8 Out of 10 Cats (8 Out of 10 Cats)

Member Name: chris212

Product:	8 Out of 10 Cats
Date:	26/07/09 (105 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good host on Jimmy Carr

Disadvantages: Not as good as 'Mock the Week'

8 out of 10 Cats is the comedy panel show that could be said to be the rival of the BBC's Mock the Week, although the two are not exactly the same.

The show is hosted by the popular comedian Jimmy Carr, who presents the show in a dead pan style of comedy. I believe that Carr was the correct choice to present 8 out of 10 Cats, as he is also able to join in the fun with both sets of panels, while at the same time being impartial; but some of the best parts is when he sometimes puts some of the guests in their place. Carr has been presenting the programme since the very first episode, and has been ever present, as has one of the team captains, Sean Lock. Sean Lock has a very similar type of comedy appeal as Carr, in that it is negative.

The second original team captain, Dave Spikey left the show as he wanted to work on other projects and was replaced by Jason Manford. I actually believe that the replacement of Spikey has helped the show, as I find Manford more humorous that Spikeym with a willingness to get more involved.

Another aspect of the show is the guests that appear on the show, these will often be people that have a project that is soon to be released and want expose on TV, or rejected contestants from reality TV shows the previous week. Sometimes it is often the guests that make the show; or sometimes can ruin the show, as they can either be boring, or way over the top and try to dominate the show, this is when Carr is at his best as he sometimes takes the guest down a peg or two.

The rounds that normally feature within the programme, are "What are we talking about?", which is a round that focuses on what people having been talking about, although I so not always agree with the poll about what order they should be in. The next round is "Pick of the polls", in which he panels are given pictures from which the panel can choose from and are then given a question that is related to the picture. Sometimes it is often difficult to see how the picture and questions relate. Next there is "Poll with a hole", this is where there is a poll or an answer the panel have to guess what the missing word is. Apart from the "What are we talking about?" section, most of the other rounds have no relation to current events.

There is the one comparison that can be made with 8 out of 10 Cats and this is Mock the Week, as these both focus on comedy panel show about the news, although they could be described as totally different. As Mock the week is almost solely about comedy on current events, where as 8 out of 10 Cats is more about irrelevant news items.

Overall I would recommend the show, as it is both humorous and informative at the same time. Although I cannot help myself but think that Mock the Week is the superior show, that I enjoy watching more than 8 out of 10 Cats. If there was not Mock the Week, then 8 out 10 cats would be the best at this type of category of programme.

Summary: Enjoyable show