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Showing posts from May, 2019

Was ITV right to cancel Jeremy Kyle?

If you’d asked me this a couple of weeks ago, I would have undoubtedly have said yes. I’d only caught a few snippets of the show over the years, and in those brief moments was pretty horrified at what I saw. From my very limited viewing, I rapidly formed the opinion that this wasn’t my kind of show. Why would anyone choose to go on TV to air their dirty laundry, and potentially discover something hideous about another person? Wife slept with your brother? Your sister is in love with your best friend’s killer? Sure – find that out in a TV studio in front of a live audience. Apart from my bemusement as to why anyone would want to put themselves through that, I couldn’t grasp why anyone would want to watch that happen. Voyeuristic, ghoulish, gaining enjoyment from other people’s misery? I didn’t get it. But much as I watch F1 and others love the Footballs, we’re all different. It was the most popular of ITV’s daytime shows. It ran for 14 years. So, not for me, but it was certain

Would you welcome Donald Trump to the UK?

“Welcome” might not be quite the word I’d choose, but sure – let’s get Donny over to the good ol’ UofK and show him the true meaning of great British hospitality. He’s a polarising chap, isn’t he? At least with Marmite, people who hate the gloopy brown stuff have a choice of whether or not to consume it. With Trump, every time you look at the news, there he is – looking like he’s rolled face-first on the floor of the Wotsits factory, and spouting something that usually has people cheering or frothing at the mouth. On his trip to the UK last year, which was originally intended to be a state visit, the wave of public disapproval at the idea meant he popped over briefly, managed to ignore all normal protocols when he met the Queen (who’d have thought he’d be in any way disrespectful to a woman?) and brought us together as a nation for a rare moment. Whilst Brexit continues to divide us, Donald’s appearance meant the public united to protest about the Orange One’s arrival, launch a