Robert Hampton

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Television

20th May 2015

The Late Late Show
Posted by at 7.46pm | Television | No responses

Tonight marks the end of an era in US TV as David Letterman hosts his last Late Show, retiring from late night TV after 33 years.

The American love of the “late night talk show” is a bit of a strange concept to us here in the UK. We have our Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton, but they confine their witty banter to prime-time, one day per week. Even Terry Wogan never had the temerity to show up more than three times in seven days. Over in the US, TV networks spend a not inconsiderable amount of money on a show which not only goes out five nights a week, at a time when most people are in bed (NBC’s late night line up goes on until 2am every weeknight).

There are now dozens of shows following the same basic format – topical monologue, desk-based banter, comedy sketches, a house band – but David Letterman is still the best one around. Letterman’s original NBC show became legendary for its dangerous, unpredictable nature, thanks to stunts like the 360 degree show, where Letterman interviewed Peter Ustinov as the screen gradually turned upside down.

Obviously, I came to the party a bit later than that. I remember stumbling across the show late one night, during school holidays when I was allowed to stay up late. Flicking around the cable channels, I alighted on Sky One which was showing The Late Show on a one-day delay from its US broadcast. I was hooked by the absurd humour, the Stupid Pet Tricks and the Top Ten Lists, and ended up watching it every night.

It’s a shame that no channel here in the UK carries the show any more. It bounced around for a few years – it went to Paramount Comedy, then ITV2, then ITV4, then DivaTV (no, me neither) – but it’s been absent for a while. You’d think out of all of the 6 million channels clogging up the Sky EPG, one of them could find room for the Late Show. It still generates newsworthy moments, such as during Hurricane Sandy, when Letterman did the show with no audience and handwritten captions held up by the show’s intern.

Fortunately there is a YouTube channel where recent clips are uploaded. Or you can relive the classics like How Many Guys In Bunny Suits Can Get Into H&R Block?

I’m genuinely sad to see David Letterman retire. Even though I can’t watch him every night, it was still nice to think that he was there. Stephen Colbert will take over in October, but it just won’t be the same.

Further reading:-

4th March 2015

Russell Groupthink
Posted by at 8.09pm | Gay, Television | No responses

Russell Tovey is one of the hottest actors (career-wise and aesthetically) around at the moment. Fresh from his success in Looking, he gave an interview to the Observer to promote the upcoming BBC2 series Banished.

It’s a lovely interview, as Tovey talks frankly about growing up gay, a knife attack which destroyed his confidence at age 18, and taking his Mum to the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco.

However, some people have taken umbrage at one thing he said. Discussing his childhood and his desire to attend a stage school (which his Dad refused to allow), he says:

I feel like I could have been really effeminate, if I hadn’t gone to the school I went to. Where I felt like I had to toughen up. If I’d have been able to relax, prance around, sing in the street, I might be a different person now. I thank my dad for that, for not allowing me to go down that path.

A certain section of the gay community have been offended by the above. Here’s another macho gay hating on the camp guys. Tovey, in their eyes, is up there with tossers who write “Don’t act gay – if I wanted a girl I’d be straight! LOL!” on their Grindr profile. Phrases like “internalised homophobia” have been bandied around.

Tovey subsequently said sorry – at ten past five in the morning; I hope he was in another time zone and not being kept awake all night by the kerfuffle. In any case, I’m not sure an apology was necessary. If you actually read the whole article, rather than mischievous PinkNews pieces which selectively quote from it, the meaning becomes quite clear.

I thought it was a storm in a teacup. In fact, not even a teacup; what are those little cups that espressos come in?

I’m not a fan of that certain type of gay person who hates campness. You know the ones – they say things like, “gay pride marches damage our cause by making us look like freaks! If only drag queens didn’t exist we’d have had gay marriage years ago!” I could go on, but that’s a whole other blog post.

However, Tovey didn’t say anything like that. It seems clear to me that he was speaking about his own situation: he thinks that if he had camp or effeminate mannerisms, he would not be cast in a leading role in a gritty drama like Banished. Is he wrong about that? I don’t think he is.

The actual quote above is prefaced by this, from the interviewer:-

Tovey thinks carefully about what he’s going to say next. If I had to guess, watching him fidget, I’d say he’s weighing up whether to be honest at the risk of causing offence, or whether to divert and say something bland. He chooses to risk offence.

And in the next interview he will probably choose the bland option. Excellent. An actor renowned for refreshing honesty in interviews will probably clam up in future, because someone, somewhere, might be upset. WELL DONE EVERYONE.

Perhaps he should have chosen his words more carefully. But maybe, when someone says what’s on his mind with no ill-intent, the Twitterati should engage in reasoned debate rather breaking out the pitchforks and flaming torches.

Oh, and if you’re going to attack a celebrity for being a “bad gay”, how about all those actors who stay closeted for fear of ruining their careers?

27th February 2015

He Lived Long and Prospered

A lot of love on my Twitter feed at the moment for Star Trek‘s Leonard Nimoy, who has died today at the age of 83.

He had a long career, but let’s be honest, he will be remembered above all else for his role as Spock, across three seasons of Star Trek, eight films, and one of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation:-

After the Original Series ended, Nimoy was reportedly upset at being typecast as Spock. He got over that in later years though, going on to poke fun at his image in my all-time favourite episode of The Simpsons: “Marge vs The Monorail”.

He also launched an ill-advised singing career. The best you can say about The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins is that it’s not William Shatner’s Rocket Man.

It’s unlikely that Captain Kirk will steal the Enterprise to launch a rescue mission to the Genesis planet, largely because none of those things are real. So instead let’s just remember Nimoy’s final tweet from a few days ago:-

12th February 2015

Gone Stewart
Posted by at 10.50pm | Television | No responses

The latest US late night host to quit is Jon Stewart of The Daily Show. He surprised his audience with the announcement:-

I haven’t watched The Daily Show regularly since More4 axed it, but I’m well aware that this is a massive moment in pop culture: equivalent to the Beatles breaking up or Wesley Crusher leaving Star Trek: The Next Generation. OK, maybe not that last one.

Stewart’s high point was probably during the Bush years, when he was a rare voice of sanity and reason in the media. For troubled liberals all over America (and the world) it was reassuring to tune in at 11pm four nights a week and have that frustration with the state of things articulated so well.

Few have had such a massive impact on both pop culture and the political zeitgeist as Stewart. Whatever he does next, his legacy in TV history is assured.

Much speculation over who the Daily Show will turn to for its next host. Is it too much to hope for long-time TDS correspondent (and very funny person) Samantha Bee to take over?

20th December 2014

End of two eras
Posted by at 2.59pm | Television | No responses

‘Folks, if this is your first time tuning into the Colbert Report, I have some terrible news’

The world of US late night TV continues to be a mystery to most Britons. In the UK, after the late news, there’s a dearth of original programming. No-one is going to spend money on programmes which will go out when most people are getting ready for bed.

Over in the US, however, many networks stay up into the small hours with a multitude of late night shows. Most of them follow the format established decades ago by Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show: a topical monologue from the host, a comedy sketch, then some celebrity guests and a performance from a musician or stand-up comedian before the closing credits roll.

Shaking up the landscape in 2005, however, was The Colbert Report. Dispensing with the tried-and-true format, Colbert went with political and media satire. It’s often cutting, occasionally brutal, but always uproariously funny.

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14th November 2014

War! What is it good for? Ad-solutely nothing
Posted by at 7.02pm | Television | No responses

The unveiling of the big store chains’ Christmas ads seems to be a big event these days. Leader of the pack is John Lewis, who have given us adorable kids, shopping snowmen and, this year, horny lonely penguins.

Sainsbury’s, meanwhile, have upped the ante on heartstring-tugging with their commercial inspired by the First World War. It’s based upon the legendary Christmas Truce of 1914, when some German and British troops emerged from their front lines to exchange gifts, sing carols and even play a football match or two.

Watching it for the first time, I felt uncomfortable. There was something, I don’t know… off about it. The ad was made with the co-operation of the Royal British Legion, who will receive a cut of the proceeds from some of Sainsbury’s Christmas food. But exploiting one of the bloodiest wars in history to get people through the doors of a supermarket? That seems wrong to me.

There was something beyond that, though – something which was unsettling to me, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. Then I saw this column by Ally Fogg in the Guardian, which nails it:-

Exploiting the first world war for commercial gain is tasteless. This, however, is not what disturbs me most. The really upsetting details are the stunning shot of the robin on the wire, the actors’ trembles as they cautiously emerge from the trenches, half expecting a sniper’s bullet, the flicker of understanding in the eyes as the young soldiers reach into their pockets at the end. The film-makers here have done something to the first world war which is perhaps the most dangerous and disrespectful act of all: they have made it beautiful.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that higher-ups in the army on both sides forbade the Christmas 1914 events from happening again. On subsequent Christmas Days the soldiers blasted away at each other, as they did every other day of the war.

Iceland’s advert (starring Peter Andre) looks positively tasteful by comparison.

13th November 2014

# …and him and Steve from corporate too… #
Posted by at 8.00pm | Fun, Television | No responses

Too Many Cooks is my favourite 1980s sitcom. You will be humming the theme tune for days, I guarantee it.

10th May 2014

Power to the People
Posted by at 7.58pm | Television | No responses

It’s Eurovision final night, AKA “The Gay FA Cup Final”. Join me over on Twitter, where I will be waxing lyrical throughout the whole night.

Recent years have seen the UK performing quite poorly, however this year things look a bit more promising, as the BBC have employed the crafty strategy of entering a half-decent song. Could this be our year?

Regardless of how well we do, it’s always a good laugh. Nigel Farage reportedly hates it, which is enough of a reason to sit back and enjoy the show, as far as I’m concerned.

5th March 2014

Tragic number
Posted by at 8.08pm | Television | 1 response

Bad news for the BBC:

The closure of BBC3 is to be proposed by the BBC director general, the Guardian understands, bringing the curtain down on the youth-oriented TV channel after 11 years.

The report goes on to say that the channel’s content will move online. It’s not clear how this will save any significant amount of money, as someone still has to pay to make the programmes – unless (as I suspect) that the programme-making budget is going to disappear too.

I’ve followed the channel’s fortunes since the days when it was still BBC Choice. It’s been an easy target for the Daily Mail, rent-a-quote MPs and the seemingly never-ending queue of BBC stars who turn around and slag off the corporation as soon as it fails to commission their new sitcom. “I don’t watch it, why should I pay for it?” is the depressing mantra.

Critics can point to programmes like Snog, Marry, Avoid and F*** Off, I’m Fat, and it’s fair to say the channel has provided Harry Hill with a lot of material for TV Burp over the years. But there’s also been genuinely interesting stuff like Our War and Junior Doctors, as well as drama series such as Being Human and comedy shows like Little Britain (which was genuinely funny in its first series). Also, the channel picked up Family Guy – which had failed on Sky One, Channel 4 and BBC2 – and made it into a hit.

I don’t watch much BBC Three (probably because I’m ageing out of its target market) but I think it needs to exist. The channel has been a great proving ground for new comedy and drama, launching a great many careers over the past decade. Will the BBC’s other channels be able to carry out that function in the future? Radio 4 tries, but is always hamstrung by its resolutely middle-class audience. Is iPlayer a good enough place to test new performers and writers?

BBC Three reaches a big audience of people in their teens and twenties, and its not clear how that crowd will be served from now on. Is the BBC really going to abandon that market to Channel 4 and Sky? Those people are tomorrow’s licence fee payers!

Finally, and most importantly – where will the Eurovision semis be shown?

5th January 2014

2013 was a big year for…

Matt Jarvis on the cover of AttitudeGAYS! West Ham footballer Matt Jarvis graced the cover of Attitude in just his pants, because homophobia or something. The usually soppy liberal Observer newspaper got itself embroiled in a transphobia row after a Julie Burchill column caused a Twitter storm.

The big news story of the year was, of course, the UK’s same-sex marriage bill. My old Religious Studies teacher (now MP for Southport) declared that he was voting against it. Despite massive controversy and attempts by rebel MPs to derail it, the bill received Royal Assent in July. I like to think it was my vlog on the subject that swung it.

The UK was behind the curve in many ways, as progress was being made around the world. New Zealand legalised gay marriage in April, an event celebrated by an impromptu outbreak of singing. America, as usual, was slow on the uptake, but a big Supreme Court decision in July was a landmark moment, paving the way for future victories.

Elsewhere, however, gay rights were being rolled back. In Russia, a wrestling coach blamed the lack of wrestling at the Olympics on a gay conspiracy. That was amusing to western ears; less funny was the law against “gay propaganda”, which was enacted amidst a wave of anti-gay violence.

On a more positive note, the events in Russia spurred Wentworth Miller into coming out. In fact, it was a notable year for coming out events: Young Apprentice candidate Harry Hitchens came out via YouTube video. Ben Whishaw confirmed tabloid rumours that he was in a civil partnership. And then there was Tom Daley.

Alan Turing was pardoned for his homosexuality convictions, but where was the sympathy for the thousands of other men who were similarly persecuted?

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