You’re not funny.
You never really were, but somehow camp guys from Co. Cork seem to go over well on British television.
You aren’t funny because every single joke you tell is either a gay innuendo, fawning over some has-been actress or a complete bitch at people who will be joining you in d-list hell.
please Channel 4. You make brilliant programmes, and have some of the funniest programmes going. Why the hell do you see fit to put this unfunny little twerp on 5 nights a week?
Feh.
Seconded.
It’s the endless barrage of unfunny sexual innuendos (gay or otherwise) that irk me. Certain forms of medieval torture seem quite pleasant by comparison to Death by a Thousand Innuendos.
We got him over on this side of the pond too, but I haven’t brought myself to watch him. Sure enjoy Blackadder reruns, however.
Lucas Electrics: Why the British drink warm beer and leave for home before sundown.
I cant believe you hate Graham Norton, I love Graham Norton!
then again,like my mom used to say, “opinions are like assholes,everybody’s got one,and some people are bigger ones than others.”
And Mr. Norton is one of the biggest. Bleeech.
Eh, I suppose I can’t say much. I used to like John Inman.
He’s on BBC America every night now. I don’t hate him, but I’d still rather watch Ground Force, even if it’s reruns. Of course last time I saw his show, he had Charlie Dimmock on!
He’s funnier than Jay Leno by a longshot. His audience bits are really good, too. So while he isn’t that funny, he isn’t boring either.
-fh
Dear Graham Norton:
You are brilliantly funny and I wish to carry your love child or at least try.
With great affection,
Hastur
I aggree with Hastur ( exept for the love child thing)
Speaking as someone who used to be homophobic and is still very very slightly homphobic - I find Graham very funny - he can be spontaneously funny, which is good when you consider that most tv personalities are funny from a script.
Graham amuses me. The guests really make the show, though. Somehow Cher thought that next to Graham she’d look normal? And what was with the fake british accent that Gillian Anderson used on his show? Then there was the one with Gerard Depardieu, that huge ugly frog.
All of which makes the show equal parts unwatchable and un missable. I can’t not watch. And of course, yes, Charlie Dimmock made that show a must see.
b.
Whew!
I thought it was just me. He’s a hoot, but only in small doses.
It isn’t like he isn’t brash and sly (gack, I sound like a brain-dead TV critic) but most of his stuff relies on innuendo. He’s one of the best at having FUN with sex while never setting his guests up as stooges. Some of 'em are, but Graham invites guests to have fun, too. He’s never mean, and he’s drawn some amazingly spontaneous zest from (to me) unlikely people.
Then again, I’m numbed by the smothering, correct grayness of American TV. (I wish Letterman, at the top of his subversive game, coulda found similar freedom.)
My only problem w/ SGN is that, after a while, subversive and sexy and all, it’s all pretty one-note. I wish he’d loose all that wit in broader directions. FWIW, his guest bits as a manic, “now” priest on “Father Ted” have been priceless.
Veb
Agreed, agreed and agreed - I don’t think he’ll ever be as funny as he was as Father Noel Furlong.
I do get very, very, VERY tired of the whole “willie warmers” schtick. But he has his moments for me here and there…
Graham Norton is merely one of the latest in a long tradition of clowns exploiting an often OTT masque of homosexual stereotypes for comic effect.
It varies from hilariously funny to dreadful and embarassing depending on the material, context and audience.
See also John Inman, Larry Grayson, Julian Clary, Kenny Everett, Kenneth Williams.
So’s herpes, but I wouldn’t want that, either.
Used to be funny.
Overexposed.
Sometimes funny still.
Can’t be bothered to watch his program anymore, though.
The show was quite enjoyable when it was on once a week. Thay had time to put something decent together and could be selective about guests rather than just grabbing hold of whoever happens to be doing the circuit at the time. As others have said, he’s also best consumed in small doses (I can actually hear him in my head after that phrase) so it gets old very quickly when it’s on five times a week.
That sums up the thoughts going through my mind last night as I switched over to watch a re run of the League of Gentlemen.
Once a week or so it was funny. 5 times is too repetitive.
My personal favourite was the “Rocket Man” phone call.
But he had Charlie Dimmock on.
-fh
jjimm got my POV perfectly.
Every now and then I’ll switch it on and enjoy it but I never intentionally switch him on anymore.
He was brilliant in Father Ted*. His show was great when it started but move on or die Graham. To bastardise Woody Allen. A TV programme is like a shark it’s gotta keep moving or die. What we’ve got on our hands is a dead shark.
*Just listened to an hour of Dermot Morgan’s Irish political comedy on the radio. Genius.