University Challenge (also featuring Only Connect and other BBC quiz shows)

Similar drinks bill at the end of the shoot though I'd wager

Duh Joseph Cotten n'er mind.

Paxo should pull out all the stops and ritually abuse anyone who dares to answer a question wrongly.

Otm

He should do impressions of them in a stupid voice.

did you guys see the one where the answer was rimbaud and the contestant got it right and paxman was LEGITIMATELY CONFUSED because he thought they were saying "rambo" EVEN THOUGH HE HAD THE ANSWER WRITTEN ON HIS CARD, what a dumbass

he mispronounces everything, too

smdh at anyone over 15 who is impressed by paxman's intercolleegiate debating society hardman shtick

It's such a fun shtick though!

Ongoing debate in our household about when's being smug because he knows the answer, or when he's just bluffing smugness because he's read the answer beforehand. I mean, when he gets uppity with a contestant about some of the crazy impossible science questions, you have to be like, COME ON. But that is part of the fun.

Jeremy Clarkson would do it exactly the same way

He is much less annoying than John Humphrys' take on Mastermind presenting though.

i've never seen Paxman express disdain at someone getting a science question wrong. It's English literature and history he really gets snobby about

Humphreys 'said 'mitigate against' the other day on the radio, and obv there's nothing wrong with this, but seeing as he's a f'ing a-grade grammar snob of the worst stripe it made me shout 'FUCK YOU HUMPHREYS' at the radio. (What do you call a FUCKING ANNOYING camel with three humps?)

Inspector Clousea?

Never a bad excuse to shout FUCK YOU HUMPHREYS

It's how I wake myself up every morning.

http://www.trp.dundee.ac.uk/images/humphrey/humph3.gif

Ongoing debate in our household about when's being smug because he knows the answer, or when he's just bluffing smugness because he's read the answer beforehand.

Paxman failed to get into his college's UC team so I think the smugness is often bluffed.

Phil jupitus' hanging mouth is killing me

Also

British sitcom matt damon
Benoit assou ekotto
Peter cook's lil brother

Phil neville via boyzone
Ed byrne
Prince harry
English deschanel

can't believe he got done by a Frankenstein/Frankenstein's monster mix-up. Ugh

the girl visibly going 'F....' at that makes me think she'd agree.
Also, more knackered Will Young than Matt Damon imo

there's something in that but i think a hybrid of each comes close

Phil jupitus' hanging mouth is killing me

Made it almost unwatchable, was almost glad my mother phoned me in the middle of it. Almost.

Peter cook's lil brother

DM OTM

Ah yes, the guppy in the hoodie was a bit hard to watch. Found myself being surprised every time he got something right (not that infrequently, even) and then hated myself for assuming that he was thick just for having some maybe sinus-issue-related mouthbreathing going on. After all I do so love it when I can tell someone has looked at me and thought "fat woman = stupid"

(I got more than usual this week and had no audience. Week before, Trinity Cam vs Chch Ox, was watching with a friend and got sod all. Typical.)

yeah he was actually on the ball, but even his delivery was pure jupitus, the sideways look and everything

last week's was p impressive showing from both sides i thought

Yeah, good showing from both sides and all contestants last week but that classicist team captain from Trinity could have turned up alone and still won iirc

(not 100% sure these two observations aren't contradictory but with such fast buzzing and high scores all round they both seem to make sense)

I think Trinity captain should switch to whichever Oxford college that was for UNBEATABLE POWER TEAM

Only Connect are looking for contestants for the next series, give me a shout if you want details

I love OC (don't call it that) but I can't think of a pithy off-kilter anecdote to tell about myself

I love it but I'm shit at it.

I'm shit-hot at missing vowels, which when it comes down to it is LLT HTMT TRS

I'm pretty good at the connecting walls and the missing vowels, but there's too many esoteric things in the first two rounds for me. If I could find a scientist and a chess player to come on with me, we'd be OK. Oh, and I could kill my chronic phobia of having my photo taken which surely screws me ever going on the telly.

making up amusing anecdotes and having your face broadcast are pains but some shows are worth the pain i reckon

I'm dead good at the missing vowels, too, but I pretty much never manage more than one group on the connecting wall, and the first two rounds are nigh on impossible. I'd do much better at University Challenge, honestly.

I used to play against a friend at both University Challenge and Only Connect (I am very cool) and while with UniChal it was competitive, with OnCon she would get every missing vowels answer the instant it appeared, so I'm a loser forever. But not too bad at the first rounds. I think we could make for 2/3 of a good team if anxious terror wasn't guaranteed.

Only Connect is a little unbalanced i feel cos you can almost win it on the vowels alone as long as you keep vaguely in touch

of course the other team might have the same idea

I can only read OnCon as 'Onion Convention', for some reason.

btw is it sad that i don't enjoy UC or OC half as much if i'm watching on my own?

Not at all. I basically force my flatmate to watch UC with me

should be referred to as NLYC NNCT really

Only Connect with my housemate (/best friend since we were 11) with a join makes up a large percent of my fondest memories of recent years. Connecting Wall was always where we'd take the game by the scruff of the neck and RINSE IT

*joint LMAO

is it sad that i don't enjoy UC or OC half as much if i'm watching on my own?

I feel the exact opposite of this, but this may be because I don't know anyone who is impressed by me getting the answers on UC correct.

I suppose the main reason I like watching these shows is the sad thrill I get when I answer a question correctly, but this is killed off if there's someone else in the room who obviously doesn't give a shit.

"Woof" is my Sim child. It's freaking me out.

Zaphod Beeblebroxalike Jamie Karran was on Only Connect last night. He still has the same haircut, and wasn't very good at Only Connect (I, on the other hand, ruled at it, but you'll have to take my word for that). I think one of his team-mates might have been ex-UC as well, he looked very familiar.

Blimey but the two teams on last night were rubbish