Games - Shooting Stars

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	Games - Shooting Stars

Shooting Stars is a UK television comedy panel game broadcast on BBC TWO. Created by Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, it is both a parody of the game show format, and an experiment in dadaist television. As such it is possibly one of the most bizarre programmes ever regularly aired. The first series was broadcast in 1995, and the most recent in 2002.

Format

The basic format of the show is that of a conventional panel game. The hosts (Reeves and Mortimer) and the two teams of three sit behind desks. The hosts ask questions of the two teams, and points are awarded for "correct" answers. As is common with panel games, the scoring is largely arbitrary and simply a device to give a structure to the proceedings. Reeves will almost always perform a "leg rub" in front of a beautiful female guest seated directly to his right, to indicate his attraction to her.

Rounds include "true or false", the filmclip round, the impressions round, "The Dove from Above" (followed by "The Crow From Below"), and others. In the impressions round contestants have to guess what song Vic Reeves is singing "in the club style" - so stylised (or perhaps drunkenly slurred) as to be incomprehensible. "The Dove from Above" - later replaced by "The Wonderful, Wonderful Car" (a tiny car with buttocks on the bumper) and then "Donald Cox the Sweaty Fox" - is a large and shoddy prop animal suspended above the contestants merely for the purpose of bearing six key words for further questions. Guests would be prompted to "charge their glasses" in honour of Donald, who supposedly loves his gin. Occasionally, there would be a "Maverick Round" where a guest would have to stand centre stage and represent something "via the medium of dance." They would then be judged by scorekeeper George Dawes, who would invariably award them no points.

In the Dove From Above, and subsequent versions of the same round, if a contestant answers incorrectly, Vic shouts "UVAVU" and pulls a stupid face. If the contestant chooses a certain, prize-winning option, Vic will pull another stupid face and yell "ERANU". The prize is invariably a bizarre and practically useless device, an example of which would be eye-spoons, consisting of spectacle frames with teaspoons attached where lenses would be. These are to be used should one's eyes pop out of their skull when visiting a nudist beach. Vic often tells a poor joke before this round, followed by silence and a howling wind. Occasionally, as an act of mercy, Lamarr or Mortimer would sacrifice their reputations and tell the joke, at which point it becomes exceptionally funny and is almost worshipped by the audience and guests, much to Vic's disgust.

The true purpose of the show is as a vehicle for the surrealist humour of the hosts, Vic and Bob. Some guests "get it", others do not - in many cases these often provide the best comedy. The title of the show is a pun on the fact that much of the humour is at the expense of the guest stars.

Participants

There are two teams -Team A and Team B. Each team has a regular team captain - originally, Mark Lamarr and Ulrika Jonsson - and two celebrity guests. Lamarr left the series in 1997 as he disliked being in too many quiz shows at once, and was replaced by novelist Will Self when the series returned in 2002. At the same time comedian Johnny Vegas was brought in as a regular guest on Jonsson's team.

The "score" is kept by George Dawes, a bizarre, overgrown, ranting, drumming baby played by comedian Matt Lucas. (Occasionally George's "mother" Marjorie Dawes - also played by Lucas - appears instead. She also appears in Little Britain.) In the later series', a highpoint was "George's Song," where George would sing a song and questions on it would follow. These included "Lesbians" "Everybody's Talkin' About Football" and "Hip Hop Is The Best." Arguably the most memorable song was "Peanuts", which involved George wearing a green tracksuit and shouting "Peanuts" on regular intervals (although he could not hold in his laughter).

Questions

Examples of the impossible-to-predict questions (and answers) are:

True or False: Bill Cosby was the first ever black man. (False, it was actually Sidney Poitier)

Macaulay Culkin is a child, but can you name an adult? (This was not as easy as it seemed, as the only acceptable answer was Sarah Ferguson)

True or false - A bounty bar is the exact same size and weight as a human thumb? (The answer was true, as demonstrated by Vic)

Helmut, Braun, Tankard, Rifle? (The correct answer was Parsnip, Belltoupe, Carnival, Nectarine)

True or False: Paul Daniels
' head is wider than it is tall.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Shooting Stars ]

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