30-06-2022, 07:49 PM
(29-06-2022, 05:24 PM)Larry the Loafer Wrote: I'm of the common opinion that it is a long overdue decision. I stopped watching years ago, but fairly recently watched back an episode from the "glory days", and it's easy to forget how good it was.
The problem was it went from lampooning celebrity culture to embracing it, and it's something that can be said in general about Leigh Francis, a man who made his name rinsing the rich and famous before becoming best friends with them. Lest we forget the role of Rufus Hound whose sole job was to be the man who looked down on all the celebrity faff and mocked those who deserved it (the story about Kim Woodburn is one to look up, see his interview with Richard Herring).
For me, it became a show where a bunch of mates got drunk and farted about with jokes they knew would make each other laugh, but didn't really bother whether it landed with the audience. I do wonder where Leigh will go from here, because as has been said, the Keith Lemon character has worn thin enough that he's becoming known more for his gambling website adverts than anything else.
His work on the otherwise flawled series he did with Amanda Holden showed Leigh still has a talent for character comedy. I just wonder if he's too deep into the proverbial swimming pool of celebrity status to ever regain that flare he had as a relative outsider of that culture.
Think this is true of TV in general- look at all these reality stars. Reality stars used to have the piss ripped out of them on all these panel shows for being fame-seekers; and despite the fact that I think the current crop of reality 'stars' are more fame-seeking than ever with influencer culture rising; they're invited on to these shows as if they have somewhat of a discernible skill/talent and are embraced now rather than the hilarious ribbing that used to go on. I caught a bit of a show called Celebability whilst flicking through the channels recently and that seems to actively embrace the influencer/reality thing (perhaps due to Iain Stirling's Love Island connection?), whereas had it been on just 10 years ago, even though reality stars may have featured, they'd have been the butt of the joke, which i think makes more sense (as long as it doesn't come across unnecessarily nasty). 8 Out of 10 Cats in its original run did this well, with the BB specials and later TOWIE stars like Joey Essex being on. Yes, they were reality stars but their lack of discernible skills was jested about; whereas the E4 version featured reality stars but treated them as if they were the comics. I mean, it seems like even mentioning/joking about Botox (of all things!) and the overuse of it in the celeb world (particularly the reality star world) is now a taboo subject on these shows. I feel celebs are too afraid to joke about 'trashy TV' now as they become mates with the trashy TV stars, and a lot of them probably thinking their next gig may end up being on a trashy show so best not to poke fun at it.
Believe it or not; I don't mind reality stars featuring as guests on these shows but they should be willing to be the butt of the joke and be the punchline when necessary. Again, probably up until Love Island's revival got huge, these types of TV shows were satirised frequently (Geordie Shore and TOWIE type things) whereas now I think people are too afraid to offend anybody and are very very careful about what not to joke about.
To me, I think 'celebrity' status should be earned; if these reality 'stars' are considered celebs, then so should random contestants who've been on the civilian Chase and the likes. Now, presenters, comedians, musicians, DJs, authors, sportspeople, journalists etc I can deal with fine as they are skills these people have, so for them to be booked on these shows, not an issue, but someone who's most famous for sh*gging someone on Love Island getting a guest spot on these shows is laughable really. I preferred when they just ripped the piss out of them. And I'm not saying that to be heartless or anything; i just think they shouldn't be afraid to joke about any individual celebrities/reality 'stars' when this show in particular's original premise was all about that.
There's only one recent-ish show I've seen that managed to successfully embrace and make fun of a celeb culture (particularly the new 'types' of celeb that were emerging at the time- YouTubers)-and that was a show called 'Viral Tap' that the late Caroline Flack did a while back but that must be about 8 years ago at this point. That got the balance exactly right and I wish there was something that could create that balance for the reality star/influencer type of celebrity.