Good Morning Britain

Slightly off topic (well, at least I'm not mentioning Brexit), but I've been off this week so have had a little time to surf the channels later than normal and for longer.

I am normally a BBC Breakfast viewer, but took the opportunity to see some of Burley@Breakfast and GMB.

Oddly, I had a little tear in my eye whenever I watched GMB's TOTH(almost) sequence, because a decade ago I never thought I would ever see something like this . . .

But you have just mentioned it...

It is still quite bizarre. Also have you spotted the traffic moving backwards?

No he just tells people with mental health issues to 'man up' instead which is so much better.
I still can't believe the 'British soldiers' story which happened under his watch has been forgiven and forgotten by people.

It doesn't have to be boring. I've never seen anyone on here claiming Afternoon Live is boring, for example.

For me, Breakfast just seems ploddy, drab and a bit twee these days - something I don't think it was when you look back to the days of Bill and Sian, or even Dermot and Natasha. Back then, to me, it felt like a bright and breezy start to the day, whereas now it feels like they're just going through the motions.

I don't actually think it'd take a lot just to freshen it up a bit and make it a bit pacier, but it just feels like they've become complacent in the knowledge that they're comfortably ahead in the ratings, so there's no need to try anymore.

Meanwhile GMB seems like the extreme opposite where their desperation for viewing figures means they'll plumb just about any depths, and pander to the worst of values in order to get a bit of traction on social media.

Maybe it's time I switched to the radio in the morning instead.

Well, I'll say it - Afternoon Live is boring. Because it's a news programme and news is boring.

I don't see much difference between the two at all, Afternoon Live is about 99% hard news and for the other 1% of the time Simon McCoy is a bit wry. To my mind, that's exactly the same as Breakfast, I think Dan and Louise especially are a great pairing. I honestly can't tell the difference between them and Bill and Sian in terms of warmth and personality. Their humour may not be to your taste, but there is an obvious difference between Afternoon Live, where Simon McCoy can be a bit more droll and mischievious because it's on a rolling news channel which clearly has a more specialist audience and there's a lot of ad-libbing required, compared to Breakfast which is mass-market BBC1 and has to appeal to absolutely everyone.

I'm not saying it can't be engaging, but I don't watch Breakfast or any news programme because I want to be entertained, I watch it for information. It's like the complaints about Victoria Derbyshire being a "misery fest" - of course it is, it's the news. News is generally bad.

It doesn't matter how much you dress it up, it's still a news programme and news is boring and miserable.

Some serious rose tinted glasses if you remember Natasha and Dermot's Breakfast as bright and breezy. Never have 2 presenters hated each other more and it showed on screen. Declan at the stock exchange was literally the only good thing about the era.

Somebody clearly hasn't heard about the Frank Patridge/Kay Burley pairing.

I do have to admit to quite enjoyng the Dead Ringers versions of Dermot & Natasha. And I wouldn't mind Jan Ravens's Fiona Bruce presenting Question Time one of these days.

My favourite pairing was Bowen and Raworth, it was rather like Brucie and Tess Daly on SCD,
neither Sophie nor Tess (nor us) quite knew where Jeremy or Bruce were going next..

It's a very sweeping statement to say that 'news is boring'. If it really was, nobody would watch it. It's entirely subjective.

Personally I don't think I've ever found myself as interested in the news as I am currently when the future direction of the country is hanging in the balance. I'd really like it to be boring again!



I'm certainly not saying it's all down to the presenters - more to do with the pace, approach and feel of the programme. That said, Charlie Stayt looking fed up most of the time doesn't help.

News isn't always boring, but it is thoroughly depressing right now.

And News rates very well still - so there is a large audience for it.