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The Third Degree; R4....funny quiz Monday afternoon. Universally Unchallenging.
Topic Started: Mar 25 2013, 08:59 PM (1,287 Views)
Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
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More a vehicle for Steve Punt to display verbal dexterity, less a barometer of further education.
Exceptionally simple questions, even the 'challenging' ones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rg1gt
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rumbaba
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It can't be as bad as the dreadful radio show Sue Perkins hosts - Dilemma
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Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
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These shows appear to be built around a radio performer from the R4 funny-school. The actual shows seem to be irrelevant. It's obviously difficult to dream up something of the calibre of 'Just a Minute'. Like it or loathe it, you have to admire its tenacity. Ian Messiter dreamed up the program and then the Beeb found the wits and wags to sit on the panel. Nowadays the formula is worked out in reverse; celebrity comes before structure.
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AmosBurke
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'Just a Minute', 'Brain of Britain', 'Round Britain Quiz' and 'Counterpoint' are the most enduring quiz programs, and IMO the most entertaining. 'Counterpoint' is a relative newcomer and my favourite of the four. I think these programs will continue long after the programs from the R4 funny school (love the term) are long gone. I like 'The Write Stuff' too, but it isn't on at the mo; I hope it comes back. Does any body remember 'Pub Quiz' hosted by Jon Snow? I think it only lasted two series and hopefully these other new shows will similarly disappear too. I think they should bring back 'My Music' and 'My Word'; not new series just repeat the old ones.
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Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
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'My Word' nurtured the talents of Frank Muir and Dennis Norden, and was a great influence on me when I was young. It gave me the word 'sesquipedalian', which I cannot ever forget.
Are the 'My's' (-Word and -Music) re-broadcast on Radio 4 extra, I wonder? I caught an edition of 'The Men from the Ministry' (Derek Guyler & Richard Murdoch) last week and is was refreshingly humourous, and stood the test of time.
'Just a Minute' can go a on as long as there are words and phrases in the dictionary; I feel 'Round Britain Quiz' has dumbed itself down, maybe to sadly cater for a simpler market.
Of recent 'Funnies', I was sueprised by 'Cabin Pressure', which I assumed would be pretty dire, but I feel was elevated by the presence of Benedict Cumberbatch. Actors who act funny are generally better than comedians trying to act, in my opinion.
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caissier
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<ok>

I loved My Word and My Music especially. I felt it was teaching me about classical music and giving me a way in. The songs at the end were worth waiting for. There was a haunting one from a WW2 collection Songs from the Runway called Emmeline.

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Edited by caissier, Mar 26 2013, 10:10 AM.
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Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
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I always remember one surreal paradox, brought about by a question Steve Race put to the panel on 'My Music'.
He tinkled a tune on the ivories, and asked if 'the composer of that tune had a beard'. The point being that it was a ditty composed by Steve Race himself, and at the time, he was beardless, but seemingly at the time of asking the question, he had recently grown one. As a seven-year old, I was much amused by this; and still am, I suppose.
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rumbaba
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Is that Steve Race in the front?


What was that TV programme with the dummy keyboard :unsure:
Edited by rumbaba, Mar 26 2013, 10:27 AM.
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Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
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rumbaba
Mar 26 2013, 10:25 AM
Is that Steve Race in the front?


What was that TV programme with the dummy keyboard :unsure:
The one with the beard, yes.
It was a radio program, but from the radio station that brought you an inept ventriloquist (Peter Brough), I feel a dummy keyboard was quite feasible.
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caissier
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rumbaba
Mar 26 2013, 10:25 AM
Is that Steve Race in the front?


What was that TV programme with the dummy keyboard :unsure:
That was with Joseph somebody and Joyce Grenfell being all charmingly grand. It was like Spike Milligan pushing his comic luck.

Tapetty tap tap tap tappy tap tap .......

"Ah! Of course ...... Berlioz!! "
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rumbaba
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Face_the_Music_(TV_series)

'Face the music' but it wasn't Steve Race. He was on some TV programme, because I remember what he looked like but I can't think what :(
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Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
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Of course! 'Face the Music' with Joseph Cooper and his dummy keyboard!
But are we confusing each other here? That is definitely Steve Race in the photo, with the 'My Music' squad.
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Mobson
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AmosBurke
Mar 26 2013, 09:19 AM
I like 'The Write Stuff' too, but it isn't on at the mo; I hope it comes back.
It is Amos...It is recording a new series at the BBC radio theatre on 2nd, 9th and 16th April.....

The Unbelievable Truth, the panel game hosted by a sometimes over-exuberant David Mitchell is also currently recording a new series at The Shaw Theatre....
Edited by Mobson, Mar 26 2013, 12:45 PM.
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caissier
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The parodies at the end of The Write Stuff are always very good imo. V clever .....
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rumbaba
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Sorry for confusing, Hugh - I sometimes go off at a tangent, without explaining where :(
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Hugh Mosby-Joaquin
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'The Unbelievable Truth' has the potential for longevity, I feel. It is unlimited by it's broad catchment area of knowledge, and the fact that the guests can work up a spiel about something beforehand, and wave in the jokes accordingly. David Mitchell has also found a rather good niche for himself here. Graham Garden, one of its writers, has been clever on this one, a cleverness honed by years of dry wit as being part of 'ISIHaC'.
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Mobson
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Mobson
Mar 26 2013, 11:20 AM
The Unbelievable Truth, the panel game hosted by a sometimes over-exuberant David Mitchell is also currently recording a new series at The Shaw Theatre....
Just received email notification of the recording at The Shaw Theatre on Tuesday 9th April at 6.45pm - anyone wanting to apply for a ticket to the show must do so by 10pm Thursday 28th March.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/shows/unbelievable_truth_apr13
Edited by Mobson, Mar 27 2013, 01:59 PM.
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May-Cee

I thought I didn't mind the gags; but the ones in Edition #3 were especially poor.

I get the feeling (from the previous couple of runs) that it's just there to fill the gap between the more long-running quiz shows.
It isn't even structured like a quiz series. Every edition is a one-off; nobody goes forward to a further round; there's no Goal or Prize.

At the risk of sounding like an old Fogey, some editions have shown Declining Standards in Education.

A literature student was once read a passage of (as she was told) a Russian novel; and had to name the author.
Instead of having a guess with Dostoevsky or Turgenev (or one of countless others) she, rather pathetically, just said "Pass"; making it obvious that she'd never heard of ANY Russian writer.
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caissier
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Just before baling out of teaching five years ago, sitting in the open general office I heard a teacher who had just arrived, about a year out of college herself, say ..... "Actually ..... where does this expression Room 101 come from anyway .....??" Uh <doh> oh ......
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dai Cottomy
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The usual lame excuse offered by many quiz contestants stumped by an historical question is: "It's before my time." Most history is; that's why books were invented.
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