Christ what a shock. Absolutely hilarious, he will be missed.

"A woman's work is never done. Maybe that's why they get paid less."

Only seen him on 8 out of 10 cats but he was genius. Sad sad loss

Yeah that's a tough one. He was always, always hilarious. I've never seen 15 Storeys, will have to remedy that.

I think all of 15 Storeys High is on YouTube.

He's great on panel shows.

He was great on panel shows, and panel shows can be great. Cats does Countdown in particular was superb for giving up and coming comedy acts the space and time to show off what they can do to a wider audience. That show has undoubtedly introduced me to more comedians than any other, and they weren’t just people who showed up and only had one or two lines that made the edit either, whether they were in a team and introducing their mascots, or in dictionary corner getting a minute or two to perform before the break, they had a chance to really show the world what they were about.

CdC, Would I Lie to You and Taskmaster (assuming you consider that a panel show, it’s arguable), are all excellent shows which don’t fall into that bear pit mentality and which genuinely give performers a chance to shine on their own terms.

He was the uncrowned king of the panel show. He did them all. For twenty-odd years...and he was as funny at the end as he was in his beginnings. One of the unsung comedy greats that this country has produced. Almost hiding in plain sight. Always there. Always funny. 
To be so consistently funny over such a long and varied television career, where you are constantly in the public's eye, without having that audience eventually rolling their eyes at your mere presence is an incredible achievement. 
Sean Lock. Never ever outstayed his welcome...which is probably the highest praise you can bestow on a comedian.

Yossarian wrote:

CdC

I don't actually mind Jimmy Carr so much, but won't watch anything with Riley or Richardson after their anti-Corbyn shite.

QI's one of the better ones, but I can't do Davies. I liked Hardy.

And I used to like panel shows until I felt they'd become especially contrived shop windows for talent, such as McIntyre's early push. But that's okay because I don't watch them any more.

I haven't watched much QI at all since Fry left, but it's still enjoyable and I like Toksvig. Davies definitely phones it in on the show.

But, the point is that panel shows can be excellent, and Sean Lock in particular was always a highlight. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, ofc.

Thinking about it, I do find it strange to cut out an entire show because of the politics of some of the cast members. I’d happily punt Julia Hartley-Brewer into the sun, but I won’t refuse to listen to the News Quiz on weeks where she’s a guest.

In Riley's case, some people have a problem with her working with Carr after his joke about Tom Rosenthal looking Jewish. Said herself she doesn't look like ‘a typical Jew’. I've no idea if her lot genuinely believe that Corbyn's an antisemite. I don't like them for being hostile towards socialism; that's all.

Richardson blamed Corbyn in the same vein as Russell Howard.

https://www.redpepper.org.uk/how-corbyn-unmasked-comedy/

I like Toksvig and enjoyed the early Jonathan Creeks.

I gradually went off Fry as host, but I don't think he was doing anything differently. Just that Twitter came along and his fandom peaked, when at the start he was still only '90s famous.

Linehan enjoyed a similar rise around the same time, also peaking on early Twitter.

Toksvig is a bit of a treasure. She has got better with age. She wasn't great as a QI guest but she has replaced Fry successfully.

If we lock the thread, will people stop dying?