Mark Thompson, the British media executive tasked with rebuilding CNN, declared this year that the time had come for a “revolution” at the cable news network – reliant on the same “swagger and innovation” on which it was first built. And so, when it came to unveil a string of new series in the spring, those following were primed for revolutionary, swaggering, innovative commissions. It announced plans to remake a 34-year-old UK comedy panel show. “We have been looking for innovative new formats,” explained Amy Entelis, executive vice-president of talent, originals and creative development at CNN. Even on these shores, calling Have I Got News for You “new” is a stretch. The franchise has already been reworked for a US audience no fewer than three times over the years. Pilots at Bravo, NBC and TBS did not lead to a full series. But this time CNN has gone all in, ordering a 10-episode run that begins this Saturday. Confidence abounds among those working on the project. “You can’t go wrong” when pairing a tried and tested format with American writers and performers, according to Jimmy Mulville, the British comedy producer behind Have I Got News for You, who – by his own admission – is in the midst of a “crash course” on the ins and outs of US political culture. “It’s a quiz show where the points don’t matter,” Mulville told the Guardian. While most entertainment executives “look at you as if you’ve gone crazy” after pitching the format, he contacted Thompson – a former director-general of the BBC, which has aired Have I Got News for You since 1990 – when he landed at CNN. He did not think the idea was crazy. Unlike the UK show, which has been led by guest presenters since 2002, Roy Wood Jr, the former Daily Show correspondent, has been tapped to host each episode in the US. Have I Got News for You is “an institution in Britain and now it’s invading America”, proclaimed a press release announcing that the comedians Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black would serve as team captains. This isn’t Black’s first invasion. He appeared in the NBC pilot, which (like the others) ended up somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic. “It wasn’t right,” Black said of that iteration, although “I don’t know why, exactly.” But as the show takes its fourth crack at America, is CNN – best known for its coverage of breaking news, all-caps chyrons and lengthy roundtable discussions – really the best home for a comedy show? Have I Got News for You “fits like a glove” on the network, according to Mulville, a self-professed fan who watched “every night for about three months” as the Trump administration reluctantly left office almost four years ago. Sure, it’s a comedy show, he cedes, but it’s built around news. Vying to boost ratings and help shore up a struggling parent company, CNN has already inserted some comic relief into its schedule. Earlier this year it started showing repeats of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, which will serve as the lead-in for Have I Got News for You. The network wants to sprinkle some jokes around Jake Tapper; offset Wolf Blitzer’s Situation Room with satire. After each week of earnest election campaign coverage, executives hope they can keep viewers watching by making light of what they’ve seen. While it can’t guarantee a barrel of laughs for the other 160-odd hours of the week, Black reckons he and CNN share a similar comedic ratio. “About 98.5% of the time I’m not very funny,” he said. “But that 1.5%? Gold.” This isn’t CNN’s first foray into this space. Entelis was quick to cite United Shades of America, a documentary series by comedian W Kamau Bell, and a 2019 broadcast of Colin Quinn’s off-Broadway one-man show Red State Blue State. But it is a step beyond. Encouraged by the network to find – and test – where the line is, Black’s plan is to “cross over it as many times as I can” before receiving word to pull back. “You should be worried every week that you’ve gone too far,” he recalls being told. “Let’s see,” added Black, “if CNN means what they say.” In the UK, Have I Got News for You has long been a staple of the BBC’s Friday night schedule. It has survived scandal; outlived myriad zealous commissioning executives; and somehow remained relevant under nine different prime ministers. A 10th took office this summer, shortly after its most recent series. But the end of several other long-running panel shows, including Mock the Week and A Question of Sport, raised questions about the format’s viability in Britain. At the same time, America – where series including Conan and The Late Late Show are no more – has witnessed the decline of the chatshow. Those still standing can but dream of attracting the audiences drawn by such shows at their peak. NBC’s The Tonight Show is scaling back from five to four shows a week, it emerged last week. “I actually think and hope that American late-night audiences are eager for a way to replicate that late-night chatty experience, without the tired format,” said Black. Panel shows typically have one advantage, he noted: they’re cheaper. Late Night With Seth Meyers recently dropped its house band, reportedly in an effort to cut costs. On Have I Got News for You, “I don’t even think we can afford kazoos.” Its makers reckon they have found a place – a news network, on a Saturday night, during another exhausting election campaign – where it can prosper. They believe it can resonate regardless of the twists and turns, however grim, along the way. “Comedy really thrives in dark times,” said Black. “When you tune into Have I Got News for You at the end of a difficult week,” added Mulville, “and someone says something about someone who’s pissed you off, it just gives you a sense of wellbeing.” Before the first episode even airs, CNN has taken this show further in the US than any other network. When asked exactly what they’re looking for, though – whether success would mean viewers watching live, say, more streaming subscribers, or viral social media clips – the network declined to pick a specific metric. “All of the above,” Entelis replied in an email. Viewers tuning in this weekend will find the show “very similar” to the UK original, Mulville said. As it gets off the ground, though, those involved hope the series will evolve into a distinct beast. Black pointed to one of the most successful transatlantic comedy remakes of the modern era: The Office. “At first, that first season, it pretty much felt like the British Office,” he said. “But over time, the show takes on its first identity.” In the UK, with team captains Paul Merton and Ian Hislop, Have I Got News for You has built a narrative over more than three decades. It is the soul of the show, regardless of what’s happened in the news that week. “I’m looking to figure out what is the soul of this show,” said Black. “Which is sad,” he added wryly, “because we’ll probably be canceled in about three weeks.” Asked about the future of the series beyond the fall, Entelis did not respond. Have I Got News for You starts on CNN on 14 September