So Graham Norton? (1 Viewer)

[Vickie_M]

Is this show worth watching? I only noticed it because my Tivo caught it in response to an actor Wishlish. That episode is on November 29.
Is this show going to make me crack my head against a wall? You see, I HATE talk show hosts who think their quips and snarky remarks and sarcastic humor is more important than the guest. That's why I can't generally stand Letterman, Leno and Conan. I can take Jon Stewart, but only because he's actually funny. I still hate how he talks almost as much as his guest though, and leaves so little room for them in the first place.
I like talk show hosts who are really interested in their guests, and who try to find the best in the person they're talking to. Parkinson would be a good example. Desmond Morris, Paul Gambiccini (sp?) are good too (I don't know if they're still doing talk shows, the ones I've seen are several years old). Carson Daly isn't that bad, when he wipes the smirk off his face. Craig Kilborn can be decent. I really miss Bob Costas' Later, and Tom Snyder had his moments.
So, ah, where does Graham Norton fall in this list, and should I add him to my Tivo Wishlist? If I tune in to see an actor or singer I like, will I be gnawing my wrist in frustation that he's wasting time with stupid skits and junk, while leaving little time for the guest (and then cutting into their talk time with inane banter and jokes? As you can tell, I hate Leno the most).

 

[Kelley_B]

Both me and my wife love So Graham Norton. If you like a show were they make fun of the audience, the guest, and hell he even shows porn to the guest! Its great British humor. Best thing for you to do is watch it and see if you find it funny, but I know So Graham Norton is on my TiVo's Season Pass manager.

 

[Iain Lambert]

Are you guys finally getting this, then? Its absolutely brilliant on a good day, though like any chat show its limited by how good the guests are being. Some of them look rather lost, while others (memorably Dustin Hoffman, Ursula Andress and Carrie Fisher to name but three) go along with the insanity.

I don't think Tony Head is going to be able to look at SMG the same way ever again...

 

[Vickie_M]

Thanks Kelley, Iain. Iain, it's showing on BBC America, a cable channel. Tony Head? SMG?


I do plan to watch it because I'm curious how current the Orlando Bloom interview (should that be in quotes?) is (Fellowship, Black Hawk Down or The Two Towers), but I don't think I'm looking forward to it, at least not without a lot of cringing. I get from your descriptions that it's a don't care about the guests-type show, rather than a real talk show. I'll find out.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Tony Head = Anthony Stewart Head (ASH) who plays Giles on the Buffy The Vampire Slayer TV show.

SMG = Sarah Michelle Gellar who plays Buffy in the same show.

On the show, they had a mentor/student relationship up until last season, where ASH moved back to England and only shows up on the show sporadically.

 

[MarkP(UK)]

So Graham Norton is very funny, the guy has really coined it by being as camp as possible and it works really well.
I wouldn't say it is the most serious of shows, you don't generally learn a lot about the guests, usually he will have a brief chat with them about a few things, you might get an anecdote or two and then he will involve them in some game with the audience. It's more about comedy that anything else.
It's a good show, light hearted, can be quite rude but usually has me in stitches.
Mark

 

[Patrick Sun]

I saw a clip that had Cher and Andrea Corr on it, and Graham somehow worked a dildo into the segment (much to the "feigned" embarrassment of his guests, but the audience ate it up).

 

[MarkP(UK)]

Sounds pretty typical... hehe
Some of the things he does can be quite shocking (not in a Jackass or Tom Green sense though) considering the target audience but somehow he gets away with it.

 

[Francois Caron]

I saw a clip that had Cher and Andrea Corr on it, and Graham somehow worked a dildo into the segment (much to the "feigned" embarrassment of his guests, but the audience ate it up).

I hope to God you're not talking about the dildo...
The guy is a certifiable nut! What he manages to get away with on his show is totally outrageous! Even worse, his audience members are willing accomplices, often bringing in all kinds of junk on the show so that Graham and his guests can pick the worst of the lot! However, the reward for being embarassed on TV is usually a trip to a very nice place. So it makes it all worthwhile.

 

[MarkP(UK)]

I didn't realise before now that the US gets much UK television. Do you guys get a lot of UK stuff? Like Eastenders, The Bill, Coronation Street? What channels do these shows air on?
I know that the UK gets all the major American shows, but then I guess these high budget shows are sold all round the world, but I didn't realise that chat shows like Graham Norton enjoyed the same kind of exposure.
Cheers
Mark

 

[James Gillespie]

On BBCAmerica, we get:
Eastenders
Monarch of the Glen
Ground Force
Changing Rooms
Keeping Up Appearances
...
That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

Cheers,
James

 

[Keith Mickunas]

Mark, BBC has a network here called BBC America that's available on some cable systems and the satelites. Also many of the PBS (public broadcast stations) carry some BBC shows. I haven't heard of The Bill, but we do get Eastenders and Coronation Street. My local PBS network shows a bunch of British comedy on the weekends, including Father Ted, Murder Most Horrid, Coupling, Brittas Empire, Red Dwarf, Vicar of Dibley, Fawlty Towers, Are You Being Served, and more.

One thing to be noted about Graham Norton, most of the episodes are cut up real bad. They're taking his show, which is at least 30 minutes, if not more, and cutting it to 22 minutes. So sometimes he may only chat with a guest for a minute or two. Also, if you've never watched it before, its a bit different. He often gets guests who did something significant 20 years ago and talks about that rather than what they did now.

 

[Malcolm R]

I didn't realise before now that the US gets much UK television. Do you guys get a lot of UK stuff? Like Eastenders, The Bill, Coronation Street?

"So Graham Norton" is on BBC America, which is generally limited to those with satellite TV or some digital cable systems. Not sure what else is on there (I only have basic cable), but assume it's all UK programming.
Lots of Brit-coms and literary dramas (i.e. "Masterpiece Theatre") are shown commercial-free on public television. Titles and schedules vary from station to station around the country. My stations show "Keeping Up Appearances," "Are You Being Served?," "Vicar of Dibley," "Waiting for God," and some god-awful show about a superhero who marries a mortal/normal woman. "Absolutely Fabulous" is shown on the "Comedy Central" cable network, but I think that's the only UK show to really have escaped from BBC-A or public TV.
If you live in the northern tier states, you can also get some UK shows that are broadcast on Canadian TV. I believe I've seen "Coronation Street" and some others advertised.
But as far as the major networks, usually all they'll show from the UK is their terrible US remade versions (i.e. "Men Behaving Badly").
EDIT: I hate when others type faster than me, rendering my post irrelevant. :wink:

 

[MarkP(UK)]

Wow.. I didnt realise there were so many UK shows broadcast in the US. I had never heard of BBC America (you learn something new everyday!) .
Father Ted is classic comedy, I quite enjoyed watching that show about the super hero who marries a regular woman, maninly because the super hero actor is Ardal O'Hanlon who plays Father Dougal McGuire and the guy can make me laugh by his facial expressions alone.
The Bill is a police soap that is on about three nights week on channel 3 (ITV) and it's quite popular over here, it's been going for years.
Out of interest how upto date are the episodes of Eastenders in the US? I think it's on three times a week constantly with no breaks and has been for about the last 15 years or so I beleive..?!?
Interesting to know guys, thanks!
Mark

 

[Keith Mickunas]

BBC America generally runs a bit behind on the series. I don't know about Eastenders, but in the case of Coupling they've shown the first two seasons a few times, and are currently part way in to season two, and have never shown any of season three. My local PBS station is showing Coupling also, and is currently one week ahead of BBC America, and in the past when they were showing it, they also stopped at with season two.

I'm not sure how long they've shown So Graham Norton here, or in the UK. I've seen dozens of episodes from a variety of seasons. I know they come from different seasons because of the phones, plus this latest one has a totally different format, which I don't like as much. How often is his show aired over there? We're getting typically two shows a night on the weeknights, and I've been watching since the summer and have seen most of the older shows now.

So what's the name of this superhero show? If Father Dougal is in it I definitely want to check it out.

 

[MarkP(UK)]

The show is called 'My Hero', but dont get to excited, it's not very good as far as television shows go, I just find some of Ardal's moments good!
How about the Office? Have you gouys had that yet? This is a VERY good documentery style comedy show, we have just seen the second series, this is on BBC2 in the UK.
I'd look out for this if you get the chance to see it!
Mark

 

[Jeff Savage]

I will add that from time to time PBS in Dallas also shows Yes Minister, Yes Prime Minister (love these!!), As time goes by (I think that is the name), Open all hours, and some show about the French Resistance during WWII (comedy).

BBC-A also shows lots of British drama shows (Inspector Morse etc..)and made for BBC movies. We also are now getting House Invaders and Monty Python. Eastenders seems to be fairly current. The shows dealing with the Queen's Jubilee were only a month late from the actual event. Father Ted is also shown on BBC-A.

Laters,
Jeff

 

[Keith Mickunas]

Yep, we got one of the best PBS networks, don't we? They even show the Young Ones on Sunday night, I forgot about that one. They also show The Prisoner after all the comedies on Saturday night. On occassion they show Robot Wars, I've seen probably four seasons of the British series on PBS.

Also, in the past I've seen Smack the Pony on Bravo, and The Avengers and The New Avengers on one of the smaller movie channels, Mystery I think. A&E has also shown Avengers and some others, and have put those out on DVD here. I've also seen some of the Prime Suspect movies on cable here.

And of course there's Junkyard Wars. That's Scrapheap Challenge with a new name shown on The Learning Channel. We've had all the British series shown here, in fact they're currently running one with Robert Lewellyn and some non-Cathy lady, and there's been a few American series with Cathy Rogers and two different male hosts, and recently a new series without Cathy.

 

[David Williams]

Last time I watched Graham (about a month or so ago), BBC America had given in to public demand and had stopped cutting for time and expletives. The show now lasts about 50 minutes with a short 'Best of' bit to round it out to an hour. I was really amazed by what they can get away with on British TV. I caught the Cher interview, and in it she says the F-word a couple of times (Graham mentions he bought a bauble at a celebrity auction for some exhorbitant amount and Cher replies "Are you out of your fucking mind?" or something like that)

 

[MarkP(UK)]

Yup swearing after the 9pm watershed isn't a problem.. But then I didn't think it was in the US? Take the sopranos for example the show is packed full of expletives. Or is this allowed because it's on a subscription channel rather than terrestrial channel?