The rise and fall of the Talk show host

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Where have all the talk show hosts gone? Have they really had their day? Once upon a time the talk show was the stabelofhe TV schedules. Flushed by the success of his Saturday night show Terry Wogan was given the task of carrying the early evening slot at 7pm to grab the viewers and hold them for an evening of BBC One entertainment. It’s inconceivable for that to happen now. In the age of multiple channels, where a decent aerial is still required and a TV Aerial Installation Cardiff are on hand to help, the ability of one presenter to do that is folly. Whilst Terry Wogan was a bit special even he couldn’t have done that now.

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The quiet dignity of Michael Parkinson or Russel Harty has gone. Not that there’s anything wrong with Jonathan Ross or Graham Norton but the intelligent conversation has faded. Now the shows are forums for book and film pluggers. Both Norton and Ross’s will spice things up with humorous stories and risque material; they tend to just be opportunities for A-List Hollywood stars to mix with British entertainment leading lights and tell funny tales. The nadir of this is when members of the public sit in a big red chair. When they tell their funny tales the A listers get to dump them out the back of it if they think it unworthy.

The rise and fall of the Talk show host.

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Chat shows were supposed to be a chance to get to know them as people. To ask them questions that might inspire answers. It didn’t always work. When Michael Parkinson asked the perfectly reasonable question of Robert Mitchum if he had always wanted to be an actor he got an eye roll and the answer, “no, I wanted to be Queen!”.

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