8 Out of 10 Cats

This is a comedy panel game about public opinion and recent events. It was originally shown on Channel 4, then moved to More4 and is now on E4.

Every episode is hosted by Jimmy Carr. Each of the two teams has a captain and two guests. The captains have been Sean Lock, Dave Spikey, Jason Manford and Jon Richardson. The current captains are Rob Beckett and Aisling Bea.

How good it is varies a lot, depending on who is on that episode. Some guests are good, but many are awful. Aisling Bea is the best of the captains.

Most shows up until the recent series are pretty good. Jimmy Carr and Sean Lock in particular. However, it has been utterly ruined with the introduction of Rob Beckett as a captain. Now about as funny as pulling teeth, giant shiny teeth at that. No wonder the viewing figures are through the floor. Won't last long now I wouldn't think unless they get shot of Beckett.

Since this panel show mostly concerns current events, the episodes feel old pretty quickly. Many of the jokes rely on the audience having news stories in fresh memory, so as those memories have faded, the jokes no longer work.

The quality of guests varies greatly, and conversations between them can feel a bit forced. Still, latest episodes can be worth catching if you're into making fun of current affairs.

The one old episode I'd recommend is S13E09 - the tax avoidance scandal.

In 2005, Channel 4 launched a brand-new panel comedy series called 8 Out of 10 Cats, featuring opinion polls and statistics.

It was hosted by British stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr, who was the perfect host for this series, with him showcasing his quick wit and snappy one-liners whilst not overshadowing the guests.

Alongside Carr, one of its team captains was the late Sean Lock, who joined it from the beginning, and comedian Dave Spikey, who left the show after Series 4. Spikey was then replaced by Jason Manford, who joined in Series 5 before leaving in Series 10, and was subsequently replaced by comedian Jon Richardson.

Carr, alongside Lock and Richardson would later do 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, which they would later focus on full-time, causing Lock and Richardson to leave the main 8OO10C show at the end of Series 18. Carr would remain as host for the remaining of the show's tenure, but the show would garner new team captains.

Enter Rob Beckett and Aisling Bea, who were frequent guests on 8OO10C and Catsdown, who joined as team captains in Series 19. Around the same time, the show moved to More4.

Bea would leave the show at the end of Series 20 (which moved to E4 starting with this season), leading to guest team captains in Series 21 before Katherine Ryan, who also frequently appeared on the main show and Catsdown, joined the show as a permanent team captain in Series 22.

As of now, the show has sadly ended since the last episode aired in January of 2021, with its spinoff Catsdown continuing to air on Channel 4.

Has this show been cancelled? I hope not. It has been well over 2 years since the last episode came out and there has been no mention of a season 23 of this show anywhere. It's not like Channel 4 has forgotten about this show, there are still many repeats of it on E4 Extra and the like, but it's getting quite boring and I'm sick of rewatching old episodes of this show that, frankly, just don't hold up anymore these days. It honestly feels as though the spin off to this show - 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown - is completely overshadowing the original (this show) and as such they just can't be bothered putting out any new episodes of the original, which is honestly just so annoying.