I have just seen on the BBC news website that Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand have been suspended by the BBC.
Jolly good.
JayKingDoire posted:
I wonder what will happen to Friday night with Jonathan Ross?
Rehearsals were due to take place this afternoon, those will not now be taking place and the programme will not being going out on Friday evening.
JayKingDoire posted:
Wonder if it was a harsh decision?
In my opinion, no. As we know Jonathan Ross is nearly 50 and at their age they should both know better. Acting like a pair of silly school boys, egging each other on to essentially harass an OAP and talk about his grand daughter in a sexual context was completely out of order.
until now I had been of the opinion that it was getting blown out of proportion. But now having read the full transcript on the BBC News website of the 3 messages which were left on Sachs' voicemail, I have come round to agreeing that some kind of action needed to be taken.
Above all - it just ain't funny or entertaining to anyone else other than Ross & Brand at the time, and I can't understand how someone like Jonathan Ross could believe that it woudl be acceptable to broadcast what he was recording two days later.
Read the full transcript on the BBC News website if you haven't already, I reckon it makes it obvious what needed to happen.
Interesting that BBC News have on their ticker that Jonathan Ross' pre recorded chat show has been cancelled and will not be presented by anybody else, it just seems like they're making it a major point.
I agree about Al Murray, terrible timing I suppose.
In an instance like this with a chat show being cancelled, do they still have to pay the guests that would have been on the programme? It isn't as if they have been on it yet.
And what about the crew that work on the programme, would it really be that bad to not have it hosted by Jonathan, though admittedly it is his show and wouldn't feel right.
I may be wrong about this, but isn't it Ross's own production company that produces the show? If so, it would hardly be right to allow him to continue to profit from the programme even if someone else was hosting it.
The ghastly thing is, if this is made a permanent sacking, I can see 'Friday Night with Graham Norton' looming on the horizon...
GM
nodnirG kraM
Oh that would never happen. Just look at the size of his pay packet to see how valuable Woss is to the BBC.
I'm glad to say that I think that you're right! To be honest, I don't believe this incident (stupid and puerile though it was) merits ending his career with the BBC, especially given that, as has been mentioned, only 2 of the 18,000 complaints were made at the time of the broadcast. Besides which, Ross would inevitably be back within months on whichever channel could scrape up enough money - I can hardly see him disappearing ala Simon Dee!
As for Brand, I can't really comment as I was one of those people that never 'got' him.
Interesting that BBC News have on their ticker that Jonathan Ross' pre recorded chat show has been cancelled and will not be presented by anybody else, it just seems like they're making it a major point.
I agree about Al Murray, terrible timing I suppose.
In an instance like this with a chat show being cancelled, do they still have to pay the guests that would have been on the programme? It isn't as if they have been on it yet.
And what about the crew that work on the programme, would it really be that bad to not have it hosted by Jonathan, though admittedly it is his show and wouldn't feel right.
As far as I'm aware, the guests don't get paid to appear on chat shows as they are doing promotion to sell whatever film/CD/book they have out.
From a disciplinary point of view, it is the responsibility of the producer or a senior producer to decide what pre-recorded material makes it to air - and this incident points to a failure of a 25 year old producer to be able to gauge what is in extremely bad taste.
But this failure has shone a light on the weak and puerile "comedy stylings" of Ross and Brand - and if nothing else is an excellent opportunity to claw back some of the salary that Ross is grossly overpaid - in my opinion.
I listened to the radio phone call on youtube and to be honest it seems as if the first phone call wasn't bad enough, they both made the situation worse by constantly phoning Mr Sachs by trying to apologise.
It was completely schoolboyish and childish and rightly they should be suspended but they won't be sacked. It's just a way for the BBC to wait for this all to die down and they'll be back.
As for Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.. it is produced by HotSauce which is Ross's own production company so, agreed, it wouldn't be right if it went ahead without him anyway. I'm guessing this week it'll be replaced by One Foot in the Grave or something.
What has Jonathan Ross' wages got to do with anything?
The BBC should have stood by their man and not bow to Daily Mail type pressure.
Ross is clearly in the wrong here however. There is a line, yes a jokes a joke, but this was to an extreme extent which was just rude to the individuals involved.
What has Jonathan Ross' wages got to do with anything?
The BBC should have stood by their man and not bow to Daily Mail type pressure.
Ross is clearly in the wrong here however. There is a line, yes a jokes a joke, but this was to an extreme extent which was just rude to the individuals involved.
Perhaps. But the world hasn't come to an end, they've apologised.
I really don't believe this is an issue and I suspect a lot of those complaining have not heard the full sketch or prank call or whatever.
My own opinion, after reading the transcripts, is that the situation has been exacerbated by the way the press has handled the matter.
True, Mr Ross's and Mr Brand's comments were unacceptable, but they did apologise, it
is
their style of humour (and so only to be expected), and the producer shouldn't have allowed the comments to be broadcast. Mr Sachs seems to consider the matter closed now, and it was only after the
Mail on Sunday
reporter phoned his agent for comment that the situation began to inflame itself. Then, after Brand apologised on Saturday's show, the
Heil
didn't let the matter go - claiming that the BBC should face
prosecution
for the comments.
The fact is that while the comments were in bad taste, the thing should have been sorted out quietly and without incident. I wonder how many of the ~20,000 complainants
actually heard
the programme.
I also question the wisdom of suspending them both: it comes across as a bit pointless, as if either of them were actually to be fired, it wouldn't take long for ITV, Channel 4, or (god forbid) Channel 5 to snap them up with a golden handcuffs deal. Despite the fact that they have their critics, they also draw in very high ratings and effectively giving them away would be disastrous.
Therefore, I hereby predict that after a three-month investigation, both men will be severely reprimanded but will keep their jobs.
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
will return in the New Year and I suspect Andrew Sachs may be a guest.