QI

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!

Back in the 60s this genre was handled best on the radio by I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again. There have been several TV attempts to revive that format and this one gets it absolutely right. The best description I have seen is like a really fun dinner party. The quiz part is still central, the questions are real, the answers are real, the points scored are real, but the time is largely taken up by the banter triggered by the questions.

The questions frequently have obvious, "everyone knows", wrong answers which receive a klaxon and a big forfeit and triggering this is occasionally the point of the question.

You're sitting down for an evening with 5 really smart, really quick witted, really comical people playing the pub quiz from hell and you're along for the ride. Wonderful, and archetypally British, entertainment.

Some adult humour, some disrespectful humour, some irreverent humour, lots of good natured teasing, and you still learn something. Great.

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.

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 have often heard Stephen Fry accused of being pleased with himself for being so clever. This implies that there is something intrinsically wrong with being clever.

QI is a perfect vehicle for Fry and others to show how clever and witty they are. And why not?

You know, if I was as clever and witty as Stephen Fry. I would be pleased with myself too.

As for the complaints about the intelligence and wit being sullied by smut, remember that many of us LIKE smut. The difference between fans and opponents of smut, is that you are unlikely to hear comments on 'Points Of View' complaining about a paucity of dirty jokes. So keep the smut forthcoming please.

There should be enough facts in the world to keep this show going for a while yet.