https://www.comedy.co.uk/news/story/00000600/frank_skinner_room_101_new_series/
Cool, there's not enough Frank on TV anymore.
A new host for Room 101? Page 3
I like Frank Skinner. I reckon he'll be good at this. I hope he has Lee Mack on as a guest.
Frank Skinner is a great choice.
Yes, he should be great. Excellent choice!
My favourite comedian. He can get laughs out of anything.
Good choice.
Did Paul Merton particularly need replacing, do you think? Okay, he kind of dominated, but sometimes that was needed, when the show was slowing down.
I never really thought about it before but Room 101 is essentially Desert Island Discs in reverse. I've been listening to a lot of the archive DID shows as BBC podcasts lately and there're some great interviews on there.
Off the top of my head there've been Johnny Vegas, Vic Reeves, Tony Robinson, Jimmy Mulville, Geoffrey Palmer, Bob Monkhouse, Billy Connolly, Jo Brand, Ricky Gervais, Ronnie Corbett, Bill Bailey, Peter Sallis, Kathy Burke, Paul Whitehouse, Warren Mitchell, Michael McIntyre...
The Johnny Vegas one is particularly interesting - if you have a preconception where you don't really like someone you can have that changed by hearing about their background. We should never be too quick to judge.
Michael McIntyre, meanwhile, I've never particularly liked but my opinion grew on him after seeing him on Britain's got Talent. However, he came over appallingly on Desert Island Discs. It's the only one I had to turn off. Maybe I was judging too quick but I simply couldn't bear to listen his voice any more.
No don't agree with Skinner being a great choice at all. A safe choice, not a great one. He won't do any wrong but it's all too samey for me, you know him so well now, the show could feel stale before it's barely started again.
They should have picked someone new to hosting, not a hosting regular, to give the show some freshness again. Maybe it was time for that elusive female panel show host. They have got this one wrong. Shame, because I like Room 101, or used to. That's the BBC for you though, safe, safe, safe.
The guest list needs to be braver as well, not just regular TV comedians and one or two others. It needs politicians on there, priests, judges, ballet dancers, aristocracy, royalty, Daily Mail columnists, if they can get them, as well as the usual lot, because it's a potentially fascinating concept that isn't really used very well. The guest list needs to expand widely, then it could be excellent viewing.
Here is a complete list of shows: https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/room_101/episodes/&all=yes
There are some lightweight names admittedly: Davina McCall, Sara Cox and Shane Richie to name but three.
Would someone from the Daily Mail come on, only to have all their items rejected?
Quote: Tim Azure @ August 22 2011, 8:09 AM BSTDid Paul Merton particularly need replacing, do you think?
He quit.
Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ August 22 2011, 9:02 AM BSTThat's the BBC for you though, safe, safe, safe.
They may be able to 'ok' it, but it's not the BBC's decision.
Skinner's a good choice. The show's lightweight filler but I'll give it a watch with him at the helm - and I say that as someone who lost interest during the Merton years.
Quote: Aaron @ August 22 2011, 11:43 AM BSTHe quit.
In general terms though?
Mmm, well, there was nothing wrong with Merton per se, but I agree with the sentiment that it could do with a bit of freshening up, and a new host would do just that.
The problem with Merton was that, if he liked the guest (Spike Milligan springs to mind), he'd let them put anything through no matter how filmsy their arguments.
It wasn't exactly about getting things through though, was it? It might be a broad generalisation, but it generally seemed to me that most guests had 5 items - of which 2 went one way and 3 went the other. The whole comedic potential came from the discussion that lead to the decision. Who cares what the actual decision is?