An Evening of British Telly

Last night we watched an evening of British telly. One program was called ‘Eggheads’ and pitted a panel of gameshow winners against a weekly collection of challengers. Each week another 1000 pounds are added to the prize money….there was already 14,000 in the kitty, showing that challengers have had a hard time beating these panelists, true ‘eggheads’ that they are. As usual, the challengers lost, the Eggheads triumphed, for a fourteenth week in a row.

Then a reality show. “Embarrassing Teenage Bodies Week,” where medical experts travel to a rock concert and solicit teens to come forward to show them what parts of their bodies they are shy about. Ugly tummy fat, pussy tongue piercings, odd blotches, come on down!

Then the ITV news focused on the biggest story in England. Jonathan Ross earned 18 million pounds a year with his on-air partner Russell Brand on BBC 2 radio. Ross was suspended for 12 weeks without pay, and Brand resigned today, as a result of prank phone calls to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs, who was mocked in a September broadcast.

The BBC’s top official also resigned, after more than 27,000 people phoned in to complain about Radio 2’s tacky stunt. This story has dominated the airwaves, similar to what happened to Imus two years ago. This story goes on and on, and the Britons we met today said that part of the anger comes from people living with difficult times, and the two become a lightning rod for their anger. He was the highest paid presenter at the BBC, now he’s been scorned and humiliated.