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Sir Lenny Henry - A Life On The Screen - BBC2, 21.00.


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Old 20-12-2016, 16:20
lundavra
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Absolutely worse because it was a racist portrayal of black people because it was insulting and designed to belittle every single one of them.
Having said that, Lenny was guilty of 'selling out' during his early career ( New Faces etc) because he was basically trying to ingratiate himself with predominantly white audiences by demeaning not only himself but his 'blackness' in a way that made all black people figures of fun.Not at all good and something he later talked of being ashamed of.

Decent bloke and very good career when you factor in the serious acting and the charity work but tend to agree that a knighthood is OTT on balance but almost all of them are these days.
Someone bases a character on a friend and he is accused of "a racist portrayal of black people because it was insulting and designed to belittle every single one of them". Have black people no sense of humour? Perhaps based on that SitCom that Henry was in.
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Old 20-12-2016, 16:27
JVS
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Premier Inns seem to have given him a new lease of life.
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Old 20-12-2016, 16:48
M_J2
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Someone bases a character on a friend and he is accused of "a racist portrayal of black people because it was insulting and designed to belittle every single one of them". Have black people no sense of humour? Perhaps based on that SitCom that Henry was in.
Oh yes those "blacks" with there no sense of humour, that Jim's portrayal was not offensive at all....in fact anyone of any race or gender who disliked Jim's work must be "haters".
After all, his portyal was not racist/bigoted as we can see over the years he is such a worldly gentleman with loving views.....and as you say, he was copying his friend/neighbour so that means it cannot be offensive....
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Old 20-12-2016, 17:12
ste1969
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I saw the description for the programme in my EPG and it said that it was an exploration of his 'incredible' work.
so it was only on for 5 minutes then
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Old 20-12-2016, 21:24
Prince Monalulu
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Oh yes those "blacks" with there no sense of humour, that Jim's portrayal was not offensive at all....in fact anyone of any race or gender who disliked Jim's work must be "haters".
After all, his portyal was not racist/bigoted as we can see over the years he is such a worldly gentleman with loving views.....and as you say, he was copying his friend/neighbour so that means it cannot be offensive....
Lots of people remember having to smile/laugh along to 'black man jokes' otherwise you'd be accused of having a chip on your shoulder, no sense of humour.
Lenny and his parents generation will have had to listen to a lot of this $hite though gritted teeth, 'making a fuss' would just lead to more aggro.

Things have moved on kinda...
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Old 20-12-2016, 21:34
Willpurry
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so it was only on for 5 minutes then
Are you the reincarnation of Oscar Wilde?
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Old 20-12-2016, 22:48
M_J2
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Lots of people remember having to smile/laugh along to 'black man jokes' otherwise you'd be accused of having a chip on your shoulder, no sense of humour.
Lenny and his parents generation will have had to listen to a lot of this $hite though gritted teeth, 'making a fuss' would just lead to more aggro.

Things have moved on kinda...
I get that, i was being sarcastic to @lundavra
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Old 20-12-2016, 22:59
carl.waring
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I did enjoy it, but I was surprised the The Lenny Henry Show had apparently been going up to 2012!
I have absolutely no recollection of it after early 90's.
That confused me too.

I think it had a 10 year break from the 90s to the next series and then it came back sporadically until 2012
Not quite.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lenny_Henry_Show

I thought that was wrong.

Absolutely worse because it was a racist portrayal of black people because it was insulting and designed to belittle every single one of them.
You seem to be stating that as a fact. Care to cite the source?


Having said that, Lenny was guilty of 'selling out' during his early career ( New Faces etc) because he was basically trying to ingratiate himself with predominantly white audiences by demeaning not only himself but his 'blackness' in a way that made all black people figures of fun.Not at all good and something he later talked of being ashamed of.
Did you even watch the programme? For a start he took the "B&W Minstrels" gig because he felt he had to.

You sound like one of those "offended on behalf of other people" type of people.
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Old 20-12-2016, 23:26
Prince Monalulu
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I get that, i was being sarcastic to @lundavra
Oh the sarcasm didn't bypass me, just following on the thread/discussion.
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Old 21-12-2016, 01:51
Sunshine&Solace
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I never get the Lenny hatred that seems to crop up on these threads, it generally seems to come from Jim Davidson fans and the like. Whatever you think of his comedy - I've grown up with Lenny since his Tiswas days and have enjoyed most of his work - to be one of the founding members and driving force of an organisation that has raised £1 billion for charitable causes is very worthy of a knighthood in my opinion. Far worthier than many of the nitwits who end up with them.
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Old 21-12-2016, 06:39
grahamzxy
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I know he has been on TV since at least the late 1970s - Three of a Kind, Tiswas, OTT. His speaking accent didn't endear him to some people and his manic shouting was pretty annoying to many.

Comedy is subjective we all find different things funny. I think a lot of comedians have done a duff routine and you wonder how it got shown on TV.

One question though - was Lenny given more, less or equal tv work due to his ethnicity? If he was white British there wouldn't be that question - but he is no Chris Rock.
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Old 21-12-2016, 06:59
Twenty10
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The real issue is, he really isn't funny anymore. Some comedians just fade over time, not only Lenny Henry in this respect, and should know when to call it a day. He had his time and back then he was ok, but not now. His time has long passed.
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Old 21-12-2016, 07:29
Loz_Fraggle
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I really enjoyed watching this, it was a shame Coast to Coast wasn't mentioned, it's one of my favourite things Lenny has done.
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Old 21-12-2016, 08:14
Surf's Up
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A couple of years ago he was one of the Christmas guest editors on Radio 4's Today programme, shaping the output over three hours. He came across badly, his avuncularity appeared fake and he didn't seem to be used to people disagreeing with him.
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Old 21-12-2016, 13:23
Brummy Girl
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I did enjoy it, but I was surprised the The Lenny Henry Show had apparently been going up to 2012!
I have absolutely no recollection of it after early 90's.
That confused me too.


Not quite.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lenny_Henry_Show

I thought that was wrong.
So it was on in four different stints:

1984-1985
1987-1988
1995
2003-2005

So where the heck did the programme get 2012 from?
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Old 21-12-2016, 16:17
briggsy1
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Katanga my friends.
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Old 21-12-2016, 18:20
M_J2
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The real issue is, he really isn't funny anymore. Some comedians just fade over time, not only Lenny Henry in this respect, and should know when to call it a day. He had his time and back then he was ok, but not now. His time has long passed.
Yes comedians do fade after a time but Lenny seems to have longevity due to his acting, stage work, Charity work and maybe a few good friends place in the right places. But i do think a couple of "host" bits he has done in the last couple of years have not been very good and thats where people should not of hired him.
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Old 21-12-2016, 18:29
M_J2
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It seems to me that some people still only see him as the comedian from the 70'/80's. I know he has had attracted a lot of respect from his stage work, he was great in The Syndicate and i know Charity work seems to put you in the group of heralded people in England ( see bob geldof...)

Got to respect any TV personailty from the 70's/80's who has remained just about relevant enough to gain TV work and have many strings to there bow.

Look at Bradley Walsh....what a legend from a man that started as a goalkeeper until today.
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Old 21-12-2016, 21:28
fayebeatle
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I never get the Lenny hatred that seems to crop up on these threads, it generally seems to come from Jim Davidson fans and the like. Whatever you think of his comedy - I've grown up with Lenny since his Tiswas days and have enjoyed most of his work - to be one of the founding members and driving force of an organisation that has raised £1 billion for charitable causes is very worthy of a knighthood in my opinion. Far worthier than many of the nitwits who end up with them.
I get the hatred, it's got the 'I'm not racist but...' brigade out and about!
I have always liked Sir Lenny. Seems a nice guy. If it was just for the charity work he'd deserve the knighthood. The programme didn't tell me much that I didn't know but, it gave me an interesting and funny hour today on catch up.
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Old 21-12-2016, 23:15
Biker Jeff
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I like Lenny Henry, he's always seemed like a good guy to me......
But i've never found him funny and i never liked his impressions either.
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