The Bubble Page 2

It was okay, but throw a stick at the TV and you'll hit twenty shows like this. Most of them feature David Mitchel too. I'll probably watch again, though.

That wasn't too bad I thought, a touch on the dry side maybe, but that's obviously what they want or they wouldn't have chosen Mitchell to host it. Has potential, but half hour is too short, it needs to be longer, like QI.

Quote: zooo @ February 19 2010, 10:56 PM GMT

I heart David.

Thank you Laura.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ February 19 2010, 11:01 PM GMT

That wasn't too bad I thought, a touch on the dry side maybe, but that's obviously what they want or they wouldn't have chosen Mitchell to host it. Has potential, but half hour is too short, it needs to be longer, like QI.

QI is only half an hour. That's clever and funny though.

I don't think this is a good show. It's too similar to Would I Lie to You - which also features Mitchell and also feels a bit dated.

The contrivance far outweighs the potential for spontaneous humour here for me.

David Mitchell is a great Talent, but the BBC haven't found the right vehicle for him. I feel the same about Victoria Coren who is great doing Only Connect on BBC4, but was even better when she made a couple of documentaries a few years back - sort of like Dawn Porter but with brains.

I feel that this show could be far better in weeks in which some truly bizarre front-page stuff has happened.

The first episode was saved for me by Reg constantly mocking David and getting away with it.

It's definitely one where the format slightly gets in the way of the humour - I'd agree the funniest moments were when Reg took David Mitchell to the cleaners and back again!

And the fake news stories varied wildly in plausibility - some of the earlier rounds were rather good (I hadn't been in a bubble, and I got some of the rounds wrong) - but Frank pointed out the one about Christmas and crucifixion made no sense whatsoever, and the Jordan and Alex Reid getting divorced had to be false, on the grounds you have to married for a year before you get divorced - they could only get it annulled currently.

On the other hand, I chuckled heartily throughout it, so it was doing something right.

Thought it was quite good, if a bit wobbly in the format. But I chuckled throughout.

Quote: Chappers @ February 19 2010, 11:23 PM GMT

QI is only half an hour. That's clever and funny though.

I think he was refering to the fact that QI, like HIGNFY has an extended repeat, which is 45 minutes long.

I thought it was alright. Not the most LOL show I've come across, but let's see how it develops.

Quote: Leevil @ February 20 2010, 12:45 PM GMT

Thought it was quite good, if a bit wobbly in the format.

There didn't seem much point in locking them away for a week, why not just use foreign news items? More should have been made of their isolation to justify it.

I like it, but Coren came across as unlikeable.

I'm seriously considering contacting the Monopolies and Mergers Commission over the comedic protectionism going on at the BBC. These panel shows are starting to eat themselves and once again I get to see the Beeb piss away my license fee on half arsed formats starring the same old faces, telling the same old jokes with hosts, team captains and guests all being totally interchangeable and tediously ubiquitous.

I'd like to see a legally imposed moritorium on the following comedic performers from hosting or appearing in panel shows ever again -

David Mitchell, Reginald D. Hunter, Rob Brydon, Jimmy Carr, Sean Lock, Clive Anderson, Hugh Dennis, Jason Mansford, Dara O'Briain, Jo Brand, Jack Whitehall, Marcus Brigstocke, Rhod Gilbert, Lucy Porter, Alexander Armstrong, Jack Dee, Frank Skinner, Alan Davies, Lee Mack, Sue Perkins and Ben Miller.

If however, you are a budding Television Producer and want to make your own panel show - just choose any three names from the above list and make a pun around the word 'News' and as if by magic, the BBC will throw thousands of pounds at you.

Renegade, it is just a panel show. They're hardly the pinacle of great art. Merely low cost, low risk programming.

Quote: Nogget @ February 20 2010, 2:25 PM GMT

There didn't seem much point in locking them away for a week, why not just use foreign news items? More should have been made of their isolation to justify it.

I like it, but Coren came across as unlikeable.

I'm glad they didn't concentrate on the house Big Brother stylee. That 10 second clip of it was a little too much for me.

The premise of them being sent to 'The Bubble' for a few days is completely shat upon with the lack of any footage or even particular mention of it. I don't know if they actually do go and lock them up somewhere but that aspect of the show/concept/format just felt like a massive lie.

I do believe it, but I'd like to see a couple of minutes of them in the house. I mean, two of them were comedians, I'm sure they could easily have found some funny moments to show us.

They did show clips of Frank Skinner cooking an omelette, and Reg and Victoria chatting each other up. Was it just me who detected a definite frisson between the pair? They even held hands at one point, so they must have bonded in that bubble. Thought Mitchell handled the barbs from Reg very well, he's not afraid of seeming sensitive and slightly effete and vulnerable, he's a total breath of fresh air from the laddish stand up types we usually produce.