People getting bullied on a panel show ...

[Famous Mortimer]

I find it strange every time the Preston thing is brought up - I don't care for the guy's music, didn't reckon much to Chanel's career, but...some smug twat was insulting his wife on the show he was on. Walking off that show was absolutely reasonable. Try and put yourself in his position, I guess?

[turnstyle]

On the one hand, panel show bullying could be cruel back in the day, on the other hand...Donny Tourettes.

[The Lurker]

The Hollyoaks guy must've been relieved that Donny Tourette took so much stick in that episode instead of him.

When I first saw the Preston episode though, I was definitely of the view off "haha! Look how sensitive that guy is, what a prick haha!" but, yeah, obviously you're going to be touchy if someone is taking the piss out of your wife so I am fully on his side. I liked Preston's response in the press calling Amstell a posh boy who doesn't write his own jokes. Had Preston said that to him, it obviously wouldn't have made the edit and only added more fuel to the fire.

(Granted, Preston was pretty miserable at the slight ribbing Amstell made about the Ordinary Boys. He should have just taken that one on the chin)

[The Lurker]

One that I always remembered was They Think It's All Over taking the piss out of Luke Chadwick's appearance. Didn't think much of it until Chadwick played against my team regularly a few years later and thinking how out of order it was and wondering how it affected him had he seen it.

Either way, last year, he did an interview with The Athletic on how it made him anxious, how much it stunted his growth as a person and affected his mental health. He always came across as very self aware in his interviews about it. Nick Hancock seemed genuinely gutted about it when BBC Breakfast interviewed him about it - it was probably one of the best examples of an apology I've seen. Gary Lineker's apology on Twitter, however, was hardly contrite and must have taken him all of 10 seconds to type.

I might not be helping with this comment but it has to be said that Chadwick has definitely grown into his looks over the last few years

[wooders1978]

I find it strange every time the Preston thing is brought up - I don't care for the guy's music, didn't reckon much to Chanel's career, but...some smug twat was insulting his wife on the show he was on. Walking off that show was absolutely reasonable. Try and put yourself in his position, I guess?

Was gonna come in and say the same - it was very snide about a sweet woman whom he was married to - Amstel would've had his chin bollox smashed off by a lot of blokes if he was carrying on like that about their wives - always thought it was middle class snearing

[Captain Z]

Let's not paint Preston as too much of a saint. He began his relationship with Chanelle while he had a fiance outside the Big Brother house, and from salacious gossip didn't treat Chanelle much better either. Amstel's jibes were probably about the level he deserved, although perhaps Chanelle not so much.

[BeardFaceMan]

Let's not paint Preston as too much of a saint. He began his relationship with Chanelle while he had a fiance outside the Big Brother house, and from salacious gossip didn't treat Chanelle much better either. Amstel's jibes were probably about the level he deserved, although perhaps Chanelle not so much.

Which is the point really. He was there to defend himself when they took the piss out of him which he was obviously OK with, she wasn't though. It was just saying to Preston "haha isn't your wife thick?", they gave him no option but to walk off. Doesn't matter how much of a prick he is (and I do think he is), that was a shitty thing for them to do.

[ajsmith2]

Anyone remember the miserable early Channel 5 retro music quiz show WowFabGroovy? The panelists tended to be an uncomfortable mixture of old school 1960s pop stars and upcoming second tier 90s comedians whose agents had wangled them this gig, look I know it's not really your thing but it's TV exposure, you can't argue with that and the two factions tended to gell about as well as the contents of the Lava Lamps that were probably in the shows title sequence and/or set.

I remember the edition that Paul Jones of Manfred Mann was on being really uncomfortable, with Jones attempting to charm the audience with protracted luvvie style anecdotes that would have played well if delivered by say David Niven on a 70s Parkinson, but fell flat with the cynical 90s audience and fellow panelists, and eventually led to the latter ganging up on him by feigning falling asleep every time he started speaking. Just cringed so much at Jones failure in the harsh world of the 90s panel show and at the cold hostility of the younger comedians (sorry can't remember who they were: they may have remained obscure or maybe they went onto greater fame in the 00s)

[ajsmith2]

edit: double post

[sutin]

I'm not a violent man, but Amstell does have the sort of smug posh cunt face I would never tire of punching. Enormous restraint from Preston.

[Famous Mortimer]

Anyone remember the miserable early Channel 5 retro music quiz show WowFabGroovy? The panelists tended to be an uncomfortable mixture of old school 1960s pop stars and upcoming second tier 90s comedians whose agents had wangled them this gig, look I know it's not really your thing but it's TV exposure, you can't argue with that and the two factions tended to gell about as well as the contents of the Lava Lamps that were probably in the shows title sequence and/or set.

I remember the edition that Paul Jones of Manfred Mann was on being really uncomfortable, with Jones attempting to charm the audience with protracted luvvie style anecdotes that would have played well if delivered by say David Niven on a 70s Parkinson, but fell flat with the cynical 90s audience and fellow panelists, and eventually led to the latter ganging up on him by feigning falling asleep every time he started speaking. Just cringed so much at Jones failure in the harsh world of the 90s panel show and at the cold hostility of the younger comedians (sorry can't remember who they were: they may have remained obscure or maybe they went onto greater fame in the 00s)

I found an episode of it on Youtube and aside from Hank Marvin and a very vague memory of two others, half the panelists (and the host) are completely unknown to me, so probably "remained obscure" is the answer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCYUcKrjLuw

[ajsmith2]

I found an episode of it on Youtube and aside from Hank Marvin and a very vague memory of two others, half the panelists (and the host) are completely unknown to me, so probably "remained obscure" is the answer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCYUcKrjLuw

'Kin hell, there actually WAS a lava lamp in the title sequence AND in the set!

[Thursday]

I find it strange every time the Preston thing is brought up - I don't care for the guy's music, didn't reckon much to Chanel's career, but...some smug twat was insulting his wife on the show he was on. Walking off that show was absolutely reasonable. Try and put yourself in his position, I guess?

Yeah although it was a weird one if I recall. It started off with a mild dig at Preston himself and he had a very strange reaction where he just stared angrily. So he absolutely would not have been up for the an acceptable level of "banter" But I completely agree, someone making fun of your wife in public in front of you when she's not there is completely crossing a line.

[jobotic]

I found an episode of it on Youtube and aside from Hank Marvin and a very vague memory of two others, half the panelists (and the host) are completely unknown to me, so probably "remained obscure" is the answer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCYUcKrjLuw

And if you are one of the panellists or host and you find that upload the only comments below it are "have you got the following Hollyoaks episodes.....". Grim.

[Mobbd]

There was an early episode of Argumental where Sean Locke (muchasIlovehim,godresthissoul) was very unpleasant to Rufus Hound. Sean insisted several times that Rufus wasn't a real comedian, that he'd had imagined himself a girlfriend, was generally delusional, etc. It was pretty brutal and Rufus didn't look like he was enjoying it at all. More bewildering as to why Sean was being so horrible was why the editors left it in; it seemed personal and not at all entertaining or even for our benefit.

If it helps anyone remember or identify the episode, the show involved Rufus Hound taking his shirt off to show his tattoos. One of the tattoos was "robots versus monkeys" and another was of a dog doing stand-up. Early in the series, season 1 probably.

[g0m]

I'm not a violent man, but Amstell does have the sort of smug posh cunt face I would never tire of punching. Enormous restraint from Preston.

You sound a bit like a violent man... you're talking about punching a guy. Pretty violent

[sutin]

You sound a bit like a violent man... you're talking about punching a guy. Pretty violent

Simon Amstell and Nigel Farage, the rest of the world is safe.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

With regards to people who handled Amstell's jibes and piss taking well, I remember Kelly Rowland dealt with it pretty graciously, and came across as a good laugh. They weren't calling her spouse a stupid bastard though.

[The Lurker]

Donny Tourette took his ribbing from Amstell well too. Those gags were about him being a dick which was completely his own doing.

Jedward took a lot of stick on Buzzcocks and 8 out of 10 Cats but it did come across as though they weren't aware they were being made fun of half the time. You could tell Sean Lock fucking hated them.

[somersetchris]

Simon Amstell and Nigel Farage, the rest of the world is safe.

Maybe you want to think about who Simon Amstell actually is, rather than the character he played on TV. It's a bit like saying you want to punch Steve Coogan because you don't like Alan Partridge.

[somersetchris]

There was an early episode of Argumental where Sean Locke (muchasIlovehim,godresthissoul) was very unpleasant to Rufus Hound. Sean insisted several times that Rufus wasn't a real comedian, that he'd had imagined himself a girlfriend, was generally delusional, etc. It was pretty brutal and Rufus didn't look like he was enjoying it at all. More bewildering as to why Sean was being so horrible was why the editors left it in; it seemed personal and not at all entertaining or even for our benefit.

If it helps anyone remember or identify the episode, the show involved Rufus Hound taking his shirt off to show his tattoos. One of the tattoos was "robots versus monkeys" and another was of a dog doing stand-up. Early in the series, season 1 probably.

For what it's worth, Rufus Hound for me won pretty much every episode of Argumental, he came out of it very well, including insulting a body builder for way longer than 99% of people would have done.

[somersetchris]

Is it any shock neither amstell or lammar don't appear on TV anymore? I've always thought the best and most silent way for the industry to show what they think of you after being a cunt on a show is to make sure you never get the chance to work in TV again.

Simon Amstell has gone from being a smarmy presenter on TV to writing and directing his own shows, becoming a successful standup, making documentaries and directing films. I think he's doing alright and he's probably fairly happy with how his career is going. Most of us here would sell our grandmothers for his post-Buzzcocks career - there are more measures of success than how many hours you can spend being smug on panel shows.

[Cuellar]

I think Simon Amstell is a prick

[pigamus]

But then he did make two series of a very good sitcom exploring how and why he was a prick and how he didn't want to be a prick any more.

[Famous Mortimer]

But then he did make two series of a very good sitcom exploring how and why he was a prick and how he didn't want to be a prick any more.

An observation he came to just a few years after everyone else.

[pigamus]

What style of thing?

[sutin]

If it wasn't for this forum I would have assumed Amstell hadn't worked at all since leaving Buzzcocks, or before for that matter. I've seen him in absolutely nothing else. It's like he was beamed in as a fully-formed smarmy little prick.

[sutin]

He's gay, teetotal and vegan according to Wikipedia. That's... unusual for someone who gives off strong schoolboy bully lad vibes.

[Mr Banlon]

If it wasn't for this forum I would have assumed Amstell hadn't worked at all since leaving Buzzcocks, or before for that matter. I've seen him in absolutely nothing else. It's like he was beamed in as a fully-formed smarmy little prick.

https://youtu.be/BF4bCzSJgsQ?t=76

[up_the_hampipe]

An observation he came to just a few years after everyone else.

Certainly was and continues to be very popular for someone that "everyone" thinks is a prick.