BBC jumps the shark
December 17, 2013 4:15 PM   Subscribe

A reporter conducting vox pops re the Heathrow extension snags an a somewhat unexpected interviewee
posted by fearfulsymmetry (58 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
Something something arrested development furtive bathroom sex joke.
posted by The Whelk at 4:19 PM on December 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Those are balls.
posted by 2bucksplus at 4:25 PM on December 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


This close, they always look like TV stars. But nope, you're interviewing balls.
posted by 2bucksplus at 4:26 PM on December 17, 2013 [6 favorites]


Two thumbs up.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:27 PM on December 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


HE'S BEHIND YOU!

[/panto trope] Too bad I only saw the one at my artsy, Montessori-ish elementary school in 3rd grade.
posted by droplet at 4:35 PM on December 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


UK practices must be different. On US TV you never seen man in the street interviewees scurry off at the end like that because they always have to get their name and consent before they use it.
posted by George_Spiggott at 4:38 PM on December 17, 2013


Aaaaaaaayyyyyy.
posted by vrakatar at 4:39 PM on December 17, 2013 [4 favorites]


Seriously, how much do pantos pay?
posted by Helga-woo at 4:41 PM on December 17, 2013


(On the other hand, perhaps they were able to use the footage here without explicit consent because he's a public figure -- pretty sure you're allowed in that case.)
posted by George_Spiggott at 4:41 PM on December 17, 2013


Seriously, how much do pantos pay?

What about just making out?
posted by Sys Rq at 4:43 PM on December 17, 2013


Mr. Winkler seems like a delightful fellow, but it's a testament to the ridiculousness of late-70s popular culture that audiences ever found him convincing as a tough, street-savvy greaser instead of, say, a high school band teacher or junior accountant.
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:45 PM on December 17, 2013 [11 favorites]


Seriously, how much do pantos pay?

What about for just making out?


Twenty pounds, same as in borough.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:45 PM on December 17, 2013 [21 favorites]


I thought the BBC had peaked last night, having Matthew Perry from Friends debate journalist and inferior Hitchens brother Peter Hitchens about drug addiction.

And, yes, a 90s American sitcom star came out looking much smarter.
posted by C.A.S. at 4:49 PM on December 17, 2013 [4 favorites]


BTW, I just had dinner with a friend who directs and part owns a panto in Greenwich, sold out most of the season. Its not a bad business to be in, other than the season is limited. I say, you panto actors, grab a piece of the pie- its all about ownership
posted by C.A.S. at 4:52 PM on December 17, 2013


Y'know, there's probably no better training for panto than '70s American sitcoms, what with all the applause the first time a character comes out on stage and ginned-up audience whooping on every other line and particularly the signature phrases. He must feel right at home.
posted by George_Spiggott at 4:55 PM on December 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Mr. Winkler seems like a delightful fellow, but it's a testament to the ridiculousness of late-70s popular culture that audiences ever found him convincing as a tough, street-savvy greaser instead of, say, a high school band teacher or junior accountant.

Mickey Dolenz was robbed of the role -- we could have had a singing Fonz...
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 4:57 PM on December 17, 2013


The Fonz can sing.
The Fonz sang with the Muppets.
Your argument that Mickey Dolenz "was robbed" seems to lack a shark-infested clear liquid over which a hydrocarbon powered device could help propel a human body.
posted by Mezentian at 5:10 PM on December 17, 2013


Kind of the wrong person to ask, though.

I mean, yeah, sure... he's cool with it. But that's kind of a given.
posted by markkraft at 5:12 PM on December 17, 2013 [10 favorites]


Aaaaaayyyy plus, markkraft.
posted by Atom Eyes at 5:19 PM on December 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


That was delightful. I'd like to discuss just about any mundane subject with Henry Winkler.
posted by arcticseal at 5:31 PM on December 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


How about how you can enjoy a better retirement? (Or, y'know, maybe not do that.)
posted by George_Spiggott at 5:43 PM on December 17, 2013


Man, if I lived in the neighbourhood I would be quite annoyed that a visitor was asked his opinion about flight noise.
posted by KokuRyu at 5:51 PM on December 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


Henry Winkler, AKA The Fonz

WTF THIS IS THE MOST SHOCKING COMMENT EVER

I JUST SAW HIM SELLING REVERSE MORTGAGES ON TV
posted by kiltedtaco at 5:54 PM on December 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


Pantos pay OK for the 'big' name stars, who almost exclusively fit into 3 groups: reality TV, former soap opera, longtime former star of big, cheesy TV show or onetime pop star with a couple of hits. If you've got cross generational appeal like Winkler then you'll be making upwards of £20k per week as the anchor star.

The shows never play in top London theatres. From memory, Wimbledon's is the biggest panto in London. It has a capacity of 1,670.

It's a short season and performers do 2 shows a day. So an 840 seat theatre like Richmond really does double capacity for the duration of the show.

Also, James Landale is quite a serious political journalist. You know it's Christmas silly season and not much is happening in Westminster when the BBC is making him do this.
posted by MuffinMan at 6:18 PM on December 17, 2013 [4 favorites]


Speaking of jumping the shark - something that surprised me greatly was learning that, according to Winkler himself when he was on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Fonzie waterskiing was actually his parent's idea. They'd spent the past couple years nagging him to tell the producer of "Happy Days" that he could waterski because "maybe they can use it for the show," and finally he showed the producer his parents' letters as a goof and the producer said, "huh, we may be able to use that after all."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:25 PM on December 17, 2013 [6 favorites]


The WWDTM episode was enjoyable because of the 3 choices, there was only ever A-aaaaayyyy.
posted by arcticseal at 8:14 PM on December 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Henry Winkler could discover a cure for cancer next week and the headlines would read "The Fonz wins the Nobel Prize for Medicine."
posted by Oriole Adams at 8:46 PM on December 17, 2013 [6 favorites]


$33,000 a week!

Am I too old to start an acting career that would garner me enough cross-generational appeal to the tune of $33,000 a week? I've done improv!
posted by droplet at 8:58 PM on December 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


This reminds me of interaction from Billy on the Street featuring another 70s sitcom star.
posted by cazoo at 9:26 PM on December 17, 2013


Henry Winkler is short.

He does get right to the point. More money or quieter environment. Perhaps his shopping bags more than his claim of quiet planes tells you what he really thinks.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:01 PM on December 17, 2013


UK practices must be different. On US TV you never seen man in the street interviewees scurry off at the end like that because they always have to get their name and consent before they use it.

Not important, but: when I did streeters (in Canada and the U.S.) we just got the person to say on-camera they were okay with being on TV. We only used signed releases for longer interviews.
posted by Susan PG at 10:09 PM on December 17, 2013


Now, if they'd interviewed Chuck Cunningham, I'd be impressed.
posted by stargell at 10:19 PM on December 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


UK practices must be different.

Indeed they are.
We should aim to obtain consent in a form that is provable. [...]

However, in many cases contributors will indicate their consent tacitly, simply by taking part in our content. This usually applies to people interviewed at short notice, including people in the news and those who take part in 'vox pops'. It is clearly impractical to obtain written consent for time sensitive and most 'on the day' contributions, including those to local radio, continuous news and other news outlets.
posted by MuffinMan at 11:52 PM on December 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


I guess I'm just here to point out that Henry Winkler as the equally creepy and schmaltsy administrator of Children's Hospital is just as iconic performance as the Fonz. Don't get me started on Arrested Development.

Seriously, the man is a national treasure.

I mean, the guy could have retired a rich prescription drug addict in Malibu making appearances at car dealerships and he's doing British community theater?
posted by Random Person at 12:27 AM on December 18, 2013 [7 favorites]


Henry Winkler is great. It's a shame his Parks and Rec turn was so underwhelming.
posted by Pendragon at 12:45 AM on December 18, 2013


Man, if I lived in the neighbourhood I would be quite annoyed that a visitor was asked his opinion about flight noise.

And as someone living in the UK but not that area, I'd be quite annoyed if people living there were the only ones allowed to have an opinion on national transport infrastructure.
posted by Dysk at 2:23 AM on December 18, 2013 [3 favorites]


Pantos aren't really community theatre.

They are a seasonal oddity, in which regional and London suburban theatres fill their halls for four weeks with three generations of families. They are, by and large, a very bankable enterprise for promoters and stars alike.

One company runs most of the large pantos. This year David Hasselhoff is back, this time in Nottingham (also playing Captain Hook, like Henry Winkler). They've previously imported: Priscilla Presley, Pamela Anderson, Patrick Duffy, Mickey Rooney, Jan Rooney, Steve Guttenberg, Paul Michael Glaser and Dirk Benedict.

There are faded British stars who make nearly their entire living from four weeks of panto. If you've done primetime TV, have mainstream appeal and name recognition and are willing to send yourself up then it's a good start. If you're camp, your odds improve (hence standbys like Julian Clary and John Barrowman, and newer stars like Louie Spence, Gok Wan and Craig Revel Horwood).

Some 'stars' are virtually an institution - so cheesy and dated they are more beloved for panto. Like The Krankies, a husband and wife team who've played a father and errant schoolboy son for more than 30 years. Because that's not weird at all.
posted by MuffinMan at 2:24 AM on December 18, 2013 [2 favorites]


I assume Pantos pay better than the convention circuit.
posted by Mezentian at 2:28 AM on December 18, 2013


... faded British stars...

If it's good enough for Ian, lovie, it's good enough for me.
posted by Segundus at 3:02 AM on December 18, 2013


I remember back when there was a flood of Australian soap stars coming over to the UK to do pantomimes every winter. What I mostly remember was the fact they were getting about 250 grand for the couple of months they were on stage.
posted by fullerine at 3:12 AM on December 18, 2013


Yeah, panto is hugely lucrative for the fading star or b-lister and the theatres themselves, basically keeping them going in a lot of cases
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:12 AM on December 18, 2013


Ian did Aladdin at the Old Vic for Kevin. It's not the same at all, darling.
posted by MuffinMan at 3:34 AM on December 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


What I mostly remember was the fact they were getting about 250 grand for the couple of months they were on stage.

Given at that time (I assume) people were allegedly paying cash money for jars of Scott Robinson's breath, I am not surprised.

Don't it make you feel good? (Warning: the following video may be considered a war crime in some areas).
posted by Mezentian at 4:16 AM on December 18, 2013


I saw Henry Winkler do his panto turn as Captain Hook a few years back at Wimbledon Theatre. He was great.

For anyone who wants an idea of what panto in the UK is, take a look at this version of Aladdin from a few years back.
posted by merocet at 5:48 AM on December 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


They'd spent the past couple years nagging him to tell the producer of "Happy Days" that he could waterski because "maybe they can use it for the show,"

Oh man, I can just imagine his mother calling the producer on a weekly basis "WHY WON'T YOU LET MY HENRY WATERSKI ON THE SHOW. HE'S VERY GOOD."
posted by Ham Snadwich at 5:59 AM on December 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


The news that there's a touring version of Happy Days (Fonz) worries me as I've got tickets for Happy Days (Beckett) with Juliet Stevenson at the Young Vic next year, and I don't think I'd enjoy it so much if too many of the audience are bewildered and disappointed. I wonder if it's something the theatre need to point out very often.
posted by Grangousier at 6:28 AM on December 18, 2013 [2 favorites]


come on, not a single reference to the trial of captain hook? maritime law? nothing?
posted by blendor at 6:37 AM on December 18, 2013


The news that there's a touring version of Happy Days (Fonz) worries me as I've got tickets for Happy Days (Beckett) with Juliet Stevenson at the Young Vic next year, and I don't think I'd enjoy it so much if too many of the audience are bewildered and disappointed.

Oh god, please tell me that either of these shows is smart enough to keep a camera running on the audience just on the hope of catching someone's increasing bewilderment.
posted by Etrigan at 7:30 AM on December 18, 2013


Oh man, I can just imagine his mother calling the producer on a weekly basis "WHY WON'T YOU LET MY HENRY WATERSKI ON THE SHOW. HE'S VERY GOOD."

You've gotta read that transcript from Wait Wait. He also talks about when he told his parents that he was invited to visit the White House - his father's reaction was "Go, and bring a cake."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:31 AM on December 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


The "bring a cake" thing is very Jewish. I still have some New Jersey relatives who are furious at my brother for failing to bring a cake when he visited decades ago.

He was 10.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 7:43 AM on December 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


I actually spoke to him once! Sort of. I was working for a guy who did some occasional theater production, and he'd teamed up with a Los Angeles-based director for one of his projects. And one day the director had come to NYC for a visit; as they were about to head into the office for a talk, the director told me that he'd told his assistant in LA to give out our number if anyone called for him, so if we got any calls for him, just transfer them back.

After about 20 minutes, I did take a call from a friendly-sounding guy, asking if [director] was indeed there, as he'd been told. "He is here, yes, I can transfer you," I said, all professional. "May I ask who's calling?"

"My name is Henry Winkler."

"Hold please," I said - I was on autopilot - and then as I was getting to my feet, I realized who he'd said he was. I calmly waked into my boss's office and told the director he was calling - "but before you pick up, is it okay if I tell my friends that I spoke to the Fonz?" The director and my boss cracked up, they said sure, and the director took the call.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:57 AM on December 18, 2013 [2 favorites]


"WHY WON'T YOU LET MY HENRY WATERSKI ON THE SHOW. HE'S VERY GOOD."

It's a little known fact that Henry Winkler changed his name from Henry Waterski to avoid typecasting.
posted by forgetful snow at 8:13 AM on December 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


Winkler periodically turns up on chat shows and the like over here, usually promoting something to do with dyslexia. He always comes over as a really great guy.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 8:27 AM on December 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


When I was a kid, he gave out FULL SIZE CANDY BARS on Halloween. And he'd stand on his balcony [which was really like the roof of the first story part of his house?] and throw down a basket on some rope so you could get your FULL SIZE CANDY BAR. Did I mention they were not the bullshit fun size?
posted by atomicstone at 9:42 AM on December 18, 2013 [1 favorite]


lol "bullshit fun size"
posted by C.A.S. at 9:47 AM on December 18, 2013


Long before jumping over a shark on waterskis, the Fonz jumped over a bunch of trashcans on his motorcycle.
It took him two attempts to succeed.
The first time he crashed and almost died.
It was a very serious time for Richie and the gang.
But Fonzie never gave up.
For him, failure was not an option.
Why?
Because he was cool.

Stay in school.
posted by Atom Eyes at 3:11 PM on December 18, 2013


Something about this really irks me. I think it's the whole, "A reporter thought he was interviewing meaningless schlubs...but then he accidentally interviewed a REAL LIVE CELEBRITY!"
posted by straight at 5:05 PM on December 18, 2013


REAL LIVE CELEBRITY!

Sorry, I think you meant to write NATIONAL TREASURE.
posted by arcticseal at 5:18 PM on December 18, 2013


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