‘Good morning! And welcome to this week’s Friday Question – brought to you today from the arsehole of the internet!’
That’s how a qualified TV presenter might open proceedings if this was a television programme – but it’s not! It’s a blog which is hidden in an unread corner of the interwebs.
Today’s question provides an open forum for discussion of TV presenters of the past and the present. The ones who give you that warm glow every time you see them.
Perhaps you fancied Maggie Philbin all those years ago and looked forward to Tomorrow’s World on that basis?
Maybe you saw John Craven as a slightly stern but kindly Uncle?
Perhaps Brian Cant reminds you of your alcoholic Dad?
Of course, the door’s always open for discussion of the opposite end of the scale.
Maybe Steve Jones makes you want to peel your own eyes off with a teaspoon so that your retinas won’t be burned by the vision of his big wooden head ever again?
Maybe Alexa Chung’s vacant, sterile, ‘indie’ faux-kookiness makes you want to heave?
Who’s your favourite / least favourite presenter?
Tags: Alexa Chung, Brian Cant, Channel 4, Culture, Entertainment, John Craven, Maggie Philbin, Media, Steve Jones, T4, Television, TV
Watch With Mothers 
November 21, 2008 at 9:12 am
And apologies for the silence yesterday – a combination of elements caused that.
November 21, 2008 at 9:37 am
*echo echo echo*
November 21, 2008 at 9:47 am
Fave: John Craven, Johnny Ball, Blue Peter circa 1988, Timmy Mallet (altho he’s doing an appalling job of being the Most Annoying Tit on the Planet on IACGMOOH atm), Dermot, Davina (on Buzzcocks and when she’s not gurning), Phil n Fern.
Least fave: All T4, all GMTV, Tess Daly/Holly Willoughby/Fern Cotton, Rich and Jude, Loose Women…
*bile rises*
November 21, 2008 at 9:48 am
Davina RUINED Buzzcocks last night – shouting over other people’s gags and generally being unfunny. She’s a pain in the arse.
November 21, 2008 at 9:57 am
Davina = Look at me , look at me!!! If I act like this I’ll make it in to a clip montage.
Brian Cant in Playaway.
I’ll think on.
November 21, 2008 at 10:12 am
I dunno, I thought some of her stuff was rather witty. TBF it was scant pickings last night. Only her being a bit witty (and then a bit annoying), and then SA and Phil managed a few bunny/Craig David gags. Weakest ep so far imo.
November 21, 2008 at 10:14 am
The Craig David thing went on a bit – def the weakest episode…
What’s happened to the Brand episode? Is he officially banned?
it’s meant to be a really good one.
Ponderland was ace, again.
November 21, 2008 at 10:20 am
I downloaded that BNP list last night.
It makes great reading…..
November 21, 2008 at 10:23 am
I pissed in a vase in John Craven’s bathroom
November 21, 2008 at 10:24 am
A list makes for great reading?
I’m finding peoples’ attitude on this whole thing really twisted.
November 21, 2008 at 10:38 am
Why so?
November 21, 2008 at 10:39 am
It’s private information. Not that I sympathise in any way with the fact they’re supporters of a ghastly outfit – but I do think privacy should be respected.
November 21, 2008 at 10:39 am
“Know your local racist” a game for all the family
November 21, 2008 at 10:41 am
Being a wooly liberal I would love to agree but but but
“they’re supporters of a ghastly outfit”
November 21, 2008 at 10:42 am
I won’t be looking at the list, anyway.
November 21, 2008 at 10:42 am
Being a wooly liberal I would love to agree but “they’re supporters of a ghastly outfit”
November 21, 2008 at 10:43 am
eh?
November 21, 2008 at 11:06 am
friday question: amstell is allright.
so, this bnp list: are there any “famous” people on it? any c-listers? any relatives to mr “manuel” sachs?
November 21, 2008 at 11:07 am
Piqued’s on it.
November 21, 2008 at 11:09 am
I deleted my facebook account, everybody.
RIP
November 21, 2008 at 11:21 am
I got rid o’ mine ages ago. Fuck that shit.
Now then. I loved Terry Wogan on Blankety Blank and Les Dawson on Blankety Blank. I did NOT like Lilly Savage on Blankety Blank.
Oh, and I liked Phillipa Forrester before she went all fat.
(Not for her presenting skills)
November 21, 2008 at 11:23 am
I like Fern Cotton.
Not in that way.
She has many tattoos.
Johnny Morris. Fantastic
November 21, 2008 at 11:23 am
You’re a Craven fan, aren’t you Nappers?
He’s a crotchety old swine.
November 21, 2008 at 11:24 am
Does “Keith Lemon” count as a presenter? I f*cking hate him.
Fearne Cotton – f*cking detest her.
Sarpong – f*cking detest her.
Steve Jones – c*nt
Fiona Phillips – Queen of the scum of the earth.
Naomi from Milkshake – she’s brilliant!
Charlie Brooker – elbow faced genius.
November 21, 2008 at 11:24 am
Fearne Cotton is a monstrous twerp.
November 21, 2008 at 11:24 am
I can’t abide Fern Cotton. She ruined this year’s Children In Need for me. Her and everything else on it save Wogan, like.
November 21, 2008 at 11:26 am
Children In Need is unwatchable.
Having said that, I managed to get through QI (which was shit).
I like June Sarpong.
November 21, 2008 at 11:26 am
I like The Craven, yes. I like all that Countryfile shower. Apparently young Fogle in form 4B has picked up a strange disease from his travels in some far-flung corner of the Empire and has had to visit matron. Get well soon, Master Fogle!
I would disagree that Charlie Brooker is a genius.
November 21, 2008 at 11:29 am
Charlie Brooker is Dan the Preacherman – and his worshippers are out of control.
November 21, 2008 at 11:33 am
Who’s Dan the Preacherman?
November 21, 2008 at 11:33 am
I pissed in John Craven’s vase, in his bathroom NC
Bet you’ve never done that
*wins early*
November 21, 2008 at 11:35 am
Nathan Barley quote… I’ve not seen it since it went out so I could have ballsed that reference up entirely.
MORNING
November 21, 2008 at 11:35 am
That doesn’t seem to have stopped him presenting Countryfile, Piqued.
*wins*
I think ex-That’s Life presenter Paul Hiney lends Watchdog an air of older man wisdom, by the way.
November 21, 2008 at 11:36 am
ARGH – I hate that old bastard on Watchdog!
If he turned up outside my house I’d kick him in the balls. Moaning old turd.
Nicky Campbell, however, is King of Consumer Rights – and that lady who presents it with him is a lovely cynical bitch.
November 21, 2008 at 11:38 am
GOOD MOANING.
Oh. I only vaguley remember that show. It was alright, if memory serves.
Anyway, calling Charlie Brooker a ‘genius’ is silly. A true genius wouldn’t have put that fucking shitty poetry bit in his telly show the other night. He would of invented gravity or split the atom or what-have-you.
November 21, 2008 at 11:41 am
When I was a kiddywinkle I liked John Craven cos of his kindly avuncular ways and of course had the usual compulsory pre-pubescent crush on Philip Schofield. Quite the fan of Andy Crane as well, and that bloody gopher.
Now I quite like Alexa Chung. By ‘like’ I mean ‘want to touch’, obviously. I like June Sarpong because she is mainly drunk. If I found out she was just slurry my liking would cease. And Amstell when he used to do Popworld was BRILLYUNT.
I am irritated by Steve Jones (but I went to school with a nice chap called Steve Jones who could eat fire and juggle with five random pieces of classroom equipment such as protractors, so can never really despise him in the way I do that George Lamb CUNT).
Happy Friday, all.
November 21, 2008 at 11:42 am
I haven’t watched CIN for years.
June Sarpond always sounds stoned…
November 21, 2008 at 11:43 am
You hate Paul Hiney? I quite like him, m’self. Diff’rent strokes, etc.
Watchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?
November 21, 2008 at 11:44 am
The Preacherman is right, SH. That was a qualideeee episode.
Piqued, will you elaborate on your pissingvasecraven story?
I once had a brief but torrid affair with one of Brian Blessed’s birdmen from Flash Gordon. Have I mentioned that before?
November 21, 2008 at 11:47 am
He’s definitely not a genius. As a writer, he’d have to invent a literary movement to be a genius, I’d say. Or change the nation’s thinking. As it stands, he unites people in sarcasm for five minutes every saturday.
November 21, 2008 at 11:48 am
Roszs – that reminds me of the story about Su Pollard.
November 21, 2008 at 11:49 am
A marvellous and magical tale…
November 21, 2008 at 11:50 am
Roz, I’ll have to tell you to your fass I’m afraid
I can’t stand Chung, she’s more vacuous than Cotten, which reminds me SH, did that post I did on her ever go up, can’t be pissed to look
November 21, 2008 at 11:51 am
She’s all pritty though. And she wears nice boots.
November 21, 2008 at 11:52 am
No, Piqued – I gave up on that site. Lines were crossed by all contributers! Louche is keeping it’s retching corpse alive but I may well delete it.
November 21, 2008 at 11:54 am
Wot site? The old WWM?
November 21, 2008 at 11:54 am
sh: no more facebook? no more facebook?!?
and you’re right about the c brooker – d ashcroft connection. very preacherman indeed.
November 21, 2008 at 11:56 am
Rozs – HTGLN.
November 21, 2008 at 11:56 am
Indy – yep, no more FB. It’s a silly thing.
November 21, 2008 at 11:57 am
How to Good Look Naked?
November 21, 2008 at 11:59 am
How’s that Roszs? How do I look good naked?
I’ve tried but I’m convinced it can’t be done.
November 21, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I’m trying to compile a list of the most painfully middle-class films ever made. So far I’ve got:
Peter’s Friends
Much Ado About Nothing
Truly, Madly, Deeply
Love’s Labour’s Lost
An Awfully Big Adventure
Are there any films in this categrory that DON’T star either Alan Rickman or Kenneth Branagh?
November 21, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I’ve only seen half of one of them films.
November 21, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I’ve seen all of them. I can never make up my mind which makes my skin crawl most. It’s a toss-up between Truly, Madly, Deeply and Peter’s Friends.
November 21, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Peter’s Friends is sickening
Having said that the musical scene in TMD made me physically ill
November 21, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Peter’s Friends DEFINITELY.
Ugh.
November 21, 2008 at 12:29 pm
The musical scene in TMD is vile, but what about the hopping on the bridge scene? And is that quite as awful as the big reveal in Peter’s Friends where the lead character confesses to his tearful bunch of ex-Cambridge chums that he has The AIDS? Is one back-breakingly middle-class turn by Juliet Stevenson enough to outweigh those of Imelda Staunton, Emma Thompson AND Philydia Law?
November 21, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Nil By Mouth is horribly middle class, by my standards. I grew up in a hard neighbourhood, yeah?
November 21, 2008 at 12:38 pm
You grew up in a lovely house in the countryside, Swineshead. And then you moved to a sleepy rural market town. I didn’t notice many drive-bys going on in either of these locations.
November 21, 2008 at 12:39 pm
You weren’t there man, you weren’t there.
(Apart from most evenings)
November 21, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Napoleon, that poetry bit on Screenwipe was supposed to be tongue in cheek.
November 21, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Must have happened in the daytime …
November 21, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Ugeine – I know it was. That still didn’t stop it being shit.
November 21, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Yes, Nappers, it usually happened when I was at school.
Ugeine – was it meant to be funny? If so, it failed.
November 21, 2008 at 12:51 pm
“You weren’t there man, you weren’t there.
(Apart from most evenings)”
…in your dreams?
November 21, 2008 at 12:57 pm
The way I saw it, it was a comic who did a reading of some poetry. He was supposed to be taking the mick on how serious people got over the sachsgate scandal.
I thought Napoleon saw it as a serious poetry reading, which is why I corrected him. If you thought it was funny or not is up to you.
November 21, 2008 at 12:59 pm
I didn’t think it was funny.
Why is everyone accusing me of being aggressive or temperamental today, by the way? Is it because I’m being unreasonably furious for no good reason?
I think I’ve got the blogger’s fury…
November 21, 2008 at 12:59 pm
STOPS BULLING ME SHEWINSHEADSZ.
November 21, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Calm down, Swineshead!
November 21, 2008 at 1:01 pm
*lashes out*
November 21, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I’ve been suspended with pay, investigation pending, thanks, in part, to this lousy blog!
That means I have over a week of paid time to get another equally loathesome job – because of you, Swineshead.
Oh, and Sally Gray is the bestest Scotch sexpot of a presenter ever. She used to present 50/50.
November 21, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I would apologise Dave, except it’s not my fault you don’t do any bloody work.
November 21, 2008 at 1:28 pm
dave: what happened? and what’s the wwm connection?
November 21, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I blame you, Swineshead.
Indy – I was releasing calls and going on the forbidden internet to read blogs (like WWM) instead of repeating the same script 80+ times a day. Swineshead’s fault. I’ll go hungry this Christmas no doubt.
November 21, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I reckon his employees read his comments
November 21, 2008 at 1:34 pm
‘EmployeRS’, surely Piqued?
They probably read everything he’s said on here, his bosses.
And they probably suspended him because they don’t want a gender-challenged sci-fi fan with aggression issues working in their offices. Can’t blame them.
November 21, 2008 at 1:40 pm
…and they are probably reading this very discussion. watch out.
November 21, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Do you log on here at work, Indy?
In Sweden, do employees walk around with no clothes on before jumping naked into an ice bath – then thrash one another with branches?
November 21, 2008 at 1:55 pm
There’s another explanation for Dave’s suspension – that he’s a paedophile. All paedophiles wear glasses; Dave wears glasses … need I say more?
November 21, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Perhaps it is a literal suspension? Maybe he is tied up in chains, hanging from the ceiling?
November 21, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Either that or he’s a nonce …
November 21, 2008 at 2:04 pm
It’s the same reason I’m spending less time on here, though I get snidy remarks from colleagues rather then the book getting chucked at my face.
November 21, 2008 at 2:08 pm
I did mean employers, yes.
Yessireebobz
November 21, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Gender-challenged? You tit.
November 21, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Poor eyesight has nothing to do with gender, Dave. It’s all about burping the worm
Yessireebobbber
November 21, 2008 at 2:27 pm
So you didn’t pose as a girl on this very website?
My mistake.
November 21, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I can’t stand that girl that gives you “the 1 minute celebrity new fix” at 11 on bbc four.
I can’t decide it it’s her i don’t like, or the fact that it’s a 1 minute ‘celebrity’ ‘news’ slot, or the fact that she describes it as a ‘fix’ of news. Like we’re all some dribbling celebretard junkies, that can’t go 5 minutes without hearing about which non-entity is banging which other non-entity.
Oh and in the spirit of cross blog communications Fuck you too, from ELM 🙂
November 21, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Changing your name on a fun-filled telly blog to that of a lady does not make me a Norman Bates or Trelkovsky from Le Locataire.
November 21, 2008 at 2:31 pm
No! Fuck YOU!
With your stupid ‘has to have been a hit’ rule! Get fucked!
November 21, 2008 at 2:37 pm
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BUNUuqlG1a0
November 21, 2008 at 2:38 pm
“the 1 minute celebrity new fix” at 11 on bbc four.
It doesn’t exist on BBC4
November 21, 2008 at 2:42 pm
SH, that Youtube clip is one the finest I’ve seen
November 21, 2008 at 2:44 pm
sh: yes. i log on here at work. yes. i get an hourly pay while writing stuff on this page.
unfortunately (!) i work in denmark, not in sweden. i go from malmö to copenhagen every day in order to take money from the lazy danes back to the swedish fatherland. i’m the modern day robin hood (except i wear cheap monday skinny jeans instead of tights). i’ve been working here for 1 year+ and haven’t spent more than approx £30 (two halfhearted nights out with colleagues).
November 21, 2008 at 2:58 pm
BBC three then. Fuck it all.
November 21, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I’m going to end up woring in a chicken factory WWW, don’t sweat the small stuff.
November 21, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Dave – I hope you’re not seriously blaming the outside world for your own uselessness
November 21, 2008 at 3:12 pm
i only sweat the small stuff. Big stuff, meh!
November 21, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Swineshead – Of course I’m not. It’s my own daft fault.
November 21, 2008 at 3:18 pm
middleclass films – four weddings or any of that ilk.
November 21, 2008 at 3:24 pm
In that case, I’m sorry for your loss. Though it might be a blessing in disguise…
November 21, 2008 at 3:35 pm
middleclass films – this is england.
November 21, 2008 at 3:35 pm
http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f7/i-got-married-last-weekend-pics-877461/
November 21, 2008 at 3:40 pm
yeah! ugly people! hah!
November 21, 2008 at 4:01 pm
that link is frightening stuff.
November 21, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Good video SH! I love the one about him getting kicked of xbox live.
November 21, 2008 at 6:31 pm
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sfkDxF2kn1I
(that one)
November 21, 2008 at 7:28 pm
“‘In that case, I’m sorry for your loss. ”
Nobody’s dead but thank you. I think I made it clear how trapped I felt in the role and even a bar job or two over Christmas whilst I apply for something more meaningful will feel like a blessing. Should be oksy financially for at least two months so no stress required.
November 21, 2008 at 7:50 pm
*slinks out from under rock*
Hello all.
I can’t even get the internet at work. So no danger of me being sacked. Apart from my total fucking incompetence.
I once met Brian Cant when he was in his Playaway days, and I was about 5. He was nice.
Famous people I’ve met since:
Richard Stilgoe
Jimmy Savile
Amazing anecdotes, eh?
That is all. I shall now return to work to continue my NHS slavery.
*slinks back under rock*
November 21, 2008 at 8:15 pm
“Holly fuck, I didn’t know you could fit so many woman in one dress”
November 22, 2008 at 12:07 am
Holly Fuck is a great name for a burlesque dancer.
November 22, 2008 at 12:08 am
Yes, I am typing this at 12.07. My Saudi and French housemates have left me and gone to a club. What of it?
November 22, 2008 at 12:47 am
Loser.
November 22, 2008 at 11:52 am
Rules control the fun.
November 22, 2008 at 6:21 pm
My spelling is bad, even when I cut and paste!
November 27, 2008 at 10:15 pm
My favorite TV presenter by far would be the almost legendary Sally James off Tiswas. Need I say any more for all of you old enough to remember. I almost went blind. I blame my failure to be a pilot on her to this day. Anyone know where she is?
My least favorite is a somewhat trickier question, what with so many talentless vacuous arseholes to chose from. Richard Whiteley would certainly have made the finals. With his “Is that a word, who am I, what the fuck am I doing? Help me.” Expression constantly on his leering grinning face. As would Oor Muriel Gray off The Tube. The miserable cow.
But the crowning turd on the dung pile by a landslide would be Hardeep Sing Koli. For just being a twat, and wearing a turban while not bothering his arse about any of the other criteria for being a sikh. If I were a cynical man I would suggest he wears it as a gimmick.