so they get suspended from the bbc

[johnny.5]

who is running this country ?
political correctness gone mad ?
the press whip up a frenzy about some childish prank and even the pm has nothing better to do than have his twopenn'orth
so why did we all need to know ?
yet if some one goes on live tv and threatens to kill maim and injure then nothing more is said !!!
if the press have that much power then perhaps they should start to address some of the more emotional issues , such as lenient court sentencing !!

[chadad]

Regardless of whether they are sacked, Resign or are otherwise disposed of.
And regardless of the number of complaints made by people who may or may not have watched the show.
The fact remains that this pair made an abusive telephone call that infringed the law.
This cannot be denied as the idiots made sure that the offence was televised.
Should this offence result in a stay in the nick, for however short a period, then this would preclude their ever working in America.

[Quinlad]

I've said it already but the sooner we get back to the days of inoffensive, anodyne, toothless TV and radio presenters, the better.

Given that the public are so furious that their license fees pay presenters' salaries, surely the BBC should just tread the safe, middle ground so that this money goes to presenters who don't stir any reaction to avoid rocking the boat in any way?

I long for the days when our airwaves and screens are full of the likes of Bruno Brooks, Gaby Roslin, Mark Goodier, Nick Owen, Simon Bates, Michael Aspel, Elton Welsby, Anthea Turner, Roger Black and Judith Chalmers.

[sp1814]

Quinlad

Spot on.

There are a lot of people out there who do not like RB and JR. I myself am ambivalent about them...except that JB's presentation of the National Comedy Awards was always brilliant.

This story, however, is a chance for people to 'get him' and 'get' the BBC.

What they did was wrong, and there were serious editorial failings, but I would rather have edgy than safe.

By the way, did you know that the grand-daughter has already made �45,000 out of this story already?

Perhaps she should donate the lot of it to 'Help The Aged'.

That would be a nice gesture.

[BertiWooster]

Ambivalent
Uncertain attitude towards a person .

I'm not ambivalent - i'm certain that I object to being forced to pay towards the huge salary of this overated **** - Ross

[BertiWooster]

The word is tw*t 'a'

[Quinlad]

Would you rather a system where you get to fill in a massive checklist of where they should and shouldn't syphon your money to?

Can I opt of Last of The Summer Wine, Graham Norton, Edith Bowman and the snooker please?

[BertiWooster]

' forced ' was the clue there .

I object to being forced to pay a tax ( better known as the TV licence ) and by default , contribute directly to the wages of a number of people , on the network

[sp1814]

BertiWooster

I would hate to live in a world where the BBC was even partly funded by advertising.

It would destroy quality television. Take BBC4 for instance. Absolutely blinding grown up television. You couldn't fund a channel like that with advertising - it's viewing figures wouldn't support it.

And take the BBC Natural History department. Has ITV given us anything as good as Planet Earth? The Life Of Mammals? Life In The Freezer? Life In Cold Blood?

And the comedy output? What would happen to those slow-burn comedies like Nighty Night and The Office? You cannot support programming like this when you have to think about the bottom dollar with every decision you make.

What would happen is we would eventually get telly like the US. It would be bright, brash 30 minute comedies every night, with subscription services like HBO only for those who could afford it. The rest of the country would be denied quality broadcasting.

I've been all over the world, and I can honestly say that we have by far the best television I've ever seen.

We're lucky to have the BBC.

[tigerlily11]

After all this a thought crossed my mind that if the man they had been making these calls to had been just any ordinary bloke on the street, would there have been this much of a big deal made over it, or would every one have side with the grusome twosome and said 'get a sense of humor.' ?

[modeller]

One thing is clear that performers with real talent do not need to resort to porn and foul language in order to get a cheap laugh. Any idiot can swear and act in a crude manner drunks do it every night , and almost without exception as an entertainer's ability wanes their use of crudity increases. Unfortunately this infantile behaviour is supported and encouraged by thousands of fans and programmes like Little Britain.