The Guardian on Just A Minute

a nice editorial - it even links to me so I'd better link back!

Just a Minute: why it's never paused
The brilliantly simple format and a host of incredible players are the reasons for its longevity – long may it continue

Last night as the strains of the Minute Waltz faded away, Just a Minute chairman Nicholas Parsons introduced the 761st episode of Just a Minute. Now in its 60th series, Just a Minute has managed to defy the ravages of time; changing little since it began its radio life 44 years ago and recently picking up a silver in the comedy category at the Sony Awards. As Paul Merton once put it in the Arena documentary It's Time for Just a Minute, "it is a brilliantly simple radio show; you don't need to see the visuals".
But what is the secret of its success? "I think it's because the format is insanely basic," says radio comedy writer David Quantick. "It's so blank that it can be filled by people as diverse as Paul Merton and Graham Norton, who don't have to adapt their style of humour to the show at all."
On the surface Just A Minute is built on a ridiculously easy to grasp concept – speak for 60 seconds on a given subject without repetition, hesitation or deviation. Yet within this simple construct lurk many complexities. It is a pedant's dream, and doubtless there are plenty who get their thrills by tuning in with virtual buzzer poised.
It was Peter Jones, Derek Nimmo, Sir Clement Freud and Kenneth Williams who reigned supreme for the first two decades of the programme's life. Williams's appearances were either hysterical rollercoasters or exhausting and tetchy depending on his mood, but always extraordinary.
Now, as then, it is the interruptions that often make the show. In recent times that has lead to some charming sparring between current omnipresent player Merton and schoolmaster Parsons, in contrast to the prickly exchanges the former Sale of the Century host endured with Freud. But they can also ruin it. In the early years of the show players seem to have only been buzzed if their pauses were of the pregnant variety, but in our impatient age a nanosecond's hesitation is often pounced on.
Despite its simplicities the format can be frustrating for some guests. Bill Bailey, whose bee swarm of a mind usually excels at panel games, once complained "I hate it. They say you can't repeat or hesitate or deviate but that's how I actually talk, I don't know why they ever got me on."
In truth the magic of the show often comes from the deviation and how a simple topic such as "Suduko" or "Chickens" can be spun into a wild story – the latter involving Ozzy Osbourne going on tour with Colonel Sanders in the hands of Ross Noble. Never forgetting it is a comedy show; unspoken sportmanship affords contestants to transgress the rules if they are being suitably amusing.
There are plenty of panel shows on TV (interestingly there have been several attempts to bring JAM to television) but all of them seem to consist of the same pool of 12 people. Just a Minute has always cast its net a bit further and unlike TV isn't afraid to employ pensioners (Parsons is now 87).
The new series sees a predictable but much-anticipated return visit from grand comedy owl Stephen Fry but in the past some of the best players have been the least expected – Patrick Moore, Pam Ayres, Wendy Richard were all wonderful.
Not everyone works – Terry Wogan just boomed incomprehensibly on his debut in the last series and plenty of standups have withered in competition against Merton – but the programme is a brilliant platform for the nimble-minded and often brings out another side of a comedian. Both Liza Tarbuck and Sue Perkins are consistently brilliant, as are Marcus Brigstocke, Tony Hawks and Graham Norton.
But what do you think? Are you a fan? Or is it an outdated Oxbridge parlour game that's outstayed its welcome. And who are your favourite players – and what would be your dream (living and dead) lineup?

there's also a lively debate going on there if you feel like jumping in