The News Huddlines (Radio 2) was one of the BBC’s last old-style comedy shows, with fine roots that could be traced back back to the great days of shows like ITMA and Beyond the Fringe. Despite being hugely popular with its audience, it was axed unceremoniously at the end of 2001. Roy Hudd, its presenter, has just revealed why. He was taken to lunch by an (unnamed) BBC senior executive and told bluntly: “We’d like you to be more like Jonathan Ross”. The executive, says Hudd, then explained that Wossy’s flashy blend of “smut and smugness”, was what was now wanted of Radio 2 performers – “cool, edgy, relevant”.
Now I’m all for making change when change is due and maybe after 26 years, the News Huddlines was a tad tired. But it had a loyal older audience, and it surely speaks volumes about today’s BBC that its senior executives prefer the obscene, in-your-face Ross to steely veteran professionals like Roy Hudd. And instead of the deceptively gentle, genuinely humorous satire of Hudd and his crew (which included brilliant performers such as Alison Steadman) we now have, disguised as BBC ‘comedy’, the blatant left-wing cant of idiots like Marcus Brigstocke.
Off Topic, sadly just watched the beeb bigging up dear Tone’s chances of the EU presidency. What a load of tosh. Geoffrey Palmer a man with sense said Bliar will never be forgiven for dragging us to Iraq and so shouldn’t be getting the job. That Plonker Adrian chiles then proceded to argue that of course tony would argue that he’s trying to bring faiths together etec etc and their female reporter decided that Tone has that traffic stopping quality coz when he goes thro a city all the traffic stops for him. nothing to do with the police then?…what total shite the one show is!!!!!!
Marcus Brigstocke, like all the other trendy lefty ‘comedians’ fit the BBC bill nicely.
Ross is “cool, edgy, relevant” To whom? His fellow Hampstead middle aged luvvies?
I wouldn’t worry too much about it. It won’t be long before Ross himself is taken out and shot to make way for will be the latest in BBC edgy humour. A couple of muslim radicals talking about how hard it is to find decent detonators.
I was listening to BBC World Service radio, yesterday. During a question and answer session the question was asked why the World Service (sic) didn’t produce more original comedy. Someone from programming called Melanie (sorry I can’t be more precise but I can’t take notes while driving) answered that the problem was budget restrictions!
Given that the World Service is partly subsidised; sells its product and takes advertising AND has access to the production of the wholly subsidised BBC her answer indicates either an amazing mindset from World Service administration (more money, please) or a structural failure in budgeting priorities.
They didn’t say it but it seems that after paying Johnathon Ross’s salary the BBC ran out of money!? :-[
I wouldn’t pay that twat ross in washers!
I writ the above a lil better in another post, so i’ll cut and paste:
Slightly off-topic, but relevant to the Beeb, last night I watched the one show. Geoffrey Palmer was the guest and they featured a piece (supposedly balanced) by some hackette from the up-north east about Bliar’s prospects for the EU Prez. Balanced, yeah right, she was wettting herself on the sofa in post report discussion every time Bliar’s name crossed her lips. Adrian Chiles made the mistake of asking Palmer his opinion, to which he replied that the tosser shouldnt get any job post the Iraq con. The programme then went bonkers with Chiles claiming to speak for Bliar and to say what he thought Bliar would say in reply, shite about uniting faiths etc etc. Utter bollocks. Who the fuck appointed him as spokesman for Bliar ?. Then it got worse, they showed some caricatures of his opponents for the job, but the hackette came over all orgasmic and said that of the bunch only Bliar had the quality that stops traffic as he sweeps into a City. Nothing to do with the police then. I’d write and complain but the beeb will tell me i’m a chump.
I utterly despair that millions of peoplle watched that but the bullshit went straight over their heads! you certainly can fool enough of the people enough of the time. Bring on the revolution.
The anti-leftism on this blog is funny. Roy Hudd is a left-winger himself and very working-class too.
What does that have to do with Robin’s point about Hudd being asked to be more edgy and obscene? Regardless of his personal politics, can you say he was as openly Left-wing on air as the likes of Brigstocke? Where did Robin say Hudd was or wasn’t Left-wing or working class? You seem to have missed the entire point of this rather ancient post.