Extra News For You (Have I got News for You)

Member Name: Pharmtastic

Product:	Have I got News for You
Date:	22/11/08 (210 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Even more laughs

Disadvantages: None, really

Have I Got News For You is a long running satirical TV programme, currently showing on BBC1, having been promoted from BBC2 several years ago. It takes the format of a quiz between two teams [captained by regulars Ian Hislop and Paul Merton] who answer questions posed [loosely] on the previous week's news.

The questions are asked by a Chairman who changed from week to week: my favourites have included Alexander Armstrong, Bruce Forsyth and Boris Johnson.

Realistically, there can't be many people reading this who haven't seen the programme and so haven't learnt anything new yet. Therefore, I'd like to take the opportunity to mention two "extras" which might be of interest to the HIGNFY fans.

The usual broadcasting slot [as of Nov 08] is 9.00 p.m. on BBC1 on a Friday evening, when the show runs for 30 minutes. However, on the following Saturday, there is an extended repeat on BBC2, billed as "Have I Got A Little More News For You".

This show runs for 45 minutes and the extra time is devoted to out-takes, comments from before and after the "proper" programme was recorded, and other clips which didn't make it into the usual show. This is usually broadcast at a later time, and so sometimes contains language which won't be considered acceptable in the Friday evening slot. I usually watch this version if I have a choice.

Tonight, when browsing the BBC website, I came across the HIGNFY website. Apart from the usual background stuff you might expect from this sort of site, I was delighted to see it had several videos available to watch. The current series is linked to a series of "webisodes", one for each programme. This has some of the extra stuff in the Saturday night extended programme, though the later webisodes seem to have new material.

There are also archive clips from previous series which are available to watch, which are quite funny to see [if only for the change in hairstyles!].

The website is available at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/haveigotnewsforyou/

If you're a fan of the programme and haven't seen these extras, it might be worth a look.

[Also on Ciao]

Summary: Extra Hislop & Merton