Room 101 - Series 1 Page 4

Quote: Tokyo Nambu @ January 23 2012, 7:58 PM GMT

With the possible exception of Robert Webb being now old enough to be going bald, the whole thing stank of 1996. Skinner (b. 1957) fresh from "Three Lions", Britten (b. 1957) in her "Ready Steady Cook" pomp, Danny Baker (b. 1957) still on Radio 1. Robert Webb (b. 1972) adds a flash of youth, but the rest of the programme, in terms of attitudes, jokes, cast and shockingly choppy editing could be fifteen years old.

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Robert Webb would be 24 in 1996, not 15.

I've just spotted something in the Radio Times today which affects all of us. On his appearance on Room 101 later in the series, Chris Packham has nominated to get rid of the entire human race.

A person can love animals a bit TOO much...

Quote: Ian Wolf @ January 24 2012, 2:27 PM GMT

, Chris Packham has nominated to get rid of the entire human race.

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And he's not the first. Many radical environmentalists have stated that the biggest threat to the continued existence of life on Earth is Mankind. Get rid of us and nature returns to an equilibrium that will sustain it's continued survival for billions of years.

Of course, Chris Packham has probably never heard of giant asteroids, the animal bothering twat.

You are assuming that he is nominating the human race for environmental reasons. He may just have travelled to the studio on the Tube.

Quote: Timbo @ January 24 2012, 10:38 PM GMT

You are assuming that he is nominating the human race for environmental reasons. He may just have travelled to the studio on the Tube.

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Quote: Renegade Carpark @ January 24 2012, 9:58 PM GMT

And he's not the first. Many radical environmentalists have stated that the biggest threat to the continued existence of life on Earth is Mankind. Get rid of us and nature returns to an equilibrium that will sustain it's continued survival for billions of years.

Of course, Chris Packham has probably never heard of giant asteroids, the animal bothering twat.

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The problem with getting rid of the entire human race as far as I can tell is that the greenhouse effect would probably still be going on for some time even if we're not around, so you will need humans to solve the mess we've caused before you got rid of them all.

Quote: Ian Wolf @ January 25 2012, 4:36 PM GMT

The problem with getting rid of the entire human race as far as I can tell is that the greenhouse effect would probably still be going on for some time even if we're not around, so you will need humans to solve the mess we've caused before you got rid of them all.

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True. I know dolphins are clever but even with the best training in the world, there's no way they could wrap their fish loving minds around the concept of widespread industrialisation, mass consumerism and the subsequent effects upon the Ozone Layer.

'Squeek, squeek, you take liquified dinosaur bollocks out of the ground and use it to power your cars?!! Squeek, squeek.'

Besides, from a philosophical point of view, is there a natural world if humans aren't around to observe it? You have 45 minutes to answer the question, then please turn your papers over.

Quote: Ian Wolf @ January 25 2012, 4:36 PM GMT

The problem with getting rid of the entire human race as far as I can tell is that the greenhouse effect would probably still be going on for some time even if we're not around, so you will need humans to solve the mess we've caused before you got rid of them all.

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More realistically the greenhouse effect will continue to get worse if we stay around. The planet does have mechanisms for storing carbon, such as trees. If we stopped burning fossil fuels and chopping down trees the planet would sort itself out quickly enough.

The human race is not an intrinsically bad thing, anymore than say rabbits or locusts, but we have reached plague proportions. In fossil fuels we chanced on a resource we could exploit and will continue to do so without thought (at a species level) for the consequences, until it is exhausted and the environment is degraded, at which point our numbers will crash and we will probably go back to living caves. From a planetary perspective human civilisation is just a flash in the pan. Give it a few million years and the planet will be back to being as rich and diverse as ever, possibly with a few chimplike creatures evolved from humans puzzling over repeats of Room 101 on Dave.

Learned two interesting facts in tonight's episode:

Supermarket Chicken Kievs are one of the most deflationary products ever.

Even Bernie Madhoff gives better financial advice than Frank Skinner and his writer.

He did get that quite bizarrely wrong!

I loved Millican's bit on cats.

Hmm, I feel it's lost something in the new format...not half as satisfying, due to having three guests and not just one, there's no time to get any insight into the guest which was the enjoyable thing about the old Room 101. Still, it's a breezy half hour, Millican is a laugh...see if it had been just her for the whole half hour...(moan moan moan!)

Quote: zooo @ January 27 2012, 8:58 PM GMT

I loved Millican's bit on cats.

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I just stared at the screen blankly as she told her story about chasing cats under cars so she can stroke them. This sounded like the most bizarre, freaky, scary and creepy thing I'd ever heard. How desperate for love are you that you'd 'attack' strangers pets for affection?

The rest of the show passed pleasantly enough, though Gabby's short skirt meant I spent half the show trying to have a crafty look. I also liked her impressions of shop girls and Olympic haters.

Now, where this show falls down compared to the old format is the 'to and fro' between guest and presenter. On the old Room 101, a guest would put forward something innocuous and then both parties would have a heated debate about the validity of the choice. Sometimes the guest would win, sometimes the host, but the whole thing was thrashed out in no uncertain terms.

Caligula Skinner now gets to give the thumbs up and down in a more arbitrary fashion and his choices often pander to the audience.

Quote: Renegade Carpark @ January 27 2012, 9:41 PM GMT

I just stared at the screen blankly as she told her story about chasing cats under cars so she can stroke them. This sounded like the most bizarre, freaky, scary and creepy thing I'd ever heard. How desperate for love are you that you'd 'attack' strangers pets for affection?

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Yes, she sounded completely mental. That's why it was funny!
You didn't laugh at her putting her hand up to touch the cat's paw in the window?

Maybe if her skirt had been shorter and her legs more to your liking you'd have liked the story better.

Quote: Renegade Carpark @ January 27 2012, 9:41 PM GMT

The rest of the show passed pleasantly enough, though Gabby's short skirt meant I spent half the show trying to have a crafty look.

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I was distracted by her dress as I kept thinking it was a weird shape.