8 out of 10 Cats is a television comedy
panel gameA panel game is a game show, particularly popular in the United Kingdom, in which a panel of celebrities compete — either in teams or individually. It is usually chaired by another celebrity. The genre has a lengthy history on both radio and television. Unlike most game shows, the panels will...
made by
ZeppotronZeppotron is a television and online comedy production company. It was formed in 2000 from several of the writers of Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show: Charlie Brooker, Ben Caudell, Peter Holmes, Neil Webster...
(a
subsidiaryA subsidiary, in business matters, is an entity that is controlled by a separate entity. The controlled entity is called a company, corporation, or limited liability company and in some cases can be a government or state-owned enterprise, and the controlling entity is called its parent...
of
EndemolEndemol is a television production company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Netherlands,...
) for
Channel 4Channel 4 is a UK public-service television broadcaster which began working on November 2, 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station owned now and operated by the Channel Four Television...
. 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 PollHarris Interactive is an American market research company that specializes in public opinion research using both telephone and online surveys on online panels. The company is the product of a 1996 merger between the Gordon S...
. The show's title is derived from a well-known advertising tagline for
WhiskasWhiskas is a brand of cat food sold throughout the world. It is owned by Masterfoods, part of Mars, Incorporated. It is available either as meat-like pieces in cans, pouches or dry biscuits and most packaging is a recognisable purple colour....
cat food which originally claimed that "8 out of 10 cats prefer Whiskas".
8 out of 10 Cats is a television comedy
panel gameA panel game is a game show, particularly popular in the United Kingdom, in which a panel of celebrities compete — either in teams or individually. It is usually chaired by another celebrity. The genre has a lengthy history on both radio and television. Unlike most game shows, the panels will...
made by
ZeppotronZeppotron is a television and online comedy production company. It was formed in 2000 from several of the writers of Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show: Charlie Brooker, Ben Caudell, Peter Holmes, Neil Webster...
(a
subsidiaryA subsidiary, in business matters, is an entity that is controlled by a separate entity. The controlled entity is called a company, corporation, or limited liability company and in some cases can be a government or state-owned enterprise, and the controlling entity is called its parent...
of
EndemolEndemol is a television production company based in the Netherlands, with subsidiaries and joint ventures in 23 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Netherlands,...
) for
Channel 4Channel 4 is a UK public-service television broadcaster which began working on November 2, 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station owned now and operated by the Channel Four Television...
. 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 PollHarris Interactive is an American market research company that specializes in public opinion research using both telephone and online surveys on online panels. The company is the product of a 1996 merger between the Gordon S...
. The show's title is derived from a well-known advertising tagline for
WhiskasWhiskas is a brand of cat food sold throughout the world. It is owned by Masterfoods, part of Mars, Incorporated. It is available either as meat-like pieces in cans, pouches or dry biscuits and most packaging is a recognisable purple colour....
cat food which originally claimed that "8 out of 10 cats prefer Whiskas". The first advert ever screened during the show's commercial break was for Whiskas.
Overview
The show is hosted by comedian
Jimmy CarrJames Anthony Patrick "Jimmy" Carr, Jr. is an English comedian, known for his deadpan delivery and dark humour. He is also a writer, actor and presenter of radio and television....
and features two teams, captained by
Sean LockSean Lock is an English writer and comedian. Born in Woking, Surrey, he began his career in comedy as a stand up comedian....
and
Jason ManfordJason Manford is an English writer, comedian, actor and television presenter, who began his career in 1999.-Early life:...
. Manford replaced
Dave SpikeyDave Spikey is an English comedian based in Chorley, Lancashire. Spikey spent his early career working as a BioMedical Scientist in the haematology laboratory at Bolton General Hospital...
, who left after the fourth series to concentrate on other projects.
Every week, the captains are joined by two celebrities from the likes of
David WalliamsDavid Walliams is an English comedian, writer and actor, known for his partnership with Matt Lucas on the sketch show Little Britain and its predecessor Rock Profile.-Early life:...
and
Alan CarrAlan Carr is an English stand-up comedian and media personality, known for his deliberately camp demeanour and self-deprecating humour.-Personal life:...
. Often, celebrities who are currently topical appear on the show, for example
Ruth BadgerRuth Badger is a British businesswoman, best known as the 2006 runner-up in the second series of the UK version of reality TV show The Apprentice, in which contestants compete for a £100,000-a-year job working for British business magnate Sir Alan Sugar...
following her appearance on
The ApprenticeThe Apprentice is a BAFTA award-winning British reality television series in which a group of aspiring young businessmen and women compete for the chance to win a £100,000-a-year job as "apprentice" to the British business magnate Alan Sugar, The Baron Sugar...
.
The show is recorded at
BBC Television CentreBBC Television Centre at White City in West London is the headquarters of BBC Television. Officially opened in June 1960, it was one of the world's first buildings designed specifically for the making and transmission of TV programmes...
, typically the day before transmission.
Current rounds
- "What Are You Talking About?" - The polling organisation asked the public what they were talking about during the week. The teams have to try and guess the top five.
- "Pick of the Polls" - The teams are given 4 pictures to pick from and are given a poll based around that picture.
- "Believe It or Not" - The teams are given a statistic and try to guess if it is true or false.
- "And the Winner Is..." The teams are given a question from a poll and then they try to guess what came on top of that poll.
- "The Poll With a Hole"- each team is given a statistic but it is missing one piece of salient information. The teams have to guess what that piece of information is.
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.
Until season 8 there were four rounds during the game, but now it has been limited to three.
Retired rounds
These rounds only featured in Series 1 and the
Big BrotherBig Brother is a reality television series broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Channel 4 and E4, and on S4C in Wales. Internationally, it is broadcast on the Polish network TVN. It is part of the Big Brother franchise first developed in the Netherlands, and is currently the second...
special shows:
- "Face Off" - The teams have to guess who from a list of famous people came top with respect to a particular topic.
- "Word Association" - The teams view a clip illustrating a word and have to guess the top three things people thought of when they heard that word.
- "What's the Poll?" - The teams are given five famous people, picture by picture, and they have to guess which poll they appeared on.
DVDs
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 22 November 2006.
External links