Five O’Clock Shadow

‘AND so to the waking dream that is teatime telly. And news of what TV types in square-rimmed glasses call the vital battle for the coveted 5pm slot.

There are Richard and Judy, the Fanny and Johnny of the broadcasting suite, the doyens of daytime, chatting about this and that.

This show is interactive telly for people usually sat at home interacting with prescription medicine, unemployment and Meals on Wheels.

There’s Richard & Judy’s Book Club book club, whereby viewers can read what the presenters are reading. And there’s Richard & Judy’s Wine Club, a neat way to keep viewer and presenter pepped up and gently shaking with enthusiasm.

Right now on ITV, you can catch Richard Hammond’s Five O’clock Show. Hammond, one of the two wheels brought on to stabilise the effects of Jeremy Clarkson’s broadcasting unicycle on Top Gear, has teamed up with Mel Giedroyc, the woman for whom student comedy has become a lifelong passion.

As the blurb on the ITV website promises: “If it’s being talked about around the watercooler or when you get home, The Five O’clock Show will have their slant on the issue.”

So expect lots of chat about what a watercooler is, why only Americans have them, and why your boss refuses to get one, forcing you to make do with ice cold alcopops and fizzy lager.

And then there is Paul O’Grady. He was on ITV at 5pm, but now he’s to be on Channel 4, sharing the slot with the aforesaid Richard & Judy.

For one part of the year, viewers can drink, read and talk about Coronation Street character Frankie Baldwin’s fitness DVD for busy mums, playing poker online and people in their 40s & 50s who are keen to get a second chance in love. Look out for Richard & Judy’s swingers club soon.

For the other 26 weeks, viewers can spin round life’s plughole in the company of O’Grady and his salmon and cod-fish cakes, while listening to reality TV group G4 performing When A Child Is Born and trying to guess correctly how many sweets there are in Paul’s jar?

There appears to be some choice. Only, it’s all pretty much the same fare over and over and over. Until you either make it out of the house, or die trying…’

Posted: 12th, January 2006 | In: Celebrities Comment | TrackBack | Permalink