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are panel games sexist?

Messages in this topic: 17 View All
Clitheroe KidJun 11, 2009
 

 
This is a silly thing for Victoria Wood to say. It certainly isn't true of
'Just A Minute'.

Women have been on the show from the very first episode, in 1967, when Wilma
Ewart and Beryl Reid faced off against Clement Freud and Derek Nimmo.

Indeed, in its very earliest days the show was looked on (to judge by the
remarks Nicholas Parsons made in early episodes) as being, more than
anything, a male -vs- female competition. The entire first series had two
male and two female panellists.

As time went by, the four male regulars (Clement, Kenneth, Derek and Peter)
became established, but this never entirely disrupted the original intention
of having both men and women on the show.

Series 2 actually had Geraldine Jones as a regular for the whole series. She
faced Clement and Kenneth for that entire series, in an experimental format
where there were only three panellists instead of the usual four, and where
the same three people were used for every show in the series.

The format of series 3 (where they returned to having 4 on the panel) had
Clement, Kenneth and Derek, plus one female panellist: usually Geraldine.

It was only when Peter arrived, in series 6, that the balance began to
shift. But at first Peter was simply substituting for a year for Derek, who
couldn't appear because he was touring Australia in a long-running play. So
there was still room for a permanent female presence.

Aimi MacDonald, who's my favourite female panellist of all time, regularly
took the female spot in those days; and she was such a great player she
lasted for years, rotating with Andree Melly and Sheila Hancock.

It wasn't until series 7, in 1972, that we had the first all-male panel: in
the third programme of that series. But only four of the shows (out of 26)
had an all-male panel that year.

And throughout series 8, 9 and 10 - between 1973 and 1976 - the regular
foursome were alternating among themselves, so that there was almost always
one guest panellist - though series 8 saw male guest panellists alternate
with the semi-regular female players for the first time, in that fourth
seat.

That format continued throughout series 11, 12 and 13 in the late 1970s,
although now the semi-regular female players also included June Whitfield,
Joan Bakewell and Janet Brown.

In series 13 to 15 there were occasions when the four regulars appeared
together, but for the most part the practice of rotating them to keep one
chair open for a guest continued; and after 1982 it was common for two
guests to appear alongside just two of the regulars.

It was not until series 20, in 1984, that male guests outnumbered female
guests for the first time, and we had a couple of years where Sheila Hancock
was almost the only female panellist still appearing in the show. But after
that a lot of new female players emerged: Wendy Richard being the first of
them.

Overall, despite the perceived domination of the panel by the four regulars,
the years prior to Kenneth's death in fact saw female panellists give a good
account of themselves, notwithstanding the popularity of the four male
regulars. The female players were so much an established feature of the
programme that Kenneth was frequently moved to utter his famous put-down,
'We shouldn't have women on the show!'

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dean Bedford" <dbedford@...>
To: <just-a-minute@...>
Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 8:39 PM
Subject: [just-a-minute] are panel games sexist?


>
> Yes says Victoria Wood and although she is talking about TV panel games,
> clearly women haven't had a great run on JAM...
>
>
>
> TV panel shows are too 'male dominated', claims Victoria Wood
>
> Panel shows such as 'I'm Sorry I haven't got a clue' and 'Have I Got
> News For You?' are too "male dominated" according to the comedienne
> Victoria Wood.
>
> Wood, one of Britain's most respected comedy writers, has become the
> latest television personality to criticise the laddish culture of
> "testosterone-fuelled" comedy panel shows like 'Never Mind the
> Buzzcocks' and the 'Mock the Week'.
>
> "A lot of panel programmes are very male-dominated, because they rely on
> men topping each other, or sparring with each other, which is not
> generally a very female thing," she told the Radio Times.
>
> She added: "I felt I held my own".
>
> The double BAFTA winning comedienne will appear in the 51st series of
> the radio programme, I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue, the first show go on
> air without Humphrey Lyttelton, who died in April last year, aged 86.
>
> In his role as chairman for 35 years, he gave the panel of four
> comedians "silly things to do" in what was billed as "the antidote to
> panel games".
>
> Wood, 56, will make her debut appearance on the show with veteran
> panellists Barry Cryer, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden in a
> recording chaired by Stephen Fry, who is currently 'hot-desking' the
> role with Jack Dee and Rob Brydon.
>
> Wood, the creator of Housewife 49 and Dinnerladies, has become the
> latest television personality to criticise the laddish culture of TV
> comedy.
>
> Sandi Toksvig, who hosts The News Quiz on Radio 4, has also said that
> female panellists were often edited out of the final cut.
>
> Toksvig said last year: "Testosterone-fuelled arguments between the boys
> make it difficult. Women's jokes aren't about trying to top the last
> person or 'win' the game," she said "I think that if more women were in
> charge, everyone would get a look in."
>
> Bill Matthews, the co-creator of Never Mind the Buzzcocks agreed that
> panel shows were male-dominated "bear pits" which were "too competitive
> and testosterone heavy".
>
> Last year, Mariella Frostrup accused Have I Got News For You of being
> sexist towards female guests.
>
> Describing the panel game as a "disgrace", she said that women were
> invited to appear only as a token presence to be ridiculed by the
> "testosterone-driven" team captains, Ian Hislop and Paul Merton.
>
> A BBC spokeswoman said: "There are far fewer female comedians than male
> so despite wanting to feature more women on our panel shows we often
> can't. We are working to address this issue though and many women have
> featured on our shows recently or will be featured in upcoming series
> including Would I like to you, Shooting stars and QI.
>
> Victoria Wood will appear as a panelist on the first 2 episodes of the
> new series of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue starting on the 15th June 2009
>
>
>
>
> So what do we think - is the problem that the men spend too much time
> bickering with each other and Nicholas - and that's just not womanly?
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

 
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