14 LISTENER MARCH 10 2018
QUIZ SHOWS
laughter. Contestants seem to
be more comfortable in front
of cameras than they used to
be, which can lead to a better
programme.”
McDonald says that, in gen-
eral, game shows are an easy
watch that don’t demand a lot
of the viewer.
“Game shows work
particularly well in the 5.30-
6.00pm slot when people are
just home from work and it
doesn’t take as much focus
and attention as a reality show
or a drama.
“Game shows also give
viewers the chance to see
everyday Kiwis win stuff – and
who doesn’t like seeing people
win stuff?”P
anel shows are not
game shows, although
comedians who appear
on panel shows have
been known to front up on
game shows in the name of
charity.
But panel shows and game
shows do have one thing in
common: they both began
on radio. It’s thought that
the earliest panel show was
Information Please, which
began on NBC Radio in the
US in 1938.
Nowadays, it’s the British
who are the undisputed kings
of the panel show. The UK is
so awash with them, on both
radio and television, that
they often seem like make-
work schemes for comedians.
On radio, there is The News
Quiz, TheNow Show and Just a Minute,
which began in 1967 and
is still hosted by Nicholas
Parsons. The wonderful John
Lloyd, creator of QI, hosts
The Museum of Curiosity, in
which guests donate to a
virtual museum. It’s really a
vehicle to talk about interest-
ing things. The Infinite Monkey
Cage, hosted by Robin Ince
and Brian Cox, is a science
panel show. We recommend
downloading podcasts of all
of these.
Some of Britain’s panel
shows turn up on television
here: on Sky’s UKTV, Would
I Lie to You?, 8 Out of 10 Cats
and QI run on weeknights.
But Anglophiles may wish
that current events shows
Mock the Week and Have I Got
News for You also screened.
The fact-based comedy sci-
ence show Duck Quacks Don’t
Echo is currently screening on
TVNZ Duke.
Our only local panel-
show success has been
7 Days, the news-based
comedy show that began
in 2009. Its popularity
has been immensely
valuable to the local
comedy scene.Panel beating
The panels of, top, Would
I Lie To You?, and, left, 8
out of 10 Cats. Right, the
original QI host Stephen
Fry.1
3