Hump Day 13th of August

[JustRobert]

Good Morning

Don't have much but the same old stuff so I am just going to ramble on about nothing.

Grey skies this morning which is keeping temps cool

Yesterday the service light came on so will need to make appt at BMW (probably next week) since I will be using the car on a trip end of month. I was thinking about having their detail shop clean up the car anyways so guess two birds killed with one service.

Some one please turn down the |shave| for I have a BMW service to pay for, Thank You!

Soooo looking forward to the new Dr Who

[Simon]

My old "Good morning world" was an homage to the guy who said it to Vietnam. So I'm retiring that greeting as the only wreath I have to offer. RIP Robin Williams.

On a lighter note, I'm looking forward to the Doctor too.

And even lighter...speaking of shows on BBC America, are there any fans of the Graham Norton Show here?

[Cleo]

Same old, same old here.

Going on a job interview tomorrow for a part time job maintaining a real estate website.

[JustRobert]

Originally Posted by Simon

And even lighter...speaking of shows on BBC America, are there any fans of the Graham Norton Show here?

Thou I must say I have not watched in a year but have always enjoyed his show. Wife and I continue to say we need to see more of him and watch more of Shameless (BBC Version) but seem to run out of time.

[ecchi]

Originally Posted by Simon

speaking of shows on BBC America, are there any fans of the Graham Norton Show here?

Many, many, years ago I was at a comedy club over a bar, with a couple of friends. I remember watching one unknown comedian and saying to my friends "That guy is good, one day he will be famous". I got it right for once, that comedian was Graham Norton, and he is one of the biggest names over here.

But the shame of it is that you Americans (or at least the small percentage of you who have BBC America) know him for his BBC show. Years ago he used to be on a different channel, one that specialised in "edgy" material, he was even better then. But he then moved to another channel for a few years and got a 5 shows a week deal, and burned out. Since then, he has never been as good.

Probably the highlight was when he found a guy who was obsessed with Elton John and the song Rocket Man, to the point that he had a device like a bondage swing that he strapped himself into, imagined himself to be in outer space, then masturbated while listening to "Rocket Man". While interviewing Elton John he phoned up this guy and got him to strap himself into his swing. Then he made Elton John to sing Rocket Man over the phone while the guy masturbated to this live performance.

Norton's is also credited with being the show that got the BSA (UK equivalent of FCC) to allow the word "cunt" to be used on British TV. He was interviewing Dustin Hoffman and Hoffman was aware that the word "Fuck" was OK, so used it occasionally, but did not realise that the word "Cunt" was still forbidden, so used that too. The producers did not edit or bleep it out and the BSA sent a letter of censure (basically a "first warning") to the producers. The channel refused to accept the letter and Norton's comment was "He is Dustin Hoffman for God's sake, and if Dustin Hoffman wants to say 'cunt' then Dustin Hoffman can say 'cunt'".

As a result or the wrangling that followed, TV shows can now use that word sparingly after nine PM (although most channels don't, and those that do only allow it rarely).

But nowadays Norton is sadly a shadow of his former anarchic, trail blazing, self. Don't get me wrong, he is still very good and well worth watching, but he used to be even better.

[Simon]

Thanks for that, ecchi, and you're correct that I didn't know about anything besides his current show on BBC America.

What I like about that show is that it doesn't follow the usual American talk show paradigm of bringing out guests one-at-a-time and fawning over them. Bringing them all out at once and having them mix it up together works better for me.

And of course I like that he has audience members sit in the big red chair to tell their "most interesting" story. Well, mostly I like that if the host or any guest doesn't find it interesting enough, they can just tip the person's chair over backwards.

Many's the time I've been listening to someone's less than engaging tale and thought about doing the same.

[JustRobert]

Originally Posted by Simon

Thanks for that, ecchi, and you're correct that I didn't know about anything besides his current show on BBC America.

What I like about that show is that it doesn't follow the usual American talk show paradigm of bringing out guests one-at-a-time and fawning over them. Bringing them all out at once and having them mix it up together works better for me.

Ditto. Sometimes the guests mix it up so well Graham just sits there taking it all in.

I find his interaction with the guest and audience refreshing. Like the time he had Tom Cruise talk to an audience members sister and mother over the phone. You don't see that here.

Crap, now I need to start watching his show again

[ecchi]

Damn it. I just realised that the more people in the US who watch people like Graham Norton and Johnathan Ross on BBC America, the less American celebrities we are going to see shocked when they come over to Britain and appear on these shows. I love the look of horror and shock on their little faces when someone says "fuck" or when another guest goes into graphic detail about a gay sex act.

I'll also miss things like Jeff Goldblum loosing his temper at Johnathan Ross' rudeness and hitting him in the face.

Or the American priest (who did not know that Graham Norton was openly gay and in a relationship with another man) responding to Norton's comment that he was an extremely liberal priest by saying "There are no sins that God will not forgive - except for those of a homosexual nature."

Or Sarah Michelle Geller smiling politely when Johnathan Ross tells her how much the fathers enjoy watching Buffy as much as their daughters, then seeing her face crumble when she realises he really means that the fathers are looking at her and secretly masturbating.

Or (and this is my favourite) Hulk Hogan thinking he is telling the audience that sometimes he wanted to spank the unruly twelve year old girl who co-stared in his movie, but did not realise that some words have a different meaning in English to what they mean in American, and instead told a shocked and horrified audience that he wanted to perform a sexual act on the 12 year old girl.

So will somebody please close down BBC America, you are spoiling my fun (but you can still have Dr Who, I'm not so cruel as to deprive you of that).