Thrifty on TV: New Den, Old Dragons and same old format

Dragons’ Den returned for a tenth series on BBC2 last night, with the tried and tested formula of the show given no major changes. That said, I was worried as the opening titles came on. It seemed for a moment that the recession had finally hit for the Dragons, as their despair led them to be perched on the edge of tall buildings. But alas it was merely the introduction. I was immediately struck by the sheer height of Peter Jones. It has never been a secret on the show that he was tall, but when lined up next to the other Dragons (and not sat back comfortably in his chair) he towered above them.

The intro proceeded to give clips of the Dragons attacking faceless “budding entrepreneurs” with their characteristic relentlessness, plus the odd bit of discord within the group. Clearly the producers of the show know their audience. I would suspect that very few tune in to Dragon’s Den for the business ideas. It’s the Dragons’ entertaining ferocity, aimed at those pitching and at each other, which gives the show its unique angle. Next, after an exasperated cry from Duncan Bannatyne (we couldn’t see what was going on beneath the camera), we see Deborah Meaden (of all people) making an offer. Dragons’ Den in a nutshell, and we’re only one minute in. Need not bother watching any more then?

Thrifty on TV: Looking for an intellectual Challenge? Then Only Connect…

It is a long-held belief that the quality of programming on television in the UK has taken a significant downturn in the past few years. Reality shows, and even worse, faux-reality like The Only Way is Essex have contributed greatly to this perception. But if you look hard enough, there is intellectual programming to be found on TV. Spare an hour between 8pm and 9pm on a Monday evening, and you won’t be disappointed with the double header of University Challenge (BBC2) and Only Connect (BBC Four).

The joy of quiz shows like these isn’t that you can answer all the questions, but the immense pride you feel if you answer any of the questions. With University Challenge, the breadth of subjects which are covered every week means that the majority of viewers will find something that they know the answer to. The show is an entertaining watch. Admittedly it can get off to a slow start, with bonus questions (asked to the team who has correctly answered a starter for ten) taken at a leisurely pace. But as the half-hour show progresses, the pace grows more frantic. Jeremy Paxman takes on the role of condescending school teacher, growing more irate each time he has to implore a team to hurry up with their answer. He has perfected the angry “come on,” as well as the scoff at team members’ incorrect and ill-informed stabs in the dark. It would be easy to see Paxman as over-the-top, but in actual fact he augments the entertainment value of the show. As a man best known for giving an unparalleled grilling to the country’s most powerful men and women, there is no let-up from Paxman for these lowly students.

The Return of the King: Jon Stewart back on television in the UK

The Daily Show is the epitome of satire on television. Its host, Jon Stewart, is the king of fake news. And so it is with great joy that this week I heard that for the first time since before Christmas in 2010, every edition of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart would be available here in the UK. It had previously screened on More4, but at the start of 2011 that channel decided to cut down. It began showing just one show a week, known as ‘The Global Edition’ which was basically only a roundup of the week’s regular editions. But one of the joys of the Daily Show is its regular segments and its running jokes. By cutting out most of the week’s material into one twenty-two minute episode, some of the humour was lost.

The problem for More4 was not the quality of the programming. If one thing is for sure, it is that Stewart and his team of writers and ‘correspondents’ consistently come up with top-notch material. Every day (the Daily Show broadcasts four shows a week, Monday-Thursday in the USA) the show is able to live up to its high standards. True, it naturally concentrates on American society, politics and culture. Yet it is not restricted to these areas and regularly covers the big international stories. Major British events and stories are usually covered. It is the rarity of these forays into our own society which make those moments so magical. As Britons, we are given the opportunity to see what our news (most recently the LIBOR scandal, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, the phone-hacking scandal, the London riots and the Royal Wedding) looks like to outsiders. You may not agree with Stewart, but you have to admit two things. Firstly, that he has a persuasive charm which could make even the staunchest nationalist appreciate his angle. Secondly, that he is damn funny.

On one occasion, covering the phone-hacking scandal, Stewart became memorably complimentary, even hysterical in praise, of our House of Commons, commending it on its being far more entertaining than the American legislature (the segment is online here, and is a must watch). Stewart regularly relies on footage from The Senate and House of Representatives, interspersed amongst the TV news clippings which are the shows bread and butter. Yet this is a medium banned for satirists in the UK. No Parliamentary proceedings can be used on TV for the purposes of comedy. That week’s showing of ‘The Global Edition’ was cancelled as it contained such images. Stewart came out in criticism of this, questioning whether Parliament was really “too fragile to withstand… a good natured kick in the clotted creams.”

Perhaps it is censorship like this which explains why nobody in this country has quite managed to emulate Stewart. The best I have come across is Charlie Brooker. His show Screenwipe looked at the world of television (a bit like a darker Harry Hill – both do what they do very well, polar opposite approaches to the same subject matter). Newswipe, a follow up focussing on television news coverage, has much overlap with The Daily Show (and was not afraid to cover American news coverage). Brooker’s segments on Channel 4’s Ten O’Clock Live are perhaps the highlight of the show, consistently funny every week. They are much like the segments on the Daily Show, and up to a similar standard. Yet Stewart does eight such segments (plus four light-hearted celebrity interviews) every week, compared to the one or two by Brooker each week on Live. That Stewart is still at the top of his game despite having been doing the show for sixteen years shows the quality of the product.

Perhaps his greatest qualities are his ability to criticise both sides, and that he is not afraid to cover the big stories. Earlier this week, Stewart devoted a whole segment to the news coverage of the shootings in a cinema in Aurora, Colorado, which killed fourteen people attending a screening of the new Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. Though the satire clearly did not cover the shootings themselves, merely how they were portrayed in the news, others may have shied away from coming so close to a controversial topic. But that is not Stewart’s style. He covers the big stories, as much as the ones which are more clearly ripe for satire. Importantly, when it comes to politics he can cover both sides of an argument.

Stewart is a confessed liberal, and as such has been criticised by conservative compatriots for singling out their side for criticism. Admittedly, Fox News is one of the core targets for Stewart’s satire. Yet this is not because of political motivations, but because of the fact that Fox News is often ludicrous and, as such, easy pickings. Stewart regularly is found to be critical of both Republicans and Democrats, and never is this more apparent than in this, an election year. Stewart, I have noted, has seemed to be more critical of President Barack Obama recently than when he first became President. Stewart’s fair and balanced, yet funny view on the American political scene, is a must watch especially in this election year, even here in the UK, as American politics have a notable influence on our own.

When watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, one is immediately struck by the involvement of the crowd. Stewart often refers to in-jokes with them at the start of the show. He does not shy away from interacting with them. This only adds to his popularity, and he has a core of devoted followers. I must admit, that I am one of them. I never miss a show. Since it was taken off More4 this has become increasingly difficult. But it was announced recently that the show would return to the UK, on Comedy Central Extra, with programmes being shown at 10:30pm the day after their release in the US (The Daily Show is shown in the US at a time equivalent to the early hours of the morning here, while the material can be distinctively post-watershed). And I rejoiced! For those of you that have that channel, I implore you to watch. The Daily Show is one of the joys of television satire. If you follow one piece of advice I give you this year, make it this: watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.