Ask me… nothing

Down in the bowels of daytime telly, amid the re-runs of Quincy and the terror that is Trisha, is an odd place to look for little TV gems. However, this one has the cult following written all over it and is probably already the essential daily viewing appointment in student digs up and down the country. At the heart of the action (for want of a better word) is the legendary Mr Noel Edmonds, and the format is staggeringly simple… 22 sealed boxes each containing a value between 1p and �250k, of which the contestant owns 1. He/she then selects a few of other 21 boxes to discard, as they are discarded they opened to reveal which value is contained. Every so often a mysterious “banker” makes an offer for the contestant’s box and Mr E asks “Deal, or no Deal?”. There’s no trivia questions to answer and no confusing game-play… it really is simplicity itself, and in reality the whole thing could be done and dusted in 10 minutes. However, the tension is built with Millionaire styl-ee music and some faux musings from the over enthusiastic players, which makes the whole experience surprisingly watchable.

Eggheads, or “How to make people want to punch you!”

It has been my misfortune of late to be at home in the early evening watching the BBC2 quiz show, Eggheads. Now the format is okay, well, I mean it’s not Millionaire but it’s passable for a Q&A type show. The problem is the Eggheads themselves… all TV quiz champions of some renown and collectively very knowledgable in the art of trivia, but they are the most annoying, self-righteous bunch of know-it-alls I’ve ever seen. Instead of answering a question with the answer as normal human beings woiuld endevour to do, they insist on explaining their reasoning in the most patronising manner known to man. It makes you scream at the telly…. perhaps this is the intention, but with Countdown and Deal or No Deal as the competition at a similar time of day, Eggheads come a distant third. The only appeal is the Formula One Syndrome, you only watch to see if they crash and burn.

The inimitable Boris presides

It takes something quite special to run for 30 seasons…. count ‘em, 30: I couldn’t quite believe it either. It’s not so much the cutting edge satire and the laughing at political faux pas that makes “Have I Got News For You” so watchable, rather it is the comfortable predictability of it. The cycling through of presenters, since Angus Deaton’s ignaminious departure, has only highlighted the scripting of the gags rather than having them seem somewhat spontaneous. This may be why Boris Johnson’s glorious turns in the central chair are becoming such a highlight. His bumbling, foppish personality are hardly suited to the TV studio, and some may argue that they are not that suited to the political world either but that is not for me to comment here. Lambasted by the opposite ends of the “man-of-the-people-spectrum” that are Ian Hislop and Paul Merton, Boris becomes the butt of the jokes and yet maintains dignity. Great viewing.