BBC bans all male panel shows

dark crystal

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2555111/All-male-comedy-panels-BANNED-BBC-pledges-include-women-shows.html

All-male comedy panel shows will be consigned to the history books, after BBC bosses told producers that female guests must now be involved with the programmes...

...BBC2’s QI and Mock the Week came under fire for 'rarely having women represented or only having "token women" on their programmes.'

In 2011, Victoria Wood said of panel shows: 'I don’t like them. They are a male preserve. That’s all right, that’s how they are. It is more of a male characteristic to want to top somebody’s gags.’
Meanwhile, Lee Mack, who is a team captain on BBC1’s Would I Lie To You?, said men are better suited to being stand-up comedians as they are more competitive - and therefore dominate TV panel shows as a result.


The 45-year-old, who wrote and starred in the BBC1 sitcom Not Going Out, added: ‘The problem isn’t that there’s not enough women in panel games.

'The problem is there’s not enough women in comedy in general.’

What a ridiculously patronising decision by the BBC. Panel shows should be funny, regardless of the gender of the panellists.

I'm not a subscriber to the notion that women can't be funny, they most certainly can, but to book a comedienne on the basis of gender alone seems completely condescending and over the top PC.

By all means, book more women, but for the love of Stephen Fry, at least do it based on merit, not just because they're women!

Newaglish

Well it's definitely not going to solve the problem of only having "token women"

Ihatecuddles

I'm one of those people that haven't found a funny female stand up. Not for lack of trying either.

iDave

BBC2’s QI and Mock the Week came under fire for 'rarely having women represented or only having "token women" on their programmes.'

So the solution to having token women on the shows is to make token women mandatory. Couldn't make it up.

Professey Chin

Will Loose Women and stuff like that be banned too?

Wait, just comedy shows? That's even sillier!

Lando Griffin

1st guest should be Mrs Brown from the hit tv series Mrs Browns Boys.

Qualitymark

One of those sentences where a hyphen would make all the difference. I think you mean 'bans all-male panel shows'; a bit less sensational!

mauzo! wrote: »

I'm one of those people that haven't found a funny female stand up. Not for lack of trying either.

Depends on what you find funny, perhaps?

Dyr

Wait? Victoria Wood is actually a comedian?

looksee

What a ridiculous ruling. Next thing will be a compulsory female on Top Gear. Come to think of it a female on that programme might be a good idea, if they could find a woman willing to be other than purely decorative. Can you imagine a female in the desert trying to drive a 4xdrive in high heeled sandals.

I too find the idea of 'compulsory women' condescending and patronising.

phasers

That's bloody stupid. There are less female comedians on the circuit, of course they're going to be less represented on panel shows.

You all know what this means right? More Sarah Millican and her stupid fat cake jokes

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Bambi wrote: »

Wait? Victoria Wood is actually a comedian?

she's the only funny female comedian I've ever seen. my mother had a vhs tape of hers years ago, was great.

Royale with Cheese

This can only lead to more Miranda Hart on tv. Yay.

dark crystal

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

she's the only funny female comedian I've ever seen. my mother had a vhs tape of hers years ago, was great.

My mother loved her too - I actually thought Acorn Antiques was hilarious!

Turtyturd

Stand up lessons for women would surely yield better results.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

dark crystal wrote: »

My mother loved her too - I actually thought Acorn Antiques was hilarious!

that was one of my favourite parts as well

force eleven

Gender quotas are a joke in any walk of life. If the Dail was 100% women, wouldn't give a damn as long as they did the job. We're far to PC nowadays to stay stop this nonsense and let the best people, male or female, get the jobs.

Qualitymark

Turtyturd wrote: »

Stand up lessons for women would surely yield better results.

And is it men who'd give women these lessons? The male comedians who go on and on about their mickeys, with a sad snigger?

Take a look at Old Jews Telling Jokes if you don't think women are funny. Plenty of great jokes there, by both men and women, told with spectacular timing and elegance.

gramar

Jesus, I hope that doesn't mean that we're going to see more of twink on the telly.

anncoates

gramar wrote: »

Jesus, I hope that doesn't mean that we're going to see more of twink on the telly.

Thankfully I think it only applies to women that are intentionally comic.

danniemcq

From QI

Stephen
Oh! I say. But recent studies appear to have shown an interesting thing, which is that women laugh more but they laugh less at women. Women laugh more at men. Audiences, generally, laugh more at men, but women themselves do more laughing.

https://sites.google.com/site/qitranscripts/transcripts/7x07

personally if the panel is funny i'll watch but if they are just adding someone to make up numbers then the quality suffers. There are some very very funny women out there but to me it seems that there isn't that many of them. This means that in an effort to be equal they are going to add more and more medicore or crap women comedians and this will make things worse not better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcqrM96M

of some of that QI show

Omackeral

Yay for Affirmative Action!

Turtyturd

Qualitymark wrote: »

And is it men who'd give women these lessons? The male comedians who go on and on about their mickeys, with a sad snigger?

You class that as comedy?

Qualitymark

DannieHasABrazilian wrote: »

There are some very very funny women out there but to me it seems that there isn't that many of them.

Thing is, that's the same argument that used to be made about women suitable to be newsreaders, about women sub-editors, women in the police, women doctors, etc. Cometh the hour, cometh the woman.

Davarus Walrus

QI is about as funny as piles anyway, regardless of whether the panelists have a cock or not.

Stephen Fry is one self-important pompous arsehole.

eviltwin

Stupid decision and I say that as a woman.

It would be one thing if there was discrimination against women and none ever featured on these shows but QI - the only one of these I would watch regulary - has had plenty of women on in the past. Jo Brand is a regular. There are more male comedians than female so it makes sense that there would be more men on these kind of shows. I don't think that is sexist.

Lapin

phasers wrote: »

That's bloody stupid. There are less female comedians on the circuit, of course they're going to be less represented on panel shows.

This is true.

And the percentage of female 'comedians' who are actually funny is a lot less.

Crass decision by the Beeb.

What next? Not enough black people on every panel show. Not enough gays, Irish, Armenians, Brummies?

Popularity amongst an audience should dictate who appears on game shows - not gender.

Annasopra

gramar wrote: »

Jesus, I hope that doesn't mean that we're going to see more of twink on the telly.

On the bbc?

gramar

anncoates wrote: »

Thankfully I think it only applies to women that are intentionally comic.

yah, my mistake...I got comedian mixed up with laughing stock

mango salsa wrote: »

On the bbc?

Look at Brendan o'Carroll. They can't get enough of him!

Santa Cruz

gramar wrote: »

Jesus, I hope that doesn't mean that we're going to see more of twink on the telly.

The idea of comedians is to laugh at their jokes not at them.

wandatowell

BBC2’s QI and Mock the Week came under fire for 'rarely having women represented or only having "token women" on their programmes.'

So Sandi Toksvig is a token women?


She is hilarious, always her stuff and I'm delighted when she pops up on QI
though Im watch it on Netflix so probably not up to date.

py2006

Now lets find some token loose men...

Lapin

Davarus Walrus wrote: »

QI is about as funny as piles anyway, regardless of whether the panelists have a cock or not.

Stephen Fry is one self-important pompous arsehole.

Oh dear. I guess some pepole just don't 'get it'.

biko

The biggest issue I have with this decision is that it now will stigmatise female panel guests.
There's lots of great female comedians out there already. I think BBC could just have a expressed a wish for panel hosts to bring them on rather than go all banstick on the whole thing.

The Backwards Man

Jo Brand has me in stitches when I see her on telly.

On my arm after I put my fist through the screen.

Dravokivich

looksee wrote: »

What a ridiculous ruling. Next thing will be a compulsory female on Top Gear. Come to think of it a female on that programme might be a good idea, if they could find a woman willing to be other than purely decorative. Can you imagine a female in the desert trying to drive a 4xdrive in high heeled sandals.

I too find the idea of 'compulsory women' condescending and patronising.

There's Sabine Schmitz who's been involved in a few shows with Top Gear.

The Backwards Man

Dravokivich wrote: »

There's Sabine Schmitz who's been involved in a few shows with Top Gear.

She's not a woman though, she's a a German.

phasers

Dravokivich wrote: »

There's Sabine Schmitz who's been involved in a few shows with Top Gear.

She presents German Top Gear afaik

WellThen?

mauzo! wrote: »

I'm one of those people that haven't found a funny female stand up. Not for lack of trying either.

I am a woman, and i know that we just are not that funny when it comes to stand up. Funny in other ways but men win hands down in this category. This is ridiculous.

shruikan2553

So a show with all women is ok but a show with all men is bad and they must have a token woman to stop the women just being a token women. Isn't the rule itself sexist if its only making this a requirement of one gender and if it was about "equality" it would be you cant have a panel made from only 1 gender. Suppose some feminazi cam up with it so equality has nothing to do with it. There are very few women comedians I find funny. Yes you have a period once a month and your stories about your husband/boyfriend aren't funny.

gramar

biko wrote: »

The biggest issue I have with this decision is that it now will stigmatise female panel guests.
There's lots of great female comedians out there already. I think BBC could just have a expressed a wish for panel hosts to bring them on rather than go all banstick on the whole thing.

You would think a quiet word to the producers would have been enough instead of this heavy handed knee-jerk reaction.

thecatspjs

Hopefully this means they ditch Jo Brand in favour of actual funny/witty women. But I know it just means I'll be seeing a lot more of her. Imagine if all of the panelists were women. That'd be interesting .

Ash.J.Williams

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Jo Brand has me in stitches when I see her on telly.

On my arm after I put my fist through the screen.

Steve Merchant caught her a lovely one on Graham Norton once!

danniemcq

Qualitymark wrote: »

Thing is, that's the same argument that used to be made about women suitable to be newsreaders, about women sub-editors, women in the police, women doctors, etc. Cometh the hour, cometh the woman.

See the thing is I look at it as if someone who wants to do a job, needs to be able to do the job.

I have no issue with women working in any field as long as they are capable of the work. Like i quoted in my previous post "Audiences, generally, laugh more at men," now if your job is to get laughs then its obvious men have the upper hand in this.


One major issue with this that has popped up recently in world news is the American Army allowing females to fight on the front lines. I know there have been some outstanding women soldiers in the past (and current times) however when you look at the breakdown and the ins and outs things get kinda different. now I know people say well if they pass the same tests as guys then why shouldn't they get the chance to do what guys do. Then you read this

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/03/01/the-truth-about-women-in-combat.html#url=/articles/2013/03/01/the-truth-about-women-in-combat.html

But that answer ignores the bureaucratic realities. The record shows that the military does not and will not enforce gender-neutral standards.


The record shows that the military does not and will not enforce gender-neutral standards.[A]t the time of enlistment, a seventeen-year-old female is expected to do thirteen push-ups, compared to thirty-five for males, while for forty-one-year-olds, the numbers are six and twenty-four, respectively. A seventeen year-old girl is expected to run two miles in nineteen minutes, forty-two seconds or less, which is twelve seconds more than a forty-one year old man gets. A forty-one-year-old woman has to "run" two miles in twenty-four minus and six seconds, almost five minutes more than a man receives. Only in combat, it seems, will demands on the sexes be equal ….

(LOC 399-403)

The military executes missions, and the generals and admirals understand that one of their most important missions - from the point of view of their personal advancement - is to recruit sufficient numbers of women to please their political masters. The only way to achieve that mission is to operate very unequal standards. Browne again:

The probability that a randomly selected man will have greater upper-body strength than a randomly selected woman is well over 95 percent.

(LOC 432)

The army's standard fragmentation grenade has a blast radius of 15 meters. Infantrymen are required to demonstrate the ability to throw a grenade 35 meters; military women, only 25 meters. In practice, many military women cannot throw even that far.

Sorry for the tangent but I hate this whole thing, people should be rewarded for their ability, not their sex.

Too Tough To Die

Saw an rerun of QI the other day with 3 women guests, i had to turn it off after 10 mins as it was depressingly unfunny.

blue note

I think it's disgraceful how heavily weighted these shows are towards comedians. You never see an accountant on them. I think they should have a least one accountant on every panel.

Lyaiera

So far we've had periods, boyfriends, shoes and women aren't funny. There's nothing less funny than neckbeards talking about women in stand up.

razorblunt

This is going to put huge pressure on the female comedians coming onto these shows.
I've noticed Katherine Ryan appearing on panel shows more and more and I have to say I find her quite funny, strangely don't like her stand up but for me, she slots in well on these types of shows.

I wish not for two things from this:

1. Ed Byrne plays for the "we need more Irish"
2. That shouty small woman, Gina Yashere (sp?!) appears more, she is awful.

Davarus Walrus

Lapin wrote: »

Oh dear. I guess some pepole just don't 'get it'.

Oh I 'get it' alright. It isn't string theory or a treatise on existentialism.

The Backwards Man

Lyaiera wrote: »

So far we've had periods, boyfriends, shoes and women aren't funny. There's nothing less funny than neckbeards talking about women in stand up.

Calm down love. Put your pinafore on and make us a nice cup of tea.

Irish Guitarist

They're becoming increasingly unwatchable anyway, no matter what the gender of the guests is. In recent years even QI has become intolerable. Stephen Fry could be saying something 'quite interesting' and four idiots keep interrupting him by shouting unfunny nonsense. Alan Davies was always annoying but now it seems the other guests are trying to outdo him. Among the worst offenders are Sean Lock, Ross Noble, Phil Jupitus and Jo Brand.

geeky

I'm normally opposed to gender quotas, indeed affirmative action of any kind.

But for me, a lot of the all male shows like Mock The Week are really samey and testosterone-filled. They're missing a trick by not tapping female talent. HIGNFY and The News Quiz do it really well, so why can't other shows?

That's not to say that there's no place for single-gender shows, or at least ones very heavily influenced by one gender - Top Gear works well and feels naturally weighted, for example. But on something as broad as current affairs comedy, both genders have something to add.

As for people who claim that they can't find any funny female comics, try:
Sandi Toksvig
Susan Calman
Jo Brand
Sarah Millican

And that's just off the top of my head.


Personally, I think the problems lie deeper than gender for both shows. QI is the smuggest show on earth, while Mock The Week lost the only asset setting it aside from HIGNFY when Frankie Boyle left.