http://news.sky.com/story/1172615/si...-borrowed-time

I like Brucie, but I think change would be good soon. I don't like the hate he's getting though! I don't mind if he's on Strictly for a few more years

Where is the hate? I have not seen anyone say they hate him.

All I see is someone hanging on to a job to the detriment of their reputation. Bruce was always a competent (if occasionally grumpy) presenter. Now the competence has significantly dwindled, whilst the grumpy persona lacks the twinkle it used to have. I am just saddened he feels unable to give up whilst his good reputation is still relatively intact.

Nobody hates him (or very few anyway) - that word is bandied around far too frequently.

But it's fairly clear that many people find him tedious,, unfunny and at times downright rude and well past his sell by date.

I for one will be delighted if this transpires to be his last series.

He always sounds so bitter in interviews, like he hasn't had the due respect he thinks he deserves. As far as I'm concerned, he has definitely made the most of the little talent he had. He was an ok singer, an ok dancer, an ok comedian, an old fashioned all round entertainer, but he never had an outstanding talent.

He was a very good presenter in his day though, he was brilliant at panel shows and interacting naturally with the public, but those days are long gone.

I think the fact that as years go by and Bruce is able to negotiate more bye weeks, it is apparent (to me) that it is the producers who are going to reasonable length to retain him, as opposed to him demanding his place on the show.

People keep saying this, so it is with some surprise to find, when reviewing clips from the earlier series, that actually Bruce seems no more or less competent now than he did then. That people's perceptions make it appear otherwise is, I think, just an example of 'familiarity breeding contempt'. Much as when the 'perfect partner' turns out to have a habit that you find annoying

Careful there Sir Bruce.
If you read your comment about the x factor and replace the word singer with dancer you could be describing a certain show on the BBC

"The trouble with Britain is they tend to cubbyhole you. To most people in this business, I'm a game show host. I can go to Glastonbury and prove all that wrong but people still think of me as the guy from The Price Is Right and The Generation Game.

"In America it's completely different. You can present a game show and have a part in Law And Order or a film."

Above from
http://news.sky.com/story/1172615/si...-borrowed-time

Can he not just go to America where his skills may be better appreciated? :yawn:

It's interesting to see the parallels between Bruce's decline and that of the first Doctor Who, William Hartnell, featured in the excellent recent drama about the birth of the programme on BBC.

Yet Paul O'Grady was brilliant as the cancer patient in Holby City. So often comedians/presenters are given fluffy fun roles but not in this case. Just goes to show Bruce has trouble seeing beyond his own view.

Unfortunately the ability to walk and play golf are not prerequisites for a presenters job.

It's not just Paul O' Grady though, is it? Billy Connolly in Mrs Brown; Stephen Fry as Oscar Wilde; Bill Bailey in Twelve Angry Men; Alan Davies with all sorts of straight parts, and let's not forget that Emma Thompson started out in comedy sketch shows.

Editing to say that I wonder if BF appreciated the irony of using as an example a show, the UK version of which stars Bradley Walsh! Yet another contradiction of the very point he's trying to make, and starring one of the popular suggestions for his replacement in Strictly.

Bob Monkhouse played a few straight in his time too. I'll stop now...

Unpleasantness is never nice but in the real world families at home look forward to Brucie on a Saturday night.

A bit like Bradley Walsh then?

I can understand Bruce getting narked about being told he's too old to do his job properly, but surely he realises he's fairly privileged compared with most performers of his age?

Dave King, was probably the most versatile of his time and far more talented at Bruce, who I considered never more than "average" at anything.

King had a successful career in TV and was a popular singer, with four hits in the UK charts in the fifties. He later made a career for himself in TV as a straight actor.
Even Norman Wisdom, had some success as a straight actor late in his career.

Bruce is stuck in a "time warp" he's a dated entertainer.

Brucie has been living under the delusion that he is the British answer to Sammy Davis Jr for at least the last 50 years.

It also seems to me that he wants to get by on his name without having to put the work in. All the presenters/comedians who've transitioned to acting have worked incredibly hard to get where they are, whereas he seems to think it should be handed to him on a plate.

I know he's 85 and it's got to be harder, but it's one night a week for a few hours and he's carrying on like he's trekking the Himalayas. The Queen and Prince Philip are older and they work much harder without a word of complaint and I'm by no means a royalist.

I remember Dave King, the actor, very well. I don't remember him as a standup because I was very young then, but my mother always assured me he made me laugh a lot.

Though Sammy Davis Jr seemed to have had a lot of respect for him.

His ego is in a healthy state isn't it? You'd think he was some great talent who could never catch a break .

It would be interesting to know what efforts he personally put into trying to build a film career....

I'd occasionally like to hear him say how lucky he felt for still being employed earning a princely sum for a few weeks work rather than grumbling about what might have been.

I didn't catch him at Glastonbury. Can't think why. Anybody know if he 'proved all that wrong' (about being just a game show host)?

That's very interesting to know lundavra, thank you.

I don't know why he is blaming Britain for him not getting acting roles. If he had the talent and the ability he would have been offered auditions, as others have been. Even in the US a TV presenter can't just walk into a role, they have to have some talent to start with. I wish he would stop carping on about this country, Britain has provided him with employment for more years than most. He should be grateful.

Couldn't agree more!

BIB - hit the nail right on the head there.

I understand where he's coming from on this. In the past, it was definitely the case where, if you were very well-known for one thing, you wouldn't be cast in another. It wasn't even that presenters couldn't be actors etc. Actors that were in a long running series wouldn't be able to take a short hiatus and appear in other things; the viewing public appeared to be deemed too naive to be able to accept them as actors so they were pigeonholed into that one role while they were playing it.

I think that's changing though. Someone like Patrick, for instance, could very well take a short time away from filming Casualty and do something else even though he's a regular, long-term character in the former. Matthew Kelly was rather chilling playing a serial killer several years ago. Times are moving on. Might be too late for Bruce though. I don't think he can complain. He's had a great career and is still at the forefront of light entertainment. And a fair amount of that career was even deserved .

I'm old enough to remember his doing the Generation game in the mid seventies and I always found his attitude to the contestants to be rather rude! I know it was part of his "act" but the way he manhandled people and made comments was a bit off for me, he seemed grumpy even then...