Monday, June 25, 2012

Movie-ish Monday: The Graham Norton Show

Have I talked about "The Graham Norton Show," before?

It's a BBC chat show, which airs over here on BBC America on Saturday nights. I almost never see it when it's actually airing, but I record it and watch it later. And, invariably, I laugh more while watching it than I do for any other TV show I watch all week.

The great thing about it - in my opinion - is that he (almost always) brings out all of the guests at once. So he sits and plays host and makes sure that everyone gets a chance to talk, and it ends up being a three- or four- or sometimes even five-way conversation.

On some nights it's very much Graham interviewing people. And it's all Q & A with just a little conversation. But some nights the guests kind of go their own ways and the conversations go all over the place. And I find that I'm laughing for people I've never liked, and cheering for people I already liked.

If you know me, then you know why this is the ultimate show of its kind for me. It's because it's a bit like sitting at a dinner party and watching the evening unfold. You hope that it's not going to unravel, but since you're not the host, sometimes you find yourself thinking "Well, if it unravels just the slightest bit, it wouldn't be *so* bad..."

Which is not to say that I'd ever want a dinner party to unravel. I'd much prefer semi-planned hilarity to ensue - which is, in essence, what happens each week on ths show.

Speaking of dinner parties, I wonder if Graham Norton would come to dinner if we asked him over. Hmm...

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