Never Mind the Buzzcocks

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.

I totally agree with everyone else, Mark Lamar is excellent as Presenter, Phill Jupitus is difficult to dislike, and SeanHughes/Bill Bailey have a great off the wall take on life .... but must add the comment, that it's usually better when "older" stars are the guests, and when they don't quite "get" what is going on, eg: Lemmy (Motorhead), who at first didn't understand what was happening, and when he did, took offence at the jokes being mostly at his expense and walked off in the last few seconds of the programme. ..... I'm not sure the title would work elsewhere in the world though, the Sex Pistols reference is obvious, but "Buzzcocks" less so. .... "Anyone got ideas for other titles for around the world ?"

Following the success of Have I got News For You, this put the panel format to a music quiz. The focus not so much being on winning or even giving the right answer but making as many jokes during the quiz as possible. The show is hosted by Mark Lamarr with two teams captained by Sean Hughes and Phil Jupitus. The rounds include connections (finding the links between two artists), intros (2 members of the team try to do an intro and the third member must guess the song), the line-up (teams must pick a `famous' musician out of a line of 5 people) and last lines (teams complete song lyrics).

The show is consistently very funny - the teams obviously have some time to prepare and are given some notice of what's coming - but it does depend on the 4 guests. Sometimes a comedian will guest and will try too hard, or a musician will not deal with the quick wits around him. But for most of the time Lamarr, Hughes and Jupitus are sharp enough to carry the whole thing themselves. The humour is quite mad - cruel and sharp - so it may not be to everyone's taste.

Overall it may not be the most original format for a show but with a good team and good guests this manages to be consistently funny. Who wins doesn't matter one bit and you do feel that everyone just wants to have a laugh. A very enjoyable 30 minutes week in, week out.

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.