There’s proper chemistry and we all like each other
Comedian Rob Beckett chats to RACHAEL DAVIS about new wacky panel quiz show Smart TV
YOU might think no one would know telly better than the people who make it.
A new panel quiz show hosted by comedian Rob Beckett is testing this theory, bringing together a bunch of hilarious TV types to test their knowledge of the shows they love across a series of wacky rounds of trivia.
From the makers of Never Mind The Buzzcocks comes Rob Beckett’s Smart TV, hosted by the 38-year-old comic who’s joined by team captains Alison Hammond – of Big Brother, This Morning and The Great British Bake Off fame – and The Last Leg’s Josh Widdicombe.
Alison and Josh’s teams are made up of famous faces – actors, presenters, reality stars and comedians – who go head-to-head in a series of chaotic rounds of quizzing to see who knows the most about TV.
From traditional trivia to inventive rounds – like You’ve Got The Part, where players have to identify actors who’ve played a small but significant role in popular series; Doubling Up, which has them guessing who was the body double for a famous actor on a programme; and How You Reviewin’?, which sees them guess which show is being talked about from its reviews – Smart TV promises lots of laughs and a competition that’ll have us screaming answers at the telly from home.
Let’s hear from the host himself about what we’ve got to look forward to.
Tell me about the show, Rob
So, basically, it’s a quiz about TV. It’s the same people who did Never Mind The Buzzcocks, so they know exactly how to do a quiz show. The rounds are amazing, so you can properly play along at home, which is always good.
What I love about good panel shows is there’s chemistry, where you all know each other, you get on, and you can wind each other up – we’ve got that, because Alison’s a good mate, Josh is a good mate... Also, he is a TV nerd superfan that is obsessed with winning the quiz.
Alison loves TV, but doesn’t really care about winning, but only wants to beat Josh, so (she) does care about winning because she finds it hilarious when she beats Josh, because Josh really cares! They properly go at each other and wind each
other up.
So it’s really good fun because there’s proper chemistry and we all like each other.
Which guests have you got lined up?
We’ve got some amazing
guests. Romesh (Ranganathan), Richard Ayoade, David Tennant... Alan Davies comes on and does a Jonathan Creek quiz to Jonathan Creek superfans. David Morrissey from The Walking Dead, Natasia Demetriou from that big huge vampire show in the States... Amazing guests in the line-up, and they’re all super funny.
Tell me about the rounds you play
We have the showdown one, where you go head to head. Someone picks a specialist subject, and they have to go head to head against three of the other team. And we sit them really close so they’re stressed and under pressure. So that’s good.
We’ve got You’ve Got the Part, which is great. You get two supporting actors on and they say ‘I was in Game of Thrones’ or ‘I was in Line of Duty, playing this role’. We show them the role, blur their faces, and then they have to ask them questions to see who’s lying. That’s really good – we love that one ’cause it’s all, like, deceit and stuff like that. We have the Guess What Happens Next round... Loads of different stuff, but it’s not all just questions read out. There’s a quickfire one at the end, a more traditional quiz one, but there’s loads of different ways where it’s clips, or it’s act-outs, or props – all sorts.
Did anyone surprise you with their TV knowledge?
Richard Ayoade’s more into Made in Chelsea than he likes to let on – that was quite interesting. Because I sort of stitched him up ... he’s snipy about stuff, isn’t he? So I knew he’d take the mick out of Made in Chelsea, but then I found a tweet where he’d mentioned it eight years ago, so I was like, ‘Ah, you do watch it!’, just to wind him up.
But yeah, the secret Doctor Who fans coming out is always quite
good.
And Josh is just obsessed with telly. Josh knows everything about telly, it’s mental. He sometimes forgets it’s a comedy quiz and just starts answering. You’re like, ‘Mate, you’re not actually at a pub quiz here, we’re allowed to have a laugh as well!’
What would be your specialist subject?
The Office, probably, or Bottom. I love Bottom, but I’d say The Office I’ve got more knowledge on, because I watched it when I was a bit older. I was young when I watched Bottom – The Office is probably my number one show, I think, that I know most about. And then I love The Sopranos, that was a big show of mine growing up. At the moment it’s Gladiators again, because of the kids. They’re obsessed with it!
What I love about good panel shows is ... you all know each other, you get on, and you can wind each other up.
Rob Beckett, pictured centre, with team captains Alison Hammond and Josh Widdicombe
Rob Beckett’s Smart TV comes to Sky Max on Thursday at 9pm