Star turns

Why on earth would Vic and Bob (or the BBC) want to revive Shooting Stars? They can't need the money, surely? Why on earth would big comedy names like Jack Dee and Matt Lucas want to be involved? Or even Ulrikakakaka Jonsson?
Those kind of thoughts went through my mind last night as I reluctantly abandoned Facebook to watch the first of a new series. Misgivings were piled almost as high as the Dove from Above. There is one resounding answer to all this - laughter. You can't argue with it.
I sat down prepared to be as grumpy as new team captain Jack Dee with Reeves and Mortimer. But I started smiling with their opening song - Katie Perry's 'I kissed a Girl' and it just escalated from there.
They are not everyone's cup of Darjeeling, more towards the Goodies end of the comedy spectrum (ie kids like it). But if you are on that wavelength, no one else tickles your fancy quite like them. The usual mix is there, including the brilliant Club Song item from Bob and his leching at the female guest on his right (a game and reduced-to-tears Christine Bleakley).
A nice new feature was a song from George Dawes plus new 'guest' panellist Angelos Epithemiou, a burger van proprietor in an anorak - brilliant.
We take Vic and Bob for granted after their groundbreaking early work. This new series confirms their sheer stupidity and we should be delighted they are still around to amuse.
That latter thought has been borne in on me strongly recently as my grandchildren have been listening appreciatively to the Travelling Wilburys. The kids have no idea who these old geezers are and bring no baggage to their judgment. Old rock snobs like me still tut-tut over the bizarre amalgamation of personalities involved in the band.
My grandchildren just like the music. I have come to believe the Wilburys were the last great supergroup, one of the many wonderful projects for which the world should revere the name of George Harrison. And there won't, of course, be any more.
Any thoughts on the Wilburys? Or Vic and Bob? Answers only in the club style, please.
Older/Newer
« Elizabeth Fry, the face on the back of a fiver, is my nan. | Happiness not to be sniffed at »













I'll have the jazz pancake please...