RIP Sir Michael Parkinson - Chat Show King

[80sChav]

Michael - the King of Chat Shows sadly passed away Aug 16th aged 88 after a short illness

RIP Michael Parkinson

[George 1978]

I started a thread myself, but I shall I will post the obituary here instead:

He was the man who almost interviewed everyone who just happened to be well-known, and guests like Billy Connolly and Kenneth Williams seemed to have been just as much on his late-night chat show as he was; he didn't suffer fools gladly, but he did have a sense of humour. And he was forever haunted by that flipping (other stronger expletives are available somewhere) Emu when, at around 11.00 am on Saturday 27th November 1976 when the average Rod Hull and Emu audience would have been fast asleep in bed, his owner pretended to have no control over the bird; (and don't forget that this was just a few days or so before the Bill Grundy interviewing the Sex Pistols incident on Thames TV's Today). Even the charades game show that he took over had just as many guests on there as his chat show, and sometimes, even the wife joined the ladies' team so as not to give an implication of bias towards the gents' team. He was the second Michael to present Give us a Clue, but the first Michael to pass away after presenting it. Sir Michael Parkinson, often regarded as the best chat show host in the (show) business has died at the age of 88.

Parkinson, the host (to separate Parkinson the show, that is), was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire in 1935, a start to his no-nonsense approach to how one should be as a broadcaster. A career as a journalist soon helped him to climb the ladder and took him to TV presenting; after a stint with Granada, he was one of Yorkshire TV's first presenters when the station went on air for the first time in 1968. By 1971 he had his own chat show in the Braden's Week slot of Saturday nights; equipped with brown or later beige studio scenery, Parkinson invited many A-listers for a bit of chat, with around three or four guests on one show. And then came the Rod Hull and Emu episode; apparently, Hull wanted to appear sans Emu and wanted to be interviewed as himself (Mavis Nicholson successfully did this on her afternoon show around this time, ironically enough a programme in which his wife had presented from time to time). But the powers that be insisted that the bird must be part of it as well, and it did - cue the papier mache puppet almost breaking the glass coffee table base; tearing up scripts, grabbing onto the arms of the leatherette chair, and assaulting Parkinson in the priceless. "He's alright once you get to know him", Hull said. Thankfully, Parkinson saw the funny side no long after, and as late as 1987 he even appeared with Hull in an advert; when Hull died after a fall from his cottage roof after trying to adjust his TV aerial in order to watch a Manchester United match which was on ITV in 1999, Parkinson was one of the first to pay tribute to him. And as for other guests, well, Muhammad Ali was another one which comes to mind as well. Kenneth Williams sometimes got a bit political and anti-trade union in around 1973, and Billy Connolly was actually on the same edition as the Emu appearance, although he was to arrive later on in the show. "I'll break its neck and your arm", Connolly threatened if Hull didn't keep his bird under control. Parkinson also had a run in Australia in which Hull also worked there for many years on various TV projects.

The chat show ran and ran and ran, and then the 1980s started and some changes were to take place. The first run of Parkinson ended in 1982, and by then, the brown set had changed into a white coloured one. Just around the corner was the advent of breakfast television and from an ITV perspective, TV-am had won the contract with David Frost in charge, and Parkinson was to be a huge part of it. Parkinson with wife Mary who he had married in 1959, were to almost become the Richard and Judy of breakfast television, although on TV-am, their role was to keep the youngsters amused and they presented a magazine format on Saturdays. Not long after Angela Rippon (now of Strictly Come Dancing fame) and Anna Ford were sacked, the Parkinsons went on one of their many holidays at the end of January in 1984, but they simply never returned. On the Horizon was the host's chair of the charades show Give us a Clue, overseeing Una Stubbs and Lionel Blair's team and their gestures when miming a well-known phrase, TV show, book or film. He presented the show until the Thames run had ended in 1991 possibly due to the prepared franchise changeover. Parkinson's tenure as host had overseen Una Stubbs replaced by Liza Goddard as the ladies' team captain. When Dave Lee Travis refused to do his mime on one edition, Parkinson had to do it instead, and Spike Milligan appeared on that edition.

Michael Parkinson even had a brief foray into children's television when he wrote and narrated The Woofits for Yorkshire Television on Thursday lunchtimes just before Get Up & Go!, later repeated on Children's ITV at 4.00 pm. The chat show format was revived in around 1987 when Parkinson One-to-One was launched by Yorkshire Television in around the same slot as his BBC series; here, he limited himself to one guest and spent the entire show chatting to them about their life. Spike Milligan had also appeared as a guest on one edition which was seen as an outtake on It'll Be Alright's C.ock Up Trip. "It's going to cost you extra" Milligan said. Ghost watch (two words in order to avoid profanity checks) was a controversial programme seen at Hallowe'en in 1992 on the BBC, and Parkinson was involved in that. His second stint as host of Parkinson started in 1998 and guests like Billy Connolly reemerged on the show after 16 years away; he also had politicians like David Blunkett and more populist stars like the Beckhams as well. He also did radio versions of his chat shows such as Sunday lunchtimes on Radio 2 in what we know as the "Michael Ball" slot these days. His like of jazz was explored on air, as well as his relaxing look into the Sunday newspapers with a guest. His relationship with Radio 2 went back many years; as early as 1972, he was heard on there doing the After Seven programmes. He once said that radio presenting was better as "it saves on wardrobe". Parkinson also presented Going for a Song, although unlike Give us a Clue, he proceeded Michael Aspel rather than succeeded him; he was indeed the first Michael to present it, and also the first one to pass away after it as well - I assumed that as he was two years younger than Aspel, he would have outlived him.

He interviewed Bruce Forsyth on New Year's Eve in 1992 on receipt of Forsyth's 50 years of showbusiness; ironically, when the Generation Game started, Forsyth said that he thought that the BBC wanted him to do a talk show and that there weren't many talk shows on TV at the time - indeed, ironic when Parkinson's chat show had started at the same time. Also, a clip of Bruce's Big Night was seen on that programme with Bet Midler, and Brucie serving tea while sitting with cushions on the floor. "I tell you something - Parkinson's never done anything like this", Forsyth commented. Midler, who had never heard of the Yorkshireman: "is that some kind of disease?" assuming that he was referring to the illness which makes people shake. "It is like a disease - we get it every Saturday night", Forsyth replied in which the audience was in gales of laughter.

And then came the new millennium: Parkinson was to be one of the many presenters to cover the 2000 Today coverage on the BBC; the 28 hour marathon which was to invite Licence Fee recipients out of the second millennium and into the third one. He continued presenting Parkinson for a few more years; switching to ITV in 2004 and then retiring in 2007 in order to focus on writing. He got his well-deserved knighthood in recent years, probably as a form of compensation for that Emu incident! In 1999 he appeared on Room 101 and had successfully banished teenagers and celebrities who do jobs are not qualified for, while the piece of cotton that holds new pairs of socks together and the Teletubbies were rejected from the Orwell room. He even said that "he didn't get it" in response to Mr Blobby's Saturday night fame in the 1990s. In recent years, he went towards retirement and even had a bout of cancer. As a chat show host, I think that he was one of his kind; Wogan wanted to be like him but he was unique too. Russell Harty probably wanted to be like that as well. But the run of Parkinson (both programme and host) ran longer than most of its rivals.

Lots of clips from his chat shows have been repeated so many times over the years, one should expect so many more repeats of interviews or entire shows as a tribute. He leaves behind a huge legacy, cliche or not; today is yet another sad day for broadcasting, journalism, and emus.

[darren]

Yes sad news to hear.

I dont think there wasnt anyone he didnt interview some many times.

Emu of rod hull and emu didnt lije him.

Rip michael.

[Richard1978]

Very sad news.

[George 1978]

I forgot to mention his stint as host of Desert Island Discs from 1985-1988 after Roy Plomley died - seeing a picture of Parkinson as a guest during the Plomley area reminded me of it.

And he also did a Thames TV post-News at Ten London area chat show called Parky as well circa 1989. I assume that as he was contracted to them for Give us a Clue, and his experience as a chat show host, made them probably give him that show.