QI

Have you ever been watching a game show and thought, "what would it be like if the host just lost control and the celebrity panel took over?" Of course you have... we all have. Well, QI takes that premise and lets the humor fly.

There are right answers which get a couple points, glaringly obvious and often actually wrong answers that get points ripped away, and the main point of the show: Quite Interesting tidbits that get lots of points.

Stephen Fry stumbles through the questions, obviously reading them off of a prompter that is too far away, and completely knows when to just sit back and when to drop his own QI bits in.

Unfortunately not available in the US, this British show is refreshing, wonderfully staged, and a delight to watch.

It is obvious that like another British 'game show,' "Have I Got News For You" this program is shot over a period of many hours and edited down to the best parts. But who cares!?!? The point is not who wins or loses (generally the ongoing panelist, Alan Davies) but how many laughs we get per half hour and how many things you can learn by watching.

Pray for DVDs full of this or at least having BBC America pick it up.

With lots of references to British culture, lifestyle and history, it is a difficult-to-translate show. But if you watch it in English and with a British mindset, there is nothing like it: smart, interesting, truly funny (and not prudish at all).

Davies and Fry are a lovely couple of hosts to watch, and the panelists are also quite funny (I like Hall and Jupitus very much).

It is a very entertaining show, with lots of interesting pieces of information which are simply funny (though probably extracted from a questionable use of sources and statistics, but it really doesn't matter because the whole show is hilarious).

I happened to watch it at a friends' and I didn't expect it to make me «laugh», just to entertain me with interesting stuff. However, to my surprise, it was funnier and wittier than many comedy shows. I laughed my heart out! Warning: It is not a «family show» unless you openly talk to your children about adult matters. References to sexuality, gay life and double entendres abound, but always in a subtle, witty way which does not strike as vulgar in general.

Kudos to Q.I.! Do not miss this program if you can!

I miss the XL versions of this programme, they were so much more fun, but I suspect you can have too much of a good thing & this IS a good thing.

Sandi Toksvig is genuinely one of those people who seems to enjoy her work, I hope she does as I thoroughly enjoy watching her. I'm going to be controversial and suggest Sandi is better than Stephen Fry, who to my mind was less giving to the women.

Each programme gives an opportunity for the 'contestants' though just what is at stake is hardly worth mentioning, to shine in some form.

There is a real mix of people, ages, sexes, sexualities etc.. This gives scope to all viewers to latch on to various parts of the programme. General Ignorance is a great section, especially when the obvious answer, is, for a change, the right one!

Sit back, relax & laugh. BTW, spoiler alert, you may actually learn something as well! Blue Whales rule!

Stephen Fry, as per usual, is involved in one of the funniest and most entertaining shows on British Television. After Blackadder and the like what can one expect from him? This programme is not just funny it is indeed, Quite Interesting(sorry for the pathetic pun). If anybody has ever wondered what noises frogs make, how many wives Henry VIII had, or the why Plato was called Plato, you must see this programme!

My friends and the whole of my college, after me watching it, know what snippits of information have been on the programme because i make sure that they are told the best bits. I advise any power-crazed factophile to watch this at the earliest opportunity (Thurs BBC2 10:00, BBC4 10:30)!

I love Stephen Fry and have never found him to be smug and up himself! He often has the p*ss taken out of him on QI and obviously enjoys it as much as we do. He is a real genius and his mimicry (particularly of Robert Robinson) is brilliant. He is always at pains to point out that he does not know everything and his "helper elves" are supplying him with the facts. Alan Davies plays the idiot to SF's brainiac wonderfully too and the programme works because of their relationship. Other panellists worthy of note have been Jo Brand, Andy Hamilton ,Sean Lock, Jimmy Carr, Rich Hall, Bill Bailey and just about every guest that has taken part. It must be quite daunting to be witty and funny among the talent that turns up time and again for this show. My wife and I watch QI as often as we can when it is on and still enjoy the ones we have already seen over and over again. I always feel I have been educated, amused and thoroughly entertained and informed. As a lover of trivia this programme suits me down to the ground- it's almost perfect in every way. I am always amazed at how quickly the 30 minutes go by and cannot wait for the next one. It should run and run for ever. Kudos to the one who devised this great piece of TV.