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Graham Norton - I prefer him over even Conan O'Brien

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Graham Norton - I prefer him over even Conan O'Brien

Old 08-01-08, 01:23 PM
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Graham Norton - I prefer him over even Conan O'Brien

I find his show to be nearly as funny as Conan O'Brien, and about 300 times funnier than Jay Leno has ever been. Do other people here like his show? I love the raunchiness of it, but I genuinely love his interviews. They're less scripted than anyone else's, including Jimmy Kimmel, Conan O'Brien, and of course, Jay Leno. Plus, his audience participation, "games", contests, "on the street" stuff... It's just a great (adult) show.
Old 08-01-08, 02:18 PM
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It is my favorite late-night talk show.

Too bad it is only on once a week (new episodes, anyway), but that gives them more time to focus on each show, and that is probably what makes each one so good.

Last edited by TheMadMonk; 08-01-08 at 02:21 PM.
Old 08-01-08, 02:53 PM
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Who the hell is he?
Old 08-01-08, 02:59 PM
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Yep... who?

My current favorite is Ferguson.
Old 08-01-08, 03:20 PM
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He's a talk-show host. He also played Father Furlong on "Father Ted" for a few episodes. He's gay, and that sometimes plays small parts in the skits and such, but he doesn't rub it in your face. He's Irish (but has a British accent), and had a show in London for years, before he was brought over to Comedy Central to do his show a few years ago. But Comedy Central, even, wouldn't let him get away with the racey material he does, so the show was doomed to fail. I believe he's back in England, doing his show there, now. He's on at least two channels on DirecTV, Logo and BBCAmerica. Logo is the Gay channel, so if that makes you uncomfortable, TiVo the show and keep your remote handy to fast-forward through the "Guys Gone Wild" commercials.

He has "A" and "B" (sometimes "C") list celebrities, as well as British stars. Usually, he has two stars on, and the flow of dialogue is great.

One of the funnier ones I've seen, recently, was Donnie Osmond who was actually a good sport about the show and seemed to have a REALLY good time. He's had Dustin Hoffman, Heath Ledger (he was on just a couple of nights ago - repeat of course hehe - and that show was creeeeepy. They did a sort of: "This is your life" thing with him), Britney Spears, Elton John, Orlando Bloom, etc.

If you haven't seen the show, I highly recommend it. It's gone through a few different name changes, "Graham Norton Experience", "Graham Norton Effect" and recently, "The Graham Norton Show".

Not for the kids, though.
Old 08-01-08, 04:32 PM
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Graham is OK but not really my cup of tea as a host. He seems to have ADD when doing the show.
Old 08-01-08, 05:55 PM
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What I love most about Graham Norton is that he couldn't care less about helping a celebrity pimp their latest product. The show is about him and his audience having a laugh, and if the celebrity guest wants to play along, so much the better. And if they don't (and I'm looking at you, Lindsay Wagner), then the celebrity gets shoved off to the side and forgotten.
Old 08-03-08, 03:15 PM
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The recent episode with Jackie Chan and Dawn French was a riot.
Old 08-03-08, 04:37 PM
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Conan is the best.

Ferguson is never funny.

I think he has a button under his desk to cue the laugh track since everything he says you can hear the audience laughing.


Conan will always be the king of late night comedy.
Old 08-03-08, 07:01 PM
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Originally Posted by JeffTheAlpaca
Conan is the best.

Ferguson is never funny.

I think he has a button under his desk to cue the laugh track since everything he says you can hear the audience laughing.


Conan will always be the king of late night comedy.
Wow... quite the opposite for me. Then again I haven't enjoyed Conan's schtick since he first started. Ferguson is a breath of fresh air. His improv style is so much funnier than the rote routines of the other hosts.
Old 08-04-08, 12:49 AM
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Originally Posted by Michael Corvin
Wow... quite the opposite for me. Then again I haven't enjoyed Conan's schtick since he first started. Ferguson is a breath of fresh air. His improv style is so much funnier than the rote routines of the other hosts.
yup
Old 08-04-08, 01:19 AM
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Never found Ferguson funny. Didn't find his predecessor funny either.
Old 08-04-08, 02:18 AM
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Ferguson has come a long way since he started out. He's really developed his own style, which is very off the cuff and natural. I still love Conan, but Ferguson is just getting better and better.
Old 08-04-08, 06:35 AM
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Watched the rerun of Norton's show with Tony Curtis and Kevin Bacon on BBCA this weekend. It was hard trying to figure out what everyone was saying, what with the heavily-censored audio track and all. Makes me wonder whether the show is censored in general, or whether the censoring is specifically for the American version.

And damn, Curtis's mind is a sharp as ever, even though his body looks terrible. If they had brought him out without an introduction, I would have never guessed who he was.



Last edited by kenbuzz; 08-04-08 at 06:39 AM.
Old 08-04-08, 12:20 PM
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Originally Posted by brtcmfn
The recent episode with Jackie Chan and Dawn French was a riot.
When I saw this episode had been TiVo'd, I didn't think it'd be that great, but it was hilarious! It's such a funny show.
Old 08-05-08, 08:26 AM
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Originally Posted by TheMadMonk
Too bad it is only on once a week (new episodes, anyway), but that gives them more time to focus on each show, and that is probably what makes each one so good.
I think you pegged it right there. Comparing this show to any American counterparts is almost "apples and oranges". Yes, they are all talk shows, but this British counterpart has such a drastically different take on it that keeps it fresh and funny. Norton is simply more witty and better at the off-the-cuff humor than any other host mentioned in this thread so far. He is quite genius.

However if he were forced to do 4 shows a week, I'm sure the quality of his performance would quickly drop to the level of the others...
Old 08-05-08, 11:04 PM
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This is "must see" TV for me - some of the funniest (and raunchiest) stuff on the air. Somehow he makes his guest feel comfortable enough to say and do things that you wouldn't expect from them.
Old 08-06-08, 01:28 AM
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I like nearly everyone better than Conan.
I prefer Jimmy Kimmel, Jay Leno, Letterman. I like Conan and Ferguson about equally.
Old 08-07-08, 03:39 AM
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I love his show. I remember there was a segment he did with Shirley Maclaine I believe where she had to guess if some guys were gay by the way they danced.

He had Sharleen Spiteri (Scottish chick from the band Texas) a while ago talking about how she threatened to beat the shit out of Paris Hilton at some club for acting like a bitch. The little anecdotes made me laugh.
Old 08-11-08, 12:13 PM
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Originally Posted by rfduncan
However if he were forced to do 4 shows a week, I'm sure the quality of his performance would quickly drop to the level of the others...
Spot on. Makes me wonder, though, if Conan or one of those guys went to a once a week format how good their shows would be.

I love Graham, been watching for a couple of years now. Recently, the show with Gordon Ramsay and Juliette Binoche was very good, as was the Joan Rivers episode. Last season 2 shows really stood out - The Dukes of Hazard reunion, Marilyn Manson/Nigella Lawson.

I do love that they hammer McCartney's one legged ex every chance they get on that show.
Old 08-13-08, 02:44 AM
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I don't find Conan or Leno funny at all. Graham Norton certainly is more entertaining than either one of those. Conan is onl;y ever funny to me in skits, and even that is few and far between. I did like him though in the awards show he hosted, was it the Golden Globes? I forget.
Old 08-16-08, 01:54 AM
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Originally Posted by modfather
He's gay, and that sometimes plays small parts in the skits and such, but he doesn't rub it in your face.

Must... resist... obvious... joke...

Well, he could at least buy me dinner first!



K
Old 08-16-08, 08:31 AM
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Originally Posted by kenbuzz
Watched the rerun of Norton's show with Tony Curtis and Kevin Bacon on BBCA this weekend. It was hard trying to figure out what everyone was saying, what with the heavily-censored audio track and all. Makes me wonder whether the show is censored in general, or whether the censoring is specifically for the American version.
It's not censored in Britain.
Old 08-22-08, 07:35 PM
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I actually just started recording this show a little while ago on BBC Canada, and caught a couple of the early shows from the latest incarnation of the show. Loved the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Matt Lucas show.

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