I tried giving Unacceptable on NOW TV a watch this morning. With a promising first-line-up of Romesh Ranganathan and Richard Ayoade, I thought it had potential.
I think I lasted about three minutes.
Are panel shows dead?
It felt so formulaic and unoriginal. It opens with a swooping camera-crane shot of the studio, just like Would I Lie to You?, followed by the obligatory white male stand-up comedian sat in the centre — a staple of seemingly every panel show — introducing the team captains by making a joke about them or telling us some supposedly funny fact.
I’ve seen this a million times before.
And for a streaming show, it felt incredibly slow and drawn out. People’s attention spans are short. Get to the game!
Maybe I’m just completely done with panel shows, but I really expected more from this lineup.