15 December 2023 , 20:03
1008
0
After 24 years of Sue Barker it probably was about time to try something new with A Question of Sport.
I’m sure there is a way of enticing a younger audience to join in with a sports quiz, after all, there’s plenty of youngsters who get involved in real life.
But it wasn’t a version with Paddy McGuinness at the helm. In throwing out sports expert Sue, the team captains and half of the rounds simultaneously, the producers upset the core audience, who like things to stay just as they are. And, unfortunately, it didn’t appeal to anyone new either.
It’s all very well trying to emulate James Corden on A League of Their Own but there has to be a bit of chemistry there for the laughs to flow. Sadly, it wasn’t to be.
Perhaps part of the problem is that we all remember the old days when we’d fall about laughing at Emlyn Hughes and Ally McCoist. It might seem old-fashioned but the key ingredient is pretty simple - as sportsmen and women they are so competitive that it really mattered who won each week.
Trevor Noah mocks Prince Harry's 'frost-bitten' penis claim at Grammy Awards
So once you’ve got Jamie Laing and Anton du Beke taking part, it just isn’t the same. And, now that things are being judged by iPlayer views, they didn’t cut the mustard.
So, RIP Question of Sport. You’ve had a great run. I hope it’s not too long before the baton gets picked up again.