BBC trying to tone down ISIHAC (allegedly - caution Daily Fail article)

[RocknRollNerd]

I'm really really hoping this isn't true and it's just part of the bog standard Daily Fail anti-BBC frothwittery.

I've tried to find the Cotswold Life article referenced but not had much joy.

ISIHAC to me is that kind of fabulous comedy where the innuendo goes over the head of those too young/innocent to get it (cf Kenny Everett's Cupid Stunt who to me as a 7 year old was just a very funny guy dressed up as a woman with a beard and big boobs!). Whilst so much of the show is sheer delight the gags about Samantha (and also Lionel Blair) are an integral part of it. I remember DH and I having to pull over into a layby one time as we were laughing so hard at Lionel Blair having had to finish off Two Gentlemen of Verona with his mouth . Along with Cabin Pressure it's a staple of long car journeys for us (including DS).

the gags about Samantha (and also Lionel Blair) are an integral part of it.

Hmm, that's a matter of debate. You say 'integral'; I say 'old and hackneyed'. I find the jokes about Samantha and Lionel as about as unfunny and dated as 1970s Mother In Law jokes.
I find ISIHAC too formulaic these days, it needs a kick up its backside. Jack Dee is doing a good job (it was very difficult to step into Humph's shoes but Jack has made it his own) but the panel and the tasks need refreshing.

My impression is that the Lionel Blair jokes have stopped anyway.

Ah - to be fair I haven't listened to the most recent series, I tend to get the CDs off my mum as a stocking filler at Christmas and then binge on them in the car...I'd catch probably 2 or 3 out of the series live though and hadn't noticed it had changed that much.

Interesting about it being dated R4 - I can see what you mean though ; it's the difference between something being tired/formulaic and familiar I guess... I'd rather they got rid of Just a Minute before ISIHAC though - that just sets my teeth on edge nowadays but I'm not sure why exactly.

at Mrs Trellis!

"You say 'integral'; I say 'old and hackneyed'."

Ah yes, but both could be true. The joy of the Samantha and Lionel Blair jokes is you know what's coming, you've heard them a thousand times before, but you still find them funny. (Well, if you're me, you do.)

Apparently Lionel Blair really really hates the jokes about him - which makes them funnier, in my view.

I find their refusal to have women on the show infuriating. There are any number of female comedians who would be 10 times as funny as some of the old troopers who are just recycling jokes they've used 100 times before.

They don't refuse, Anyone. Admittedly, they haven't had many but that's got a lot to do with the fact that it was an all-male team when it first started over 40 years ago, 3 of the original 5 are still there and they chose to replace Humph with Jack Dee rather than a woman.

The trails on R4 this week for the new series starting tomorrow night indicate that Susan Calman will be on. They've had Victoria Wood in the past. Did Linda Smith ever do it? I assume Sandi Toksvig has been on too from time to time.

This topic was raised on feedback. I think that ISIHAC have got the message that they need to update. No one minds schoolboy humour but it shouldn't sound like misogyny and homophobia.
Let's see what the new series brings ...

Sandi Toksvig has been on. I know this because every time I hear her name I hear Barry Cryer using her name in the Uxbridge English Dictionary round - "Toksvig, a hairpiece for clocks." And her laugh.

I think they could do with rotating the regulars to have more guests, because statistically speaking one of them is bound to be long-term unavailable soon and sudden change on ISIHAC is jarring...

Mimsy - Linda Smith did do it. One of my favourite Clue memories is of her singing Psycho Killer to the tune of Save your Love for Me. Simply wonderful.