Tuesday 30 December 2008

Dutch QI Episode 1

Since QI is making its first foray abroad, we here at the QI Blog want to keep you up to date about the new series in The Netherlands. Hence we have some new reporters to introduce to you. This review of the first episode is written by Douchegordijn:

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In general, Dutch remakes of British comedy programmes tend to be painful to watch. The Dutch Never Mind The Buzzcocks is quite horrible, and although our version of Have I Got News For You is very popular, I haven’t the faintest idea why. This is why I concluded a long time ago panel-quizzes were just not suited for Dutch humour. Last Saturday, I was proven wrong.

ARTHUR JAPIN: How do guide dogs navigate in a city?
RONALD GOEDEMONDT: Guide dogs usually wear out a couple of blind people before they know the city. They start with five blind people, which they leave at places across the city. These blind people are lost, and you can hear them scream, "Where am I? Where am I?" These lost people are the navigating points for the guide dogs. They think: "Oh, that’s Harry who’s lost at the cathedral. Here we go left." It’s not that difficult.

They decided against beginning with an A-series, opting for a theme per episode instead. The theme of the first episode was "senses". The participating comedians were Diederik van Vleuten, Ronald Goedemondt, Jetty Mathurin, and recurring panel member Thomas van Luyn. The Dutch version of QI is still very much a work in progress. Usually the comedians were able to come up with a couple of decent anecdotes or witty jokes. They were, however, still searching for the best way to deliver them. Sometimes the jokes or stories seemed a bit forced, but I still found myself laughing out loud a lot.

Host Arthur Japin is no Stephen Fry. At the moment, his prompter skills aren’t good enough. When he’s presenting, you can hear he’s reading the prompter aloud. He’ll probably get better at this, though. He is a lot more bitchy than Stephen and when the contestants are making fun of him, you often see a him looking very much "not amused" (JAPIN: "I had a dog who would do anything for me. He’d get the newspaper, carry my groceries…" GOEDEMONDT: "…write books…"). However, there were moments when Japin demonstrated some strong comedic skills. It proves that even without Fry, the format works.

The editing of the programme was sometimes a bit strange, and this will be one of the areas that needs to be targeted if the show is to become a lasting success. At times, they editing gave the impression that the contestants came up with the correct answer very quickly, which is a bit strange with impossible questions like these. This created the feeling that the show was scripted even though it isn’t.

The Dutch version of QI is not up there with the English version yet, but that’s not a really fair comparison, because the first episode of QI had the same feelings of being a little forced. I found the first episode quite enjoyable, and I think the show can grow to something very good, especially for those who don’t watch the English version.



The opening credits from the Dutch version.

Tuesday 16 December 2008

Dutch QI

A Dutch version of QI will begin broadcasting in the Netherlands on the 27th December. Details are thin on the ground at the moment but we do know that it will still be called QI and it is presented by Arthur Japin, a popular Dutch author and regular guest comedian Thomas van Luyn. This is the first time that QI's format has been sold abroad.

Some parts of The Netherlands already receive the British QI because some parts of the country receive BBC TV broadcasts from over the channel. More details if and when we get them (unfortunately the language barrier has prevented us from learning about this until now).

Edit (18/12/08):

Thank you very much to the people who have added a few comments about the Dutch show. To reiterate those comments, there may well still be tickets to recordings. Unlike the British version it would appear that the Dutch version is being produced with a much shorter edit time so if you're in the Netherlands you might have a chance to go and see one. The website you want is here. Also, for non-residents of the Netherlands, you may find that the show is available outside of the country here after it has been shown (much like iPlayer). Lets hope for some English subtitles.

In the meantime, we'd love for someone who's fluent in Dutch and English to get in touch about writing some reviews of the show when it airs towards the end of this month. Obviously we'd prefer fans of the British version who can give us a comparison between the two. If you're interested send us an email and we'll get in touch.

Friday 12 December 2008

QI F Series Broadcast Dates

News just in, we now have confirmed broadcast dates for the rest of the F series. The Christmas Special will be broadcast on 22nd December on BBC1 at 21:00. The remaining ten episodes will be broadcast every Friday on BBC1 at 21:00 followed by an extended edition of QI on Saturday on BBC2 at a time yet to be confirmed between 21:00 and 22:00.

A full list of dates and times as they are currently know (with the exception of the Christmas special we don't yet know which show is which).

  • 22nd December 21:00 BBC1 (Fire and Freezing)
  • 9th January 21:00 BBC1
  • 10th January BBC2 (Extended QI)
  • 16th January 21:00 BBC1
  • 17th January BBC2 (Extended QI)
  • 23rd January 21:00 BBC1
  • 24th January BBC2 (Extended QI)
  • 30th January 21:00 BBC1
  • 31st January BBC2 (Extended QI)
  • 6th February 21:00 BBC1
  • 7th February BBC2 (Extended QI)
  • 13th February 21:00 BBC1
  • 14th February BBC2 (Extended QI)
  • 20th February 21:00 BBC1
  • 21st February BBC2 (Extended QI)
  • 27th February 21:00 BBC1
  • 28th February BBC2 (Extended QI)
  • 6th March 21:00 BBC1
  • 7th March BBC2 (Extended QI)
  • 13th March 21:00 BBC1
  • 14th March BBC2 (Extended QI)