‘QI’ is quizzically goofy

No doubt I am committing some sort of critic’s breach of conduct, but I have discovered my new favorite television show, and it isn’t even on television. At least not here.

“QI,� a comedy quiz show hosted by the redoubtable Stephen Fry (one of three or four living people who can accurately be described as redoubtable) is in its seventh season in Britain. As of yet, Americans must content themselves with watching broken bits via YouTube, though there were recent reports that Fry may be moving to Los Angeles, and one can only hope he’ll bring “QI� with him, if only in reruns.

I discovered it in a most haphazard way, searching for clips of a debate between Fry, Christopher Hitchens and two Catholic spokespeople regarding the worth of the church (yes, this is what TV critics do for “fun�), only to follow an Internet wormhole that dropped me in “QI� (which stands for “quite interesting�).

Since then I have lost entire days of my life attempting to assemble these bits into full shows and will continue to do so until I see them all or YouTube finally figures out a profitable business model.

It is difficult to describe “QI� in terms more specific than hilarious, smart, wry, fascinating, brilliant and ridiculous. It is a comedy panel quiz in which Fry asks a series of often arcane and purposefully mystifying questions about a dizzying array of topics, which four participants try to answer. They are awarded points, sometimes for getting the answer right but often for providing an answer that is “quite interesting.�

The rather adorable comedian Alan Davies is a permanent panelist, providing what passes for an Everyman attitude, in contrast to Fry’s Cambridge don-ishness and formidable cultural résumé (actor, author, librettist, spy -- not the last, that’s a joke. I think). The other three spots are filled with a variety of well-informed, quick-witted, wry, dry and silly British actors and comedians who bat around subjects erudite and crude with an amiable, cutting cleverness.

It’s like watching “Jeopardy!� by way of “Monty Python� or, more fittingly, “Fry and Laurie.� Hugh Laurie has been a guest on “QI,� as has Emma Thompson. Indeed, the episode, devoted to Hollywood, on which she appears is one of the few you can watch almost in its entirety via YouTube. You just have to be patient.

Each episode revolves around a common theme. This new season, it’s the letter “G,� though often in only the most tenuous way, and if anyone can explain how the points are accrued, aside from totally at Fry’s discretion . . . well, actually, I don’t want to know because who wins is not the point. (Did I mention it is not an American show?) The point is the conversation, bits of which I could recount here, but no doubt it would lose its sparkle and spontaneity.

Suffice to say what has made “QI� a cultish hit in Britain, complete with website, a column in the Telegraph and a book or two, is its delicious alchemy of information and entertainment. It’s nothing more, or less, than a fabulous talk show, or dinner party, attended by people who carry pockets full of fascinating informational detritus and are never at a loss for the perfect quip, overseen by an entertaining host who ensures that the conversation never gets dull or petty or too out of control.

There is, on www.qi.com, a petition to bring the show to America -- apparently it was recently picked up by the Australians. (Memo to NBC: If you’re looking for something to fill that “Trauma� time slot, now’s your chance.) Either way, consider this my John Hancock -- large enough so the good folks at BBC won’t have to use their spectacles to read it.

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