Never Mind The Buzzcocks

Never Mind The Buzzcocks - Ask Phill & Noel

Hey Pop Quiz Fans! Have you ever wanted to ask Phill & Noel a question that they can answer in a contractually obliged, shortform, format? No? Neither did we... until now!

Phill Jupitus interview: I am not everyone's cup of tea

As his new book is published, the comedian speaks about the row that led to him leaving 6 Music, the 'amoral weasels' at the BBC and why he nearly quit Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Currently, the Wednesday night TV schedule is the most boring in the UK, unless you watch Spooks. I've never been so grateful to see pop music panel show Never Mind The Buzzocks (BBC2, 10pm) as I was yesterday evening, with Frankie Boyle as the week's guest host. Is it just me, or has the guest-host format worked wonders for Buzzcocks? I was expecting Have I Got News For You-style tedium (where they insist on making everything look amateur and distracting by keeping in outtakes of the host fluffing their lines, etc), but Buzzcocks has avoided all that redundant inanity.

It helps that Buzzcocks can afford to be uncontrolled and slightly meandering under the guiding hand of guests (with various levels of presenting skill), because that's always been part of its makeup, whereas HIGNFY was a razor-sharp satirical quiz in Angus Deayton's day, but has since devolved into a light entertainment panel show. Anyway, I thought Frankie Boyle did a surprisingly good job of keeping Buzzcocks focused (or was it good editing?) and he came across as more human than the acerbic quip-machine from Mock The Week. And guest Richard Herring's "career bounce" just goes to show that celebs in danger of being forgotten about should try co-hosting a ribald podcast instead of munch insects in the Australian jungle.

Has Buzzcocks survived Simon Amstell's departure?

We've had eight episodes now since Amstell's departure - and the guests hosts have generally been enjoyable, if not as much of a success as they were post-Deayton on Have I Got News for You.

Dermot jokes of 'death threats'

X Factor host Dermot O'Leary stunned a Never Mind The Buzzcocks studio audience with a string of bad-taste X Factor jokes.

I do quite mind the Buzzcocks actually

Since Amstell left, my favourite remaining little pop show Never Mind The Buzzcocks has lost its way. Depending on the guest host it has either left you wishing for the return of Simon Amstell, or, in some drastic cases, the return of Mark Lamarr.

Jamelia, Buzzcocks, and Maxwell D's Apology

Jamelia appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks last night and had a very odd encounter. Maxwell D, a London based MC, was star of the line up. It turns out he attempted to sell a story on Jamelia back in t'day.

This week the pop quiz is the launch pad for the manic wit of regular team captains Noel Fielding and Phill Jupitus, guest host Alex James and panellists Peter Serafinowicz, Holly Walsh, Newton Faulkner and Jessica Origliasso. That means there's a range of comic styles as divergent as this show's musical tastes usually are from the current Top 40.

There's life after Simon Amstell for Buzzcocks

We go behind the scenes at the comedy music quiz, where it's all "flowers and unicorns" according to Noel Fielding.