Parkinson blasts celebrity chat show hosts
parky slams celebrity chat show hosts
Veteran broadcaster Michael Parkinson has slammed celebrities who host their own chat shows.
Writing in 'Radio Times' about the disappearance of traditional talk shows, the 75-year-old criticised the 'foolish ambitions' of some of today's celebrities who try their hand at TV presenting.
Parkinson commented: "Graham Norton perfectly demonstrates the kind of talk show where the host has more to say than the guests and ITV may have made a mistake moving Paul O'Grady into a 9pm slot. What was perfect at 5pm sits less comfortably at peak time and gifts a sitting duck for competing schedulers."
He added: "The trouble with the talk show is everyone fancies their chances. Even those on the extreme fringes of the ever-expanding world of modern celebrity reckon it's a doddle. They are encouraged in their foolish ambition by television executives who really ought to know better than to entrust the job to people who, more often than not, neither know how to ask a question nor listen to the answer."
Veteran broadcaster Michael Parkinson has slammed celebrities who host their own chat shows.
Writing in 'Radio Times' about the disappearance of traditional talk shows, the 75-year-old criticised the 'foolish ambitions' of some of today's celebrities who try their hand at TV presenting.
Parkinson commented: "Graham Norton perfectly demonstrates the kind of talk show where the host has more to say than the guests and ITV may have made a mistake moving Paul O'Grady into a 9pm slot. What was perfect at 5pm sits less comfortably at peak time and gifts a sitting duck for competing schedulers."
He added: "The trouble with the talk show is everyone fancies their chances. Even those on the extreme fringes of the ever-expanding world of modern celebrity reckon it's a doddle. They are encouraged in their foolish ambition by television executives who really ought to know better than to entrust the job to people who, more often than not, neither know how to ask a question nor listen to the answer."
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Same with Paul O'Grady although I do think his 5 o clock slot was better for his particular format and style.
Parky's turned into a grumpy old man. Chat shows have evolved and while I can see his point re the ones that should never have happened (eg. Davina McCall), I can't really see who his criticism is directed at.
I don't mind Paul or Graham but the Emma Buntons of this world leave a lot to be desired.
Agree, that's how he comes across. It just makes him look bitter and out of touch. And the odd thing is is that slagging other people off like this makes him look like the one with the big ego, not those he's criticising.
Trying to stay relevant because he has a new book to plug i bet. pfft.
He was sycophantic, but his shows were about the star and letting them talk. He often asked leading questions to get them to tell certain anecdotes, but the show was always about the guests, not about him.
Graham Norton, Paul O'Grady, Jonathon Ross all present their shows in their own way, but I do agree with Parkinson that their character is usually seen as more important than what their guest has to say. I don't think their shows are necessarily bad because of that, but I wouldn't watch their shows for an in depth talk.
Today on talk shows the vast majority of 'a-list' stars have publicists and lists of what they will and won't talk about re their personal lives. Graham Norton has the skill of making an entertaining interview out of a load of mucking about and innuendo without asking personal questions which will get interviewers blacklisted which does involve him talking over them sometimes.
Paul O'Grady is fantastic and never talks over his interviewees but asks them off the wall questions about personal subjects they won't mind talking about (say from years ago) which are always interesting.
Parky was from an old generation of interviewers who had to go. He would always do safe publicist lead and approved interviews which gave you precisely no insight into the interviewee.
O'Grady and Norton might give you an insight into something totally random but it was better than Parky's interview technique.
Sorry but I disagree. I only remember his later shows but it seemed to be an endless round of Billy Connolly, Elton John, Jimmy Tarbuck and a few others. It was all cosy mates together and he really indulged them and let them woffle on without ever saying anything new or interesting.
Norton and O'Grady have a much less reverential approach to guests, not rude, not sycophantic, just very relaxed and welcoming and intent on having a good time. I think both Graham and Paul have a very clever technique in disarming people with charm and both have produced some surprisingly revealing and very funny interviews.
I'm not saying Parky doesn't have some great interviews under his belt but he needs to accept that times have changed and change is not necessarily a negative thing.
Absolutely, he never actually interviewed anybody, he just gave them feeder lines to say what they wanted to say. He'd get the big stars largely because they knew they'd have a really easy ride.
The veteran broadcaster compared Brand's career in Hollywood to that of Rin Tin Tin - the German Shepherd dog who had a string of hit films in the '20s and '30s - and added that he did not "see the point" of Brand.
Parkinson told BBC Radio 5 Live: "He doesn't make me laugh. I don't think his style of talking is particularly beautiful, funny or creative, not at all. I don't see the point of him, frankly.
"I would say he has been a very lucky man. I mean, Rin Tin Tin had a very big career in Hollywood and he was a dog. You don't have to be particularly talented to have a career in Hollywood."
On Brand's memoirs My Booky Wook, Parkinson commented: "Would you pick up a book called a Booky Wook? Come on! Booky Wook - what kind of stuff is that?"
The 75-year-old also insisted that he was not impressed by the Get Him To The Greek actor's so-called 'Dickensian way of speaking'.
"'Dickensian way of speaking' - is that what it is?" he said. "Dickens would be spinning in his grave now if you actually compared them. Please, have a care."
However, Parkinson reserved his strongest criticism for Brand's part in the infamous Manuelgate scandal - which he has previously branded "indefensible".
"There was nothing funny about it," Parkinson insisted. "I don't want to make Mr Brand any more famous than he already is but what he said on radio was undeniably wrong. What he did defines him as being somebody who actually is unthinking and uncaring about people's feelings.
"If your grandad had been at home and some drunken guy you have never heard of calls him and starts making these obscene, stupid suggestions, would you think that was funny? Would you be angry and cross? Or would you say, 'He's alright because fundamentally he's a really good bloke and a funny lad?'
"He's a lucky man to have survived it. There was a time when he wouldn't have done."
Parkinson's comments follow earlier remarks in which he criticised the "foolish ambition" of celebrities who become talkshow hosts without any understanding of the role
Bingo. Well said.
With the exception of O'Grady who I don't relly rate he is the best of the bunch. Wossie was just overrated. norton is a one trick pony whose shows have always had the same tired format. carr is better.
brand is as parky says pointless not funny & has the gervais type of humour that no one really gets but for some reason think he's funny!
Spot on, Russell Brand's fame baffles me
Bitter old man, who should have retired from loving the sound of his own voice at the same time as retiring from his sychophantic style of interviewing.
I like Russell Brand and Ricky Gervais. I get their sense of humour.
Michael Parkinson comes across more and more arrogantly with each interview. He still complains about the 'difficult Meg Ryan interview' on his show but sat there with a face like a slapped arse, making his feelings about Russell Brand very clear, on Paul O'Gradys show the other week. You couldn't help but pick up on the vibe, O'Grady seemed uneasy as well as Russell Brand. What should've been a bit of lighthearted fun turned into uncomfortable viewing. Very selfish, self-important little man.
And his bit about "Would you pick up a book called My Booky Wook"........... well, yes. Especially if you want to know more about a person, as an interviewer you'd think he'd know that but then maybe he only reads books written by his 'friends'.
He fails to grasp that other people have a different view to him about what is funny or interesting. He shows contempt for the audience by claiming that "no-one" wants to read Russell Brand's book, and I believe an ignorance of the sort of person Dickens was by presuming he'd be turning in his grave.
He is entitled to his opinion on people, and if he thinks Russell Brand was wrong in the Manuelgate saga, he'd find a lot of people, including Russell agreeing with him. However, he has shown he is one of many reacting without knowing the facts. Russell wasn't some stranger ringing up an old man randomly. He's allowed to not get Brand's humour, but to presume that means he's just not funny, has no talent, and everyone who does enjoy him is wrong, is pompous.
I do agree with him that too many people think it is easy to be a chat show host, and it's an unfortunate trend to have celebrity chat show hosts. However, there is nothing wrong with having a host who has a bit of personality about them and who can keep the conversation moving and who can get interesting stuff from their guests other than PR approved Hollywood anecdotes.
Admittedly he had a point about some of them, who were indeed completely useless, but the fact he is still going on about it to this day - years after his supposed 'retirement' - just smacks of being bitter, miserable and overly 'possessive' of the chat show genre. His show had become a haven for sycophantic luvvies who knew they'd get an easy ride with Parky's mumbling, bumbling style.
I think Graham Norton and Paul O'Grady are the best of the current bunch, so he's wrong to single them out.
I'd wholly agree on the subject of Russell Brand though. What a strange little person he is.
Exactly! He was happy enough to plug his new book on Paul's show the other week. Paul is a funny, entertaining interviewer and Parky is just a bitter two-faced old has been.
To be fair, Ryan came across as being a bit of a knob too, IMO. Anyway, I do see his point as I've never been a fan of Ross or Norton's style of interviewing, because it does seem to be all about them and not the guests. However, as others have already said, time's moved on and I don't think top stars are as open as what they once were and so it's probably more difficult now.
These days news is so quick and so saturated that there is very little mystery left. We already know a lot about the celeb from the media and the interaction between the host and celeb has to be entertaining. The host is expected to be a 'personality' hence the reason so many comedians are employed in the job. Nowadays guests only appear on chat shows to plug something.
I think Parky should just go away and play golf.
Exactly. Well said.