Yes, I felt that it was good, but not great. Will have to see what will happen next week.
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue - Series 51 Page 2
It was always going to seem a bit strange, but it was definitely enjoyable.
Agreed, it was still definitely 'Clue', but just ... odd. I don't think the chairman should be heard chuckling away at the panelists.
There were only ever two or three ways of introducing Sound Charades -("The original was played in silence, the performers were excellent and the audience was delighted. Our version differs in just 3 ways..." etc)- Humph used those lines over and over for years and years but you learned to overlook it, yet it now seems strange to have Fry making the same comments. They basically gave him Humph's script.
Fry delivered it oddly too; it wasn't 'QI Fry', it wasn't 'Jeeves' and I don't think it was just Stephen Fry speaking; I think he was trying to hit a deliberate note. It needs to be delivered with the same impatient disinterest. Better still, introduce some new cliche's.
Still, hopefully they'll settle into it more. I think they could use their individual personas in the role of chairman, which maybe Fry was holding back on. Humph developed a definite persona, and Jack Dee could be very good in a similar way.
Enjoyable, but definitely difficult to adjust to.
I'll be interested to see how Rob Brydon and, especially, Jack Dee, play it.
I think the voice is everything in that chair. You really need a world-weary tone. Personally I would have gone for a non-"comic" host, with an intelligence as to comedy, for example Geoffrey Palmer. Bill Nighy would be a good voice for it too. Trouble is, with acting commitments, neither would be available. In which case go for a comic who could bring a fresh cynicism to the chair and give Ian a great persona to write for, e.g. Arthur Smith.
Arthur Smith would have been a brilliant choice! I hadn't thought of him, but he would have captured the right tone 
I think Jack Dee is the best bet out of the three for hitting the world wearing, cynical tone!
I just read a review in The Grauniad about last night's episode, saying that "Just a Minim" was a new round. They had that round back when Willie Rushton was still alive!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jun/17/radio-head-zoe-williams
I think Rob Brydon would hit the right dismissive tone for being permanent chairman. I think Jack Dee might be a little too acerbic.
It's not surprising that Fry's script sounded the same as Humph's. It's the same writer after all. I guess if they do select a permanent host then he'll change his style slightly to fit the new chairman.
Going back to that inaccurate Grauniad, the paper has today printed a correction.
A review of the first programme in the 51st series of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue was under the misimpression that the round entitled Just a Minim was an innovation for this series, following the death of Humphrey Lyttelton. In fact it has appeared previously (Radio head, 17 June, page 27, G2).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2009/jun/18/corrections-clarifications
Still, its an interesting first show. And we have discovered something that National Treasure Stephen Fry *isn't* very good at...
That made me laugh in the Guardian. They said Just a Minim was a new round and they would have loved to hear Paul Merton have a go at it.
Well, Paul was a fairly regular guest from 1991-1997/8 and they played the game quite a lot. Should've done their research 