QI | Which TV Format Did Charlemagne's Father Invent? 

I thought Rhys was David Mitchell impersonating Austin Powers at first

Pepin the Short really did badly when it came to nicknames, he was the son of Charles the Hammer and the father of Charles the Great.

As a New Zealander I find Rhys Darby hilarious, even though it's hard to pin down exactly why he's funny.

Rhys Darby competed for a stand up award (named after the late, great Billy T James), and his piece was brilliant. My friends and I still quote it, over a decade later. He came second and went on to do Flight of the Conchords, Jumanji, Yes Man, world tours, and be an author. I can't even remember the name of the lady who won. I guess he was just more willing to put the time and effort in.

Ordeal or no ordeal

Where it says "TV Format" in the title I was thinking of aspect ratios of TV screens, and that maybe Charlemagne's dad commissioned a portrait of himself or something using those proportions. Now, had it said "TV SHOW Format", I wouldn't have been led astray...

Good to see Austin Powers joining the crew in QI.

Why is David Mitchell dressed as Austin Powers?

"Chap or lady?" Just really taps into the British sense of humour that haha.

Rhys Darby is a gem

Dark ages endurance test? My dad used to play a dark ages endurance test on me all the time, basically hold the something-or-other while I try to fix shit very casually.

As a New Zealander, I find Rhys Darby's accent odd. It's like he's doing the accent that non-kiwis expect Kiwis to sound like.

This clip features one of the last public appearances of Bush-Man, before his strange disparition, in a remote area of New-Zealand.

So, did Pepin le bref hold contests where peasants had to touch an oxcart, last one touching it wins it ?

A show where you touch a car sounds weird, but not half as weird as Jason finishing 2nd in a singing contest ahead of the lead singers of The Darkness, Scissor Sisters & Skunk Anansi as well as Ceelo Green, Kelis and Katherine Jenkins all whilst dressed as a hedgehog

The best Dark Age ordeal has to be Ordeal by Cake. A cheesecake was made weighing about an ounce, and the accused had to eat it whole. If they coughed, choked etc. they were guilty. The bread was made of unraised barley and the cheese was made of sheep milk

Rhys was hilarious in The X Files episode "Mulder & Scully Meet the Were-Monster". His character was called Guy Mann (a.k.a. The Were-Monster).

To the late Dale Winton.

S.R. Bindler's documentary Hands on a Hard Body is a great film that follows one of these contests in Texas in 1995. The thoughts of the contestants and their different motivations make for a fascinating human drama far beyond just standing by a pickup for three days.

4:22 "It's been seven hours now, still touching it" must be a hell of a thing to tune into without catching the context at the beginning of the game show.

It's really not that surprising to have heard of Pepin. He's mentioned in a pretty famous play. "King Pepin, which deposèd Childeric, Did, as heir general, being descended Of Blithild, which was daughter to King Clothair, Make claim and title to the crown of France." Henry V (I checked, it is the same chap - pursuaded Pope Zachary to depose Childeric III in 751.)

Also, trial by ordeal continued well into the central middle ages and wasn't even effecively stamped out by the fourth lateran council in the thirteenth century... but other than that, all quite interesting.

If anyone was born to wear the wig and silk, it's Stephen.

Is that Murray?

Wasn’t there a case where someone lost the game (not at the show itself but that type of endurance game somewhere else?) promptly went outside and shot himself?

Rhys Darby is what you get if Harry Connick Jr and Hugh Jackman had a baby.

Someone should tell Stephen about Mr Beast

Why is he wearing ramen on his head?

2:44 I know the blonde with the curly hair toward the left. Hi Sophie. ;)

I watch these clips because I think they're quite interesting

Surbiton my home town... Was mentioned on qi My life is complete

Ryhs Darby is a genius

RIP Dale Whinton

Why didn't anyone straighten Stephen's wig? It's driving me crazy.

So... Pepin the Short is just the medieval MrBeast?

He also played a big part in RU-vid then.

Longview, Texas had an annual "Hands on a Hardbody" contest at one of the local car dealerships. It was made into an indy documentary and a a musical.

The touch a car prize was and is a very popular radio thing for in the US. It's been done since the 70s but is parodied a lot more on comedy shows.

It's crazy to think that 'Touch the Truck' as a concept failed lasting only 5 episodes. And then along came Mr Beast who dominated RU-vid nearly entirely using the same format.

Trial by ordeal...loss of a hand was the price paid by the loser in one ordeal and death in another, I was taught in history class, in the early 60s. Many of we eight year old boys made a fire on some derelict land, after school, to do our trial by fire. Lots of blister, screams and tears. The stuff that goes on in boys' heads is incredible and dangerous. 😜😂😂😂

They wee doing this touch the car shit back in the 50s in America.

I was hoping someone would mention the importance of the name change to "Dale's Touch the Truck" for the UK version.. avoiding the trap of "Dale's hands on a hard body" :')

Love that pause after "chap or lady?"

He also wrote the musical "Pippin" :)

Rhys is so charming.

"Dale Winton." dear lord, tell me it's not Human Tetris/Hole-in-the-wall...

Pre-mediaeval? The 'dark ages' are well within the mediaeval period. They are, in fact, the early mediaeval. All medieaeval means, is middle age. As in the age between the two classicising periods of the Antique/Classical period and the Renaissance.

So, t-posing for dominance?

Didn't know Austin powers took part in QI.

1:42 Brian and Alan :)

i first seen that guy in yes man with jim carey omg he so funny

Not sure why Dale didn't go with this title: "The documentary Hands on a Hardbody tells the story of a nearly identical 1995 endurance contest in Longview, Texas."

is he a lady or a man?

He played himself on Yesman.😗

That reminds me of when an American Radio Station caused quite a few pee-related injuries when they did a Wee For A Wii competition back when the Wii first came out, essentially the last person to wee got a new Nintendo Wii, it caused quite a few major injuries because peeing is natural.

wondered where mr beast got his ideas from lol

There is no way Pepin the Short invented trial by ordeal. It's already a method of judging guilt 200 years before he lived.

I thought it was common knowledge that Pepin the Short was Charlemagne's father.

4:00 shity morning radio shows give away cars that way all the fucking time here in America

why did they laugh when the guy asked if he was a chap or a lady?

imagine the truck standing outside in the sun on a summer day that would be a show i would watch xD

Stephen: "Audience! Behave!" :-)

What? Dale Winton must be pitching if Fry calls him 'well turned out.'

I like the kiwi version of john oliver

Singapore has this competitions using SUBARU cars.

I have, no shit, heard a BOWLING match broadcast on the radio!

Definitely a radio show contest in the US as well.

I never questioned the “touch the car for the longest” radio competitions before. No one does that in the UK? It just seems like a regular radio competition. I also remember the one where the hosts would lock themselves in a jail in a mall for a couple days for some reason.

Ordeals by t-posing

So if you couldn't say you were right by physical prowess, you choose a more capable person to do it for you. And this was how arguments of significance were settled in the presence of a king? Hmm. How does that translate to how things work today? It's who you know, and people outside the law consider that to be how things work?

That dude looks like a fancy British Bill Gates

Allowing a break?! Bunch of casuals

Was Charlemagne a dolphin in a bathtub?

What the heck is this? It seems potentially amusing but I don't get the premise. Besides, the judge didn't have anyone clapped in irons.

That must be one of the most boring reality TV shows that I've ever heard of. What's next? A show where we watch people who are watching paint dry?

Why is Austin Powers dressed as Harry Potter?

Did not King Pepin give the Donation to Rome? The medieval donation of lands to Rome that last for next 1100 yrs or so until Italy was unified in 1870 and 71 with Rome?

So they claim it's from dark age Europe but then say based on a Japanese original game show.

3:52 Luckily those 54 voters were all from Wyoming, so he won the election.

Americans might know Dale Winton as the game show host from Trainspotting

Gawd! What was that Japanese endurance gameshow called? I remember watching that waaaay back in the day.

I knew it was Pepin the Short. I've played Crusader King 2!

This is assuming the person that came up with the game knew of "ordeals".

I've heard of lots of ordeals ... but they can't hold a light to an hors d'oeuvre!

I was thinking of a physical format...

thats not a truck that's a ute

Just a little tip for anyone wanting to win a car, put a magnet in your glove.

I recall people doing these in shopping malls, when I was a kid

What's he on about - they didn't have cars in the Dark Ages?

Was thinking hole in the wall, kinda works for the cross thing.

T posing to assert dominance.

An hour?! 81 hours! *I'll sky plus it*

Dang, I thought it was Pepin the bald.

Why do the British call him CharLeMagne instead of Karl the Great?

Never knew Austin Powers was on QI.

I demand a trial by Toyota Hilux!

On the plus side, no one lost their head over it.

Wonder if they did a role call at the start...

Present

There also happens to be a musical