Graham Norton: All Episodes Talk

[StatisticalOutlier]

Since there's so little traffic, and setting up a thread for an episode is kind of a PITA with listing the episode number and the guests, I'll try doing an all episodes thread.

So I'll proceed to name the guests 😄  but the couch with Eddie Redmayne, Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, and Denzel Washington was fairly enjoyable.  Nothing epic, but a nice way to spend a highly edited hour.  I felt bad for the history guy Redmayne was talking about who worked on the Jackal movie and then went right to work on Gladiator.  Paul Mescal knew him, but Washington was like, "Who??"  Sure, he was a gladiator wrangler and Washington wasn't involved with that, but still.

Also, sometimes Washington's top front teeth are all that shows when he smiles and he looks like a rabbit.

[dubbel zout]

Eddie Redmayne is a BEC for me, so I'm never thrilled to see him.

I loved how Saoirse Ronan shut the men down when they were joking about using a phone as a weapon—"Who would think of that?"—by saying that women think about that all the time, and the snickering stopped immediately.

The musical guests are almost always definitely not to my taste, but I found Blossoms very entertaining, and the story about Garry was great.

[sugarbaker design]

On 11/2/2024 at 7:17 PM, dubbel zout said:

Eddie Redmayne is a BEC for me, so I'm never thrilled to see him.

BEC?

On 11/2/2024 at 7:17 PM, dubbel zout said:

The musical guests are almost always definitely not to my taste, but I found Blossoms very entertaining, and the story about Garry was great.

Agreed, I've never been more interested in a musical guest's conversation!

[dubbel zout]

50 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

BEC?

Bitch Eating Crackers: A person for whom one feels a strong and disproportionate dislike, to the extent that almost anything they do makes one angry or annoyed.

He bugs me to no end.

[lh25]

On 11/2/2024 at 4:17 PM, dubbel zout said:

I loved how Saoirse Ronan shut the men down when they were joking about using a phone as a weapon—"Who would think of that?"—by saying that women think about that all the time, and the snickering stopped immediately.

Loved that too!

I may be mixing up episodes as we watched 3 in a row, but was she the same one who admonished one of the men saying it was her turn to talk now?

[sugarbaker design]

2 hours ago, lh25 said:

Loved that too!

I may be mixing up episodes as we watched 3 in a row, but was she the same one who admonished one of the men saying it was her turn to talk now?

That was her!  And it was Paul Mescal she was admonishing!

[StatisticalOutlier]

I love how Graham ribs his guests.  He and Lolly talked about how she called her first show "Lolly" and her second one "Lolly 2," and then when Sigourney Weaver was talking about Alien, he said, "And the sequel, obviously, as you said..." and he leans forward and says, "They went with 'Aliens,' Lolly."

But most impressive is his quickness.  Sigourney Weaver said she learned to hold her breath for 6-1/2 minutes for Avatar, and added that she had "enhanced oxygen" to do it, that she had probably 70% oxygen "instead of what we're breathing here, is 30% oxygen."  Graham kind of throws up his hands and says, "That's rubbish.  I'm so sorry.  I really apologize."  For the air in his studio.

The shows this season have been just so-so for me, but there are moments.

Edited December 14, 2024 by StatisticalOutlier

[dubbel zout]

I like that Graham ribs his guests without being mean. When the guest is a repeat or they're friends, his jokes have a slightly sharper edge, but they are still good-natured. And they always relate to whatever the sofa is talking about. 

The music guests have improved this season. For a long time I immediately FFed through them, but this time I'm listening to more.

[StatisticalOutlier]

28 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I like that Graham ribs his guests without being mean. When the guest is a repeat or they're friends, his jokes have a slightly sharper edge, but they are still good-natured. And they always relate to whatever the sofa is talking about. 

He is a true master.  And he always looks like he's having such a good time and enjoys not being the center of attention. 

His is the only chat show I'll watch any more, and has been for several years.

[AnnMarie17]

On 12/14/2024 at 7:37 PM, dubbel zout said:

The music guests have improved this season. For a long time I immediately FFed through them, but this time I'm listening to more.

For years it's been a running joke that we hit FF as soon as the musical guest begins; but this year we've found two new artists that we really enjoy and have added them to our playlists.  I'm happy to hear that someone else has noticed an improvement, too! 

[SusieQ]

On 12/14/2024 at 8:06 PM, StatisticalOutlier said:

He is a true master.  And he always looks like he's having such a good time and enjoys not being the center of attention. 

His is the only chat show I'll watch any more, and has been for several years.

He does look like he's having fun. And it's such a pleasure to watch how he handles all those celebrities at the same time. I'm sorry he doesnt do more shows each season.

[StatisticalOutlier]

So what do y'all think about the latest batch of shows?  As I said, I've found them just so-so.  Is it just me?

[Orbert]

I think they've been fine.  I'm always impressed by how sometimes I've never even heard of two or even three of the four guests, yet I'm entertained by their conversation.  Graham is a great host in that regard.  And as others have said, I've found the musical guests better recently, or at least more in line with my tastes.

Are we not doing individual threads for episodes anymore?  Was it no longer worth the effort because of so little traffic?

[sugarbaker design]

14 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

So what do y'all think about the latest batch of shows?  As I said, I've found them just so-so.  Is it just me?

No, it's not just you.  But even a so-so GN show is miles better than any other talk show.

[StatisticalOutlier]

Daniel Craig, Nicola Coughlan, Jesse Eisenberg, and Kieran Culkin:  Now that's more like it.  That was a whole lot of fun.

[sugarbaker design]

17 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Daniel Craig, Nicola Coughlan, Jesse Eisenberg, and Kieran Culkin:  Now that's more like it.  That was a whole lot of fun.

Yes! Everyone was at the top of their game!

[Orbert]

Daniel seemed like such a normal guy, even a bit shy and reserved, and that struck me more than I'd have thought.  I'm used to seeing him as Bond, or any number of characters who are always in control; and in interviews and such, he's always the focus.  But seeing him sitting there on the couch, a bit older than the rest but still a cool guy, just listening to the others chat, reminded me why Graham's show is so great.  You get to see celebrities being normal people, just talking about stuff.

Everyone has met Kieran Culkin, but nobody ever remembers it.  I even think I might have met him once, but I wouldn't remember.

I've always kinda liked Jesse, but also think he's kinda weird.  Nothing has changed, but I'm glad he's doing well.

Eff societal norms and Size 0 supermodels; I'm in love with Nicola.  She is absolutely gorgeous.

[dubbel zout]

2 hours ago, Orbert said:

But seeing him sitting there on the couch, a bit older than the rest but still a cool guy, just listening to the others chat, reminded me why Graham's show is so great.  You get to see celebrities being normal people, just talking about stuff.

Look for the pandemic-era show with Craig; when Graham shows a photo of Ed Sheeran's handmade crib (or something equally impressive), all Daniel and Graham see is the immaculate lawn behind it. Then Graham makes a comment about what a typical middle-aged-man comment that is and they both crack up. It's delightful!

[Orbert]

I remember that! That was a good looking lawn.

[athousandclowns]

I fell in love with Daniel Craig in The Mother in 2004 which I think was first time I saw him. 
I am a firm believer that Graham is certainly one of the best chat show hosts for some time. . If I remember correctly he came to the states and   had a show that didn’t last very long. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

19 minutes ago, athousandclowns said:

I fell in love with Daniel Craig in The Mother in 2004 which I think was first time I saw him. 

That was the first time I saw him, and I thought he was singularly unattractive, and was super surprised when they picked him to be James Bond.

His appearances on Graham Norton have really endeared him to me.  Graham seems to bring out the "normal" in people even when they're superstars and talking about superstar things.  Like that lawn thing; that was one for the ages.

[StatisticalOutlier]

Did Rami Malek's Freddie Mercury teeth permanently fuck up his mouth?  God, he was distracting just sitting there.  And kind of a dud.  I'd be happy not to see him on the show again (outweighing my almost sympathy for his being such a dud).

I don't know anything about Robbie Williams except that he's super famous in not-the-U.S. and I was planning to see the monkey movie about him because I'll see just about any weird movie. 

His face looked unnaturally chiseled, and it turns out he's on Ozempic.  That tracks.  But I will say that his is one of only two music performances I've ever actively enjoyed--I almost never watch the full musical act, but I've played his back a couple of times so far.  Such tightly choreographed near-chaos is always a treat for me; kudos to his dancers.

(The other performance was Christine and the Queens' song about being perfectly fine and can't help it if she's tilted.  That was mesmerizing.  Robbie Williams's was a ton of fun.  Pogo sticks!)

[dubbel zout]

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

he's super famous in not-the-U.S.

That situation always fascinates me. Is it timing? Different tastes? National chauvinism? Probably a combination of things.

Williams's performance was fantastically entertaining. He can sing, so the surrounding showmanship doesn't feel like it's trying to distract from that.

[Quof]

Robbie is always a great guest on Graham's show. Search for him telling the story about his daughter's birth, I believe to Emma Thompson.  

[StatisticalOutlier]

5 hours ago, Quof said:

Robbie is always a great guest on Graham's show. Search for him telling the story about his daughter's birth, I believe to Emma Thompson. 

You mean it was him  who compared watching the birth to watching his favorite pub burn down?  I think about that comparison frequently, like every couple of months, but have never known who it was.

[MicheleinPhilly]

16 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Did Rami Malek's Freddie Mercury teeth permanently fuck up his mouth?  God, he was distracting just sitting there.  And kind of a dud.  I'd be happy not to see him on the show again (outweighing my almost sympathy for his being such a dud).

I can't stand Rami Malek. It always boggles the mind how someone with so little charisma became such a star. 

Overall I found the NYE show to be a dud. It felt like the "stars" cancelled last minute and this was the best couch they could assemble on short notice. 

[pvandal]

I really enjoyed this episode but I've been a huge Robbie fan since the Take That days. I never understood why his music isn't more popular here in the US. He and John Bishop made up for Rami's dullness. Motsi was fun but they didn't give her enough time.

[StatisticalOutlier]

7 hours ago, MicheleinPhilly said:

I can't stand Rami Malek. It always boggles the mind how someone with so little charisma became such a star.

Then he really did earn his acting award(s?) for playing the very charismatic Freddie Mercury. 

Quote

Overall I found the NYE show to be a dud. It felt like the "stars" cancelled last minute and this was the best couch they could assemble on short notice. 

I really enjoyed it, and was glad they gave us a 90-minute version.

I don't know if you were kidding, but these seemed like timely appearances for the guests, promoting their various projects.

[Quof]

The NYE show is, of course, recorded weeks in advance. Some years it is clearly recorded over several dates, with completely separate groups of guests on the couch, then pieced together for airing as if it happened all at once.  It's not a matter of "guests who had nothing better to do", they're scheduled by their publicists like any other date.  

Edited Tuesday at 09:21 AM by Quof

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

For those in the US who don't know who Robbie Williams is, this is what a real showman looks like. 

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

 

[StatisticalOutlier]

I'd never heard of this Rock DJ song before, so I found a version from 2001 on youtube.  Age has served him well.

I also found this compilation of Robbie Williams stories on the Graham Norton Show.  I recognize some of the couches but not necessarily the stories (especially the castle one, right up there with the pub burning down, and made even better with Anna Kendrick's reactions); maybe they were edited out of the U.S. version?  Anyway, enjoy:

 

[Irlandesa]

Robbie is more known in the US for the little tidbit of a song "Angels" he sang at the end of his Rock DJ performance. 

He also sang "Beyond the Sea" in the Finding Nemo.

I think part of the reason he didn't break big in the US is because Take That never was huge here.  The US had its own boy bands so he was starting cold.  Kylie Minogue is a bit similar.  She's probably a bit more known in the US compared to Robbie but her US popularity is nothing compared to her success in other countries. 

I remember once reading something Robbie said that in some ways he liked it because he basically had anonymity when living here and could do normal things whereas he'd be mobbed living almost anywhere else.

And he still made tons of money even without the US market. 

Now you know everything I know about Robbie Williams which is not a lot beyond what I wrote here and what I've seen from him via Graham's show. 

By the way, Graham is scheduled to be on Late Night with Seth Meyers next Monday so he must be doing something stateside he's promoting. 

[dubbel zout]

8 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

By the way, Graham is scheduled to be on Late Night with Seth Meyers next Monday so he must be doing something stateside he's promoting. 

My DVR calls him "author Graham Norton," so maybe it's his latest book, Frankie? It was published last fall but is now out in paperback.

[Orbert]

I'm in the U.S. and I only know Robbie Williams from the Graham Norton show.  I think I may have heard of him before that, but I've been watching Graham for a long time now, so it's possible that I just recognized the name from a previous appearance, since he does seem to show up a lot.

Anyway, his music is not my usual cup of tea (Earl Grey, hot) but whenever he's on, I watch and listen because he's a terrific performer.  I loved how Graham asked if he was going to do the song now, he said "Yes" someone came out and put a big fur coat on him, and he went into "performance mode" and strode over to the stage and just nailed it.  I  really don't like rap and would've changed the radio station if it came on, but watching it was something else.  Truly captivating.

[dubbel zout]

Here's an American guide to Robbie Williams. There may be a paywall.

Edited Wednesday at 09:48 PM by dubbel zout

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]