Source - http://www.theguardian.com/media/201...-bruce-forsyth quoting The Sun (to which I can't, and indeed won't, link)
Quote:
“Strictly Come Dancing host Bruce Forsyth may be a man of many talents, but telling jokes isn't one of them. Viewers may be puzzled why the contestants always seem to find his tired gags funny, but the Sun may have the answer: it reports that bosses have told celebrities to laugh in case their blank faces are shown on-screen when the jokes fall flat. A source told the paper: "Contestants are regularly briefed by producers to give give a positive reaction to Bruce's jokes. It's a light-hearted and fun show and Bruce's one-liners are central to it. But the last thing they want is to broadcast awkward tumbleweed reactions during recordings." Perhaps the BBC could hire some better gag-writers for Forsyth – although that would deny Monkey the pleasure of watching the celebs grimacing through his jokes.”
“Strictly Come Dancing host Bruce Forsyth may be a man of many talents, but telling jokes isn't one of them. Viewers may be puzzled why the contestants always seem to find his tired gags funny, but the Sun may have the answer: it reports that bosses have told celebrities to laugh in case their blank faces are shown on-screen when the jokes fall flat. A source told the paper: "Contestants are regularly briefed by producers to give give a positive reaction to Bruce's jokes. It's a light-hearted and fun show and Bruce's one-liners are central to it. But the last thing they want is to broadcast awkward tumbleweed reactions during recordings." Perhaps the BBC could hire some better gag-writers for Forsyth – although that would deny Monkey the pleasure of watching the celebs grimacing through his jokes.”
There's often enough silence from the audience already and a bit of reaction from the contestants won't kill them.
