"My sister is going to be in the Sugababes for her gap year" (Never Mind the Buzzcocks)

Member Name: cerys82

Product:	Never Mind the Buzzcocks
Date:	29/10/09 (85 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: funny, fresh, fearless, scathing

Disadvantages: They need to get the presenter issue sorted

"Buzzcocks" has been going for a grand total of 13 years and 23 series on BBC2. First presented by Mark Lamarr, then by a series of guest presenters in 2006, followed by Simon Amstell and since his departure earlier this year - another round of guest presenters.

The most recent series does tend to be repeated in the run up to the new one. The older series are repeated frequently on Dave and VH1.

Phill Jupitus has been team captain for its entire run, however his opposing team captains have been the following in chronological order - Sean Hughes, Bill Bailey and now Noel Fielding.

The teams of three are completed by guests who are generally a mix of musicians, singers, TV personalities and actors.

Essentially it is a comedy music panel quiz. The rounds have largely stayed the same throughout. The first round is generally a multiple choice round, music video what happens next, or asks the panel to work out which artist out of 2 is connected to a bizarre fact or story.

The second round is "The Intro Round" where the team captain and the music star perform an introduction to a popular song to the non-musical guest using just sounds that they can make themselves and without lyrics.

Next is "The Identity Parade" where the teams have to spot who is the real popstar from the dim but not always distant (but certainly fickle) music past from a lineup of 5.

Finally comes "Next Round" where the teams are in turn given a load of song lines and then have to guess what follows.

I'll just put it out there - I love Buzzcocks. I feel that recently it may have lost its way again with trying to fill the void left by the loss of yet another permanent host, but it does still maintain a certain amount of freshness - not least because it is very good at picking talented circuit comedians for the panel.

There is a certain amount of cruelness to it, I will admit but so much of it is connected to puncturing the overinflated egos of the stars. It has also had its share of headline grabbing appearances and events. Preston from The Ordinary Boys stormed off in apparent disgust at having his then wife's autobiography mocked and Amy Winehouse turned up seemingly under the influence but proceeded to be absolutely hilarious.

Ultimately, I feel that if they get the new presenter issue sorted suitably, there is no reason why this programme should ever run out of steam. The knowingness and willingness to step on the boundaries of good taste in the face of a PR dominant industry is reason enough for it to stay in the schedules for a very long time.

Summary: One of my favourite programmes EVER!