I gather not. Jeremy Clarkson said he was handed a script when he appeared on it, as were Hislop and Merton, but he said that they hardly bothered to read theirs, and a huge % of it was unscripted and ad libbed.

Hislop and Merton are superb and as sharp as lightning.
Whilst they obviously have a good idea where most of the questions are leading, there is no way that everything in that show could be scripted, their reactions and responses are just to quick.

The quality of the show is reinforced by how long it's been going.

The problem with Clive Anderson was his inability to allow any guest to speak a full sentence. The Bee Gees interview was an abject lesson in how to be a totally useless interviewer and also demonstrated the difference between class and crass.
Paul Merton has that wonderful deadpan delivery I so like in a comedian.
Hislop I like but has a tendency to have a I know everything attitude.
The early days of whose line is it anyway I thought excellent but as with many programmes carried on too long.



Graham

ohhhh yes, Anderson is so full of his self importance it's embarrassing, he is a jumped up little prat.....Merson is brilliant though.

I thought everyone moved to Spain to spend their evenings strolling into town, sipping a few glasses of Rioja ,nibbling on some tasty tapas and engaging in discussions of mutual interest with the friendly locals while snorting in derision at the poor folks shivering back home glued to their TV screens watching crap.

Apparently not.

P'raps it's because Hislop is genuinely knowledgeable.

This Ignore-a-troll button is a great thing, isn't it?

I think behind Hislops attitude and delivery is a wicked sarcastic sense of humour rather than an "I know it all" attitude.

Whilst I've yet to read one of his Private Eye mags, I gather he's not frightened to stick his neck out and take some flak, not to mention a few lawsuits in order to expose some of the wrongdoings of dodgy characters in public life.

Much to be admired if that is the case.

I wonder if there are any of his readers out there ?

I used to get Private Eye, and a good mag it was, Hislop and his team did a damn fine job exposing the wide seam of dishonesty and filth running thru the UK government.

In the end tho I stopped getting it because I couldn't stand to read it all and then see it go unpunished.

Yes, I still get it but I know what you mean.

I used to read it cover to cover, and afterwards I felt dirty.

so whats your excuse ?

It has some funny stuff too, even 'from the boards' which is pretty true-to-life for a message board

And being out during the day enjoying the fab weather, but it seems that many spend all day, every day glued to a computer. This forum is their life! The same names crop up from first thing in the morning until last thing at night, without a break!

Some of us have legitimate excuses such as being virtually housebound but not sure about the rest.

Rosemary