S19.E14: Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Rebel Wilson, Iggy Pop

[Athena]

Quote

Graham is joined by Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, starring in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, and Aussie actress Rebel Wilson, appearing in Guys and Dolls. With music from Iggy Pop, who performs the single Sunday.

[fastiller]

I wish Iggy were going to be a true couch guest; I'd love for him & Graham Norton to swap 'working for BBC' stories.  (Iggy Pop has a regular radio show on BBC Radio 6: Iggy Confidential).

[Mumbles]

I wish the show had been longer because I really like the AbFab women; I wish Saunders had had more time to talk about French and Saunders and her other pre-AbFab work, like Lumley did.

Rebel Wilson didn't bug me as much as she usually does, because she did seem in  awe of them and not her usual bored self. BUT, she did her classic thing when she was talking about her Guys and Dolls character dancing at a club called the "Hot Box" and then pausing and pointing out that it's a reference to a vagina. YEAH we GET it. She's on this show a lot. I guess Graham likes her.

Iggy Pop was awesome and I wish he had more couch time. When he talked about how he goes from chair to chair in his house and just enjoys sitting in them, I had to rewind on the DVR a few times, it made me laugh so much. And his musical performance was great.

[dubbel zout]

I was underwhelmed with the small sample of Miss Adelaide we got from Rebel Wilson. It's a signature role—you need real musical chops for it.

You'd think since it was the last show of the season that we'd get the full hour. Boo, BBCA.

[peeayebee]

I enjoy Iggy Pop talking more than singing. I wasn't sure that Graham was getting the little jokes Iggy was making. Also, I was instantly picturing Fred Armisen portraying him. 

I liked Saunders and Lumley. I've seen only a couple eps of their show. I couldn't really get into it.

[MsTree]

Mods...this aired tonight.

[attica]

I once sat in an airport waiting area a few seats away from Iggy and a lady companion. I remember that nobody seemed to notice/recognize him, which struck me odd. But mostly I remember being ah-maaazed at how glossy and healthy his hair was. One doesn't associate proto-punkers with Pantene, you know? I smiled to see him here, still Iggy with the good hair.

Josh Homme (the QotSA guitarist) is a pleasant guest too. 

I work with a dude that has already bought his opening day AbFab tickets.

[SmithW6079]

Nope. Still don't like Rebel Wilson, but I will give her props for three things: (1) finally wearing clothes that fit,  (2) her what had to be an unrehearsed, off-the-cuff question to Joanna Lumley about how old was she now, and (3) that she has a good set of pipes.

I liked Iggy Pop's weirdness about his chairs but not some much his song. His collaborator was a good guest too. 

The red chair story went on for entirely too long. 

[ChicagoCita]

This didn't gel for me... too much cuttage. C'mon, BBCA, stop chopping it down to 45 minutes, and if you do, do you have to put in "advance snippets" of what's after the commercials to burn up even more time?

It just felt like most of the show was missing. And Rebel Wilson was completely superfluous. I would have loved to have seen a whole show of the AbFabs, joined by Iggy and Josh for the last 20 minutes.

Edited July 4, 2016 by ChicagoCita

[Mumbles]

Graham must have some soft spot for Rebel Wilson, he has her on so much. I'd rather had her spot taken by the actors who play Saffy or Edina's mother (assuming they're in the movie) than Wilson, whose part looks like a cameo. But frankly just Lumley and Saunders would have sufficed (with more Iggy time.) It always kills me how wonderful Lumley is as a comic actor as that was not what she was known for at first (Bond girl, New Avengers). 

[Quof]

I think Rebel has blackmail material on Graham, just like Cameron Diaz.  There is no other explanation for how often they appear. 

[peeayebee]

I LOVED Lumley in James and the Giant Peach. Of course there was also Miriam Margolyes, another fantastic guest.

[dubbel zout]

13 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Miriam Margolyes

She would have despaired of Wilson's constant use of "like." I know I did.

[peeayebee]

Heh. I didn't think of that, but you're probably right.

BTW, here are Lumley and Gargoyles in James and the Giant Peach:

[Ailianna]

On ‎7‎/‎6‎/‎2016 at 3:29 PM, peeayebee said:

Heh. I didn't think of that, but you're probably right.

BTW, here are Lumley and Gargoyles in James and the Giant Peach:

I know that has to be a typo on Miriam's name, but I think she might even find it funny.  And hell yes, I would have loved hearing her give Rebel Wilson a grammar lesson!

[peeayebee]

Eh. Stupid autocorrect.

[MissLucas]

I think a little Rebel Wilson goes a long way. I just watched one of her previous appearances with Matt LeBlanc and Kit Harington. LeBlanc is normally pretty laid-back and charming. She kept bringing up that she's never seen 'Friends' and he laughed it off. But when she asked Harington 'Mr Bean plays your father?' and then claimed to have no knowledge about GoT he lost it: 'Don't you own a f***ing tv?'

[peeayebee]

I thought that Mr Bean line was pretty funny, since Sean Bean played his father. 

[Mumbles]

Yeah, when she first came on the scene I rooted for her only because women who don't fit a certain body type have an uphill battle in Hollywood. But her blase and rude attitude on shows like this, as well as being crass and offensive (like her "joke" mocking police brutality at the MTV awards last fall), just makes me dread her appearances on shows like this. She is a black hole from which wit and charm never escape.

[MissLucas]

The Bean-line on its own was funny - but since she had already milked plenty of jokes from not having seen 'Friends' it became over-the-top in context. I find some of her jokes hilarious but she occasionally pushes things too far.

[Ailianna]

She really seemed like she was trying to be one of those people who think they are so cool because they don't watch TV and are therefore so much better than the rest of us.  But she's in entertainment, for crying out loud, and the stuff she's in isn't exactly Masterpiece Theatre.

[supposebly]

To me, she just comes across as trying way too hard. That makes it cringeworthy to me, not funny. I'm not shocked by people who don't watch TV and coming from a TV personality (I'm actually not quite sure what she does and why she's famous), it's not believable in the least. She is quite young, I believe, so not having watched Friends, again, not shocking.

I only know of her existence because of Graham Norton.

However, if, for example, Maggie Smith had said that, I would have found it funny since I could actually believe she doesn't watch TV or even have HBO or itunes or whatever and might not know or remember who's on Game of Thrones.

[kassygreene]

She's 36.  And I don't believe she doesn't watch tv either.  But I don't believe most of the things she says, and I genuinely don't understand why she's supposed to be funny.  This particular episode is the only one I've seen where she wan't constantly stealing the scene, and I think that's because Joanna Lumley knew how to shut her down.

Maggie Smith has always said she doesn't watch DA (although I think she implied that now that it's done she might).  I know some actors can't stand to watch themselves (Alison Janney comes to mind) because they always find something they should have done differently.  

I don't really care.  I want to enjoy their work product, and I've learned that knowing too much about the actor invites disappointment.

[Bruinsfan]

On 7/9/2016 at 1:00 PM, Mumbles said:

Yeah, when she first came on the scene I rooted for her only because women who don't fit a certain body type have an uphill battle in Hollywood. But her blase and rude attitude on shows like this, as well as being crass and offensive (like her "joke" mocking police brutality at the MTV awards last fall), just makes me dread her appearances on shows like this. She is a black hole from which wit and charm never escape.

Wilson lost any chance at my support with the trailers for Pitch Perfect—she was painfully unfunny in those, and presumably they were cherry-picking the best parts available to entice the public. And every impromptu appearance I've seen makes her come across as tasteless and desperate for attention, sort of like Sarah Silverman but without any of the intelligence or wit the latter has as redeeming features.

Instead of trying to do schtick she should have made use of the opportunity Graham's couch afforded her to observe a comedy legend like Jennifer Saunders up close and take notes.