Interesting to read the responses on Mediaguardian’s Organ Grinder blog to the question “Will you be watching Channel 4 tonight?”
Obviously, for me the answer is a resounding no. I’d post my response there, but the commenting system seems to be down at the moment. So let me write here instead.
We’re at the start of December and it’s peak Christmas advertising season, so there’s no excuse for the programming being substandard yet we get the following (after an admittedly superior 7pm-8pm hour up against the soaps on ITV):
8pm Unanimous – Is anybody watching this? Is anybody interested in it? It’s rubbish and it lasts an hour.
9pm The Simpsons – Superior US animation, but this is an episode first shown in the US in 2000. So topical then.
9.30pm The Simpsons – An episode first shown in 2002. So that’ll have only aired on Sky One about 50,000 times, and BBC2 a dozen times then.
10.00pm 8 Out Of 10 Cats – Given the choice of Jimmy Carr or Stephen Fry in QI over on BBC2, who do you really think is going to win? I suppose it’s OK, but that’s the best that can be said.
10.30pm Blunder – I had the misfortunate to catch a minute of this the other night on E4. Did you ever watch Don’t Shoot the Writers late at night on ITV? It was before they handed all their late night airtime over to making money from their stupid viewers, thus ensuring that Carol Vorderman-fronted debt consolidation ads only become more prevalent? Well that was better.
11.05pm The Russell Brand Show – Can be funny in very small doses, but that’s the best you’re going to get from me I’m afraid. Having said that, I haven’t actually seen this series, but then I have no intention of giving it the time of day either. I’d prefer to get annoyed at Jonathan Ross or watch Newsnight and Later… whilst catching up with the paper.
11.55pm My Name Is Earl – Not bad US sitcom repeat. But not as good as Frasier, so I don’t bother with it. Plus, if I’m honest, I find the links of some of the key actors to scientology to be midly disturbing. The US Office over on ITV2 is much better, as is Entourage. Either could have found great homes on C4 Fridays if someone had some gumption.
12.20am The Album Chart Show – Tossed away at this time. I thought that perhaps this was the repeat showing, but no, that’s at 1.35am on Monday morning. Some decent bands on this, but C4 don’t really care about it.
12.50am World Music Awards 2006 – Don’t tune in expecting some kind of Andy Kershaw/Verity Sharp type music. No, this is the awards ceremony from a couple of weeks ago that included Michael Jackson not singing one of his songs. And it’s a repeat.
So there you have it. Up against this are programmes like I’m A Celebrity (not remotely interested), Have I Got News For You, the new Jennifer Saunders sitcom Jam & Jerusalem (I lost interest in this during the first episode even though it has Sally Phillips in it, which is normally reason enough for me to watch), QI, another QI over on BBC Four, Newsnight, Ashes highlights (England had a good day last night), the excellent Later…with Jools Holland even if he surely managed to break internal BBC rules by plugging his own DVD of the show (not distributed by BBC Worldwide/2Entertain) and then performing with his own band in the week that his own new CD came out, and all the early evening soaps.
I think I’d rather watch a Two Pints of Lager… marathon on BBC Three than C4 on a Friday. OK – maybe that’s over-egging the pudding, but you know what I mean.