This peenk polenta! I love eet!

November 14, 2007 12:06 PM

QI transcripts and annotations.
posted by Wolfdog (31 comments total)

Awesome. This will actually be really useful; I'm constantly digging through old episodes trying to ferret out where I heard some fact, and being able to word search will speed this up.
posted by quin at 12:09 PM on November 14, 2007

WTF is QI and why is this FPP worthy?
posted by wfrgms at 12:12 PM on November 14, 2007

Qi (Quite Interesting) is a British game/ talk show. It's hosted by the well-liked-by-MeFites Stephen Fry, and it's very funny.
posted by quin at 12:16 PM on November 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

Thou shalt not question Stephen Fry... QI is the show where he ASKS the questions. For some stupid reason, BBC America has not brought this to 'the States'... maybe out of fear that Drew Carey would end up hosting the American version.

Still, this is going to destroy my productivity for the next several days. Thanks.
posted by wendell at 12:16 PM on November 14, 2007

Are you serious, wfrgms? Have you Googled it at all or looked at the tag page?

Talk about the elephant in the room.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 12:16 PM on November 14, 2007

I guess this is a good opportunity to thank maudlin for introducing me to QI in this off-hand comment. I had never heard of it, but it quickly became my new favorite thing. In the three weeks since I've watched the first four seasons of it on youtube. Thanks to you, too, Wolfdog.
posted by squarehead at 12:20 PM on November 14, 2007

I actually tried one of these the other day to see what the fuss was about. Seemed like good background fare, but honestly--who didn't already know how lie detectors "work"?
posted by DU at 12:20 PM on November 14, 2007

Cool. I would love to see some sort of QIki for the episodes with links to more information on the questions and facts they discuss.

For whatever reason, I can't imagine these types of UK comedy/quiz shows (Buzzcocks, HIGNFY, QI, Mock the Week) translating to US tv. I remember the VH1 Buzzcocks copy, and it sucked terribly.
posted by Razzle Bathbone at 12:21 PM on November 14, 2007

Thanks quin, YOU should have made this FPP.

goodnewsfortheinsane, a quality FPP doesn't send mefis scurrying to google to figure out what the fuck the OP is talking about.
posted by wfrgms at 12:21 PM on November 14, 2007 [4 favorites]

chill a bit, wfrgms. we have mystery meat fpps all the time. it happens.

also, is this the kind of thing i'd have to have a jesuit education to understand?

kidding.
posted by shmegegge at 12:30 PM on November 14, 2007

goodnewsfortheinsane, a quality FPP doesn't send mefis scurrying to google to figure out what the fuck the OP is talking about.

Huh. I didn't know what it was, so I clicked the link, and was quickly able to discern that British game shows are much cleverer and funnier than American game shows.

Anway, very cool - thanks!
posted by rtha at 12:34 PM on November 14, 2007

a quality FPP doesn't send mefis scurrying to google to figure out what the fuck the OP is talking about

And a quality MeFi post doesn't leave people muttering 'cock' under their breath.
posted by influx at 12:46 PM on November 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

What have you done for us lately, wfrgms?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 12:49 PM on November 14, 2007

For some stupid reason, BBC America has not brought this to 'the States'

It's especially weird when you consider how well The Book of General Ignorance, a Qi tie-in, has been selling over here.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:51 PM on November 14, 2007

My friend in the UK turned me on to it, and thankfully there are torrents of it. It's a brilliant show. Too bad this kind of thing has never been tried in the states. But we don't have a popular entertainer/intellectual like Stephen Fry to MC it.

I think the closest thing we could get to a panel show of this sort would be an '8 out of 10 Cats' knock-off. Of course, that's mostly an excuse to make fun of celebrities, and we don't do that here.

Not to their faces, anyway.
posted by mortimer at 12:51 PM on November 14, 2007

Well personally, I tend to think a post is best written for people who are intimately familiar with what you're talking about while simultaneously considering the experience of readers who may have just arrived from the planet Uranus and are thusly arriving to the party totally unawares of what some may consider to be widely-understood Earth goings-on.

It's probably years in advertising that has trained me to be that way, though. That whole, "You should never underestimate the stupidity of your audience" rule.

Plus, I'm too freaking lazy to want to google more than I already do.

All of that said, I like this show. Thanks! :)
posted by miss lynnster at 12:59 PM on November 14, 2007

Well my first thought was WTF is QI, but I didn't say it out loud.
Wiki says it's some kind of Chinese life force, but I figured it out without too much trouble.
Then I had to figure out W[ho]TF Stephen Fry is, and it turns out I've even seen him before, so even that piece of info got to me here on Uranus (Myanus??)

I find these mysterious posts a good thing. No context needed as long as Yahoo and Wiki are up.
And this looks like a great show ...if I watched shows ...and lived in the UK.
Good post. I've learned a lot already.
posted by MtDewd at 1:18 PM on November 14, 2007

I just like listening to Hugh Laurie talk in his native accent.
posted by jeffamaphone at 1:18 PM on November 14, 2007

Say, there's an online petition linked on the QI website to get QI shown in America.
posted by SteveInMaine at 1:22 PM on November 14, 2007

Thanks for the link; I love the show (obviously since most of the other QI posts were mine).
posted by chuckdarwin at 1:23 PM on November 14, 2007

but honestly--who didn't already know how lie detectors "work"?

But I didn't know about the youngest detective's anal duty until Alan told me. The tangents, the tangents!
posted by Free word order! at 1:29 PM on November 14, 2007

You may want to try a little search in YouTube too. You may be pleasantly surprised. QI is perfect internet back chatter.
posted by Free word order! at 1:34 PM on November 14, 2007

I actually tried one of these the other day to see what the fuss was about. Seemed like good background fare, but honestly--who didn't already know how lie detectors "work"?

Two dashes! That length of pause is a definite sign you are lying about your foreknowledge of lie detector efficacy. Either that or you went to oxbridge and took the stammer course.
posted by srboisvert at 2:10 PM on November 14, 2007

I'm all about anything with Jeeves in it...
posted by Shebear at 2:56 PM on November 14, 2007

Thank you very much.
posted by elmono at 3:02 PM on November 14, 2007

These were delightful. I was happy to see the YouTube clips since I've never seen the show and the back and forth between the participants doesn't come across as well in the transcripts.
posted by inconsequentialist at 3:19 PM on November 14, 2007

You're welcome, squarehead.

And I hope all fans know that for a few more weeks, the latest episodes are uploaded to YouTube right after the Friday night broadcast. There are only three episodes left in this series. Series 6 starts next September.
posted by maudlin at 3:19 PM on November 14, 2007

But I didn't know about the youngest detective's anal duty until Alan told me.

I was amused, but not enough to watch another rehash of The Ironic And Oddly Heroic Death Of Houdini.
posted by DU at 4:08 PM on November 14, 2007

I love it how on any thread that isn't a report of a radiator exploding in New York, or some minor Derek Powazek project shutting down in San Francisco, there is some asshole bellowing loudly within the first ten comments about why he is being made to sit through this incomprehensible nonsense.

We - the rest of the non-Amurk'n world - sit through reams of navel gazing yankee garbage every day on here, so please play nice when someone presents something that may not be well known outside Europe or the UK, but is still damn good and worthy of a FPP.
posted by fire&wings at 4:44 PM on November 14, 2007 [5 favorites]

I'm still working through the back episodes of this show and absolutely adore it. As someone else mentioned, it's rarely the topics themselves which are interesting but rather than bizarre tangents and seemingly-unrelated banter the guests (and host) toss back and forth. Quickly becoming one of my favorite shows to watch.
posted by nightchrome at 4:53 PM on November 14, 2007

There's no reason why QI shouldn't be on in America! Well, no good reason. Think of all the brilliance we're missing out on...
posted by Mael Oui at 11:47 PM on November 14, 2007