Ah, the chat show! Such a simple formula – just sit around with a list of questions and chat to celebrities. Like ice-dancing, do it well and everything thinks they can do it. But try it and you’ll be staggering around clinging to the sides of the rink and then falling on your bum with everyone pointing and laughing.
On British TV, it’s long been a two-horse race in the chat-show stakes. Michael Parkinson (above left), veteran interviewer and BBC stalwart until he “defected” to the commercial channel ITV, and the young(ish) upstart, Jonathan “Wossy” Ross, of the lank hair and lisp (above right). Both accomplished interviewers, but they couldn’t be further from each other in style. Parky has the relaxed air of the slick interrogator who manages to persuade his guests to divulge all their secrets with little effort. Wossy’s approach is more full-on, choosing guests such as Janice Dickenson, The Mighty Boosh and John Barrowman, who can match his own sometimes outrageously “adult” style.
Ross has recently been reported to have a gazillion-pound five-year contract with the BBC, putting him in footballer-superstar league, and with Parky’s retirement at the end of the year, the field is clear for Ross to clamber to top of the chat-show pole and stay there.
For 2007 though, and in honour of a consummate professional who over the years has been attacked by Rod Hull’s emu, and chatted to everyone from David Beckham to Dame Judi Dench, Parky gets my vote as chat-show host of the year. He’s a national treasure and will be very much missed.
© Carole Gordon 2007