Sunday People

The frightly show

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OVER to This Morning’s “Cure my insomnia” Paula phone-in with caller “I suffer from over the caption intro: insomnia” and Schofe’s who suffers “We’ll talk to Paula, Paula: “I get two from insomnia.” can’t get back or three hours. I Jason Ellis: to sleep.” Expert got “It sounds like you’ve an insomnia problem.” Never. NIGHT-TIME aerial shots of London in opening titles? Check. Army of seasoned TV writers? Check. Popular host and a whooping audience? Check, check, checkity-check.

So why, you may well ask, is The Nightly Show such a national embarrassm­ent?

This is, after all, ITV’s bold attempt to recreate the magic of America’s late-night talk shows.

Well, instead of taking their inspiratio­n from the great traditions of Letterman, Leno and Jon Stewart, they’ve gone and remade Up Late With Rylan.

To date you can count the number of genuinely funny, barbed lines of satire on one finger – Donald Trump’s limo made bullet proof “so he won’t be able to shoot any passing immigrants”.

That’s the whole point of a late-night daily talk show – to be cuttingly topical.

There’s enough flannel, hidden camera pranks, audience surprises and awful name-checks for prizes sponsors elsewhere on TV. Indeed, week one’s host David Walliams haring around the studio with guest Rob Brydon on a quad-cycle was pure Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.

Air The Nightly Show at 7pm and call it The One Show, if you must. Because as it stands, that’s where it fits.

The fact each of the eight weeks will have a different host makes ITV look clueless and the whole venture one big work trial.

Many of the segments simply go nowhere, to the point that Wednesday night ended with Walliams riding off on a camel, having fed penguins and played with a lemur, for absolutely no reason.

It’s here that the programme’s lack of direction and unsuitable first presenter form a crippling combinatio­n.

They asked Walliams to be chat show host, stand-up comedian and satirist all at once. He’s a talented entertaine­r but he’s

none of those. And the names to follow, including Davina McCall and Gordon Ramsay, will hardly fill anyone with confidence.

Add in oh-so-funny internet clips of animals, squirm-inducing interviews and boxer David Haye showing off his best dance moves and ITV has a dire mess on its hands.

A fact acknowledg­ed, astonishin­gly and encouragin­gly on Friday night, by the next host John Bishop, to Walliams’s face.

He was brutal but true: “It’s been a learning experience for everyone.

“You’ve had a go at it and the channel has had a go. There are bits I’ve enjoyed more than others.

“I feel a little bit like (The Voice’s) Will.i.am when he pressed that button by mistake. But really, do you want to be made miserable at 10pm or do you want to have a laugh?”

Good point. There’s only one thing for it… BONG! “Good evening, I’m Tom Bradby, this is News at Ten.” BONG! JANUARY 28, The Voice, Gavin Rossdale to auditionee Tanya Lacey: “Your voice is so beautiful I had to turn around because I need someone like you. “It would be a thrill and an honour to have you on my team. I would take good care of you. I will really explore what makes you happy and inspired to sing.” February 26, Gavin after Tanya’s battle round: “The winner of this battle is Carter.”

 ??  ?? VICTORY: For Carter, left,
VICTORY: For Carter, left,

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