Have I Got News For You

[Sarah 103]

Here is a place to discuss CNN's comedy show Have I Got News For You. It also streams next day on MAX for people who do not have cable. If I had to describe it to someone who had not yet seen it, I would explain that it's the subject matter and tone of The Daily Show, but with the format of Whose Line Is It Anyway. There is a host, there are games, and there are points, but no one is actually keeping track of the points and who wins doesn't actually matter.

I love this show. I think this is the perfect gig for Roy Wood Jr. I really enjoy Michael Ian Black and Amber Ruffin as team captains. If I could make one suggestion to the person booking the guests, it would be only have Republicans (or any politician) who is out of office so they can be more open and free and less guarded or cautious. 

It would be great if they could have Roy Wood Jr. do a few games on the platform with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen on New Year's Eve to promote the show and have some fun. The games that I think would best in that format would be Headlines (with the news headlines drawn from the entire year, not just the months the show was on the air), Odd One Out and Lie-curious (the one with three statements about a public figure and only one of them is true). 

Favorite games in general:

Headlines

Lie-curious

Meet in the Middle 

Odd One Out 

 

Edited December 16, 2024 by Sarah 103

[ebk57]

I like this show a lot, but it never seemed to quite come together for me.  It's not that I didn't laugh many times an episode (except the one with Burchett which was totally ill-advised), so I really don't know how to describe why it didn't jell.  That said, I thought the last episode (with Kara Swisher and Jenny Hagel) was fabulous.  So they went out on a high note for this season and I'm now looking forward to next season. 

Guess it worked for me after all 😄

 

I like your idea of doing something on NYE with Anderson and Andy.

[Ms Lark]

I love this show, too. Especially with Roy Wood Jr. Amber and Michael are also awesome. Looking forward to season 2.

(Can't stand Andy Cohen, so I have to give him a 👎🏻.)

[AnimeMania]

The show is based on a long running British political comedy show of the same name and format. There are few comedy shows that I find funny, but I laugh during this one quite a bit.

[SnarkShark]

9 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

The show is based on a long running British political comedy show of the same name and format. There are few comedy shows that I find funny, but I laugh during this one quite a bit.

I'd say both probably could be discussed.  Roy even guest hosted an episode of the British version.

 

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, SnarkShark said:

I'd say both probably could be discussed.  Roy even guest hosted an episode of the British version.

That seems possible because the US and UK version probably won't be airing at the same time (date-wise).

[Sarah 103]

A New Year's Eve update/announcement.

https://decider.com/2024/12/31/andy-cohen-anderson-cooper-nye-what-time-where-to-watch-cnn-max/

It's better than I hoped for! It isn't just Roy Wood Jr, but also the captains.

Quote

Roy Wood Jr., Amber Ruffin, and Michael Ian Black from CNN’s Have I Got News For You are scheduled to appear

 

Edited December 31, 2024 by Sarah 103

[ebk57]

Michael Ian Black said on BlueSky that he'll be on around 9 and promises to call Anderson "Scoop."  Don't know if Roy and Amber will be with him or will appear separately.  

[AnimeMania]

Have I Got News for You Season 2        CNN      Saturday, February 15, 2025   9pm 

[SoMuchTV]

On 1/1/2025 at 1:42 PM, AnimeMania said:

Have I Got News for You Season 2        CNN      Saturday, February 15, 2025   9pm 

I had almost forgotten about this but my dvr picked it up. Those poor people just have way too much material to work with. 

[Sarah 103]

I realize this is not sophisticated subtle political humor, but my favorite part of the 2/15 episode was the discussion involving the missing words headline about the clothing optional cruise.

Also, I was right there with Amber and Michael shouting out "Jagger" with the robot headline. 

[DXD526]

I like Roy's new sign-off: "Remember, there's still two people stranded in space."

[ebk57]

I thought this was an exceptionally funny show.  I loved that Michael kept asking Lawler the question that he was refusing to answer (and wish that the actual journalists would do that). The heckling from the audience was great.  I really enjoyed Joyelle Nicole Johnson (and I love seeing what the people who are on Wait, Wait look like!).  I like that they've pretty much admitted this isn't a game show and don't do point anymore.   This one worked really well for me.

[SusieQ]

Lawler deserves to be heckled. But his song about trump was pretty good.

i didn't remember that Joyelle is on Wait, Wait. I need to pay better attention.

[ebk57]

2 hours ago, SusieQ said:

Lawler deserves to be heckled. But his song about trump was pretty good.

i didn't remember that Joyelle is on Wait, Wait. I need to pay better attention.

Another Wait, Wait alum, Negin Farsad, was on last season and I'd never seen her before either.  Not that I couldn't look any of them up, but this is more fun. 

[Sarah 103]

I like the new game about numbers. It has the potential to cover a wide range of topics. I can't wait for them to do something that isn't price related. Also, I correctly guessed

Spoiler

that the crazy expensive imported Japanese strawberry was going to be more expensive than the Kid Rock tickets. 

I was disappointed they didn't have footage of Lin Manuel Miranda as a Bar/Bat Mitzvah entertainer, because I would have loved to see footage of that. 

[SoMuchTV]

Well now I can’t trust anyone. They had a quiz about celebrities who had run ins with birds, and one of them was Fabio. RWjr informed us it was on a roller coaster at Busch Gardens “down in Tampa.” No, sir! It was at Busch Gardens Williamsburg!  Very big news here! Now excuse me, there are kids on my lawn and there’s something wrong on the internet. 

In the interest of passing important history to future generations, Fabio was there to publicize the opening of a new ride, Apollo’s Chariot. 

https://people.com/fabio-looks-back-at-rollercoaster-goose-incident-25-years-ago-exclusive-8622713

Edited March 16 by SoMuchTV

[possibilities]

Michael seems to be the only panelist who actually pays attention to the news, so I am appreciating him for that.

I love Amber, but sometimes it seems like she really doesn't want to be there. I can't really blame her, to be honest-- I loved her show when she had a hosting gig on Peacock, and I bet she's bitter it got axed. Why try, when it's not appreciated>

I do wish they'd bring those astronauts back to earth.

[Sarah 103]

I loved that Nimesh Patel said eggs as a joke during missing words and he was right. Bernie Sanders is like the principal in Back to The Future (the man was basically never young). 

[possibilities]

I didn't enjoy this show when it first launched, but it's been growing on me week to week and I laughed a lot at the one that aired tonight.

[Sarah 103]

My favorite part of the episode on 3/22 was the lie-curious with Chuck Schumer. I correctly guessed it was cheesecakes because it seemed to fit with him being from New York City and the dairy industry being a major part of upstate New York. My questions are how much gambling is happening? How often does he have to pay up with a cheesecake, and what local/regional foods are the other people sending to him when/if he wins?

[possibilities]

That really did seem like a lot of cheesecake! What do they cost that he's racking up $8,000 in cheesecake bills?

 

[Sarah 103]

12 hours ago, possibilities said:

That really did seem like a lot of cheesecake! What do they cost that he's racking up $8,000 in cheesecake bills?

I'm guessing he is buying really good cheesecake. I did a quick google search and the price in 2009 would have about $70 per cheesecake. 

[ebk57]

On 3/24/2025 at 1:58 PM, Sarah 103 said:

I'm guessing he is buying really good cheesecake. I did a quick google search and the price in 2009 would have about $70 per cheesecake. 

Wow.  I make a really good cheesecake.  I obviously went into the wrong business... 

 

And - Amber has been "fired" from the Correspondents Dinner.  I wonder when they record the show and if it will be mentioned tonight.  

[possibilities]

Who is replacing Amber at the WHCD? The warmed over corpse of Bob Hope? 

[ebk57]

27 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Who is replacing Amber at the WHCD? The warmed over corpse of Bob Hope? 

That would be a better choice than the lame-ass excuse they gave.  No replacement...just bringing us all together in these divisive times.  Or some such bullshit.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/29/us/politics/white-house-correspondents-dinner-amber-ruffin.html?unlocked_article_code=1.7k4.UEWr.RsKnoGgVMWkG&smid=url-share

(gift link from NYT)

[30 Helens]

I don’t know why it never occurred to me to see if there is a forum for this show, which I absolutely love. I’m a little disheartened to see so little discussion here, but I’m hoping that’s because people haven’t thought to seek out the forum (like me), not because nobody’s watching. 

IMO, this show is as good as (and sometimes more enjoyable than) The Daily Show and Colbert Report in their heydays. I know it’s a different kind of show, but it’s so funny, and the rapport between Roy, Michael and Amber is fantastic. I have been a fan of Amber Ruffin’s starting with her appearances on Late Night and then her late, lamented eponymous show on Peacock, so I was really happy to see her turn up here.

I’m really bummed to see Amber get fired from her gig at the WHC dinner by the spineless sycophants who run it. That could have been a real boost to her career. I can’t wait to see what she has to say about it on HIGNFY.

[possibilities]

I really hope that she gives the speech somewhere else. I for sure will watch it if she does.

[Ms Lark]

4 hours ago, possibilities said:

I really hope that she gives the speech somewhere else. I for sure will watch it if she does.

Whoopie invited her to deliver it on The View. https://www.tvinsider.com/1184071/the-view-amber-ruffin-whcd-firing-reaction/

Those thin-skinned tossers in the White House seem to have forgotten it's always been a blinkin' roast!

[SoMuchTV]

Quote from one of tonight’s guests, Eugene Mirman (voice of Gene on Bob’s Burgers, among other things): It’s like he’s giving chemo to people who don’t have cancer. Maybe the 2025 update to horse in a hospital. 

[Sarah 103]

4 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

Quote from one of tonight’s guests, Eugene Mirman (voice of Gene on Bob’s Burgers, among other things): It’s like he’s giving chemo to people who don’t have cancer. Maybe the 2025 update to horse in a hospital. 

I had no idea what a horse in a hospital was a reference to so in case anyone else didn't know either, here it is. Also, thank you for causing me to look it up. It is fantastic and a perfect description of our modern political world, even though it's from 2018. 

 

[possibilities]

The guest on Amber's "team" seemed very uncomfortable being there. I don;'t know who she is, but she clearly seemed to think she needed to not make any jokes or show any criticism of anybody. Did she have no idea what the show is about? It was kid of weird.

[Sarah 103]

For the 4/12 Odd One Out, I guessed the right person (he's the only one I had never heard of) but for the wrong reason. I thought it had something to do with Palm Springs, because I knew Nixon and Roy Cohen vacationed there. I wasn't sure about Reagan, but he was governor of California and I knew many actors spent time in Palm Springs so it seemed like a reasonable guess. I can't believe I didn't figure out the correct answer, especially since I do like Billy Joel and the song "We Didn't Start the Fire." 

[SoMuchTV]

17 hours ago, Sarah 103 said:

I had no idea what a horse in a hospital was a reference to so in case anyone else didn't know either, here it is. Also, thank you for causing me to look it up. It is fantastic and a perfect description of our modern political world, even though it's from 2018. 

 

Not sure if I can agree with the bolded part. It seemed like a good analogy in 2017-2018, but now it just seems too benign. After all, the horse isn’t wreaking havoc on purpose!

[marina to]

I just got caught up on the season. I've watched that Mar-A-Largo face section I don't know how many times. Amber's reactions are priceless and the before/after photos are shocking.

I do like that bad white guy rap has become a thing.

[Sarah 103]

On 4/14/2025 at 1:58 AM, marina to said:

I do like that bad white guy rap has become a thing.

I think Roy Wood Jr. and the writers are looking for examples of it or ways to include it because they know how much Amber hates it and it will get a great reaction from her. I love that it's become a running gag. White guys trying to rap (and being awful at it) is the one time Amber does not want footage. 

It is disappointing that the season is only 10 episodes. It's way too short. 

 

 

[AnimeMania]

Have I Got News For You (US) renewed for a Season 3.

[SoMuchTV]

Oh is it over for the season now? I was looking for a new one yesterday but I figured maybe they were on a break due to the White House correspondents thing. 

[possibilities]

I thought the WHCD was not doing anything this year. 

[SoMuchTV]

10 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I thought the WHCD was not doing anything this year. 

I saw parts of the broadcast last night. Seemed fairly bland, but at the end they did show clips of all the presidents who spoke. (Spoiler: It was almost all of them.)