From left to right: David, Charlie, Lauren and Jimmy
10 O'Clock Live was a live broadcast show at, well, 10pm. It started life as Channel 4's Alternative Election Night (2010), the success of which spawned a series. Hosted by Charlie Brooker, Jimmy Carr, Lauren Laverne and David Mitchell, it takes a humorous look at the week's news but also attempts to sort out some important issues along the way.
Not a huge ratings success at broadcast, but its success on-demand did surprise Channel 4 execs. It ran from 2011 to 2013.
The show has several segments that highlight what each presenter does best and are, generally, variations on what they've already done in the past. Here's some recurring ones;
- Jimmy Carr's Monologue: Carr tries to cover everything that's happened within the past week, throwing in dry humour.
- Charlie Brooker's review on events: This section is a pre-recorded section of the show with apt footage of recent news with Brooker's bleak commentary over the top. All very reminiscent of his TV series Newswipe
- Interviews: Normally hosted by David Mitchell, a group of contrasting figureheads talk about issues or a single figure will be the centre of the interview. According to Mitchell this was one of the main reasons to go Live, so politicians could go on the show without fear of being unfairly edited.
- Jimmy Carr would also do a science-based interview for the first two or three episodes, although it was soon ditched in favour of a sketch.
- Good News, Bad News: A quick recap of the good parts of the week and then the bad parts.
- In the Newspapers: At the end of the show, all the presenters have a look at the next day's newspapers, often just to mock the tabloids. Almost always cut short due to lack of time, although at times, it seems to just be as much because Lauren is trying to stop the boys breaking any libel laws.
Old segments no longer performed:
- Banksy Appeal: No, not that Banksy, but a parody of Children in Need appealing to the public to help out the bankers of Britain, with a mascot of a giant arrogant pig. Disappeared around half-way through the first series.
- Listen to Mitchell: Mitchell picks a subject and then, with vigour and outrage, shouts about how absurd the whole thing is. Very much like his Web Video series David Mitchell's Soapbox. Dropped in series 2, although it did make a return for one episode.
- Sketches: Either pre-recorded pieces with Lauren Laverne, or live bits with Jimmy Carr. Gone in the third series.
Contains Examples of the following tropes;
- Broadcast Live: Done, according to David Mitchell, so that guests don't get worried about unfair edits.
- Character Filibuster: The entire point of the "Listen to Mitchell" segment.
- China Takes Over the World: German guest comedian Henning Wehn kept insisting that Europe must unite (under German leadership) to fight against China.
- Country Matters: Used in the first episode, no less, when discussing MP Jeremy Hunt.
- Crossover: With Pointless in a series 2 episode, to illustrate the NHS reform bill.
- Deadpan Snarker: All four, but particularly Mitchell and Brooker.
- Eagle Land: Pat Patterson, the American news-reporter attempting to sex up otherwise boring news stories, is type two.
- Four-Philosophy Ensemble: Charlie is the cynic, Lauren is the optimist, David is the realist and Jimmy is the apathetic.
- Hurricane of Puns: Jimmy Carr unleashed a torrent of these (including the odd Visual Pun) to make fun of the new rules allowing product placement, delivering a story about Libya while simultaneously trying to work as many brand name related puns into the story as possible, all while the products in question roll along a conveyor belt below him.
- Morally Bankrupt Banker: Obviously used during the Bansky sketches.
- News Broadcast: The entire premise of the show.
- Our Lawyers Advised This Trope: "I have been advised by our lawyers to state that I don't see the connection"
- Photoshop Filter of Evil: The show often mocks the papers doing this. Like having cleric Abu Qatada depicted as some sort of nuclear cloud or having Nick Clegg as an amoeba.
- Sidetracked by the Analogy: Jimmy will make some sort of clever analogy which leads to Charlie to expand upon at which point David will take the analogy literally and complain over it while Lauren gets producers shouting in her ear to get her to continue the show. without her you feel the show would never get past the opening conversation due to this.
- Whip Pan: Used every time they transition between different parts of the set. Odd as it's a live show and so it isn't really necessary but it presumably makes it easier to put out out clips of the show to post online.
- You Bastard!: Played for Laughs when Charlie Brooker pointed out the audience were "laughing at Nazism" when he wore a mask of a house that looked like Hitler and gave a Nazi salute.
