It's the same few people?

Sorry, but I've never posted about this before... and it's not really a professional discussion, it's a forum.

I quite like to see older people represented on TV and I find him mildly amusing. For his role he doesn't have to be much more (IMO).

That said, Betty White in that role would be something else

Are we getting paid?

which may be his best joke ever... if there is something he is emphatically not, it's upper-class (or even remotely classy). I too agree with the fact that his nasty streak gets on my nerves, and I'll be very relieved once I don't have to see him being 'funny' on Saturday any more!

He is just a third-rate end-of-the-pier or holiday camp comic who got incredibly lucky. I always feel that he is trying to be another Eric Morecambe or Tommy Cooper. In his dreams!
His continuing popularity is a sad reflection on the British public.

Agreed. I've never been a great fan but would like him to stay. He only does the one show and isn't that bad.
On a more important note, it's important to have older people on tv to show that at 85 it's perfectly possible to be fit, active and still able to work.

But only if you are a man.

Aaah, Brucie. What can I say? I have a soft spot for his SCD hosting. I hope he continues to host it untl he himself makes the decision to go. To be honest, I'd rather see Tess and her teeth licking tongue go before Bruce!

No it's not a good idea to have someone who's 85 on tv, it just gives the Tories an idea to raise the retirement age even higher...

The point is he might be active but I wouldn't say he's really able to handle what's going on, no wonder the show is 2.5 hours on a saturday! It's to allow for his slow reading of the autocue!

Yes indeed. Brucie is so masterful at every situation in a live show - something that 99% of other presenters have absolutely no experience of.
We should enjoy it now while he is with us, because when he leaves the show it will be a shadow of it's former glory.
Tess herself has not developed as a presenter, and continues to fluster and gush like an excited 13yo, and I would like to see Anton and Claudia as the permanent new presenters .... in about three years time of course

Why does everyone persist in thinking Anton would be a good presenter for Strictly?

Anton mumbles when he speaks, so he can't be heard clearly, and he tends to butt in and talk over others, both bad traits in a presenter. He also has absolutely no experience whatsoever in presenting a prime-time, live television show, which takes skill. He couldn't do it.

Tess may be bland but she and Claudia have proven themselves to be a good team. When Tess is the main presenter, she keeps the show running smoothly and keeps the focus on the contestants and the judges instead of herself, which is as it should be.

You are joking, right? Masterful? Don't be so silly, he mumbles over words, his scripted jokes were last funny in about 1948, and he's got a very arrogant and nasty attitude.

Brucie adds theatrical pizzazz and is the essence of Strictly, a family friendly show. Anyone enjoying the contribution he makes quite rightly does because someone else's personal bugbear is simply that and doesn’t alter in any way Brucie being a legendary entertainer chosen to bring Strictly to the masses.

Absolutely right. And his diction is crystal clear except to someone who has some kind of hearing problem. And Anton is a beautiful speaker !

Brucie is the BEST.

Thanks for that. Dismissing so many of us with hearing problems as not mattering. That includes Ben don't you know!

I like old Bruce. He makes it cool to be incompetent.

I have no hearing issues, but you can't deny that Bruce mumbles and stumbles over words, his intro for example: "Gooodsh evening ladish gentlemansh and childjnene". It's actually ridiculous.

Like I said, Barrowman is his natural successor!

Bruce was never a legendary "entertainer" but a very popular presenter where he was an expert at ad-lib's with members of the public on the other ends of his jibes

He did fail you must be aware long before SCD gave him a lifeline

He does have moderate piano playing and tap dancing skills and an awful singing voice but as far as SCD is concerned he increasingly slows down and breaks up the natural rhythm of a great show which is hugely successful worldwide without BF

Have heard on the local radio that this would be his last series, face it this way BBC can't rely on their tried and trusted presenters all of the time with huge fanbases. To me BBC have been extremely greedy of keeping him basically for ratings reasons, higher ratings means more advertising revenue and more money for the show.

The big bosses are going to have to think about hiring another person radically and one that doesn't muck around like brucie has done.

This is one of the most bizarre reasons for Bruce hanging on to the show for dear life I have seen yet.

Firstly, there is no proof it is Bruce helping the ratings, as he is not why most people watch. (Maybe some like Terry watch for Bruce, the majority watch for the dancing).
Secondly, they get no advertising revenue. They make money by selling the idea round the globe (none of those shows have Bruce).

However, I do think Bruce has remained in situ because they are either struggling to find another presenter, or they are unable to think outside of the box for an alternative.

Reminds me of when Bruce upped sticks and left the Generation Game, to be replaced by the lovely (and very funny) Larry Grayson amidst much gnashing of teeth about the show going down the pan.

Of course, it was all nonsense as the GBP soon realised that they preferred the gentle campiness of Larry to the strident aggression of Forsyth and the show was soon recording record audience figures.

Of course it might have had something to do with being up against Bruce's big night out on ITV which sank like a stone.

Yep, Strictly's success has nothing to do with Bruce, you only need to look at the US's Dancing with the Stars to see proof of this. People watch Strictly for the dancing and because of the celebrities, just like you said.

Time to get rid of the aggressive and arrogant Forsyth. Anton seems a natural replacement but I don't think he fancies retiring any time soon, so I'd love to see who the BBC come up with. I really hope we don't get to the stage where a 90 year-old Forsyth is still presenting.