Topic: Michael Barrymore doc on Channel 4

[bgmnts]

I like that a man who refers to himself as Maggot was probably the nicest and most normal of that bunch.

[Default to the negative]

I remember it being a particularly cynical time in Channel 4's history. This was the same period when they were showing Balls of Steel. I can imagine some cocaine-fuelled Big Brother producer rumbling, WE'VE GORRA GET A GUEST APPEARANCE FROM JIMMY SAVILE IN THERE, THAT'LL BE THE CHERRY ON THE FACKIN CAKE!

[imitationleather]

Christ, I also had forgotten that was all in one series.

We didn't know how good we had it.

The documentay said Barrymore was hilarious on Big Brother and that's why he did so well. Actually, I remember him being a slurring and barely-coherent mess.

[Ja'moke]

I forgot that was all in the same series. What a gang, the class of 2006. Brings a tear to the eye when you look at those pictures, when they still had it all to live for.

Celebrity Big Brother 4 is an all-time reality-tv classic.

It's still shocking to me that no broadcaster has picked CBB up after Channel 5 got rid of it. I get dropping the civilian series, but CBB still did well in the ratings, better than anything else on Channel 5.

[confettiinmyhair]

The Circle is the closest TV show to capture the 'magic' of Big Brother. After Richard Madely's appearance can easily see if being as an opportunity for older celebs.

[Ja'moke]

The Circle is the closest TV show to capture the 'magic' of Big Brother. After Richard Madely's appearance can easily see if being as an opportunity for older celebs.

Yeah, I love The Circle (the US version was good too), but I wouldn't want them to fill that show with celebs.

[Rolf Lundgren]

hopefully his future attempts at a comeback will be dismissed, he's clearly always been more concerned about his career than anything else.

Reality shows look like the only ones that will have him and even they are few and far between. From a professional sense, you could argue Barrymore hasn't gotten away with anything. He was one of the biggest stars on television who kept being given his own shows and they all went virtually overnight. Not even brought back a year later or snapped up by a smaller channel.

Barrymore's behaviour with Stuart Lubbock's death is so odd. At one point in the documentary he talks about being back on television again with a few months, a sign of a man who hasn't grasped the severity of it at all. The pointing the finger at the hospital for being responsible for the anal injuries was disgusting. He seems so aggrieved that people still talk about it and doesn't demonstrate any empathy for Lubbock or his family who want to know what happened. It's as though he expected it all to blow over and he's become resentful that it's cost him his career.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

I remember it being a particularly cynical time in Channel 4's history. This was the same period when they were showing Balls of Steel.

I reckon the Annoying Devil was Barrymore in disguise.

[Cuntbeaks]

He did a fairly unhinged turn in Celebrity Come Dine With Me.

[petrilTanaka]

Yeah, I love The Circle (the US version was good too), but I wouldn't want them to fill that show with celebs.

fill the whole thing with celebs but tell each one all the other people are just ordinary civvies

[druss]

Just watched this and there is no doubt about it, Barrymore is definitely a gay.

[Hand Solo]

You only need to watch the interview Barrymore did of Georgie Ellis to get the cut of his gib:

https://youtu.be/y5icDLZXxN4

A massive cunt.

[up_the_hampipe]

Celebrity Big Brother 4 is an all-time reality-tv classic.

It's still shocking to me that no broadcaster has picked CBB up after Channel 5 got rid of it. I get dropping the civilian series, but CBB still did well in the ratings, better than anything else on Channel 5.

There was a rumour that Channel 4 were going to revive it next year, but they were quick to shut that down. It amazes me that some of those shows are still going strong after all these years but Big Brother fizzled away, there was some absolute gold in that show, even towards the very end.

Reality shows look like the only ones that will have him and even they are few and far between. From a professional sense, you could argue Barrymore hasn't gotten away with anything. He was one of the biggest stars on television who kept being given his own shows and they all went virtually overnight. Not even brought back a year later or snapped up by a smaller channel.

He's still been given more chances than most. Going on CBB, Dancing on Ice, Piers Morgan's Life Stories, Good Morning Britain. The public find him quite uncomfortable, rightly so, but there still seems to be attempts to get him going again, but hopefully this has killed it.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

Thing is, if he made a clean breast and said he was going to make actual jokes the basis of his act, rather than him just being an arse, people might forgive him for rape and murder.

[phantom_power]

Wasn't there some oddness regarding the coroner or someone at the morgue? I remember there being something about some of the injuries potentially being post-mortem. Was this discussed or was it just some pro-Barrymore conspiracy theory?

[up_the_hampipe]

Wasn't there some oddness regarding the coroner or someone at the morgue? I remember there being something about some of the injuries potentially being post-mortem. Was this discussed or was it just some pro-Barrymore conspiracy theory?

It's covered in the documentary and roundly dismissed. Barrymore introduced the theory that the injuries occurred at the hospital. Such a strange angle to push. It would be perfectly believable that the injuries occurred during the party at his massive house unbeknown to him, but he chose to pursue accusations of necrophilia instead. Really strengthened that he was deliberately hiding the truth.

[Default to the negative]

I downloaded this doc but, fuck, it's an hour-and-a-half long. Is it worth the time? Is it as good as, say, Leaving Neverland?

[up_the_hampipe]

I downloaded this doc but, fuck, it's an hour-and-a-half long. Is it worth the time? Is it as good as, say, Leaving Neverland?

No, but Leaving Neverland was about 4 hours long. This is interesting enough to sustain 90 mins.

[Default to the negative]

Watching it now. I enjoyed the first ten minutes as a little 90s nostalgia trip, seeing old Sun headlines and footage of Barrymore collecting an award from Gladiator's Wolf. Ah yes, those were the d- actually no, it was all shit on ITV.

It really was a different time, though. The doc reminds you of how much has changed. After Barrymore revealed himself to be gay, a news reporter said, 'Michael Barrymore earned his massive popularity through interacting, or more accurately, fooling about, with the British public. "My kind of people," he says. The question is, is he still our kind of entertainer?'

[gilbertharding]

"Awright?"

"Awright?"

"Awright up the back?"

Amazing he had a career in the first place, since his entire shtick seemed to be Basil Fawlty's idiot half-brother. In Major's Britain, he was the Cones Hotline of comedy.

[checkoutgirl]

"Awright?"

"Awright?"

"Awright up the back?"

Amazing he had a career in the first place, since his entire shtick seemed to be Basil Fawlty's idiot half-brother. In Major's Britain, he was the Cones Hotline of comedy.

I disagree. I mean I never liked any of his shows when I was younger (too much banter with plebs) but looking on some of his Strike it Lucky stuff with my current eye, he was a very gifted comic and pretty sharp when pouncing on a morsel from the contestants.

[Default to the negative]

I remember that during the phone hacking scandal, Paul McMullan did his best impression of a human being and argued that the NOTW was morally defensible because it had a history of sometimes exposing genuine crooks and corruption. Nowadays, he seems to have completely dropped that pretense. In this documentary he is totally cavalier when discussing the amorality of their methods. Without shame, he tells us how he impersonated a detective to get into Lubbock's mum's house. In fact, it seems he's even a little bit proud of it. ‘Ooh aren’t I a naughty scamp?’

[Annie Labuntur]

"Awright?"

"Awright?"

No, it was "awight, awight?". He'd always take the r's out.<sup>*

*</sup> feed

[icehaven]

Tbf, it was Sophie's choc ice, that series was a cavalcade of batshittery:

It's no wonder celebrity version of TV shows now are usually made up of 90% young dumb nobodies from structured reality shows, as the risk of using anyone older and with a less transparent background runs the risk of, well, this.

[bgmnts]

It's no wonder celebrity version of TV shows now are usually made up of 90% young dumb nobodies from structured reality shows, as the risk of using anyone older and with a less transparent background runs the risk of, well, this.

No joke, you should see "'Celebrity' Come Dine With Me last night. This fucking horrendous woman who has a shit youtube thing where she talks to people in a chicken restaurant. That's it. Not even the most basic skill or talent there, and she was a right cunt as well.

That's the calibre of celebrity now, because all the old guard are murderers, rapists, diddlers or fraudsters. GRIM.

[popcorn]

Apparently Barrymore is on telly at the moment weeping.

[petrilTanaka]

Apparently Barrymore is on telly at the moment weeping.

round the clock. whether he likes it or not. 3.5m viewers on average

[dr_christian_troy]

It's a shame Barrymore hasn't had another pantomime gig since he did Aladdin a few years ago.

[gilbertharding]

I disagree. I mean I never liked any of his shows when I was younger (too much banter with plebs) but looking on some of his Strike it Lucky stuff with my current eye, he was a very gifted comic and pretty sharp when pouncing on a morsel from the contestants.

No, fair enough - I was only exaggerating for what I hoped would be a laugh. But his banter with the contestants, while quick and funny, was very post Bruce Forsyth.

[popcorn]

I've barely seen any of Barrymore's stuff but those clips of him flirting with middle-aged women in the audience are horrifying.