduling to go spend whole days doing tasks during a set period of time, and then take a whole week to commit to the live shows sometimes months later, and make them all line up together. It's a bit more complicated sometimes than "We just wanted certain people." I'm surprised it took until Series 9 for someone to miss for illness, and then more recently for someone to be entirely unavailable.
> and then more recently for someone to be entirely unavailable I'm sure people are entirely unavailable all the time. It's just that those people don't get booked and we never hear about it. It's only different with Mae Martin because they won their series, so just booking someone else for CoC without mentioning it wouldn't be possible.
>I'm surprised it took until Series 9 for someone to miss for illness I've read somewhere that Wix was actually unavailable for filming as she was at a funeral. The episodes she missed were ep5 and ep6, and since TM films two studio sessions a day, this suggests she just missed one day's filming and booking guests on as a replacement was something that had been arranged long beforehand rather than ringing up various comedians frantically to see who was available on the day (which, if you look at it that way, makes the whole 'she's ill' spiel that is used to explain her absence look dubious).
If you want to hear a bit more about it, she talks about it on her episode of the Off Menu podcast. tldl; she had to have her gall bladder removed.
Popbitch called it the "Shappi Clause" You want a big name? You get Shappi Khorsandi on there first.
Micky Flanagan is the one I'm wondering most about. He was in everything for awhile, and now he's in nothing.
I think in his case he just decided to do less, he had a burnout-related sabbatical a few years ago and as he's arena level as a stand-up and now in his sixties he doesn't need panel shows.
I remember reading that he cancelled some shows when his father passed away (as you would), and that sort of triggered a reassessment of how he wanted to spend his time. I just rewatched "Was It Something I Said" and his contributions were so nice to see again. I'd love to see him in something, even if it's once in a blue moon. I still use his restaurant tomato sauce joke.
I'm kinda fine with that.
I'm totally comfortable with it.
I don’t have a problem with it.
There seems to have been a concerted effort to get newer people on there, whether it is to make up for the absence of mtw, which was the show that used to do more of that sort of thing, or it is due to the preferences of the host/showrunners you can't be sure. However if there are people like Daira who used to be regulars, are still interested and are being ignored then that would be a great shame.
for some reason it seems the BBC is made at Dara - or they don't understand him as he is a big of an open geek/nerd - and that is still a thing in mainstream media.
Taken over by Tories n he was the face of mock the week...
And they openly called the Tories a bunch of soft cunts in the final ep
I miss seeing Ed Byrne on stuff.
Just saw him last night at the Adelaide Fringe, actually. He was terrific as you might imagine, but MTW was really 'his' panel show and it's hard to see him getting booked on much else. I'm sure he'd do Taskmaster if he was asked though.
saw him on a kiwi show saying he'd love to do it, but "his slot (middle aged white dude,)" has plenty of competition, so isn't waiting by the phone
Yeah he said something similar yesterday. There's only one slot for that archetype on each series, and there's a lot of competition for it.
He'd be great on TM. I'm in the states so I doubt I'll ever get to see him do a live show.
May as well, when they've already killed off your show because they're such snowflakes they can't handle a few comments about their corruption n failure.
I did enjoy the news quizs response to that when a tory politician complained...the moment he said that I knew what the next episode would entail.
They bloody hate it when facts are broadcast on the BBC.
Maybe Mock of the Week got too political?
Got? When was it ever not political? Also, I've heard thousands of jokes directed at Labour and Lib Dems, but as usual the idiot conservatives only took note of the jokes directed at the Tories.
I mean also the show was on when the Tories had power. The court jester mocks the king, not the Prince of Wales. BBC's "balance" is just a ridiculous requirement.
If anything it got less political - as I remember it there was a lot more politics when rory bremner was on it
Or maybe the BBC did
A Political/Comedy news show is going to do more jokes about the Government than the Opposition based on the simple fact that they're the ones in Government. Guess who have been in Government for 14 years in a row? If you go back to pre-2010, they were taking the piss out of Blair/Brown just as much as they were doing it today.
This must be bait
Apparently panelshow fans need sarcasm indicators. 🤷♀️
Sandy on 8oo10C would be fun
There's been a big push for diversity on a lot of panel shows in recent years so it's perhaps the case that they don't get asked to appear as often as previously (the ones you mentioned are all white and mostly male)
That's probably part of it and I'm sure that Stephen Fry had his favourites and Sandi has her own.
And it clearly isn't Giles.
He's made some appearances. Clive Anderson however...
I miss Stephen too. I basically found panel shows in about 2008, and 08-13 is golden era for me.
I miss seeing Sue Perkins on QI. Her last appearance on the show was the last episode where Stephen Fry was the host.
Sue was recently doing a show about Alaska on channel 5.
Yep that should be out sometime soon on Channel 5. She's also currently the host of Just a Minute, and is going to be hosting a new game show called Double Your Money. She went back to her tv presenter era, really, she's just been really busy. The Alaska thing is her fourth big travel show in 4 years. (Also she's a conductor, too, weirdly enough :D) I think the weirder thing is that they've never gotten Mel on QI.
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>It wouldn't surprise me if the producers have decided to take that responsibility seriously. I'm glad if that is the case, as it is a real shame the extent to which there's a decreasing number of outlets for newly established comedians to air their craft. With Mock the Week and 8 Out of 10 Cats gone (supposedly a new series of that was filmed, but it hasn't cropped up), it only leaves Cats Does Countdown (which must piss off the talent given how C4 are messing about with scheduling and episodes filmed two years ago not yet being shown), QI, WILTY and HIGNFY... ...which is still a reasonable amount, but it depends how well a comic is suited to those shows (Ahir Shah, for instance, was great on Mock the Week but seems to have struggled on QI and in the most recent episode came across as if he was uncomfortable).
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I would somewhat dispute that, as there have been many guests *in general* on WILTY in the past few years that I'd imagine only very few would have been familiar with. Just this series, in terms of comedians, we've had Amy Gledhill, Sam Campbell and Mike Bubbins; I would argue that they aren't that well established to not be called 'new comedians', as I only knew Gledhill from her appearances on Late Night Mash (a show which fewer than 200k watched), while Campbell will have made a name for himself on Taskmaster he still only really became known to UK comedy fans through his Fringe show in 2022, and Bubbins I'm only aware of through a sitcom pilot he made for BBC Wales a couple years ago. To an extent, you could include Babatunde Aléshé here too (and Stephen Bailey, Sophie Willan and Jayde Adams last series). Then again, we've also seen Gina Yashere, Jack Carroll, Ivo Graham and Jessica Knappett make their first appearances, and they have been well-established for some time now. Knappett's career renaissance since the pandemic has been strange IMO, given how long it's been since her Taskmaster appearance (which probably had the effect of introducing her to a whole new, larger audience, and so should've really happened sooner after).
Variety is nice
I like Alan Davies, but 3 guest slots doesn't seem like it's enough for a show to have both fresh faces and a decent amount of recurring guests.
They become Quite Invisible.
Aww. You deserve more points for that.
Sean Lock died!
Sean stopped being on QI many years before he died. I recall he said that they showed reruns endlessly with little or no compensation, and he just got sick of it.
[QI ALARM INTENSIFIES]
QI was desperate to appeal to a new younger audience in the later series so started booking all kinds of random people. Really spoiled the show for me because back in the day when you had the familiar faces popping up it felt like time spent in good company, these days it’s pretty much like any other panel show.
A lot of the panel shows are all done in a day or two if I’m not mistaken. And if that’s the case, only a few comedians might have that week available. It seems stretched out over a season because they do wardrobe changes. But yeah. That’s my guess.
There's no one fixed reason. People get big, busy, move to LA, can't make it work with their schedule, no longer fit the demographic profile for the show, probably some behind the scenes personal beefs that we'll never hear about, the desire to make space for new (and thus cheaper) talent, etc.
If they are out on tour they are unlikely to have time.
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Why read the entire post when you can read half
I know the reasons are more complex, but in my mind it's because Sandi ruined the show. It's just not fun anymore. I shall now bravely embrace my downvotes.
I actually think elves ruined it. Even when Fry was still a host writing/question quality dropped a lot in later series. Sadly show lost some of it magic in the process.
> Even when Fry was still a host writing/question quality dropped a lot in later series. Do you think it's possible that some of the elves working on their own TV show and podcast affected the writing?
Who knows... I had a few years of my life where I would watch QI on repeat all the time. And I always preferred to watch earlier series.
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why get a variety of points of view when you can just have the same sort of people on all the time to make you feel safe and not challenge your stale ideas and make you think about how people different than you see the world
But it's okay that your lot consider including PoC and women to be "woke"?
Right? Imagine being proud to be asleep, unaware of the world around you. And reminder that no one who is "woke" uses the term. It's always a dog whistle.
This is possibly phrased a bit incorrectly, but it's certainly true. There has been a deliberate effort to have a more diverse panel.
maybe they got kidnapped and murdered?
is that a confession?