The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2012 TV Special) User Reviews

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2012

[jboothmillard · 8/10 · 29 January 2013]

If you are a fan of pub quizzes, and have a good knowledge of the news events in the world, entertainment, TV, film, music, sport, technology and science, politics and much more in the year gone by, then this is a great show to watch and have fun with. Hosted by Jimmy Carr, with celebrity panellists in three teams: James Corden and Jack Whitehall, Jonathan Ross and Russell Howard, and Richard Ayoade and Gabby Logan. This quiz focused on the year 2012, with all sorts of questions to answer about the past twelve months. These questions are asked as they are, with video and sound clips, with pictures (including Say What You See), and by celebrity and mystery guests on screen or in the studio, so it really does feel like a proper quiz that you can take part in. Events in the year 2012 that were questioned and joked about, and mentioned (or pictured) included: Boris Johnson getting stuck on a zip wire, the incorrect Mayan prophecy that the world would end, the wettest summer on record, Britain back in recession, The Queen celebrating her diamond/60th Jubilee with a boat show and a music concert, the proposed tax on pasties, the re-election of Barack Obama against Mitt Romney, Spanish 80-year-old Cecilia Giménez attempting to restore the church painting of Jesus called Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) by Elías García Martínez and making it look ridiculous, Andy Murray winning the U.S. open (tennis), the highly successful London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games that dominated the news over the summer (including the Opening Ceremony directed by filmmaker Danny Boyle, the great competitors and champions such as Mo Farah, Andy Murray (who won against Roger Federer), Chris Hoy, Oscar Pistorious, Greg Rutherford, Ellie Simmonds, Louis Smith (also on Strictly Come Dancing) and Sir Bradley Wiggins, and Great Britain winning 65 medals - 29 gold at the Olympics and 120 medals - 34 gold at the Paralympics), swimmer Michael Phelps admitting he peed in the swimming pool, American rower Henrik Rummel when receiving an Olympic bronze medal denying he had an erection, Jimmy Carr gaining controversy being involved in a tax avoidance scandal, Harry Redknapp being involved in a scandal where he opened an account under the name of his dog Rosie, Felix Baumgartner breaking the world record and the sound barrier becoming the man who jumped from the stratosphere/space 24 miles above the Earth, Anthony Worrall Thompson shoplifting from a Tesco, Prince Harry photographed naked in Las Vegas playing strip billiards, journalist Samantha Brick (who also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother) writing a column called Why Women Hate Me for Being Beautiful, punk band Pussy Riot arrested for protesting, Chris Moyles quitting BBC Radio 1 after eight years, Adele singing the theme song for Skyfall, "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen, Snoop Dogg renaming himself Snoop Lion, Sarah Brighton announcing she would be the first person to sing in space, Susan Boyle releasing her new album with the inappropriate Twitter hash tag @susanalbumparty (Su's Anal Bum Party), Beyoncé and Jay-Z naming their first baby Blue Ivy Carter, The Hunger Games, Looper, Magic Mike, controversial Channel 4 programme Drugs Live where people were seen taking ecstasy to see the results, Britney Spears becoming the new judge on the U.S. version of The X Factor, the shocking Jimmy Savile child abuse controversy, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! with Helen Flanagan and Nadine Dorries MP, Strictly Come Dancing, the return of Red Dwarf, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Call the Midwife, the tragic death of Pat Evans/Butcher in EastEnders, Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life, Moone Boy with Chris O'Dowd, The Thick of It which created the word of the year "omnishambles", Prince Charles reporting the weather live on the BBC, James Arthur winning The X Factor, President Barack Obama confessing to watching Homeland rather than working, The Great British Bake Off, Facebook shares plummeting, the Curiosity rover landing on Mars with a will.i.am single on board, giant Pinta Island tortoise Lonesome George (the last of his species) dying aged 100, a dolphin recorded apparently talking underwater, Dynamo, a video of David Beckham surprising Olympics spectators, a German man becoming a YouTube sensation bombing onto the ice of a frozen swimming pool, the opening of The Shard in London, hash tag tweets YOLO (You Only Live Once), Fifty Shades of Grey, a cat mistaken for being a lion in Essex, rescue dogs taught to drive cars, "Gangnam Style" by Psy being the most watched internet clip of the year with one billion views, Skyfall being the highest-grossing film of the year, and the Olympic Closing Ceremony celebrating British music (including the appearance of the Spice Girls) being the most-watched television show of the year. Other celebrity and special mystery guests in the show included the children of Mitchell Brook Primary School in Neasden, who act out well known news stories, Jon Snow who reads news related to lyrics from songs of the year Felix Baumgartner, Usain Bolt, Gerard Butler, Jenson Button, Simon Callow, Cheryl Cole, mystery guest Gary Connery who played the Queen jumping out of the helicopter and parachuting into the London Olympic Stadium, high diving Olympic bronze medal winner Tom Daley, Charles Dance who reads passages from a famous book of the year, Warwick Davis, seven event heptathlon Olympic gold medal winner Jessica Ennis, The Great British Bake Off finalists James Morton, Brendan Lynch and John Whaite, Kylie Minogue, Psy, and gold medal winners from Olympic Team GB and Paralympic GB - Sophie Christiansen, Natasha Baker, Hannah Cockcroft, Ed McKeever, Etienne Stott, Helen Glover, Peter Wilson and Nicola Adams. The jokes and the questions are what make this show so much fun, they always choose the right celebrity panellists, and it works as a funny way to reminisce on the recent events you remember, a great comedy quiz show. Very good!

Disgusting Behaviour but funny on occasion

[lukehere99 · 6/10 · 31 January 2013]

By far the worst big fat quiz, not because the jokes were weak but because they were disgusting and juvenile. It may have been better if JAMES CORDEN and JACK WHITEHALL didn't get drunk on air, (they said a few controversial things). It started off well Richard Ayoade being his usual ridiculous self and Jimmy Carr doing a trademark offensive gag. But about half an hour in it all started to go pear shaped. Well actually it was more melon shaped. A rotten melon with big chunks torn out of it and it s filled with rude humour like mocking the queen which will never go down well. Towards the end it got a little better with Richard Ayoades hilarious answer WASPS which was quickly dismissed as wrong. The following night the papers went crazy with articles about complaints on the shows rudeness and many people said that CORDEN and WHIEHALL should be banned from TV appearances for a very long time. But they both saw what they had done wrong and WHITEHALL even quit drinking. Although this wasn't a very acceptable piece of television it had some good jokes mainly from Ayoade and is still worth a watch.