Magus ([info]marcmagus) wrote,
@ 2009-06-03 01:34:00
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Current mood:disenchanted
Entry tags:qi

Quite Interesting

I think I'm becoming disenchanted with QI. For those who don't know, it's a comedic "quiz show" hosted by Stephen Fry where the question are about obscure or commonly misunderstood facts, and the panelists get points for giving either correct or interesting answers, but lose points for giving answers which are both wrong and predictable.

What I'm coming to realize is that this isn't actually a show for people who like to know obscure and interesting things. It's really a show for people who like to know things other people don't know. And bonus points if you can show someone up who thinks they know such an obscure thing, but it's actually completely untrue.

The most recent episode I watched notwithstanding, I still enjoy putting it on and kind of half listening to it, it does occasionally get quite funny (generally when they stop talking about interesting things and start getting into sexual humor, really), and once or twice an episode they do sneak in something that's genuinely interesting. But I'm beginning to think it's neither as great nor as interesting as I used to believe.




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[info]currentlee
2009-06-03 11:47 am UTC (link)
is there a new series going on?
(i just love stephen fry so much, it's wonderful to watch him.
and the show got me into a lot of other comedy quizzes, which are also great.)

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[info]marcmagus
2009-06-03 02:11 pm UTC (link)
I don't know. I just got my hands on series 6, which was a bit ago.

I love Stephen "My Bottom is a Treasure House" Fry as well. (And I have a distinct urge to refer to him that way indefinitely.)

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[info]currentlee
2009-06-03 02:20 pm UTC (link)
have you seen his stint on "nevermind the buzzcocks"?
it's bril.

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[info]marcmagus
2009-06-06 12:55 am UTC (link)
No, but I may have to seek it out.

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[info]fieonljfiefie
2009-06-03 10:50 pm UTC (link)
It's been a while since I've watched it (I've seen maybe half an episode from the newest series), but I've really enjoyed it in the past.

My issue with it is that I never feel like I can actually trust their facts. There are too many instances where the obvious answer is perfectly true, and the answer they say is true is due to a misleading question or non-obvious interpretation of the question, or else is just downright false. I prefer my quite interesting facts to be actually factual.

That said, there are worse ways to spend half an hour than watching Stephen Fry be awesome. Of course, I can't really speak to whether it's gone downhill lately at all... if so, that is sad.

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[info]marcmagus
2009-06-06 01:00 am UTC (link)
I think I need to write a follow-up post going more into how much I really do enjoy watching QI, and maybe elaborating a bit on what my complaints are despite enjoying the show generally, given how I find myself wanting to respond...

I've noticed occasional factual errors as well. The occassional slip-up is ok, but I wish they'd stop being "clever" as a substitute for interesting.

...and it's a full hour (40-something minute) slot now. About which I have mixed feelings, in that an hour of Stephen "My Bottom is a Treasurehouse" Fry is certainly a good thing, but it means it's harder to put on an episode when I have half an hour to kill.

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[info]fieonljfiefie
2009-06-07 06:56 pm UTC (link)
...Okay, I'll bite:

Marc, where does "My Bottom is a Treasurehouse" come from?

Yeah, overall I really like the show. My lack of having seen it in ages is more related to how very little time I have these days than anything else.

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[info]marcmagus
2009-06-07 07:06 pm UTC (link)
QI Season 6, Episode 8, regarding catchphrases.

Give me 45 minutes and I'll come up with some more detail for you, though it's probably Google-able.

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[info]marcmagus
2009-06-07 07:50 pm UTC (link)
(Incidentally, this is quite a good episode. Among other things, they show the first physical homogenous mono-monostatic object, and get the inventor on.)

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[info]marcmagus
2009-06-07 07:49 pm UTC (link)
At about 29:00 in Episode 8 of Season 6, Alan asks about the meaning of the word thesaurus.

SF: ...thesaurus means a treasure house...
AD: Well, you might refer to your backside as a thesaurus.
SF: I'd like to think my bottom is a treasure house, yes....
AD: ..."My bottom is a treasure house" is a really good catchphrase...
SF: ...my [something]...Stephen "My Bottom is a Treasurehouse" Fry...yeah...I think I'll go with that...alright.


I just figured, if he wants it to be his catchphrase, I may as well help.

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[info]fieonljfiefie
2009-06-10 10:48 pm UTC (link)
How do you watch QI these days? I tried to look it up, but I'm not seeing any of the new series in the obvious places.

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[info]marcmagus
2009-06-11 04:13 pm UTC (link)
Looks like Demonoid in all cases. I guess those little "...from Demonoid..." things are good for something after all.

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