| 8 out of 10 Cats | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Format | Panel game |
| Presented by | Jimmy Carr |
| Starring | Team captains: Sean Lock Dave Spikey (Series 1–4) Jason Manford (Series 5–10) Jon Richardson (Series 11–present) |
| Theme music composer | Mat Osman |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 12 |
| No. of episodes | 111 (to 23 December 2011) (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | BBC Television Centre |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Endemol |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Channel 4 |
| Original run | 3 June 2005 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
8 out of 10 Cats is a television comedy panel game made by Zeppotron (a subsidiary of Endemol) for Channel 4. It was first broadcast on 3 June 2005. The show is based on statistics and opinion polls, and draws on polls produced by a variety of organizations and new polls commissioned for the programme, carried out by company Harris Poll. The show's title is derived from a well-known advertising tagline for Whiskas cat food which originally claimed that "8 out of 10 cats prefer Whiskas".[1] The first advert ever screened during the show's commercial break was for Whiskas.
Contents |
The show is hosted by comedian Jimmy Carr and features two teams, consisting of a regular team captain and two celebrity guests each. Sean Lock has appeared as the first team captain since the show's inception; the opposing captain was originally Dave Spikey, who left after series 4 to pursue other projects and was replaced by Jason Manford.[2] Manford departed following series 10, and has been replaced by Jon Richardson in the current series.[3]
Every week, the captains are joined by two celebrities from the likes of David Walliams and Alan Carr. Often, topical celebrities appear on the show, for example Ruth Badger following her appearance on The Apprentice.
The show is recorded at BBC Television Centre, typically the day before transmission. However, in the past few years, due to Jimmy Carr's stand-up schedule, certain episodes are pretaped and broadcast later as "special" episodes dealing with a particular subject.[4]
These are the current rounds featured on 8 out of 10 Cats[5]:
The points often do not add up correctly, but this is because the show has to be edited to fit in its 26 minute slot. From series 9 there is a longer version of the episode called "8 Out Of 10 Cats Uncut" broadcast a few days later.
Until season 8 there were four rounds during the game, but now it has been limited to three.
These rounds only featured in Series 1 and the Big Brother special shows:[5]
8 out of 10 Cats: Claws Out is a ninety-minute collection of highlights from the past few series which features deleted scenes considered too offensive to be aired. It was released on 20 November 2006.[6]
In January 2012 a special episode of Countdown will air as part of a special "mash-up night" celebrating Channel 4's 30th birthday. Jimmy Carr will take over as host alongside Rachel Riley. Sean Lock and Jon Richardson will be the contestants and Joe Wilkinson will join Susie Dent in dictionary corner. During the course of the show, there will be 8 out of 10 Cats style banter.[7]
A series of podcasts have also been released on iTunes, with material directly from the show for several episodes. Each podcast is typically the "What Are You Talking About" round from that episode.
The following have made more than one appearance on the show as a guest (up to 23 December 2011):
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| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 June 2005 | 5 August 2005 | 10 |
| 2 | 10 February 2006 | 24 March 2006 | 7 |
| 3 | 26 May 2006 | 14 July 2006 | 8 |
| 4 | 20 October 2006 | 8 December 2006 | 8 |
| 5 | 15 June 2007 | 20 July 2007 | 6 |
| 6 | 13 June 2008 | 18 July 2008 | 6 |
| 7 | 4 September 2008 | 27 November 2008 | 13 |
| 8 | 5 June 2009 | 17 July 2009 | 7 |
| 9 | 8 January 2010 | 19 February 2010 | 7 |
| 10 | 17 September 2010 | 15 October 2010 | 5 |
| 11 | 17 June 2011 | 19 August 2011 | 10 |
| 12 | 23 September 2011 | 25 November 2011 | 10 |
| Date | Entitle |
|---|---|
| 12 August 2005 | Big Brother Special |
| 18 August 2006 | Big Brother Special |
| 15 December 2006 | The Best of Series 4 |
| 30 August 2007 | Big Brother Special |
| 5 September 2008 | Big Brother Special |
| 26 December 2008 | The Best of Series 7 |
| 24 July 2009 | The Best of Series 8 |
| 11 June 2010 | World Cup Special |
| 21 August 2010 | The Best of Series 9 |
| 9 September 2010 | Big Brother Special |
| 23 December 2010 | Christmas Special |
| 5 March 2011 | 24 Hour Panel People Comic Relief Special |
| 26 August 2011 | The Best of Series 11 |
| 9 December 2011 | The Best of Series 12 |
| 23 December 2011 | Christmas Special |