My final 10 O'clock Live review

The time is 1am and I feel like exploring the bizarre lands beyond my grammatically incomprehensible mind. I watched the first half of 10 O'clock Live this evening only to find Lauren had not only increase her foul vocab but also fell into what must have been Alan Carr's wardrobe, emerging with a hideous pink jacket peppered with glittery rocks with matched the large metallic teddy bear hanging off her necklace. I would have turned the channel over anyway as even Charlie Brooker was a being a bit too vulgar, and Jimmy Carr appearing in pink frock and a blond wig spending 5 minutes selling holiday getaways to a bloke in a Gaddafi costume signaled an unexpected low in his career. The show seems to have gone from cutting edge political satire to a series of confusing gags involving politicians with the odd debate thrown in. Jimmy Carr, I've seen you do better.

David Mitchell hosted a debate between a Labour MP, a Tory MP and an Activist. I don't want to spoil it but you can imagine what the result was. Yes, 2 minutes of shouting, laughing and David firing terrific questions at people with opinions. It was hard to watch as he asked those questions knowing he wouldn't get anywhere near a satisfying reply in the few minutes he had. In the end we had more swearing, comparisons of the government to a man getting intimate with a panda, and swooping camera shots between satirical skits. Even if my cat hadn't fallen in the Vaseline and started running round like a maniac foaming at the mouth, I'm sure I would have changed the channel anyway!

10 O'Clock Live - Brilliant, except for one thing.....

10 O'Clock Live is the new much-loved satirical program which launched with 1.373 million viewers and a proud 7.8% audience share. Fantastic, finally a fresh new look at the state of the world. No politician can possibly escape the sharp comments this show fires at them. No underground bunker can protect dictators in the Middle-East from the scrutiny of the British public's views, views which are wrapped in a thin sheet of comedy and fired out of the mouths of accomplished comedy geniuses.

Well, almost.

Charlie Brooker is the reason I watch the show, a headline act who rose to my attention on Newswipe, a program in which he (alone) took a news story, ripped it to shreds, then explained why the whole affair was ridiculous. He seemed unstoppable, any story had a satirical spin and his savage pessimism makes us think deeper about current issues, even if some of his thoughts venture on the mind-numbingly surreal.

David Mitchell is the second in command, and if Brooker ever does leave the show, Mitchell will be more than able to direct the whole show on his own. He has sharp wit delivered with a plethora of words that the 'common man' wouldn't come across in a lifetime. On the other hand, I think some of his best work is on Peep Show, and I cannot wait for the next series!

Jimmy Carr is a classic comedian... no, in fact he's a comedian in a league of his own. A mixture of Brooker's pessimism and Mitchell's quick wit, Carr adds a childish smile and gets everyone laughing, his skits on the show are funny and innovative. Yet at the end of the day, he's not the strongest on the team, it's nice to see him telling different jokes (I'm alluding to some of the sexist and inappropriate jokes he makes as a stand-up comic), but maybe a news show isn't for him...

Lauren Laverne on the other hand was scraping the barrel when came to laughter, her comments fell flat and someone should tell her that saying 'fuck' every few sentences is not the way to make a good show, even with a strong regional accent. Charlie Brooker may say it a lot, but he's a comedy genius. 'Satire' is not just about dumping insults on politicians, like Mitchell, you have to make informed comments. I go back to a previous example of comedy gone wrong where people like Laverne will laugh at Ann Widdecombe because she's ugly, but Mitchell will laugh at the fact that she keeps getting elected despite being a sexist racist ignorant pig who thinks stem cell research is wrong because human/animal hybrids are against nature.

I hope for the next series of 10 O'Clock Live, that Channel 4 realises that Brooker and Mitchell are carrying the show on their shoulders and not getting enough air time. Carr is a comedian and the show shouldn't pile too much newsreading on him, and Laverne is simply wrong for the job. 

But it is satire, and you don't always get it right the first time round. 

Bad Jokes vs Quality Jokes

Last night I watched 'Have I got News for You' for what felt like the millionth repeat on TV. The gang were laughing at politicians (as one does) and of course Ann Widdecombe popped into the conversation. The main punchline seemed to be that she shouldn't be in power because she's ugly. 'Ugly!?!' exclaimed David Mitchell in a manner that suggested he was ashamed at how low his friends' humour could get. He went on, as I am about to, describe exactly WHY we should be against her:

She is against abortion and sex education, she supports homophobia and censorship, she doesn't believe in climate change, she is against political parties helping women get into Parliament.

On the plus side I suppose she is against fox hunting, but then she's against stem cell research which she obviously doesn't fully understand... we're not going to make a human/animal hybrid!

Political humour has captivated Britain over the past decade, every day there seems to be a show dedicated to satire and talk shows get the most laughs out of our dear old politicians.... Gordon Brown's so-called 'smile' is still a laughing matter! But let's try understanding our politics in more depth, and not start voting against people just because they're ugly.