I just love that show. For you non UK-ers, it is a half hour gameshow about music. The host, Marc LaMarr has one of the greatest jobs! He gets to insult pop stars AND his guests.

Last night (re-run) he made fun of Bono and had a member of A-ha in his panels, as well as the Right Said Fred singer and two young girls they always have (one an UK R&B singer and a former MTV presenter) they just have on the show to ridicule.

I am sure this sort of humor is not to everyone's liking, but it sure is to mine!

Hurray for NMTB!



Team captains Bill Bailey and Phill Jupitus join host Mark Lamarr to prove that pop music should never be taken too seriously...

Series fourteen recently transmitted on BBC2.


Guests in the latest series included rock legend Alice Cooper, TV columist and presenter Jane Moore, Spandau Ballet frontman Tony Hadley, comedian Jimmy Carr and music pundit Tony Wilson.

Each week celebrity guests from the varying worlds of entertainment and music join the team captains as Mark leads them through a series of quiz rounds involving music trivia. Viewers can expect the usual rounds such as 'intros' and 'identity parade' - the round where teams identify a former pop icon or band member from a line-up of similar-looking candidates.

With the show's reputation for the unpredictable, guests each week are always primed for the occasional embarrassment and harmless ribbing.

The format has been played with slightly over the years but the average episode looks like this now generally:

Indecipherable Lyrics: For those of you who thought that Gaia's Freed From Desire went "My lover's got no money, he's got his chum Louise," a clip is played to each team from a song with lyrics that are quite difficult make out such as anything by Tenpole Tudor, Song 2 by Blur that sort of thing. The teams will make something up about something irrelevant before singing their lyrics along with the song again before giving what they actually think the lyrics were.

The Intros Round: Do you remember techno/dance/indie sensations The Shamen? Well in the song Boss Drum we were instructed to "activate the rhythm, the rhythm that has always been within you." In some cases it's probably best not to bother however as this round shows. The captain and a team-mate try to do an impression of the intro to each of three songs. All the other team-mate has to do is guess what the song is but that's usually easier said than done...

The Identity Parade: This is about trying to pick out an old band member from a popular band from about 20 years ago out of a choice of five. The audience are shown an old clip, the teams are not. Noted for the episode where host Mark Lamarr and team captain Phil Jupitus having interviewed one of the people for Lamarr's radio show about a week beforehand.

Next Lines: The hi-octane, and not as good, final round. Each team is given a line from a song and they have to provide the next line. Some of these will usually be from songs featured on the show that evening and songs from bands that the contestants are currently in - especially when a member of Steps is involved.


Frankly, the show is great because it seems to have a fixation with the eighties and everyone on the show can take (and give!) everything they are thrown. Unless you're Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles in which case you can't and spend the whole episode sulking.

Standout episodes include any that have either Vic Reeves or Bob Mortimer as contestants on either side as they were Lamarr's sparring partners in other comedy quiz hit Shooting Stars. In one episode researchers had found footage of Vic in a band before he was famous and it was played incessantly throughout the show. It was awful. Yet hilarious. And "would you like to take the piss out of my hair?" was asked of Mortimer in relation to the 50's throwback grease ball running joke on Shooting Stars.

When the show first started years ago we didn't think that much of it but in recent years it's become THE thing to watch when you're in on a Friday night. And my music taste is still the best.

Yeah this show is quite funny. Mark is a quick muthafucker.

Remember the show with that dead or alive singer on? That was years ago but mark totally ripped into him? It was hilairious. I cannot quite reember what thay were arguing about? But that dead or alive singer fought back. Bad move.....

Bill Bailey was a good replacment for that shawn guy.

hehehe..I love this show. Did you see the one from two nights ago Gooey? there was some boy band type of kid on, and he just could NOT guess "House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals. His teammates did a really good job of humming it, and he was just like ----> And then Mark Lamarr even stood on his desk SANG the entire song, and he was still like

this show rocks. i just forget it a lot of the time.

same thing with "have i got news for you". it's good
fun but i always always always forget to watch it.



good thing they usually have re-runs once a week so
i can catch up then.

HamsterHuey said:

this is my favorite segment. i love how the regulars always make
cracking good jokes about those people in the parade. jokes that
you laugh yourself into a stupor over. and then the guests try a
joke too and the audience goes





oh well, what the hell

IstenSzek said:

And the people in the line up are like the whole time.

I always thought that the teams were shown the clip as well as the audience though. Because so much time has passed, I thought that was the point of them trying to pick out the person who looks the most like the one in the clip.

minneapolisgenius said:

that's what I thought too! because it's still hard as hell to pick
the right one, even if you've seen the film.


contestant number one: ax grinding willy

contestant number two: ax murdering willy

contestant number three: i'm being sued by my ex willy

contestant number four: axel rose willy


Mark Lamarr: "any idea at all, guys?"

IstenSzek said:

I don't know how they keep straight faces during all the comments.