This Brand/Ross malarkey

[bon3yard]

Brendan, she is a he and a Nonogenarian he at that. He worked under King Edward as an Ambassador to The Duke of York. Married to a Charlotte and unfaithful to her with an exotic type by the name of Desiree, Nicola his housekeeper and Nadine the Landlady of The Pentland Javelin. Its no (Golden) Wonder his heart gave out one December morning whilst he was feeding his Roosters. ;-)

[bon3yard]

I'm not putting any money in that dolts pockets! His dreadful show on Talksport is simply a forum for him to flog his awful tome and publicise his column in The S*n. Vile man.

[*Bob*]

Clarkson: 500 complaints and counting

Interestingly, we're talking 188 complaints before it received any internet or press coverage. Which, in comparison to the 2 for 'Bross', makes it 94 times 'actually more offensive' to people who were, you know, 'actually more offended'.

However seeing as the joke was only at the expense of murdered prostitutes as opposed to national institution and all-round good egg Manuel Sachs, it's unlikely that the fallout will be the same.

[Brendan]

I?m seriously considering starting a campaign to get people to write into the BBC and complain about them doing nothing but publishing articles about people complaining about things.

It?s a bloody disgrace I tell you. I don?t pay my licence fee so that I can logon and read stories about neurotic pensioners complaining about fat men in tight trousers taking the piss out of prostitute murdering lorry drivers.

Signed

Disgusted of East Dulwich

[bon3yard]

I watched this and thought it a bit strong(given the time it was broadcast)...I think he repeated the same gag twice in the space of a couple of minutes. I had a feeling this would be leapt on.

[paragon]

It's ok - the Sun asked some truck drivers and they thought it was fine. No murdered prostitutes were available for comment.

[EDOldie]

Another bl**dy publicity stunt. This is the problem with the BBC it all has to be 'entertainment' the only thing they are interested in are viewing figures. Not what they are actually broadcasting. Clarkson (sorry Jeremy) making sick jokes is about as bad as it gets. I want my money back.

[bon3yard]

Hear, hear, bring back The Black & White Minstrels!

[EDOldie]

Well thats the danger. How far do they go to drum up the viewing figures? How tacky do they get? Thats not what the BBC is there for because we all pay for it. It's fine for the commercial stations because the advertisers pay for it.

[bon3yard]

I did find that Jezzas quip jarred with me on Sunday when I watched it. But then again hes got form. I had to applaud him for smacking Piers Morgan in the coupon the other night, I dont ordinarily condone violence but Morgans just plain horrible.

[EDOldie]

Is slapping Piers Morgan entertainment? Yeah, more of that on the Beeb.

[bon3yard]

Are you kidding? Its worth the entire licence fee alone.

[????]

Oh gawwwd I can't believe I'm coming back to this again...and therefore risking the rather weak line from some on here (many of whom I consider my best virtual friends) that i'm an anti BBC,Mail reading, malvolian, b*stard for finding Russ & John's behaviour not a joly post modern jape......if Brand and Ross had just joked about the Russel Brand sleeping with the Vampy one that might not have been that funny and a bit tasteless but could be branded as humour (a la Clarkson)....to leave a series of, let's be honest, pretty unpleasant personal messages on someone's answer machine is a very different thing by my personal compass

[Tony.London Suburbs]

bon3yard Wrote:

Hear, hear, bring back The Black & White Minstrels!

Don't say that! Think about their leader, one George Mitchell.

It was "George Mitchell's Black and White Minstrels"...trouble is George used to constantly argue with th Minstels,due to his nervous disposition,b4 they took to the stage.

They later discovered that George suffered from severe Pre-Minstrel Tension:-$

[bon3yard]

Phwoaar, you stank the place out with that one which is why theres been an 11 hour gap between postings. Dog-rough(ruff). ;-)

[SeanMacGabhann]

Quids - for getting "malvolian" in there I doff my cap sir

And it gladdens my heart (if I had one) to hear you vigorously deny such charges - and I would agree that what happened was not simple "jolly japes" - it was juvenile and distressing but what was missing from the general discourse (and I'm not talking about you, or this forum even) was perspective. Andrew Sachs handled himself well (and will be appearing on a Jon Ross chat show at some point in the future I will wager, knowing full well that jolly japes will be involved) and I see the graddaughter has said she went too far herself. Essentially, left to the proper channels, the grown ups involved would have apologised, shaken hands and moved on. Jobs did not need to be lost (and it's not just the Brand/Ross jobs - it's all the production people in their companies down the food chain)

But when the Mail does crank up it's machine, it doesn't really matter whether you read it or not - it has behaved far more reprehensively than any of the cast in this and it needs opposition. (where was it's concern for the elderly when it was doorstopping Brand's mother just weeks earlier? What was the point in publishing transcripts if they were so offensive - including non-broadcast material?). And yes I hear you, you aren't a Mail reader etc but if we must get indignant let's look at the whole picture

Ditto to tens of thousands of people still ringing in to the BBC to complain AFTER the jobs had been lost and/or people suspended, for something they neither were aware of, nor heard.

As for Clarkson - let's not judge him on the material he broadcast this week. Let's look at his whole body of work. And then condemn him ;-)

But he's not as bad as Littlejohn, I'll give him that much

[*Bob*]

As a result of aforementioned S.I.T. (squib in teacup) Auntie Beeb have decided to continue in their fine tradition of over-reacting at the highest possible level to the most insignificant of incidents.

BBC Wizz-Exec Mark Thompson says: "I think we are heading towards a period where it is probably the case that we will be able to secure the best entertainment talent for less".

So that's all the heats of 'World's Strongest Man' filling-up the summer primetime schedules then.

[Tony.London Suburbs]

SeanMacGabhann Wrote:

Quids - for getting "malvolian" in there I doff my cap sir

Thanks very much!:X All I can now picture is you wearing yellow cross-gartered stockings.(!)

[bon3yard]

Burn, baby burn...that'll learn the filthy beggars.

[Brendan]

Thing that gets me is that the people whooping at a burning effigy are probably the same kind of people who will bang on about how Britain ?civilised? the world.

[Keef]

Similar people that hanged effigies of David Beckham one year, only to worship him 3 years later. Total brainless knobs!

[mockney piers]

What's that village in Sussex that does an effigy every year that gets them into trouble?

I think their most notorious was the caravan with the registration P1K3Y.

[mockney piers]

A ha, Firle

[Moos]

Sean, not sure I can agree with your post when you say 'Essentially, left to the proper channels, the grown ups involved would have apologised, shaken hands and moved on'

Once things started to get out of hand - and yes they certainly did - Andrew Sachs backed off and said - OK, enough, I've had my apologies. By that point I think anyone with any taste was feeling pretty nauseated by the whole thing.

But in the early stages - back when Andrew Sachs (or at least his agent on his behalf) was still hopping mad - the first apologies were insincere and openly mocking. "Sorry. But it's still funny" smirked Brand. I really can't believe that the much humber, more personal, more straight-faced apologies that did eventually arrive were anything other than a response to being in serious trouble.

Your other points are that the Mail is scuzzy and inconsistent (I can't disagree) and that you don't like Clarkson. But it doesn't detract from the point that Quids was actually making, which was focused solely on the behaviour of the protagonists.

[microbite]

Mind you, all this hasn't damaged Brand's reputation too much, his concert at the Brixton Academy on 10th Feb is sold out, and nearly sold out for the 11th, not that I'd go see him though I was hunting for Prodigy tickets for 17th April for London Arena, then discovered Brixton had two dates for the Prodigy, completely sold out, London Arena have seated only and sold out on standing tickets,(somewhere at the top of the arena where you will prob not see much and down in the crowd is where I wana be dancing away), when the hell did they go on sale? its so unfair! standing tickets selling on ebay for ?70 upwards, groan!!!!!

:'(