Review of 8 Out Of 10 Cats

Introduction

The title "8 out of 10 Cats" comes from a marketing campaign from the 1980s. "8 out of 10 cats (who expressed a preference) preferred Whiskas catfood". This show is all about surveys, and what the public thinks.

It`s your standard TV celebrity panel game. Comedian chairing, a few comedians and newsworthy celebs (of varying quality) on each team to try and be funny about the results of surveys and things in the news in general.

Your chair is Jimmy Carr, a Marmite comedian, as most people either love him or hate him. Most of the people I know seem to hate him. This show is the perfect vehicle for his brand of humour.

This DVD contains three thirty minute shows, which are edited highlights of the 2 series that had been broadcast at the time of release. The third series is now on air.

Video

A pretty standard 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, as first broadcast, and as you would expect from a modern TV show. Nothing wrong from a technical point of view, all looks ok.

Audio

A DD2.0 stereo soundtrack, again as first broadcast, and again perfectly fine technically.

Features

About 15 minutes of scenes which didn`t make the show for varying reasons.

Some of them being that Jade Goody is thick and should not be allowed on TV.

Conclusion

Your attitude to this will very much depend on your attitude to Jimmy Carr. If you hate him, then you won`t enjoy a panel game chaired by him. If you like him, you will. If you`re not too fussed either way, then you`ll probably enjoy this show, since it is as much about the guests as it is about the host.

If you`re familiar with any of Dave Spikey`s stand up routines, then you`ll find only limited value here. Dave is one of the team captains, and trots out plenty of material from his routines. But some of the guests have some genuinely funny things to day.

A DVD of a panel game is something with limited appeal anyway. It`s fun to watch once, particularly if you missed the first broadcast, but you don`t really need to hear the same news related jokes over and over again. So in the end, this is an entertaining diversion, but not something with particular lasting appeal.