Piers: “You’ve had an extraordinary career and for a long time you were one of the top female presenters in the country. I suppose the problem for you is that you’re still defined in most people’s eyes by men. You’ve had four children now by four blokes. You’re the 4 x 4 Star.”
Ulrika: “I know. It’s a funny terminology but it is appropriate, it’s not an opinion, it’s a fact.”
Piers: “If I asked the audience, some would like you very much be a fan of yours, others would think ‘bit of a floozy’?”
Ulrika: “I think others might be a little bit circumspect. A lot of women have more than one partner in their life and because I’ve ended up marrying now for the third time and yes admittedly having four children by four men, doesn’t necessarily mean I’m more of a floozy than anybody else.”
And thus the interview between Piers Morgan and Ulrika Jonsson went on in a similar manner; with Piers offering thinly veiled insults in the form of questions and Ulrika answering defensively in a very non-defensive manner.
That said, Piers did his usual ‘idol worship’ of an introduction which basically involves licking the metaphorical boots of his guest verbally before they start talking, which often – as it did last night – takes up way too much time… Read more & comment »
Last night saw the first of a new four part series celebrating Alan Whicker’s remarkable fifty years on television. The show sees the TV legend off round the world on a journey of remembrance as much as celebration during which he reflects on his incredibly varied life and career.
In this first episode, Whicker revisited Venice, a city of massive significance and one that’s apparently very close to his heart. He retraced his steps from war to peace, from soldier to Fleet Street journalist, and then his subsequent move into the fledgling world of television.
Included in this episode were Whicker’s earliest surviving TV appearance, an in-depth profile of both John Paul Getty, Baroness Fiona Thyssen, and Alan’s legendary encounter with millionaire Yorkshireman – and general ‘eccentric’ – Percy Shaw, the man who invented the cats’ eyes which illumine our roads… Read more & comment »
As you’ve probably heard, the Chief of ITV, Michael Grade, announced yesterday that more than 600 jobs would be cut across the ITV owned network and group of companies. He also announced that following a 41% drop in revenue from advertising, the company had to make radical cutbacks.
Mr Grade was quoted in The Sun yesterday as saying, “Current conditions in the advertising market are the most challenging I have experienced in over 30 years in UK broadcasting.
“This is reflected both in our financial results for 2008 and the tough actions we are announcing today”.
Apparently a large part of ITV’s planned savings will be via cuts to its £1 billion programming budget, which will be reduced by £65 million during this year… Read more & comment »
Let’s be honest, there’s nothing more exciting than watching a normal programme – like the news or a chat show – degrade into a bitter swearing match or even actual fisticuffs, so we thought we’d bring you a round-up of the all time greats of TV tantrums most of which were live on air as they happened.
The majority of them happen on American TV – maybe that’s because we Brits are too reserved for such behaviour! – however, I did find two UK TV interviews where tempers were somewhat frayed… Read more & comment »
Welcome to our Primetime Picks of what’s on our tellyboxes next week, and it looks like being a good ‘un this week!
Monday
The Real Pink Panther: Lord Victor Hervey, 8:00pm, Channel 4
The final film in Channel 4’s Toffs and Crims series, which explores the affinity between the upper echelons of society and the criminal underclass.
Victor Hervey, the sixth Marquis of Bristol, masterminded a gang of career criminals and then found himself at the Old Bailey on two counts of jewel theft.
It has long been believed that, when he was convicted in 1939 and sentenced to three years penal servitude, this was the end of Victor’s criminal ways. However, recently declassified police documents reveal that after he was released Victor may still have been involved in crime… Read more & comment »
What’s not to love about the Geordie duo?? They’re funny, pretty to look at and I have to say, even though I’m old enough to be Declan’s – cough – big sister, I’ve always had rather a large crush on him. When he smiles and especially when he laughs, I can almost feel my underwear trying to part company with me just in case, by some three-wishes-miracle, he does indeed pop out of the telly and fall instantly in love with me.
The other two wishes cannot be discussed on this family orientated site… however, I’ll give you a clue; they involve a black suit, a darkened room and a sizeable tub of Häagen-Dazs… Read more & comment »
Celebrity Big Brother winner Ulrika Jonsson is apparently going to tell Piers Morgan the harrowing story of how she was raped several years ago when he interviews her for an episode of ’s new ITV1 show, Life Stories.
“I just lay there and he said, ‘We should go to the cinema’ and I said, ‘I can’t go.’ I stayed and he left,” she reportedly tells Piers during the emotional interview.
Monday has a rather interesting offering on Channel 4 at 9pm in the form of a documentary intriguingly entitled, The Gangster and the Pervert Peer. It centres on the story that in 1964, the Sunday Mirror made “lurid allegations” of a homosexual relationship between “a peer and a gangster”
Rumour had it that Tory Lord Bob Boothby had been attending illegal gay sex parties - organised by notorious underworld boss Ronnie Kray - seemed certain to wreck their chances of re-election… Read more & comment »
On the night of Jonathan Ross’s return to his chat show following the Andrew Sachs controversy, Tonight explored whether or not broadcasters have gone too far in stretching the boundaries of taste and decency.
Jonathan Maitland presented the show which basically consisted of having a panel of TV watchers from across the spectrum of age groups, social class etc., to whom he showed a variety of clips and asked them to ‘buzz in’ when they found something offensive. Read more & comment »
It’s been confirmed that diminutive Scientologist and superstar actor Tom Cruise will be Jonathan Ross’s first guest when he returns to our screens following his three month suspension over ‘Manuelgate’ in October of last year.
Jonathan is due to return to his hosting job on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on the 23rd and as well as Cruise, Stephen Fry and Lee Evans will also be on the show.
It will be the first time that Cruise has been on Ross’s show, although he was previously interviewed by him for BBC1’s film review show. Let’s hope he doesn’t give Wossie his phone number or he may get insulting messages about Katie or Suri. Read more & comment »
It’s looking like a great week’s viewing is coming our way so here’s Primetime’s picks of what to stay in for.
We kick off with the second part of Unforgiven on Monday at 9pm, ITV1.
This show got off to a really strong start last week and if you missed it, it’s well worth catching up on ITV’s player so that you aren’t out of the loop tomorrow night.
Suranne Jones is excellent in this role and this week, her character’s problems intensify as she struggles to keep hold of her new relationship and continues to search for her sister.
Another show that looks pretty interesting is Born Survivors – My 22 Stone Dad and Skinny Me which is also on tomorrow on BBC3 at 10:30pm.. Read more & comment »
Last week we brought you the first ever Heroes webisode called ‘Going Postal’ along with the first glimpse trailer of the third series, due to kick off this autumn.
Well the Heroes team have now realeased the second webisode, titled ‘Houseguest’, in which the really loud postman kills yet another of the company’s henchmen.
This week the queen of the talk show, Dame Edna Everage, continues to administer her course of treatments to her celebrity guests.
Fresh from his latest movies The Departed and The Good Shepard, Hollywood A-lister and Golden Globe winner Alec Baldwin will be joining Dame Edna in the Spa this week.
Also on the show is ‘The King of Romance’ himself, Engelbert Humperdinck. One of the world’s premier live performers, Engelbert has sold over 150 Million records – he’ll be taking to the stage with the Dame for a rendition of one of his best loved songs.
Actor and comedian Tim Allen will also be popping in for a treatment or two. Best known for his cult TV show Home Improvement, Tim will be talking about his latest role in the movie ‘Wild ‘Hogs’ in which he stars alongside John Travolta. Read more & comment »
The final film in Channel 4’s Toffs and Crims series, which explores the affinity between the upper echelons of society and the criminal underclass.
It’s been confirmed that diminutive Scientologist and superstar actor Tom Cruise will be Jonathan Ross’s first guest when he returns to our screens following his three month suspension over ‘Manuelgate’ in October of last year.
