Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand – Victims of hysteria
I like Jonathan Ross’ radio show. He’s funny. His Ad-libs are funny. His random walks through whatever springs to mind are entertaining. He swears occasionally you know. That in itself is not funny but in context it is because it’s normal. It’s what the rest of us do and the funniest things are always those that reflect life itself. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an out and out fan. I can’t bear his TV show or indeed anything he presents on TV. But when he is ad libbing, when he is reacting to others as he might do on Never Mind The Buzzcocks or Question Of Sport, he’s genuinely funny. He’s like Wogan in this respect. Wogan always looks handcuffed and badly scripted on TV. But on radio… on radio Ross is solid gold, just like Wogan.
Russell Brand I like too in small doses. I can’t stand most of what he does on TV but again his responses to others, his instant off-beat surreal reactions and one liners are hysterically funny.
Now on their own both Jonathan and Russell have reputations for being mouthy speak-first-think-later presenters. This is what drives people to listen to them. This is what the BBC pays (paid) them for. They are paid to be outlandish, insulting by many people’s standards maybe but they get paid for this. Now put them together on one show. What should one expect? A sobering effect on each other? Surely not. An amplifying effect of reciprocal oneupmanship? Yes. Of course. You’d have to be an idiot to expect otherwise.
Now, they admittedly did go a little far with actually leaving a message (If you are not up to date with the furore the BBC has a good catchup) but it seems that the pre-recorded show was then passed by someone whose job it is to sanction such things.
Lesley Douglas has fallen on her sword which is just plain daft. It was some middle tier of editorial management that made the decision to broadcast (presumably – I know nothing really). They are the only ones who should be in the firing line if anyone should. Anyone resigning or being fired is a ridiculous over-reaction but when all the wrong people are in the firing line the injustice is all the worse.
The most disconcerting part of the episode is that only two complaints were received after broadcast. Not until the press jumped on the obvious bandwagon did 27,000 dimwits decide to be offended and to protest and complain. What are they all doing each day that they feel the need to complain about something they did not “witness”? For crying out loud people. If you don’t like Ross or Brand DON’T LISTEN OR WATCH THEIR SHOWS! Their employers will soon fire them when they are not popular. They are popular. Because they’re entertaining and since the number of us who rely on the shipping forecast and farming outlook is minimal these days, the job of broadcasters is to entertain us.
By the way, if you absolutely were forced to listen to the show; if someone had cruelly stapled your ear lobes to your skull and tied you to a chair in front of the radio then I apologise because you may not have had a choice but to listen. However, if this hopefully rare situation should apply to you, take my word for it, you are complaining to the wrong people about the wrong problem.
Ross should be re-instated immediately. Brand should be begged to come back. A cynical friend is keen to wager that Brand has a juicy new job lined up somewhere and finds this rather convenient but the same friend also doesn’t eat meat so is strange in other ways that may cast doubt on this theory.
If anyone senior resigns from the BBC it should be because you have utterly failed to support your employees who did the job you asked of them, took the rope you gave them, placed it round their extrovert little necks then fell off the shaky chair of their personalties. They have been left hung out to dry by the very management that put them in the position where they could do this in the first place. That, BBC is something worth resigning for.
And here’s a tip for other broadcasters who may be tempted to offer their take on it when prompted by the press. Gambo, are you listening? (of course he isn’t, no-one reads this stuff). You see friends and colleagues cannot win. If they come out in support of the duo they will be immediately villified by the 27000, many of them in the press. If they come out against them they lose any respect the listener holds them in as they appear to be kicking good men when they are down in return for a smidgen of PR. I’m all for free speech but it’s a no-win for other broadcasters unless their reaction is no-comment.