Never Mind the Buzzcocks: Difference between revisions

The show debuted in 1996. Mark Lamarr was the original host, and after his departure there were a series of temporary hosts, including Ricky Wilson of the Kaiser Chiefs and Jeremy Clarkson from ''[[Top Gear]]'' before Simon Amstell took over until 2009. Previous team captains were Sean Hughes (Series 1-10) and Bill Bailey (Series 11-21), each time taking the opposing side to Phill Jupitus.

 

{{tropelist}}

 

* [[Author Appeal]]: Mark Lamarr is a big fan of reggae; when Jimmy Cliff was on the show he kept awarding his team points for "just having Jimmy Cliff in".

** Similarly, Simon Amstell is a fan of [[Patrick Wolf]]. When Wolf appeared on the show, Simon was ''ridiculously'' nice to him (by Simon standards) and [[OOC Is Serious Business|didn't mock him once.]]

** And ''don't'' insult Michael Jackson in front of David Gest.

** Phill tends to get keyed up whenever the person in the lineup is very famous and he doesn't want to make any jokes at their expense.

* [[Big Eater]]: Phill Jupitus, at least according to Mark's intro jokes.

** Sean rattled off an Irish Gaelic phrase ("Thanks very much for the toilet, please.") in one episode as a [[Batman Gambit]] to pick one of the Nolan Sisters out of a lineup (she being the only one who understood it and couldn't keep a straight face).

** Bill Bailey speaking French while discussing The Kooks' criminal record.

** Donny Tourette. [[The Fool|Not that he noticed]].

* [[Camp Gay]]: [[John Barrowman]] very much embraced this role during his appearence.

* [[Cannot Tell a Joke]]: Mark Ronson's ''complete'' lack of comic timing during his episode as guest host.

** During Tim Westwood's turn as guest host, Phill pointed out that his bizarre speaking rhythm made it hard for people to tell when he'd said the punchline.

* [[Captain Obvious]]: In a discussion about John Paul II:

'''Mark:''' Yes Sean, we know that, ''he's the Pope''. }}

* [[Catch Phrase]]: Mark introduced the first few series with "Hello and welcome to ''Never Mind The Buzzcocks'', the pop quiz that says..." followed by a pun based on a line from a song. Later, it was "Hello, and welcome to ''Never Mind The Buzzcocks'', a..." followed by a alliterative phrase like "rumbuctious ransack through the rainforest of rock". By series 10, it was "Hello, and welcome to ''Never Mind The Buzzcocks'', the comedy equivalent of..." followed by something painful, or in one case, "landfill".

*** "I like prawns, they're nice."

** Diana Vickers fell into this halfway through her episode during the "Next Lines" rounds. It's as if her brain black-ed out mid-sentence!

'''Diana''': I, M! "im!" --Wha? }}

*** She also somehow skipped a beat during "Intros" round. It's gotta be with her being too "Northern," even being given attention by Lee Mack.

** Stacey Solomon was gleefully loopy during her episode. Offering her suggestion as to how a box of baubles and tinsel might have caused Wyclef Jean to break his hand:

*** Even Phil had to comment on the "secondary weird" being inflicted on her by co-panelists Noel and Tony Law during the episode.

* [[Comically Missing the Point]]: One episode had [[Noel Fielding|Noel]] pointing out one of his favourite Jedward quotes on the reality show X-Factor.

'''Noel''': Like ''that'' was the biggest barrier. }}

* [[Cool Loser]]: Simon, all over. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4WlBZ_I8HE&feature=related Case in point] (Skip to 6:40 for hard evidence).

** Mark Lamarr, however, was practically an embodiment of a deadpan snarker, and his comedy was heavily based on this.

* [[Digging Yourself Deeper]]: In the early-Noughties series, Mark Lamarr had a [[Running Gag]] of doing this deliberately with his faint-praise "compliments" for a group that had just been mentioned.

* [[The Ditz]]: Tony Wright from ''Terrorvision'' came across as this, especially in his second appearance. Notably Phill and even Mark seemed to find his inability to remember the letters of the alphabet more adorable than mockable.

* [[Early Installment Weirdness]]: Along with whatever the hell was going on with Mark's hair, the first few episodes featured ''four'' songs in the Intros round for each team.

* [[Foil]]: Everyone for everyone else.

* [[Freudian Slip]]

* [[Foe Yay]]: This may have been what Donny Tourette ''thought'' was going on between him and Simon on his appearance.

* [[Gag Penis]]: Oh, boy.

* [[Guest Host]]: There was a series between the hosts Mark Lamarr and Simon Amstell of only guest hosts, and again now that Amstell has left. As of 2009, they are going down the ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'' route.

* [[Harsher in Hindsight]]: The very beginning of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAYTnSNzU48&feature=endscreen&NR=1 this] clip.

* [[Indecipherable Lyrics]]: [[Trope Namer]].

* [[Insane Troll Logic]]: Often used in the ID Parade game when nobody has a clue, such as "It'll be the one who's wearing the maddest shoes!" Sometimes Phill or Bill will have an informed opinion but will keep quiet at first and let their guests come up with this stuff just for humour value.

** Phill does, however, do a ''startlingly'' good [[Star Wars|Chewbacca]] impression.

** This was also used when Bobby Davro was a guest -- all his impressions were incredibly cliche ones predating [[The Nineties]].

'''Mark''': "IT'S NOT ANYONE!!!" }}

** Suprisingly, Mark did a pretty good Benny Hill impression in the Series 9 premiere. In a different episode he said he learned many accents from Benny Hill.

** Don't forget the time when Phill did impressions of practically any foreign country in the same exact voice. He even mocked it himself after Lamarr pointed it out.

'''Phill''': I've been to Zimbabwe, Mark. 'ELLO, I'M FROM ZIMBABWE! }}

** That in mind, he's actually fairly good at impressions.

** "It turned out that, although it wasn't Bailey's, it was Bill's!"

* [[Our Lawyers Advised This Trope]]: Occasionally played for laughs;

'''Simon:''' ''[to camera, mock-seriously]'' The BBC would like to make it clear we have no reason to suspect that Elizabeth Taylor dislikes Jews. }}

* [[Overly Long Gag]]: The spinning of the dreidel to select a song in the Series 19 [[Christmas Special]]

** Jimmy Cliff got points from Mark Lamarr just for being Jimmy Cliff.

** Mark would also refuse to give points to obnoxious guests, and help the other team win. Like when Pete Burns was a guest.

* [[Precision F-Strike]]: The show doesn't shy away from using profanity, but the jabs and insults are always wrapped in eloquence and metaphor; so when Bill's only comment on ''Loose Women'' is "Oh God, I hate those ''bitches''", you know he means it.

* [[Product Placement]]: Parodied.

'''Phill''' ''([[Aside Glance]])'': No, but it is indeed a tasty sweet treat! }}

* [[The Quiet One]]: Sean Hughes. When he left the show, Mark commemorated him with a montage of 'his contributions to the show', which consisted of clips of Sean's other team members answering questions while Sean sat quietly in the background.

* [[Springtime for Hitler]]: Phill was involved with the left-wing music and comedy movement Red Wedge, which campaigned against [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s re-election in 1987; a tie-in NMTB book claimed that it was single-handedly responsible for her remaining in power.

* [[Stalker with a Crush]]: Mark towards Faye Tozer of Steps.

'''Mark''': "Well...tell her I'm a lesbian too." (''[[Aside Glance]]'') "Nothing stops me!" }}

** And again towards [[Billie Piper]]. Slightly [[Crosses the Line Twice]], as she appeared on the show at the age of 17.

** "You have out-gayed me, [[John Barrowman|Barrowman!"]]

* [[Suspect Is Hatless]]: The 'Identity Parade' can often degenerate into this. It's responsible for some of its best moments.

* [[This Is for Emphasis, Bitch]]: Phil, to Simon:

* [[Timed Mission]]: The ''Next Lines'' round.

* [[Urban Legend Love Life]]: Simon repeatedly and inexplicably tried to start a rumour that Craig David had [[Interspecies Romance|a rabbit fetish]].

* [[Wardrobe Malfunction]]: Lorraine Kelly had some bra issues, eventually requiring her to leave the set... at which point, [[Hilarity Ensues|all hell broke loose amongst the panelists]].

* [[Who Writes This Crap?|Who Writes This Crap?!]]: Presenters will occasionally question the quality of the writers' jokes.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:British Series]]

[[Category:The Nineties]]