After a few years in the doldrums, Norton seems to be back to his risque best. So has he regained his edge over chatshow rivals?
When Graham Norton was named best entertainment performer at the Baftas recently, beating Stephen Fry, Harry Hill and Rob Brydon, he looked genuinely surprised. "We used to win these years ago. I'd forgotten how nice it is," he joked.
It has been a long time coming, but Norton has finally found his way back to the sizzling form of his Channel 4 heyday. After years spent with the BBC, in which he never quite found the right show to front, he finally appears to have returned to form.
When the corporation snapped him up all those years ago, the performer was riding high on the success of So Graham Norton. It was late-night, naughty and wholly irreverent. And the big stars he attracted to his sofa seemed to love his mischief making and risque audience anecdotes.
One of my most iconic chatshow moments was the moment Dustin Hoffman donned yellow helmet and overalls to play the role of Big Brother's Jonny Regan. No other host could so coerce and cajole his usually image-conscious stars to such silliness.
But once Norton moved to BBC1, that playful quality seemed to get lost in translation; Norton found himself on largely family-friendly primetime with his hands effectively tied behind his back. No smut and minimum innuendo.
And then the BBC apparently finally realised the original formula was the best. Back came the technicolour titles with the naked dolls, and the occasionally lewd audience participation. In recent months he's had Thandie Newton and Ricky Gervais reading a porn script and Rihanna telling us about the time she had an awkward bikini wax.
The spring-loaded red chair in his current series is also a particular masterstroke. He invites members of the audience to sit down and tell him a story and, if they bore him, pulls the eject lever sending them flying mid-sentence. It's a bit of physical comedy that shows off Norton's impeccable comic timing.
And he draws Hollywood stars and fellow comedians alike into his rude confessional, encouraging them to reveal far more than their publicists would like. That ability to mix celebrity interview and audience banter gives him the edge over his rivals.
When Parkinson retired and Ross transgressed, the chatshow landscape looked pretty barren, but Norton has now taken his place as Britain's Tsar of Chat. While Alan Carr is doing sterling work at Channel 4, he can't quite match Norton.
His guests also come on to the set together, rather than in order of fame. And although it's clear there's a pecking order when, say, Liza Minnelli, James McAvoy and Jack Dee are on the sofa, the mixing together of mildly tipsy guests feels more like a party than a chatshow.
Now the BBC seem to know what they've got, let's hope they leave him to do what he does best. And if anyone can find that video of Hoffman impersonating Jonny Regan, I'd love to see it again.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/jun/10/graham-norton-chatshow-bafta
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