A British satirical improvisation panel game, which ran for two series in the late 1990s. Two teams of two (the 'Blue Party' and the 'Red Party') would compete in a series of games, the winners to be decided by a vote of the studio audience. The host was Clive Anderson; the regular team captains were Graeme Garden and Jeremy Hardy.
Frequent rounds included:
- "I Like To Keep In Touch": The team captains would be asked to answer trivia questions about everyday life, at which they would hilariously fail.
- "The Yes/No Interlude": Panellists were required to answer questions without using the words 'Yes' or 'No'.
- "I Couldn't Disagree More": One player would have to disagree with suggestions made by the other team, no matter how reasonable.
- "The Pager Round": One team captain would be interviewed by the host, while pager messages scrolling along the bottom of the screen would instruct them to behave in bizarre ways (for example, answering questions in mime).
- "Desperate vote-grabbing": Always the last round, in which panellists would attempt to invent policies to sway the audience to their side.
Best known these days for its vastly more successful transplant to Sweden, Parlamentet.
This show contains examples of:
- British Brevity: Two short series only.
- Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: Invoked in most answers in "I Like To Keep In Touch".
- Insane Troll Logic: Sometimes deployed by Graeme Garden, usually in "I Couldn't Disagree More".
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Jeremy Hardy's persona as the leader of the Red Party has definite echoes of Tony Blair.
- Politeness Judo: One way to trick a 'Yes' or 'No' out of the panellists in "The Yes/No Interlude".Clive Anderson: So, we'll start with you, Jeremy. Is that all right with you?
Jeremy Hardy: Yes.
[Buzzer] - Precision F-Strike: Answering a question about food labelling:Hugh Dennis: I would certainly have one label in fast food restaurants, on those little apple pies that you get. Just from the point of view of safety, I would have a little label that said 'These really, really, are [BLEEP]ing hot.'
- Running Gag: Jeremy Hardy basing his policies on proverbs in the "Desperate vote-grabbing" round.
- Waxing Lyrical: Asked to justify having Robbie Williams in the Cabinet:Rebecca Front: Quite frankly, we've got stars directing our fate, and we know we've fallen from grace. We're praying that it's not too late ... Millennium.
