Any QI fans around here?

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I mean the BBC comedy quiz show of course, with Alan Davies and Stephen Fry.

I of course think it's brilliant, a joy to watch both for what you learn and the hilarious dialogue that ensues.

Here are a few clips to get people acquainted with the show:


Link to video.


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Link to video.

 

[Camikaze]

I watch it occasionally, and really like it. I gather it has a bit of a cult following.

 

[classical_hero]

Link to video.

I am sure Plotinus would like to have a word or two to the producers of the show, about that.

 

[Plotinus]

Yes, I've seen that clip before and of course it's nonsense. Fry rightly points out that Christian scholars rubbish the claims about Mithras, but neglects to mention that secular ones do as well. The thing is that although Stephen Fry is obviously enormously well read and well informed, I think most of his impressive knowledge is of a rather superficial nature - as is hardly surprising, given that he's a comedian and not an academic. Otherwise he wouldn't have allowed the researchers to get away with that one.

Like all sensible people I love Stephen Fry, of course, but QI has always annoyed me with its rather smug know-it-all tone, largely because any show that takes that tone absolutely must be right. But I've certainly seen other instances where they make mistakes, which really ruins the point of it.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Yes I knew that that one was kind of a joke, but I would almost expect something like that from such an outspokenly atheist figure as Fry is. I may have heard him repeat it somewhere else before.

And there are some answers that they really take liberties with in creating a counter-conventional response. One example I remember is "how many moons does Earth have?" With the "correct" answer being "2." Their supposed second moon is 3753 Cruithne, which in the most technical sense is not a moon but rather an asteroid that shares our orbit of the Sun (it follows a 363 day kidney-shaped orbit and the Earth always arrives in time to fling it back towards the Sun again), or what you might call a "quasi-satellite." Very fascinating, but it's not really a moon.

I suppose that, being an American, I'm accustomed to the choice between correctness and entertainment value always being made in favor of the latter, and so it doesn't bother me as much. Well it does bother me, but I expect it.

but QI has always annoyed me with its rather smug know-it-all tone,

Well Fry is really the only one with that attitude. Part of the fun, IMO, of the show is that most of the rest of the cast doesn't behave that way, but rather come across as blokes like us with the rather conventional knowledge of things who are befuddled by Fry's snobbishly middle-class encyclopedic style. They often point this out rather explicitly, too. It more often comes across as a sort of parlor game being played by a bunch of friends than a remotely serious game show.

 

[Plotinus]

Yes I knew that that one was kind of a joke, but I would almost expect something like that from such an outspokenly atheist figure as Fry is. I may have heard him repeat it somewhere else before.

Sadly, you're probably right. I do hope that the day will come when publicly outspoken atheists actually are more rational and well-informed than theists, rather than merely claim to be, but I suspect it won't. It's shame that someone who is not only as clever but also as humane and insightful as Stephen Fry should be so uncritical in such judgements (and also endorse Richard Dawkins so enthusiastically), but I suppose that is human nature. He is still a wonderful communicator: I watched his "100 greatest gadgets" last night and his piece to camera right at the end, telling a story to explain his choice of the number 1 greatest gadget, was simply spellbinding. I won't say what it was for fear of spoiling it.

 

[classical_hero]

Yes I knew that that one was kind of a joke, but I would almost expect something like that from such an outspokenly atheist figure as Fry is. I may have heard him repeat it somewhere else before.

And there are some answers that they really take liberties with in creating a counter-conventional response. One example I remember is "how many moons does Earth have?" With the "correct" answer being "2." Their supposed second moon is 3753 Cruithne, which in the most technical sense is not a moon but rather an asteroid that shares our orbit of the Sun (it follows a 363 day kidney-shaped orbit and the Earth always arrives in time to fling it back towards the Sun again), or what you might call a "quasi-satellite." Very fascinating, but it's not really a moon.

I suppose that, being an American, I'm accustomed to the choice between correctness and entertainment value always being made in favor of the latter, and so it doesn't bother me as much. Well it does bother me, but I expect it.

With the moon one, it is an obvious fact, so it is obviously a joke, but the problem is that with the Mithras one is many people believe those to be facts, so it is much harder to get across that you are joking about it.

 

[Abaddon]

QI is awesome, as I mentioned as one of my favorites elsewhere

 

[Boundless]

Ah how can you not love a show with Alan Davies featuring!!!

 

[SuperJay]

I actually just started looking into this show last week. I'd heard of it, of course, but I've never watched an actual episode, just clips on the interwebs, mostly because Stephen Fry is awesome. I'm not usually much into game shows or quiz programs, but... Stephen Fry is awesome, so I may have to get involved in this one.

 

[aelf]

I like QI too, though sometimes they even contradict themselves with the facts they bring up in different episodes about the same things. I watch it for the comedy and pointless trivia, the latter which I would try to verify further if they catch my interest.

Also, relatedly, NickFromFullham is awesome.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Great show! It is a shame we can't see it here in the US. But hopefully they will release it on DVDs.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

A DVD release would be marvelous. I wonder if I can find anything on Netflix.

 

[Lillefix]

I listen to it constantly while working. Working have become a lot more fun since I began to do that.

 

[aelf]

A DVD release would be marvelous. I wonder if I can find anything on Netflix.

Also, relatedly, NickFromFullham is awesome.

That should be a clue on where and how you can find full QI episodes.

 

[aronnax]

NickFromFullham is awesome.

QI has been my leading introduction into British Comedy Panel shows and I absolutely love it. It's fun, funny and to a certain extent, pointlessly educational.
The show does what it says, the trivia is quite interesting.

I do admit that I am one of those people who take what Stephen Fry in this show says as fact because I assume that the QI elves did their research until proven otherwise.

@Plotinus , tell me more about Mithras and it's credibility.

 

[Plotinus]

@Plotinus , tell me more about Mithras and it's credibility.

Mithraism was a real religion, but pretty much all of the claims that Fry reads out about Mithras, which make it seem like Mithraism was just like Christianity, are false. And I don't mean false in the sense of "superseded by subsequent scholarship", I mean false in the sense of "completely made up, having no evidence for them whatsoever". Fry says that "Christian scholars" dispute them, which is true but disingenuous, since it implies that there are non-Christian scholars who maintain them, which is not the case. Fry also mentions (obliquely) the work of Franz Cumont, who over a century ago did make some rather overblown claims about Mithraism which have since been comprehensively overthrown, but even he did not make all of the ones that Fry reads out, most of which I think have a heritage no older than the Internet. As it happens, Mithraism was almost entirely unlike Christianity in every respect that matters.

(Plus there's also the small matter of the fact that Mithraism was actually slightly younger than Christianity, not an older religion, so if there were such dramatic parallels between them it would be more reasonable to suppose that Mithraism copied Christianity rather than vice versa.)

 

[Formaldehyde]

A DVD release would be marvelous. I wonder if I can find anything on Netflix.

I saw it mentioned on the QI website. Fans are asking for it along with syndication to the US, but apparently nothing so far.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

I've seen a few clips of it online, and loved it. Its a shame it doesn't air in Canada.

 

[Lillefix]

I really don't see the problem with not airing. Ever since the fourth season, when I discovered it, I've seen every episode on average a couple of hours after the British broadcasting. I haven't had television reception for seven years. Surely most of you have decent Internet connections.