Have I Got News For You (satirical panel game); is it getting a bit boring?

I'm following this ''game show'' for ages now; in the early '90s I even taped episodes and even have some seasons now on VHS (and nothing to play them on the be honest).

In the beginning there was the educated satirist Ian Hislop vs. the independent comedian and absurd thinker Paul Merton vs. the sharp and witty host Angus Deayton. I think the ''golden age'' of this show was in the last seasons of Deayton all through 2010. Guest hosts like Boris Johnson, Bruce Forsyth and Brian Blessed made unforgettable and hilarious events of the show.

The last few seasons it's all more of the same. It seems that the Merton/Hislop-couple made a demand that the guest presenter never could be funnier than they are.
Is this show on its last legs? Why aren't there any 'groundbreaking' guest-presenters invited? Where's Russell Brand? Ricky Gervais? Peter Kay?
I think it's telling that the last compilation on DVD is from 2005. Panel game shows like Qi, Mock The Week and Would I Lie To You are wittier, sharper and funnier (respectively).

 

I still enjoy it. I don't think that's true about the guest presenters though I'm sure I read somewhere that there was little love lost between Hislop and Merton on one side and Deayton on the other. I enjoy Alexander Armstrong, Jack Dee, Jo Brand and Clarkson as guest presenters; some of the others, not so much

 

I was tired of it ten years ago. It definitely went downhill when Deayton left though one or two of the guest presenters weren't bad. The problem with these panel shows is they seem to have had the same round of guests for what seems like eternity.

 

What I've read on their Wikipedia-page is that Deayton had secured a very high salary and even before the scandal broke out there were stories of his drug-intake and relational escapades. It was a bit difficult to be sniffy about the gossip-columns when their own host was quite often the subject of these articles and had such a walk of life. The way Hislop and (especially) Merton treated Deayton was a bit harsh, though....

 

The post facility I used to work for up until 2006 worked on this. Turnaround time was crazy. The tapes were delivered very near to broadcast time relatively speaking.

Anyway, I enjoyed watching this show when I lived in the UK. I felt it lost something when Deayton left and didn't watch it as much. I haven't seen it in ages, especially since I left the UK almost 5 years ago. I caught an episode when I was last in town and still enjoyed it. So much depends on the guests and the presenter though.

 

Who?

 

Angus Deayton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia »

English celebrity/TV/comedy royalty!