Editing Panel show (section)

==Format==
[[File:Whats My Line original television panel 1952.JPG|thumb|Panellists and host [[John Charles Daly]] on ''What's My Line?'', in 1952]]

While many early panel shows stuck to the traditional quiz show format in which celebrities tried to get the right answers and win, the primary goal of modern panel shows is to entertain the audience with comedy, with the game or quiz structure providing subjects for the comedians to joke about.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/23/parlour-games|title=A very British tradition|work=The Guardian|location=London|first=Stephen|last=Armstrong|date=23 November 2008}}</ref><ref name=splitsiderguide>{{cite web|last=Czajkowski|first=Elise|title=A Guide to the Hilarious World of British Panel Shows|url=http://splitsider.com/2011/07/a-guide-to-the-hilarious-world-of-british-panel-shows/|work=Splitsider|access-date=25 July 2013|date=28 July 2011}}</ref> Panel shows also feature comedic banter, friendly ribbing and camaraderie among the panelists.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Patkin|first1=Sasha|title=Panel Shows Are the U.K. Rage But Here's Why They'd Never Work in the U.S.|url=http://mic.com/articles/54639/panel-shows-are-the-u-k-rage-but-here-s-why-they-d-never-work-in-the-u-s|website=Mic|access-date=18 August 2015|date=15 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Jodelka|first1=Filipa|title=Taskmaster: 'Nato should be informed of its molten-hot banter'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jul/28/dave-game-show-taskmaster|website=The Guardian|access-date=18 August 2015|date=27 July 2015}}</ref> Scoring is often deemphasised in panel shows. The American version of ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway? (American TV series)|Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]'' acknowledged this with the introduction, "Welcome to ''Whose Line Is It Anyway'', the show where everything's made up and the points don't matter." ''[[QI]]'''s opaque scoring system is purportedly a mystery even to its creator,<ref>{{cite web|title=QI Trivia|url=http://www.bbcnordic.com/qi/trivia|work=BBC Nordic|access-date=7 August 2013}}</ref> ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue]]'' dispenses with points altogether, and many other shows mention points only occasionally or at the end, instead of continuously displaying scores in front of players.

Panel shows can have any number of themes.  Many are topical and [[satire|satirical]], such as ''[[Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!]]'', ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'', ''[[The News Quiz]]'' and ''[[Mock the Week]]''. ''[[8 Out of 10 Cats]]'' is based on [[opinion poll]]ing; ''[[What's My Line?]]'' is about [[employment|occupations]]; ''[[Never Mind the Buzzcocks]]'' and ''[[Face the Music (UK TV programme)|Face the Music]]'' center on [[music]]; ''[[A League of Their Own (UK game show)|A League of Their Own]]'', ''[[A Question of Sport]]'' and ''[[They Think It's All Over (TV series)|They Think It's All Over]]'' are [[sport]]s-themed; ''[[Was It Something I Said? (TV series)|Was It Something I Said?]]'', ''[[Quote... Unquote]]'' and ''[[Who Said That?]]'' feature [[quotation]]s; ''[[My Word!]]'' involves [[wordplay]]; ''[[I've Got a Secret]]'' is about [[secrecy|secrets]]; ''[[To Tell the Truth]]'', ''[[Would I Lie to You? (British game show)|Would I Lie to You?]]'' and ''[[The Unbelievable Truth (radio show)|The Unbelievable Truth]]'' deal with [[lie]]s; and ''[[It Pays to Be Ignorant]]'' and ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue]]'' are [[parody|parodies]].

Some panel shows are variations of classic parlor games. ''[[Twenty Questions]]'' is based on the parlor game of the same name, ''[[Give Us a Clue]]'' is modelled after [[charades]], and ''[[Call My Bluff (UK game show)|Call My Bluff]]'' and ''[[Balderdash (game show)|Balderdash]]'' are based on [[fictionary]].

Frequently, a panel show features recurring panelists or permanent team captains, and some panelists appear on multiple panel shows.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/mar/25/russell-howards-good-news|title=Is it good news that there's so many topical comedy shows?|work=The Guardian|location=London|first=Stuart|last=Heritage|date=26 March 2011}}</ref> Most shows are recorded before a studio audience.