I had to look this up, but Have I Got News For You is still apparently running on BBC One. It feels like it's been on forever - and the facts confirm that: 35 years and 600 episodes. Even more surprising, the team captains have remained the same: Ian Hislop and Paul Merton. I have never liked Ian Hislop, a smug know-it-all. And the last time I saw the show, which admittedly was a long time ago, Paul Merton was old and unfunny. It was never must-see TV for me, and even less so in recent times. So why is this show on my mind? Well this weekend, an American version of the show is airing for the first time. I'm honestly surprised how long it's taken. But how successful it will be is quite another question. It doesn't help that it's airing on CNN - a news channel that I don't watch, and which many Americans don't watch (especially the Trump crowd). America doesn't have a good record when it comes to adapting British shows, especially British panel shows. Indeed there are very few American panel shows, it just doesn't seem to be a format that America wants or gets. So I imagine this American version of Have I Got News For You will not last for long, going the same way as something like Taskmaster - the American version of which lasted for one episode before being unceremoniously dumped from the schedule.
No comments:
Post a Comment