Hughesy We Have A Problem,
Channel Ten, 8.30pm, Tuesday
This is cheap and cheerful TV at its best – well, maybe not its best but it’s certainly funny enough to keep you coming back.
Looking and feeling a bit like an updated version of the old Beauty And The Beast format but with comedians as the panelists and the oversharing Dave Hughes at the helm, Hughesy We Have a Problem is a lot of fun, though maybe at an hour the party goes on a tad too long.
This is one of those shows that relies on the chemistry of its panel – so far a different group of well-known and not so well-known comedic faces, who answer questions from viewers sent in via Facebook, video chat and from the small studio audience. As well as answering the questions (kind of in most cases) it’s also a chance for the panel to impart some of their own anecdotes.
Episode two guest Lawrence Moody’s take on tweeting and drinking is a lot of fun, as was his banter with host Hughesy about how much he talks to Hughesy’s wife at parties.
So far, two weeks in, it seems like whoever is picking and mixing and matching the panel members actually knows their stuff because the rapport has been good and the jokes, funny.
A Hughesy monologue kicks it off with the everyman comedian with the unmade bed face, talking about what his biggest problem of the week is (his dog biting people, his wife’s love of a fireman calendar). It’s classic and predictable Hughesy schtick but he’s actually pretty good at it, so what’s the harm?
From there we meet the panel and get straight into the questions which include all sorts of relationship foibles – from should you ask your girlfriend to wax her moustache to farting in bed and putting up with noisy neighbours.
There are problems from the panel, a celebrity guest with a problem and then quick-fire yes/no answers at the end.
It’s not Q&A, it isn’t going to make a difference to the world but the problems are ordinary and everyday and the answers aren’t preachy their funny without anyone trying too hard.
– Tania Phillips
