The Graham Norton Effect

I attended the taping of this week's episode of The Graham Norton Effect last night -- absolutely hilarious! The guests were Marilyn Manson and Chris Rock and both were in top form. I feel sorry for whoever has to insert the bleeps for each episode -- it's going to take them all today and tomorrow to clean up this show before it airs Thursday (I'm not sure I've ever heard the word p***y bandied about as much as I did last night).

Graham was terrific -- so effortlessly funny and spontaneous, both on and off camera (I've met him a couple of times in social settings and he seems to be exactly the same "in real life" as he is on the show -- manic, slightly crazed, but very sweet). I've rarely seen someone in this business who so thoroughly enjoys what he does. Too bad there's only one more show, though there's a chance he'll be asked back to do another series next year (a friend of a friend is one of the producers and he said that Comedy Central has been very pleased with the ratings).

So anyway, enjoy the show on Thursday, it's a good one.

P.S. The George Michael story he refers to during the Chris Rock interview was BEYOND juicy....

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Margo....the opening credits for the show look like they were filmed outside of a New York theatre. If that's the case, do you know which one?

I could be remembering the promos for the show as opposed to the actual opening credits.

I LOVE Graham's show!

I definitely agree that the one real flaw with Graham Norton is his overempasis on bits and pre-arranged sketches. The little skits are very hit or miss (the ones last night were only OK), but where Graham really shines is when he gets to "play" with the audience (he's got one of the quickest tongues in the business) and when he's having fun with a guest who really "gets" the show. Last night, Manson completely willing to play along and talk about anything, making him an ideal guest and Rock was also very good (the two had surprisingly good chemistry together). When you've got two good guests and the interviews are going really well, why cut away for a "stunt" segment, which may or may not work and interferes with the pace of the show. The show was a blast, overall, but I wish Graham had had more time to spend with the guests.

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I read in a recent interview that he loved meeting celebs but doesn't really enjoy talking to them all that much. He doesn't find most of them all that interesting after a few minutes. (I'd have to agree.) Could account for why he'll practically break away mid-sentence and launch into something completely irrelevant. I love it! I think it's part of his charm. I recently had the pleasure of, almost literally, bumping into him at one of the more popular gay watering holes in Chelsea (NYC). He was very sweet, and even a little shy. I hope the powers that be over at Comedy Central renew his show for another season!

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