The Panel

The Panel is an absolute gem; it's got the wit of "Have I Got News for You?" at its best, and not being a game-show it's not restricted to any format other than the trotting out of the guests. In fact, the guests are the only problem with the show: while most of them are fun, occasionally there'll be a guest who's undergone a humourectomy (generally a politician or a sports star).

The show also benefits from not being as obviously scripted as others in the genre; there genuinely does appear to be pure spontaneity from the panelists - an incredibly rare thing on television! Of the regular panelists, it's hard to pick a favourite: Colin Murphy is always on top form (his show The Blizzard of Odd is a masterpiece), Neil Delamare always amuses with his "cheeky kid at the back of the class" mode, and Ed Byrne's surreal raging is a joy to watch. Andrew Maxwell can at times be brilliant, but his humour misses as often as it hits. Fiona Looney... Well, let's just say that she can't always keep up with the others.

But the real star is the host himself, Dara O'Briain. The man is a true comic genius, especially when he's egging on the others! Definitely the best thing RTE have ever done.

Every Monday, i shrug off the natural downer the day causes to watch this. The panelists are consistently brilliant Dara mediates well and he is always good for at least one laugh per show.

Colin... he is just pure gold Andrew has successfully taken over from ed burn as my second favourite. In fact I'm kind of sick of ed, he has superiority issues...

Neil Delamare is consistently funny every week on it

By far the best token female is Grainne Seoige. all the others were cringe-worthy particularly Geri Maye. her and Andrew together are pure gold

I can honestly say this is the best thing RTÉ has ever created. It features some of Ireland's most hilarious comedians. Personally I feel the best pairings are Colin Murphy and Neil Delamere, and Ed Byrne and Andrew Maxwell. Pure comic genius they are. Dara O'Briain is an excellent host, much better than Colin Murphy, who doesn't let the other panellists talk enough. But luckily he doesn't host that often. Anywayz, the funniest thing about the show is that it is completely unscripted. It is literally 5 comedians speaking incoherently about the week and put a very humorous twist on everything, for example: 'I paid €50,000 and all I got was this lousy Taoiseach' said by Dara. Hilarious. The guests aren't often that good except for Jason Byrne. He isn't such a good panelist though. The best by far are Ed Byrne, Andrew Maxwell, Colin Murphy, Neil Delamere and Jimmy Carr. What's good about Carr is that the Irish jokes often go over his head. The token women are never all that good except for Pauline Mc Glynn. I would highly recommend this show to anyone as it is the best 50 minutes of every week.

While it does crack the odd good joke, the humour is generally quite dry with members of the panel frequently pulling faces or resorting to coarse language and waiting on the crowd to applaud lame enough jokes.

Unlike what an other comment says I don't think this is the best RTE have ever made, its really dry and sarcastic. Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, there are few truly funny intelligent gags that would make you genuinely laugh out loud. People seem to be convinced by the comedians well known names rather than by judging the quality of the gags which aren't really that good. Overall its mediocre with some good laughs to be had but often it can be fairly mediocre. Its not as good as Jasper Carrot or Dave Allens stuff. I find Benny Hill funnier.

"The Panel" was originally on the Ten Network Australia produced in Melbourne,Australia. RTE, to their credit, bought the format, simple though it may be, and produced a quality fun show. They could just as easily have copied it and maybe called it something different. While I have only seen one episode of the Irish version I thought it to be very fresh and well paced. I do not know any of the presenters but I look forward to seeing more of them in the future. The Australian program is a panel of, much loved, long experienced comedians and presenters. Great to see RTE served the format well and look forward to seeing more.