The best and worst of TV
On Sunday November 12th I sat enthralled as I watched the ceremony of the laying of the poppy wreaths at the Cenotaph in London on TV.
Remembrance Day, three hours of watching the great and the good paying their respects to the brave ancestors of ours who gave their lives in the cause of freedom.
Although the predominant colour was black there was almost an air of pageantry with the banners and uniforms of the different regiments without losing any respect for what the occasion was about.
This was TV at its best bringing the occasion right in to our living rooms and making you feel you were there.
I freely admit to shedding tears throughout the whole programme because as I watched events unfold I also saw my youth and my childhood passing before my eyes. Memories of my parents, my brother and sister, all the relations and friends passed on, and I somehow felt along with the sadness a feeling of wellbeing. Brilliant television.
Then the next evening came the other side of the coin. I watched two shows ‘Have I Got News for You’ and ‘Graham Norton’s – he of the cesspool brain- The Big Picture.’
In the first a group of supposed funny men take the mick out of the usual tired old items, namely Bush and Blair but also the new Christmas stamps showing Father Christmas sitting on a chimney which to them becomes a toilet. Followed by the usual references to bodily functions.
Graham Norton went further. Blair, Bush and the stamps and supposed comic illustrations of the Pope relieving himself in the snow and pictured with a donkey giving the impression of a sexual act, and the script strewn with any number of swear words.
At this point you wonder if the men who died in the wars relating to the ceremony of respect on Sunday would think their sacrifice was worthwhile if they could see some aspects of the world they died for today.
I will back my sense of humour against anyone’s. But although I cried at the Cenotaph ceremony I never cracked my lips in a smile at the other two supposedly funny shows.
On the one hand people want these dignified occasions, Diana's funeral etc.. It was said that we (the British, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and C of E) "do" these very well. On the other hand comedians want to push the boundaries... I suppose that's what freedom is. We have to put up with other's freedoms that sometimes we don't like!
Humans are known to be capable of rising to great heights and sinking to even lower depths.
It's almost as if like the kids at school we can really be wonderfully nice and do our very best and please the teacher and our parents and then just to show them that there is another side do our damnest to prove them wrong!
Rasputin the great wise and old sage sat in his cave pondering one day on life in general. Rasputin was absolutely perfect, so was his world but he was absolutely alone in it and eventually got perfectly bored with it all.
He realized he had the ability to create life itself anew, but didn't really just want more perfects around, because he knew what the outcome already was.
So he devised a perfectly cunning plan. He would creat life but it would not be perfect. He would program it to be capable of recreating itself in myriad of forms, and whilst having the knowledge of perfection, would not automatically only be perfect, but could choice on a range of 1-10 whether to be perfect or not.
And so began the world as we know it today, and that's how the best and the worst of TV really started!
I agree with your sentiments But a sense of place would put your views into context. I dare say that many a joke was cracked in the trenches and especially toilet humour to raise the spirits of those in battle. And I’m sure if Graham Norton was to join the solemn ranks of those present at the Cenotaph he would give thanks and show respect. But Graham has a certain style of presentation and it would be at the start of his programme that I would switch off.