Saturday 9 January 2010

Open Thread: QI, 7.7 - "Girls & Boys"

Saturday 9 January 2010


As part of its current "G" series, QI explored the sexes in a "Girls & Boys"-themed edition, by dividing the four players into male and female duos (Alan Davies and Jack Dee vs. Ronni Ancona and Sandi Toksvig.) We learned many things, not least the scientific reason for why QI itself features so few women, how pink used to be the traditional colour for boys, and how all babies were called "girls" pre-1920's...

I still enjoy QI, but I find it less enthralling than I used to. Maybe the format's just become too predictable, or the facts are less interesting for whatever reason. I'm not sure. It's still amusing and occasionally fascinating, but I'm no longer quite so keen on it. Overexposure thanks to endless repeats on Dave, perhaps? In this episode, I thought Jack Dee was extremely disappointing (he recycled the "male drivers asking for instructions" cliche!), but Ronni Ancona was better than usual. Sandi Toksvig, a very quick-witted person (as her own BBC Radio 4 "News Quiz" proves), is somehow rendered smug and irritating whenever she's on television, too.

What was your verdict?