Never Mind the Buzzcocks

2 teams of celebrities make their way through various musical games & questions, though the real challenge of the gameshow nowadays is, quite clearly, withstanding the inevitable onslaught from host Simon Amstell! I only began watching this programme in 2000, but knew instantly it was a winner. With memorably funny rounds such as the Intros round, and of course the line-up, it never failed to disappoint.

Mark Lamarr was a great host for the show, interacting well with the teams, and sometimes having a snipe at one or two! Unbelievably Amstell has managed to keep this momentum going with his own wacky twist on proceedings. Likewise, team captains Phill Jupitus and Bill Bailey are always game for a laugh, and not forgetting the down-to-earth style humour of former captain Sean Hughes. They can tend to stray a long way off topic, though, deeming certain sections of the programme pointless. Simon serves as a great successor to Mark for his bitchiness and incredible wit. Very entertaining.

OMG r u taking the mickey man this show is hilarious, Simon Amstell is such a witty guy! Also it is mainly a comedy and its 4 people who like good music and a good laugh. How can u say the people "think" they are funny, of course they r funny Noel Fielding is the biggest up and coming comedian in the whole of the UK and his show is quickly becoming a cult classic. I'm not even trying 2 be harsh but u have a screw loose what do u find funny then?! I strongly advise people to ignore the comment written before this, I must say I'm open to people's opinions and perhaps the show is not for him but the reasons for his dislike are terrible! Simon Amstell actually makes me laugh out loud, if you like wit and prefer to steer clear of slapstick comedy then watch this. Granted there are some guests who do continue to dwell at the slapstick end of the scale but in general it is good English comedy with the use of language and avoids broad comedy with which to appeal to the masses.

It's one of BBC 2's longest running serieses and no doubt as it's

funny and still is to this day.

Everyone's perfect for it. You can't imagine anyone else presenting

it than Mark Lamarr, Phill Jupitus is hilarous and Bill Bailey is

superb, outshining the former team captain before him, Sean

Hughes.

The rounds certainly create great games to play at home. Guess

the intro, opening lyrics.

One disapointment is when Mark Lamarr goes too far. Like giving

certain famous people death threats and making some quite

mean jokes.

Other than that, a verry funny show. May it continue.

The only show to literally make me fall on the floor with laughter. I see all these complaints about an OTT laughter track, but I would swear that really is the audience reaction - it's certainly what I'm doing at home. From the early days of Mark Lamarr, Sean Hughes and Phil Jupitus, right through to the current line-up, it has remained one of the sharpest and funniest shows ever.

Of course, Buzzcocks has had its share of problems. It lost its edge a little towards the end of Lamarr's reign; having done the show for 10 years he was getting bored and working on autopilot. Happily, after he left, the show got revitalised with the arrival of Simon Amstell, and bounced back with a very different but equally strong style of hosting.

It's now common knowledge that Buzzcocks is pre-rehearsed, and that Sean Hughes left for frustration with this 'fake' aspect. To me this barely detracts at all. Far better to have a few pre-prepared answers than everybody floundering around in silence. Who wants the intro round ruined by performers muttering "I don't know that one"? Yes, they practice first - let it go. Furthermore, though I love Sean (and his accent), his replacement Bill Bailey is an even better team captain.

Do they take things too far sometimes? It's certainly remarkable how much they get away with - countless celebrity death threats, the punishment of naive guests (amazing that only one has walked off), and of course the infamous Courtney Love joke among many other controversial moments, would be cut from most other programmes. Gentle types will wince at times, but those of us with a cruel streak truly revel in it. The trio say all the things we want to but either don't think of or don't dare to voice.

Best of all, the show is for music lovers and music dunces to enjoy alike. Whether you know exactly what they're talking about, or whether you're completely at sea, Buzzcocks is always hilarious.

Regardless of how long this show has gone on for it is so consistently hilarious that it's one of the few things on T.V. that I actually look forward to watching. Mark Lamarr is king of mocking people and I love the games they play like "Guess the intro" and others which in all fairness are just prompts for some popular and more amusingly 80's music stars(the show which Pete Burns was on with his hideous - surely joke plastic lips that even Melanie Griffiths would wince at was hilarious!!) to make fools of themselves in an entirely good natured setting. I wasn't entirely convinced that when Sean Hughes left (who was very very funny) that the show would be able to continue but Bill Bailey gave it a new lease of life and the chemistry between him and Lamarr is often responsible for the funniest parts of the show. I hope it goes on for another few years because for as long as it does I will be watching.