SOME people believe Never Mind The Buzzcocks has not been the same since Mark Lamarr left.
I reckon Simon Amstell took it a stage further, with some genuine cheek added to the nastiness of his predecessor.
Since Amstell quit it’s been a bit of a hotch-potch, but Jack Dee presided over a real winner this week, with the Jedward twins John and Edward appearing as one guest. “They’re like a simpleton Bros,” observed team captain Noel Fielding. They probably don’t even know who Bros were.
Predictably, the programme descends into chaos — “I used to present Mock The Week sometimes, you know,” Dee bemoans.
Jedward get plenty of stick, but seem to take it quite well — surely even they would have been bright enough to have seen it coming.
They clearly know nothing about anything, and many of the jokes seem to go over their heads, which is some achievement when you consider that hair. Phill Jupitus comments: “You make Dappy from N-Dubz look like Stephen Fry.” He later calls them “the greatest musical collaboration since Lennon met Chapman”. Ouch!
Elsewhere, Eliza Doolittle, Katy Brand and Charlie Higson look thoroughly exasperated and at one point members even swap sides. To add to the surreal nature of the programme, former bad-haired DJ and TV presenter Pat Sharp turns up as part of the line-up.
As much as some of the jibes aimed at Jedward may have been lacking in taste, and the “band” may not be to everybody’s (anybody’s?), nothing approaches the ’80s hair of Pat Sharp — even the Jedward barnets. I’m still suffering flashbacks.
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