There was an elephant in the room at last night's National Television Awards ? the non-thinking viewers' Baftas - and its name was Richard Keys. Some, such as Jonathan Ross, chose to avoid the topic ? "I have been out of the country," he told hacks. Others, such as Jeremy Clarkson, didn't just confront it, but got on the elephant's back and rode it around the room. "We are fucked, utterly fucked," said the Top Gear man when asked about the ramifications of the sexism row for the rest of the TV industry and in particular the not always entirely female-friendly BBC2 show. "Do you want honest answers or some bullshit line?" asked Clarkson, who promised to address the issue in his Sun column on Saturday. "We've arrived at a stage where you actually can be busted by heresy by thought, which is a terrifying place to live. While we try very hard on Top Gear not to be sexist ... if a man wants to think that ... that's fine. You should be allowed to think what you think." But what about the chances of having more women on Top Gear? "Who do you think tucks our microphones in?" Dear BBC, I must complain in the strongest possible terms ...
Clarkson v Morgan (again)
Possibly even less surprising than Ant and Dec's 10th win in a row ? not enough to encourage them to actually turn up (filming commitments in Cardiff, don't you know) ? was Clarkson's take on Piers Morgan's new CNN chatshow. The pair are old foes, you might remember, and there was that unfortunate incident when Morgan hit Clarkson's fist with his face at a British Press Awards do a few moons back. "If CNN recorded in my back garden I would not go on it," said JC. "I am utterly thrilled that Piers Morgan has a job that is 3,000 miles from where I am."
Jonathan Ross's careless whispers
That Ross left last night's awards empty-handed was not entirely a surprise ? he wasn't nominated. Maybe he will pick up a gong next time round for his new ITV1 chatshow, coming to a small screen near you later this year. But will it kick off with his much-anticipated chat with George Michael? "He called me and is thinking about it," said Ross. "We have had a few chats about it and it probably will happen at some stage," added the former six million pound man, who revealed he had heard songs from Michael's new album. So what are they like? "They are like songs." Music ? so much harder to review than the movies.
Brucie survives a roasting
It was a toss up between Simon Cowell and Bruce Forsyth over who was revealing less about their future plans. Cowell kept mum over whether Cheryl Cole would be joining him for the US version of The X Factor ? "no one has been contracted apart from me" ? but did promise some changes for the ITV1 version of the talent show. "It's got to be different. Full stop." Forsyth, meanwhile, batted away the perennial questions about his imminent (or otherwise) retirement from BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing. "When I come back from my winter vacation at the end of March or beginning of April we will talk about Strictly again [with the BBC]," deadpanned Brucie, who said it had been quite a year. "I was roasted by Jonathan Ross and Jack Dee and Jimmy Carr, and then I had to roast them back. It was quite a thing." It sounds like it.
McFadden cracks up
It's not the winning, it's the taking part that counts. Yeah, right. Tell that to the cast of EastEnders, who celebrated winning the best soap, sorry ... serial drama award in true Albert Square style, breaking into an impromptu chorus of "Billy is a Mitchell, Billy is a Mitchell!" while Steve McFadden began crooning "By the light of the silvery moon ...". If only they had an old Joanna to gather around. Where's Wicksy when you need him? But even in their moment of triumph, McFadden still spared a thought for their ITV1 rival Coronation Street, who might reasonably have been expected to win with all the publicity around the show's 50th anniversary. "I am personally really shocked," said McFadden. "They had a great year and put some great episodes together. They really pushed it and they lost. Sorry!" And then everyone dissolved into laughter. Maybe next year, eh?
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mediamonkeyblog/2011/jan/27/national-television-awards-monkey
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