Jeremy Kyle – and the VERY serious failings of TV

The mass reaction against the exploitative nature of so-called “reality” TV ought to have come sooner.

The Jeremy Kyle Show was quite simply, VILE.

I’m so glad it’s been axed.

This show used troubled people, and those who have suffered from poor education, to create crass, shouty entertainment.

It showcased people’s lack of eloquence and often poor moral judgement - for the sake of ratings.

Hate-filled and hateful. I always thought so.

It’s very sad that it’s taken the death of one of the programme’s guests to bring about its end. May God bless the soul of tragic Steve Dymond – one of many who went on the show at a very low point in his life, wanting to save a failed relationship.

Other people who’ve been guests are now telling of how they were encouraged to be shouty when voicing their stories, and the studio audience were clearly encouraged to boo and jeer etc. Horrible stuff.

Kyle’s own style as a presenter was extremely abrasive. That is simply not right when dealing with people with problems. Sensitivity and pastoral skills are needed in such circumstances but, hey, that just doesn’t get the ratings in dumbed-down Britain.

Apparently, the show had care teams for the guests. Not very effective ones, in my view.

And it’s the dumbing down element of much of mainstream television that is such a huge problem. Not just The Jeremy Kyle Show.

Television doesn’t merely CATER for stupid viewers. It actively CREATES stupidity in millions of people who like to watch such vile junk such as that daytime Kyle hatefest – and much of the other mainstream output.

Many generations have now grown up hooked on screen entertainment. We can’t in the West, if we are to survive as a civilisation, carry on in this way. We are making ourselves look VERY stupid.

What’s happening is serious. We are witnessing a big failure in the proper formation and transmission of human identity.

It’s not, of course, only the programmes that showcase the problems of “ordinary people” that are contributing to the spread of vacuous and uncaring attitudes. Other “reality” shows such as Love Island present utterly the wrong view of what it takes to be an admirable person.

Being a good human being involves developing personal discernment and an internal moral compass. It’s NOT about having pouty lips, big tits, or tight abdominal muscles.

Now, I’m pleased (kind of) that MPs have announced an inquiry into the wider issues surrounding “reality” TV and the duty of care for people who become involved – though in this era of Brexit pantomime politics it is hard to believe the inquiry will be effective.

And, in fact, when I see trailers for all sorts of TV entertainment, even drama these days, I’m filled with despair. 

Do adults really get a kick out of watching all those US TV serials and box sets, packed with car chases, gun-toting and macho posing?

And why all the fuss about Game of Thrones? It seems like children’s entertainment to me. I certainly can’t take seriously all those young queens or whatever they are! They look like fresh-faced young middle-class lasses fresh out of drama school to me. Oooh, luvvy, you WEREN’T marvellous!

Back in my days as the television critic of ITV’s ORACLE service, I foresaw the way things were heading in telly land.

And I wasn’t wrong …

The utter shite that is modern TV!

People used to get very excited about what special ‘treats’ the main channels would offer at Christmas. Not any more.

The top ten ratings for Christmas Day 2018 indicate a big decline.

The Queen’s Christmas Broadcast took the No1 slot with a meagre 6.3 million viewers. Some social justice warriors took offence because Her Maj was sat by a golden piano. Zzzzzz …

Michael McIntyre’s Big Christmas Show came second with 6.1m viewers. Of course, I didn’t watch it! Because I’m not a thick person, that’s why!

McIntyre is one of many so-called comedians favoured by the BBC that I not only don’t find funny, but who also come across as intensely irritating. John Bishop is another.

Coronation Street is the only ITV product in the top ten – with a measly 4.6m watching. What a spectacular decline! Corrie used to pull in more than 20 million viewers per episode back in the 1980s. Mind you, back then it wasn’t the unrelenting tale of abject misery it is now.

I am frequently horrified at the utter banality of TV offerings. Television aims low, and the result is the turning of the viewing public into morons. Those that don’t take the sensible option of switching off, that is, and reading a book, or going for a walk, or going to the pub (all three are better options that staring at the idiot’s lantern).

Of course, the decline of terrestrial TV is only one part of the story. Many people now turn to streaming services instead. But from what I see they are no better – too way too much gun-toting and car-chasing for my liking. And as for things such as Game of Thrones, really? Are people so dumb they take that stuff seriously?

I did watch a bit of telly over the festive period. The bio-drama Torvill & Dean (ITV) wasn’t TOO bad (certainly well cast), though it did have some flaws. It fudged the issue of whether there was sexual attraction between the skaters. Also, that sequence filmed through a bus window didn't work. It ought to have been edited out. Plus, the drama was way too long.

I also start to watch the Bond film Quantum of Solace. But only for the opening 15 minutes or so, which was so predictable – loads of car-chasing, gun-shooting, and macho men (I’m guessing stunt doubles rather than actors) leaping across exotic rooftops etc. Boring!

When it came for a bit of straightforward acting in the film, I simply couldn’t bear to watch Daniel Craig as 007. The man looks like he’s permanently and painfully constipated.

And talking of luvvies, I’m so sick of seeing them front up slow-motion compassion porn adverts for charities. Crying children, chained donkeys etc. Then the luvvies urge you to “text CARE to give just £3 per month”, which presumably goes to funding the next ridiculous advert, or other marketing bullcrap, or the inflated salaries of charity bosses.

Anyhoo, here’s wishing you a happy and hopefully screen-reduced New Year. You will feel much better for it.     

Radio Ga Ga – and cretinous TV shows!

You expect minor TV channels to do ‘list’ style programmes, because that’s what they are all about – filling the schedules with cheap and best forgotten images from the past.

But it is disappointing to see ITV get in the act with its dire The Nation’s Favourite Queen’s Song.

I’ve never understood the attraction of the group Queen anyway – they always seemed like a bunch of bombastic, silly posturers to me.

I will admit that Freddie Mercury had some vocal talent and quite a startling theatrical presence. A bit of credit where it’s due.

But lyrically Queen’s songs were very weak and simplistic – and sometimes incomprehensible.

I mean, ‘Radio Ga Ga, Radio Goo Goo’? Pur-lease! Grow up! I know the song was supposed to be a lament for the eclipsing of music radio by music video, but the words to the song are so weak and derivative.

And WTF is ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ about, if anything? With utter predictability that song was revealed as Britain’s Number 1 favourite Queen song. Zzzzz.

Oh aye, and I think there is some sort of album tied in with this pathetic telly offering.

Sorry but - as with so many things that TV holds up for our edification or admiration - I really don’t give a crap.

Are YOU working class and beautiful like old ITV … or Liberal-Fascist like the modern BBC?

IT’S rather a shame that ITV is crumbling to dust and can’t even come up with good new ideas any more. Demons?! How derivative is it possible to be?
In the glory days of British television (the mid 1960s to the mid 1980s) ITV was more than a telly channel … it was a badge of national cultural identity.
In those days, you were either an ITV person (lively, quick-witted, working class, and rather beautiful) or you were a BBC person (stuffy, bourgeois, Pooterish and humourless).
Nowadays, of course, television is much expanded and yet, paradoxically, it’s not nearly such a potent force culturally.
But suppose for a minute we Brits still identified ourselves by our choice of TV network; then I guess an ITV Person would now be nervous, short of money, insecure, bereft of ideas.
And a BBC Person would be a Liberal-Fascist, hideously corporatist and obsessed with racial issues and feminism.
So I guess ITV still represents the majority of British people … just about!
Meanwhile, one gem of quality writing and character-driven humour survives on ITV, thrives even … and that is Coronation Street.
Last night’s episode saw Becky within five minutes end her engagement to thick-as-a-plank Jason Grimshaw, get engaged and move in with Steve McDonald, and have a blazing row with Steve’s ex, Michelle.
We also saw Steve have a bust-up with both his mam and Eileen.
It was entertaining stuff and as ever there was a neat philosophical contrast between all the passion going on … and Roy and Hayley Cropper, just a few feet away in the Rovers, together the epitome of buttoned up propriety and pained humanity.
And that’s before you consider that Roy is a pathological misfit – and Hayley a transsexual.
The actor who plays Ken Barlow, original cast member William Roache, is now on leave as he grieves for the death of his wife.
I hope the weeks ahead go as well as can be expected for William, and that soon he is back at work to continue Ken’s exquisite illicit romance with the narrowboat-dwelling siren played by Stephanie Beacham.