I've seen this clip countless times but I've somehow only just noticed the irony in his inability to read, yet supposedly having "numberwang" written on the piece of card.. for him to read
"I'm not going to pretend to understand the creative process, because I don't understand the creative process, and because I don't know how to pretend." I love this line!
This is such a great sketch, and what makes it even more impressive is that David Mitchell managed to do the whole thing in one take! (I found out on the commentary for the dvd, Mitchell said so himself) Epic! :D
You know how some people have psychosomatic blindness, where they think they can't see but they can still navigate an obstacle course? I think that's what this guy has with reading
1 man behind his desk. 2 people being interviewed and 3 people there to tick race, disability and gender boxes. Add those numbers together and what do you get...?
David Mitchell is perfect. In 2 minutes 28 he has managed to personify everything wrong with British culture and media. I say this as one of the homosexually young people the culture and media think is their target audience
This comment is WAY ahead of its time. Things are even worse now with the virtue signalling in shows & movies. Like having a g@y character in a show counts as a personality
@@Stuart267 Your comment is even more prescient. Things are even far worser NOW than when you wrote your comment pointing out that things were relatively worse at the time of your writing in comparison to the general state of things in the ancient past of the original post.
I'm not britist but I am young and gay and deeply uncomfortable with the attempts of mainstream media to pander to me. I guess a decade and an ocean aren't enough to really change things lol
"..because I don't know what it MEANS!.." LOL!! Cracks me up EVERY single time!! ..and that LAST line, boy...lol!!! We'd NEVER get away with that here!!! Love it!
This is like the BBC equivalent of the scene in The Simpsons where the makers of Itchy & Scratchy brainstorm a new character to appeal to young people and come up with Poochie.
As a member of the Pedants Society of Great Britain, I feel I have to point out that he states that he doesn't know how to read, but continuously reads the word "NumberWang" throughout the sketch
And yet, we never actually see the word "numberwang" written on the piece of paper, so it would make more sense to infer that since he can't read the paper is instead some sort of totem or fetish that triggers his numberwang response. Pavlovian numberwang.
@@markstevenson1646 Who said anything about a university education? Is that because you automatically assume someone taking the piss out of you must have an academic background?
@@tomgl6684 well I wouldn't consider what you said taking the piss as you so eloquently put it, it was a bit pathetic if truth be told, here let me have a go, if I took the piss out of you there'd be nothing left.... BOOM there you go, have a nice day 😄
I remember around the time this came out, Frankie Boyle said that in every tv development meeting the main phrase used was 'crossed with Skins! Let's make Cash in the Attic, crossed with Skins! We'll call it 'Gash in the Attic!' I laughed so much - and then I watched Misfits. Oh lord.
When you realise that this sketch was made by people so familiar with the processes used at the BBC that this is probably way too close to home and the majority of us will have no idea how accurate it actually is.
I think this is basically completely true Including ethnics, disableds, gays and women for no purpose apart from bragging about having diversity.. Also aiming every new program aggressively at teenagers and copying any popular theme.. fckin fed up
Well, if that's what it takes to have tv shows that aren't just about straight white able-bodied men then i'm all for it. why shouldn't they want to have diversity, it's a good thing that people like
Sophovot If I'm marched in front of a screen not because I'm particularly suited for the part but because the producers are pandering to people who love to see my kind doing things, I would feel cheapened and insulted beyond measure. What is the difference between this and a freak show, or a circus where bears ride bicycles and dogs jump through burning rings? Compare that to this[1], do you see what I mean? If you are going to achieve genuine equality by highlighting how other and alien certain people are, pointing out and worshiping their alienness at every chance, and shoving them into public eyes frequently for no other reason than the fact that they are alien------are you not going about it the entirely wrong way? [1]: www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/rfa0u/youre_doing_a_great_job_guys/
Sophovot I think that's a bit short sighted. The end goal can't be to have box tickers. Whatever your view on how TV should be nobody thinks that box tickers serve a purpose other than statistical. Integrating people in a process is an important step to take.
It's odd that the inventors of a gameshow as bizarre as Numberwang are playing the straight man role in this sketch.
Bizarre? It's an extremely simple game. Anyone who bought the home edition and read the rule book will attest!
That's Numberwang!
@@holgerkanisch4210 Or more accurately Wordwang!
They didn't invent it, it was created during WW2 when they built a robot to determine numberwang
"Ethnically youthful and homosexually young."
Doctor Who?
@@aelolulThis is spot on now that the Doctor is a literal Black Scot
canada
all TV shows these days
That was the only funny part of this sketch
I've seen this clip countless times but I've somehow only just noticed the irony in his inability to read, yet supposedly having "numberwang" written on the piece of card.. for him to read
Maybe it says "#🍆"
Clearly not written by someone who went to Oxford (he went to Oxford!)
@@DanStrayerclearly you went to Oxford too, by which I mean, you didn't go to Oxford either
He drew a number sign and a wang on it.
I don't do consistency (because I don't know how to be consistent!!!)
"I'm not going to pretend to understand the creative process, because I don't understand the creative process, and because I don't know how to pretend."
I love this line!
Oh man. You can tell this one came from the soul. They must've had a particularly interesting meeting that planted the seed
Yeah, there's a lot "off camera". This is going to be a parody of their own experience with commissioning editors for TV.
It's basically every meeting after a show gets successful 😅
Pretty sure this is how top gear picked it's new presenters
metal2886 this comment is still relevant.
it's true; i was the youthful homosexual
To be fair, the original trio were irreplaceable.
@@alexpotts6520 no you're just afraid of changes.
@@alexpotts6520 yeah and racist bigots
And that's how the hit show "Would I Lie to You Does Numberwang" was born.
This is such a great sketch, and what makes it even more impressive is that David Mitchell managed to do the whole thing in one take!
(I found out on the commentary for the dvd, Mitchell said so himself)
Epic! :D
That's takewang
Pff, it's easy to do it in one take when you have the name of the show on a card. 😉
@@beeble2003We know that’s you, Robert
This is brilliant. Great satire on what makes the industry tick and what makes it vacuous at the same time.
These days it seems you can't satirize things enough. This probably happens IRL all the time.
"He'll be head of news one day if we let him, which we won't"
Fucking brilliant
It's not brilliant, he deserves that job!
He'd get it now, box ticking has become insane
@@johncitizen306 🐕😗
What a performance! He nailed it!
Fascinating glimpse behind the scenes at how real television producers operate.
"I CAN'T READ!!!" *picks up paper* "NUMBERWANG!!!*
You know how some people have psychosomatic blindness, where they think they can't see but they can still navigate an obstacle course? I think that's what this guy has with reading
One of David Mitchell’s finest characterisations. Excellent.
Ranks in the top 5 of my favorite skits of all time.
Probably the hardest I've ever laughed in my life! Dave's energy in this is absolutely brilliant and that last line almost killed me 🤣🤣🤣
I worked in TV for 15 years and this is frighteningly accurate
My favourite show (looks at card) That Mitchell and Webb look!
I love the bit where he goes, "Here's some money!" and throws money at them. It kills me for some reason.
It's so unfortunate that Peter would later be blinded by the Event.
1 man behind his desk. 2 people being interviewed and 3 people there to tick race, disability and gender boxes. Add those numbers together and what do you get...?
+Michael Johns A numberwang!
Exactly.
Numberwang?
Six.
20 Capstan Full Strength Navy Cut?
"NUMBERWANG has been off our screens for far too long" IT'S FUNNY 'CAUSE IT'S TRUE!
Think of the meeting they must have sat through to make them write this sketch.
that would have been a great followup sketch
Maybe something about Peep Show? Since they mentioned Skins, I think they were on the same channel
David Mitchell is perfect. In 2 minutes 28 he has managed to personify everything wrong with British culture and media. I say this as one of the homosexually young people the culture and media think is their target audience
This comment is WAY ahead of its time. Things are even worse now with the virtue signalling in shows & movies. Like having a g@y character in a show counts as a personality
@@Stuart267 Your comment is even more prescient. Things are even far worser NOW than when you wrote your comment pointing out that things were relatively worse at the time of your writing in comparison to the general state of things in the ancient past of the original post.
@@kevincarbone6831 Jesus is gay.
Fast forward to 2024, and no, nothing's improved yet. You're welcome
I'm not britist but I am young and gay and deeply uncomfortable with the attempts of mainstream media to pander to me. I guess a decade and an ocean aren't enough to really change things lol
"..because I don't know what it MEANS!.." LOL!! Cracks me up EVERY single time!! ..and that LAST line, boy...lol!!! We'd NEVER get away with that here!!! Love it!
This isn't a sketch, it's documentary of how basically all media is runs nowadays
Still come back to this sketch cos of the great writing
This is like the BBC equivalent of the scene in The Simpsons where the makers of Itchy & Scratchy brainstorm a new character to appeal to young people and come up with Poochie.
I'd like to imagine they probably had a meeting like this.
I've been in a thousand pitch meetings like this.
That's Youngerwang!
and a little bit of Oxford bashing from the Cantabrian. Love it XD
As a member of the Pedants Society of Great Britain, I feel I have to point out that he states that he doesn't know how to read, but continuously reads the word "NumberWang" throughout the sketch
It's just a series glyphs
And yet, we never actually see the word "numberwang" written on the piece of paper, so it would make more sense to infer that since he can't read the paper is instead some sort of totem or fetish that triggers his numberwang response. Pavlovian numberwang.
what makes this sketch even more impressive is that David Mitchel managed to say all that in one take. :D
Emma Sedgwick wow is that what you get from a university education? , the ability to speak continually for 2mins 28secs, impressive
@@markstevenson1646 Beats making bitter comments on a UA-cam video mate.
@@tomgl6684 wow is that what you get from a university education, the ability to post a shit quip three years after the event, impressive
@@markstevenson1646 Who said anything about a university education?
Is that because you automatically assume someone taking the piss out of you must have an academic background?
@@tomgl6684 well I wouldn't consider what you said taking the piss as you so eloquently put it, it was a bit pathetic if truth be told, here let me have a go, if I took the piss out of you there'd be nothing left.... BOOM there you go, have a nice day 😄
I feel a strong emotional connection to the teenage p**fter.
me too
Is poofter a censor-needed word in Merry Old Englandland?
Don't look at the box-tickers.
I was Number Wang Champion in 2014. My proudest moment.
he's not even reading the name, it's just a powermove
Hahaha! This is one of my favorite sketches of TMWL! How can he speak so fast?
I refer you towards Charlie Brooker's 'a career in telly' piece.
why does he look exactly like james spader in the office (us)
This aged perfectly.
I went to Oxford, what I meant to say is that I didn't go to Oxford.
...I did.
The HBO revolution in all its glory.
every line in this is pure gold
outstanding david
I remember around the time this came out, Frankie Boyle said that in every tv development meeting the main phrase used was 'crossed with Skins! Let's make Cash in the Attic, crossed with Skins! We'll call it 'Gash in the Attic!' I laughed so much - and then I watched Misfits. Oh lord.
Misfits was good for one season, then they dropped any overarching plot and it had no point in existing
Sadly there are no numbers in this sketch and thus it is not numberwang
wow i love david mitchell
When you realise that this sketch was made by people so familiar with the processes used at the BBC that this is probably way too close to home and the majority of us will have no idea how accurate it actually is.
does anyone else rekon this might have been bases on mitchell and webb's real experience of tv executives?
Aren't these two characters also the quiz broadcast contestants?
I think this is basically completely true
Including ethnics, disableds, gays and women for no purpose apart from bragging about having diversity..
Also aiming every new program aggressively at teenagers and copying any popular theme..
fckin
fed up
It's called trying to get ratings.
Young people are attractive to advertisers.
Well, if that's what it takes to have tv shows that aren't just about straight white able-bodied men then i'm all for it. why shouldn't they want to have diversity, it's a good thing that people like
Sophovot If I'm marched in front of a screen not because I'm particularly suited for the part but because the producers are pandering to people who love to see my kind doing things, I would feel cheapened and insulted beyond measure. What is the difference between this and a freak show, or a circus where bears ride bicycles and dogs jump through burning rings?
Compare that to this[1], do you see what I mean? If you are going to achieve genuine equality by highlighting how other and alien certain people are, pointing out and worshiping their alienness at every chance, and shoving them into public eyes frequently for no other reason than the fact that they are alien------are you not going about it the entirely wrong way?
[1]: www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/rfa0u/youre_doing_a_great_job_guys/
Was that link for real?
Sophovot I think that's a bit short sighted. The end goal can't be to have box tickers. Whatever your view on how TV should be nobody thinks that box tickers serve a purpose other than statistical. Integrating people in a process is an important step to take.
I love this character david plays
In a fit of snarkiness, I feel like claiming that he's just being himself :P.
this show was ten years ahead of its time... it's terrifying x'D
The funny thing is, when I saw the thumbnail, I though for a second that it's Robert California.
And indeed, he behaves similarly too :D
James Spader would never talk so fast
I will admit I had the same thought
I’m equally passionate about the possibility of more Numberwang.
I, TOO, AM EXTREMELY EXCITED ABOUT (checks notes) NUMBERWANG!!
What does a °checks card° NUMBER WANG look like?
I love when actors commit 1000% to their role
its like "Episodes" and "Pitch Meeting" had a baby
Suspiciously accurate.
This is how Wordwang was created
1:18 "Old, weird, had a hat, smelled and were Belgian" so Numberwang was watched exclusively by Poirot?
AMANDA! Get these guys some drugs!
This is just Mitchell doing an impression of Webb's Big Talk character
Picks up paper “1234🍆 “ “NUMBERWANG!”
this joke was ahead of its time
I wish they had done a skit of the new numberwang.
Me too. I'm struggling to imagine what a Numberwang that "retains all of its original features but is basically like Skins" would look like.
Those people must be vampires to look so young and also be the creators of numberwang, considering it was created circa WWII.
"None of them went to Oxford. I love diversity!"
When I took I job they did a thing hot wire also.
What was he reading off the card if he can't read?
So this is how they saw the BBC bosses.
Robert California?
Maybe it's a logo the show has, and he's heard the name of it in association. Like people immediately thinking of Batman when they see his symbol.
How can Alison and Peter have created Numberwang? This contradicts The History of Numberwang.
Very much reminds me of Denholm Reynholm lol
This is the comment I planned to write!
Is this how they invented televised FOOTBALL FOOTBALL FOOTBALL
If he can't read, why does he keep looking at the cue card to remind himself of the name "Numberwang"?
UberJamesMan it contains a picture of numberwang, duh
and to this day... no new epsidoes of Numberwang ):
I now try to use "It's brilliant in a way that is awful" in everyday conversation as much as possible.
It's 2024 and this has now stopped being funny because it has accurately predicted how tv shows and movies are
It's Series 3, Episode 6
STEVIE!
As true today as when it was written.
i numberwanged once..now my algebra book is all sticky!
Take the money before you go.
Hilarioussss!
He could read though, he kept reading the notecard.
Nope it was a picture of the word NUMBERWANG.
How does he read the title off the card if he can't read?
This is exactly how they develop shows in America.
Best impression of a coke head I've ever seen.
They really know how to make unpleasant personalities even more unpleasant.
Best part: "numberwang numberwang numberwang numberwang "
Yeah. I'm pretty sure they went to Cambridge. Let's just say they went to Oxbridge. ;P
MItchell and Webb both went to oxford.
If he can't read because they burned out his brain, what the crap was on that card?
numbers
He probably just said that because he didn't give enough of a shit to read anything.
if he can't read, what is he doing with that card?
krich451 Yelling at it, apparently.
krich451 it's just got a picture of boobs on it
So, if he can't read what's on the card?
But he can't read, so how is he reading "Numberwang" off of that card thing?
This is basically how TV really works.
Uhhh... 27?
Thats not Numberwang. :(
But 1 is, in fact it is the Prime Numberwang.
43.2
58
Two hundredth and forty-leventh
If he can't read, how did he read Numberwang off the card?