If HIGNFY isn’t funny any more, what is its function?

[Angstinmyspanx]

Is it to remind us of a happier time when it did used to be funny. And are we just not ready to let that go?

Yep

Stephen Fry stopped presenting QI 10 years ago.

Yes, absolutely.

The programme’s quality is largely dependent on who is chairing it. I don’t watch regularly these days and I can’t recall anyone who equals AD.

Hislop is still trying, kind of, but Merton’s contributions are too often mumbled - he seems to be on autopilot.

Armando Ianucci is the best. I agree. I never listen to Radio 4 but wil give this a try. Thank you

This is brilliant satire. And gave me a genuine belly laugh. Excellent. Can I just watch you on a Friday night from now on?

Fair enough. I'll be laughing at HIGNFY then watching The Last Leg. I expect you don't find that funny either. Maybe if you loosened your stays a little and shifted to the left a bit.

I'm left wing and I think it's too establishment, rather than what you seem to be suggesting.

I still find it very funny. But I’m not a humourless tribalist who’s made crying victim my entire personality.

I think it depends on the presenter -with comedy, timing is important

@christmasfish totally agree with you, used to be subversive ; now it is the establishment.

This makes a lot of sense to me.

We were watching a few weeks back and Prince Andrew was brought into the conversation. My husband was like 'ooh, here we go!' and then it just petered into nothing.

Gutless.

It depends who is on the panel. Sometimes they get some great comedians and other times I'm a bit confused why they picked who they picked. I still find it funny but agree about Paul Merton - he seems a bit bored.

Good point.

Most recently I wonder if the BBC is worried about Trump and jokes about Prince Andrew are made but not included in the show?

I listened to The Rest is Entertainment, which talked about what works on the programme. Richard Osman always gives a producer’s take on these things - it’s really interesting: a car crash MP is a good booking, but a poor-performing comedian not so much.

They talked about the cache of the programme, and that SPADs try to help the MPs with lines, but few can hold their own (like Jess Phillips).

It seems very tired. But I think all topical shows have suffered because of jokes on social media.

I think something else topical like Dead Ringers on R4 hasn’t been as terrified of more difficult topics eg women’s rights and that’s stopped it sliding into irrelevancy.

On s facile point it seems the set is quite dark, it doesn't seem to lighten things up a bit though the main presenters are now getting on a bit so it's soft lighting I guess. It is hard to think of young people going on this and holding their own or fitting in. I kind of realised there's a generation thing going on with Celebrity Traitors - you needed Cat as the youth vote because most of the players were over 50 now, used to be the future and now aren't - those in their 20s were less famous (to me anyway) aside from the diver (Tom Daley), and they aren't leading things so much, the centre of gravity isn't with them.

Oh no. Cat inflation.

“New crisis engulfs BBC as fans slam HIGNFY for ‘unfunny’ and ‘woke’ content”.

That kind of thing?

I do think a couple of particular booking agents have got a BBC hotline though, because I’ve seen far, far too much of certain ‘comedians’ over the past five years like Rob Beckett, Romesh Ranganathan, Maisie Adam and Rosie Jones (and others), whom I don’t find satirically amusing or incisive. Fair enough once a year or so, à chacun son goût, but the rotation of the same booked ‘guests’ on endless BBC panel shows - including bloody Questiontime - feels stale. Just like the BBC Christmas Day schedule.

And this unfortunately sites HIGNIFY in the boring mainstream toeing the BBC line and it just doesn’t seem edgy any more. We all know Ian Hislop has ignored a giant elephant in the room for years, because of this.

Its well past its sell by date, stopped watching a long time ago.

It's funny when Richard Ayoade is presenting.

I never think its as funny when Labour are in!

I used to watch it in the 90s when it was funny.
Then somewhere along the line it became a weekly Labour party political broadcast.
No thanks.

HIGNFY was only funny in the Angus Deayton era.

Add Nish Kumar to that list. Dreadful.