Saturday, November 01, 2008

Ross & Brand: Parkinson weighs in

The descent of public debate continues: Now, Michael Parkinson has decided he simply must say something. He must, he must:

Speaking on Radio 5 Live he branded the calls "obscene, tasteless and unfunny".

He added that he had no sympathy for Brand, who resigned last week, but claimed Ross would bounce back.

"He's very good at his job but he's given to fits of madness now and again." Ross has been suspended from the BBC for 12 weeks without pay.

"In the end what Brand did, and what Jonathan did, was indefensible."

"Jonathan should have more oil in his lamp frankly, more sense," Sir Michael told Eammon Holmes.

"I don't have an opinion on the other guy," he continued. "He's generously called a comedian."

You know, a catty 'generously called a comedian' sounds surprisingly like Parkinson having an opinion on him to me. But then the very idea of Michael Parkinson claiming not to have an opinion on something is, in itself, somewhat difficult to believe.


1 comment:

Charles Letterman said...

Why he had comment to is beyond me, but apparently he feels that Ross should have 'more sense' and that Brand is 'generously called a comedian'.

Now retired, Parkinson's days of being an incisive interviewer are 30 years behind him. His shows since then have been a sycophantic homage to his guests, relying on populist fan loyalty to carry him through to his knighthood.

Michael, if you've retired, you've retired. Settle down in your spot at Lord's and enjoy the rest of your life. There's really no need for you to get involved in such controversial matters which, as arselicking interviewer for much of your career, you are not qualified to comment on.

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