Out of 4706 UK panel shows. Only 1 was 100% female.

December 12, 2016 6:52 AM

UK Panel Show Gender Breakdown! Generally, panel shows on UK television include few female guests. Most have male hosts and male captains/regulars. Even omitting the regulars, the guests are mostly men too. It is a problem that half the population are under-represented in these long-running TV and radio shows.

A couple of years ago the head of the BBC's television output made a rule banning all male panel shows. A stance which some people disagreed with, (O briain / Toksvig).
Buzzfeed made some graphs at the time, nice try, but there's more data to analyse!


Here's the gender split by year.
Here's everyone who has appeared more than once on a UK panel show.
Here you can explore more details of the gender split.

posted by Just this guy, y'know (67 comments total)

Captains?
posted by jonmc at 7:00 AM on December 12, 2016

Captains?

Most panel shows have a recurring person on each team to sort of help move things along, they are referred to as captains. QI just has Alan.
posted by davros42 at 7:12 AM on December 12, 2016 [8 favorites]

I miss Linda Smith.
posted by Diablevert at 7:13 AM on December 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

Oh, hosts.
posted by jonmc at 7:14 AM on December 12, 2016

Oh, hosts.

No, the chairperson (or chair) is the host.

The Captains are ringers put on each team to ensure that they are both funny (YMMV) and familar enough with the format of the game (such as it is) to keep things moving.
posted by davros42 at 7:17 AM on December 12, 2016 [7 favorites]

There is a theory (a friend told me) that men have been under an evolutionary pressure to be funny in order to attract females (that or to be strong). There is also a theory that there are very few funny women comedians compared to the number of funny guys.
posted by Laotic at 7:29 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

There's a theory (e.g. I just made it up and told it to a friend) that men just deliberately exclude women from public spaces and refuse to support them in challenging careers such as comedy, and then turn to pop-evopsch to blame it on our biology and 'natural' inferiority rather than a rigged patriarchal system. Just a theory, though.
posted by AFII at 7:32 AM on December 12, 2016 [171 favorites]

> "... men have been under an evolutionary pressure to be funny in order to attract females ..."

Because men, as is well known, prefer their mates to be dour and bitter.
posted by kyrademon at 7:35 AM on December 12, 2016 [37 favorites]

So having never seen a UK panel show is Wikipedia correct that these shows are similar to the NPR show Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me?
posted by octothorpe at 7:38 AM on December 12, 2016

So having never seen a UK panel show is Wikipedia correct that these shows are similar to the NPR show Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me?

Other way around, but basically, yes. And many of them have duelling panels instead of individual contestants. On these panels, there's often a regular member (called the "captain" in this analysis) and several rotating or one-off members.
posted by Etrigan at 7:41 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

Because men, as is well known, prefer their mates to be dour and bitter.

I'm quite serious. (Christopher Hitchens, no less)
posted by Laotic at 7:42 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

IIRC Dara O’Briain made it pretty clear at the time that he wasn’t against the policy itself: he was just against making it *public*. Naturally the press ran with the most controversial possible interpretation they could come up with.
posted by pharm at 7:45 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

So having never seen a UK panel show

There are many seasons of QI (Quite Interesting) available through YouTube or Daily Motion. I'd start there. They aren't news topical so they are pretty much evergreen for viewing, and it's a very smart show all around.

Look for the QI XL versions if you can find them -- 45 minute episodes vs 30 minutes.

Another US television analogue to UK panel shows is the Comedy Central show @midnight, which I find entertaining but not particularly smart. I think there are archived episodes at the cc.com website.
posted by hippybear at 7:46 AM on December 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

Mod note: Boy howdy do I not see "my friend has a theory that women just actually aren't funny" leading anywhere remotely interesting, even if that friend is Hitchens, rest his grumpy soul. Please drop this and let the thread move on.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:46 AM on December 12, 2016 [56 favorites]

"So having never seen a UK panel show"

Get on youtube and check them out. They're usually great! I prefer Qi.
posted by I-baLL at 7:46 AM on December 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

(or what hippybear said above)
posted by I-baLL at 7:47 AM on December 12, 2016

(Christopher Hitchens, no more)
posted by beerperson at 7:47 AM on December 12, 2016 [5 favorites]

At least the gender split seems to be moving back in the right direction. (1989 must have been a bad year for women in light entertainment on UK TV.)
posted by pharm at 7:49 AM on December 12, 2016

It seemed like just about every other show in the UK is a panel show of some kind, and the BBC seems (I vaguely remember this actually being a thing, but it also just seems like it after having watched a couple weeks of British television) to have some kind of deal where once you have your own panel show, you're contractually obligated to appear on x other panel shows, which is how I saw Josh Widdicombe on 5 different shows before I saw the actual show that he's a host/sidekick on. QI is the obvious example, but there's also 9 out of 10 Cats Play Countdown, Through the Keyhole, and a few other game shows.
posted by LionIndex at 7:51 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

not quite a panel show, but one of the things i loved about 'gbbo: another slice' is that the table was pretty much always half women at least. not odd to have women heading up a cooking show, i realize, but still a nice change. it featured a lot of the same personalities as the regular panel shows, but just more women at a time.
posted by radiopaste at 7:52 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

I have watched both "Would I Lie To You" and "Eight Out Of Ten Cats" on YouTube. I definitely noticed the gender problems, and it's not simply numbers. I much prefer "Would I Lie To You" because the format (contestants taking turns telling outlandish but convincing stories about themselves) enforces that the women on the show ACTUALLY GET TO SPEAK AND BE FUNNY and aren't just talked over by the men (as much). Also "The Big Fat Quiz of Everything" is good about women actually getting to talk because everyone discusses their answers in turn. But yes it's rare to see more than one woman at a time on either of these shows, and I have definitely noticed the male default.

(Big Fat Quiz of Everything has made me love Mel Giederoyc even more than Bake-Off, which I didn't think was possible.)
posted by daisystomper at 7:59 AM on December 12, 2016 [8 favorites]

Yeah, the fact that panel shows are their own genre of television in the U.K. and only exist in America in the veriform Wait Wait is something I always found slightly odd.

I do think it has something to do with the general luvviness-levels of the UK entertainment scene. Victoria Coren is both daughter and wife of two of the other top percentile panel appearance peeps. It feels like certain people do well on a couple of these and then you're basically in the club and can count on booking panel show appearances from now until the end of time. It does take a certain knack, though. John Hodgeman was on QI once and bombed and you'd think it'd be right up his street.
posted by Diablevert at 8:00 AM on December 12, 2016

Yeah, the fact that panel shows are their own genre of television in the U.K. and only exist in America in the veriform Wait Wait is something I always found slightly odd.

The television landscape is so much different in the US, and I think the alt comedy podcast scene is generally filling that niche. @midnight is sort of a panel-show with rotating comedians, but it is entirely too structured and rapid-fire for my taste.
posted by Think_Long at 8:16 AM on December 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

I very much wish that the US did more quiz shows. I really enjoy Have I Got News for You (if you're up on British topical news, it helps), QI (hurrah for new host Sandi Toksvig, though I enjoyed Stephen's tenure) and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year with Jimmy Carr's never-not-hilarious donkey laugh.

These are all Youtube-able until found and removed by the respective networks. But you can listen to The News Quiz on Radio 4 online!
posted by custardfairy at 8:16 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

The Podcast "International Waters" is very much like a UK panel show and generally has 2 Male and 2 Female guests (but a male host. I wonder if they have extra all female episodes to balance this out?)
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 8:19 AM on December 12, 2016

Panel shows are a pretty key component of the U.K. Media ecosystem - having moved to the US now I very much notice their absence here. It feels like in he US you have made it as a comedian when you get to film an HBO/Netflix special - in the U.K. It's when you become a regular on the panel circuit.

I've felt that gender representation has been improving over time - interesting to see real numbers on it.

If you want to experience the format worth our digging around for pirate videos, it's worth knowing that most BBC radio stuff is made available online for free for 30 days after broadcast and unlike their TV content is not IP blocked or license-fee-nagged so you can listen from anywhere in the world: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio

Two classic examples are Just a Minute and I'm sorry I haven't a clue, though weirdly the latter calls itself "the antidote to panel games" despite being to my mind the archetype of the format.
posted by simonw at 8:26 AM on December 12, 2016

Darn, I really thought QI was closer to parity than that, so much work to do.

(Sandi Toksvig is the new host?! I have never understood having her as a guest at all... host??!)
posted by Cosine at 8:49 AM on December 12, 2016

(She's GREAT as the new host. It's certainly not Stephen, but it feels entirely right and correct, having watched every episode. Alan gets a bit more breathing space, too, and that's great fun.)
posted by hippybear at 8:53 AM on December 12, 2016 [7 favorites]

It’s a lot harder to achieve parity when your chair & one constant panel member are male to start with. Putting Sandi in the chair at least elminates that initial imbalance.
posted by pharm at 8:54 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

(& agreed that Sandi seems to be doing a good job of it so far.)
posted by pharm at 8:55 AM on December 12, 2016

There's a moment in I think the first episode of series N of QI where after discussion of a topic Sandi goes off onto a "and this is yet another interesting fact" speech and one of the panelists says "oh yeah, you're in the right seat now" and it's entirely true and perfect.
posted by hippybear at 8:55 AM on December 12, 2016 [18 favorites]

sandi toksvig is incredible.
posted by radiopaste at 8:57 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

One of those decisions that didn't cross my mind until it was announced, and immediately seemed to be the most obvious choice in the world.
posted by Think_Long at 9:00 AM on December 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

(I look forward to giving Sandi another shot then)
posted by Cosine at 9:23 AM on December 12, 2016

I certainly miss Steven Fry, but Sandi Toksvig is amazing.

Here's QI actually addressing this very question. I'd say that the final laugh probably (sadly) explains the reason quite succinctly.

These shows get talent from the Stand-up circuit, which is dominated by men. So I'd say that TV in this case is actively trying, and trying quite hard to get the level of representation they do. The reason that stand-up is so lop sided is likely all the usual shitty reasons, magnified by a job that's already brutal to everyone in it.
posted by cirhosis at 9:30 AM on December 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

Sandi was always one of my favorite panelists, tbh. I haven't seen any of the episodes with Sandi as host yet, but I'm really looking forward to them.
posted by pemberkins at 9:36 AM on December 12, 2016

I'm in the middle of doing some very tedious work, and so I've been watching episode after episode of QI in the background.

I've watched QI before so I knew that it was very male-dominated, but watching these episodes back to back has really drawn my attention to just how rigid the gender breakdown is. In most episodes, it's this: the host (Stephen Fry), his sidekick (Alan Davies), two men, and a woman.¹

It's such an obvious example of tokenism. If it was just based on the number of available female comedians, you would expect more variation, even if women were still outnumbered on average. There would be more shows with two or three women than there are. But no, it is as though the people casting the show stop thinking about women after the "woman" slot has been filled.

(I remember only one recent episode where all three guests were women. It was a good episode! And they've had a lot of great female guests.)

¹ The latest season is hosted by Sandi Topsvig, a woman.I think earlier seasons also had a lot of all-male panels, but I haven't rewatched them yet.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:39 AM on December 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

Sandi is an excellent choice for the chair and probably the first person I'd have chosen. Interestingly, my second choice is also female, Victoria Coren Mitchell, although she hasn't been a panelist nearly as often, and so might not be quite as comfortable with the format as Sandi.

I'm also relieved that Alan Davies stayed on with the show. He had apparently considered leaving with Stephen, but the continuity is important and the latitude he has now next to Sandi is much greater and he now seems quite a bit less one dimensional as a result.

8 out of 10 Cats now has a female captain (Aisling Bea), so that will help as well.
posted by jamincan at 9:47 AM on December 12, 2016

I think part of the problem in the past may have been that producers felt that there wasn't a large enough pool of experiences female panelists to choose from. The obvious answer to that is to bring on more female panelists so they can develop experience. It seems that there are quite a few now, though, who are very experienced in the genre and that excuse would fall flat.
posted by jamincan at 9:50 AM on December 12, 2016

I've always been astounded at how often women on shows like QI, Mock the Week, etc. get interrupted. Sometimes men get interrupted/talked over too, but it happens a LOT more often to women. It's been fascinating to watch how the women handle it; some show annoyance but too many seem resigned to it.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:53 AM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm sorry I haven't a clue, though weirdly the latter calls itself "the antidote to panel games" despite being to my mind the archetype of the format.

As you know Bob, ISIHAC is the remnant of an age when the panel show was even more dominant on Radio Four than it is today and helped revived the genre to the point it is no longer recognisable as a pioneer because every other show has copied it in part or whole.

For the nearest example of the old style panel game, Quote, Unquote still does the rounds, with two teams of not very funny celebratories try guessing who said not very funny remarks.
posted by MartinWisse at 9:56 AM on December 12, 2016 [3 favorites]

Relevant.
posted by kickingtheground at 10:02 AM on December 12, 2016

For interested parties, Victoria Coren Mitchell has a new podcast Women Talking About Cars. It's exactly about that. And yes, Olivia Colman is a very charming person.
posted by Think_Long at 11:21 AM on December 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

For interested parties, Victoria Coren Mitchell has a new podcast Women Talking About Cars. It's exactly about that. And yes, Olivia Colman is a very charming person.

It's worth pointing out that not only did Victoria Coren Mitchell host the single 100% female panel show in the study (an episode of the radio show Heresy which she continues to present), she also hosted the only 60% female episode of Have I Got News For You (which is as high as it'll get until one of the regular male panellists retires). She has also spoken multiple times about arranging a date for a panel show appearance and being told "No that week's no good, we've already got a woman".

Also, everyone should listen to her two brilliant appearances on Radio 4's Chain Reaction, being interviewed by Ian Hislop and then interviewing Sandi Toksvig (sorry, I think you'll need to use a proxy if outside the UK, or alternatively the BBC's website says the iPlayer radio app works outside the UK).
posted by tomcooke at 12:25 PM on December 12, 2016 [7 favorites]

This article while from 2012 is probably still (again sadly) relevant. Women comedians seem to get scheduled as a "genre" of their own. Which is wonderfully wrongheaded.

One woman on a show is definitely better than zero women but also having a policy of not having more is dumb too.
posted by cirhosis at 1:03 PM on December 12, 2016

I'm also relieved that Alan Davies stayed on with the show.

I like Alan a lot, but if in a slightly different timeline his seat had been taken by Sue Perkin; well, I would be okay with that world too.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:07 PM on December 12, 2016 [7 favorites]

So having never seen a UK panel show

Here's all of them ever at once in a three minute video
posted by dng at 1:16 PM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

Just came in to say thanks for this list - because of it I rediscovered the wonderful Shooting Stars with the lovely Ulrika-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka Jonsson, and am now awaiting the dove from above....
posted by inflatablekiwi at 1:31 PM on December 12, 2016 [4 favorites]

I like Alan a lot, but if in a slightly different timeline his seat had been taken by Sue Perkins

I don't think Sue could manage the same level of knowing-unknowingness as Alan.

She hasn't been on any panel shows recently but Ava Vidal has become one of my personal faves recently by being awesome enough to appear on news shows whilst mumming
posted by threetwentytwo at 1:48 PM on December 12, 2016

I don't think Sue could manage the same level of knowing-unknowingness as Alan.

True enough. And he brings a certain level of blue-whale-based enthusiasm to the proceedings.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:54 PM on December 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

So having never seen a UK panel show is Wikipedia correct that these shows are similar to the NPR show Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me?

This FPP was my first introduction to the concept of a panel show and it had no trivia or comedy elements, so now I'm more confused. Would the Moz/Wham Unhappy Hour of Awkwardness still be considered a panel show or has the definition narrowed since then so that it now refers solely to a game show?
posted by mama casserole at 1:54 PM on December 12, 2016

Have I Got News for You needs to deal both with its gender imbalance issues and in aiding and abetting Boris Johnson.

The knock on effects of panel show gender imbalance comes through via
- money
- exposure

A panel show appearance pays roughly £1000 (bit higher or lower probably depending on the show). If a night of stand-up pays say £25, then appearing on these shows massively frees you up to write/work on more material. It basically pays your rent + food. Nice.

From listening to some UK comedy podcasts, people come watch you do standup because you're on telly. Boosting your stand-up fee/improving your venues.

So not only do women lose out on the shows themselves - women lose out on the positive feedback loop and career boost that appearances fuel.
posted by eyeofthetiger at 2:56 PM on December 12, 2016 [6 favorites]

I used to listen to "My Word" which came on after Car Talk on my local NPR station and marvel that it sounded like something from the 1950s so I just googled it and yes, it WAS. They were all rebroadcasts From like 1956 to 1988 and were syndicated in the US until a few years ago. It's a little unnerving that I never figured that out while listening.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:42 PM on December 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

RE: The post title, I wasn't aware that a person's femaleness could be measured in a percentage. I'm curious about the other panelists who apparently scored as less female.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 8:21 PM on December 12, 2016

I dunno, Noel Fielding seems to be shooting for about 50/50 ...
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:00 PM on December 12, 2016 [2 favorites]

Looking at the title again, I guess the intention was that a PANEL was 100% female, which makes a lot more sense. I was reading on my phone while I ate a particularly messy turkey burger wrap, so I was (even) more addled than usual.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 10:50 PM on December 12, 2016

Yes, that's right.
1 show out of 4706 had an all female cast.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 3:32 AM on December 13, 2016

Ah its a delight to have Sandi on my TV regularly again. I grew up watching her on No 73 - a saturday kids tv show that featured actors as characters rather than presenters and was largely improvised and performed live. Ethel (Sandi) will always have a place in my heart, as does the Sandwich Quiz.
posted by Ness at 3:51 AM on December 13, 2016 [3 favorites]

I think the problem lies in the comedy circuit

I've done no research, but if this website is correct, and only 8% of all headline comedy gigs are female, then i'm not surprised that TV reflects that trend in some way. It's hella easier for a tv production crew to find talent in the listings of the major comedy clubs.

Doesn't make it right, but I think it's probably worth aiming the spotlight at the root cause.
posted by trif at 6:22 AM on December 13, 2016

I think everyone in this thread knows that the comedy circuit is biased and that there are fewer women to choose from when casting a panel show.

But an argument that the people who cast panel shows have no role in perpetuating this bias is pretty damn unconvincing. First, it would be astonishing if they were somehow magically immune from bias--if they were uniquely, perfectly equitable in their treatment of male and female comedians. Second, the casting patterns, and the accounts from female comedians, suggest that women are still thought of as being a special role.

Apart from that though, given how much of a boost one of these shows can give to your career, the people who cast panel shows are in a powerful position when it comes to addressing the bias in the comedy circuit at large. You can make a really good argument that simply reflecting the demographics of the comedy circuit isn't good enough.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 7:37 AM on December 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Well, true, but as others have noted there's a feedback mechanism which takes a while to kick in.
When people go around thinking "there's no female comedians / women aren't funny" or whatever, then fewer women will see it as a viable career/fewer people will go see female comedians.
If you see funny women on tv then everyone will hire more female acts, more women will go into comedy, positive feedback.
I don't think you can identify a root cause here, rather encourage an ecosystem.

The easiest thing for a tv production crew to do is to phone up one of the 20 or regular tv faces and book someone called Russell for the 500th time.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 7:39 AM on December 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

And of course in the UK tv panel show casting is a pretty powerful tool to encourage that ecosystem.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 7:41 AM on December 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

The host is male and the panel is never 100% female that I recall (though sometimes 3 of 4 panelists are) but I am a big fan of Radio 4's The Kitchen Cabinet . Very interesting, kind-spirited, and often pretty funny for a show that's not especially intended to be a comedy show.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:55 AM on December 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

Oh man, so -

In the time since I first commented on this thread, I ran out of recent episodes of QI and started to watch the show from the beginning.

There are a bunch of all-male shows, and the only recurring female panelist seems to be Jo Brand. Later seasons have a few others.

But holy shit are they racist. I'm halfway through season three and I don't think I've seen a non-white person yet. And there are moments where I am absolutely cringing. Some incidents:

(1) Alan's (recurring) "Mexican" accent

(2) The panelist, who at the mention of Japan, compulsively shouts JAPANEESY in a horrible, screeching stereotype of a Japanese woman, makes slanty eyes, and then keeps doing it like she's compelled or like she's proud at how funny she's being

(3) General total ignorance about Native Americans; use of the word "squaw," making fun of naming traditions that they don't understand, panelists repeating schoolyard myths like "they name their children after the first thing they see", as if that was true (and as if there is only one culture)

Like, it's so egregious that I felt I had to comment. I hope that not remembering these incidents from later episodes means that it's getting better, and this kind of thing is no longer as acceptable. But they are still terribly white. That's another conversation their casting people need to have.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 2:07 AM on December 15, 2016 [3 favorites]

I very much went off QI for a long while for those and other reasons.
I got heartily sick of Stephen Fry, who is supposedly some sort of wonderful super genius polymath but who seems to just trot out the laziest jokes and trite observations.
Also any episode which features a subject that I actually know anything about is always mired in half truths and snopes level misconceptions, so I can only assume that the other subjects (about which I do not know) are similarly flawed.
Also half the show seemed to be Fry asking a question and then straight away explaining the "fact" which he's talking about. They would do better to jettison the whole quiz format.
I've watched a couple under Toksvig and I far prefer them. So it might have just been my increasing dislike of Stephen Fry driving me away.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 3:04 AM on December 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

I strongly prefer the QI Elves' [show researchers] shows, No Such Thing As A Fish and No Such Thing As The News (official YT page for outside the UK), as the Elves aren't really into playing that "I have no idea how things work" thing that drives me crazy but plays well for time on QI. Also they are mostly significantly younger, social-justice-aware, more global, and none of them are ever ever Jeremy Clarkson.

Their demographics are still only a quarter female (the original group was three men and one woman, and they are the ones who do the TV version) but nowadays whenever there's a substitute sitting in for one of the men it's usually one of the other women researchers.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:53 AM on December 15, 2016 [3 favorites]

> But holy shit are they racist.

Oh yeah, there's definitely a weird vein of racism that keeps surfacing. Apart from anything else the jokes just seem to be painfully dated, like every mention of China is an excuse to do their best comedy "mix up ls and rs" accent.
posted by lucidium at 4:06 PM on December 17, 2016