The Graham Norton Show

The Graham Norton Show

I remember when my family first got the BBC as a channel. I remember not liking anything that was on it because I was still in middle school (I think) and I wasn't interested in dramas or talk shows that much. I was still in a bit of a Disney phase or if I was feeling especially rebellious (and if my parents were out) I would watch the Real World on MTV much to my parents' displeasure. One night, I was in my room and decided to get some water and my mom was watching something and laughing quite loudly. When I sat down next to her to laugh along, she muted it and told me that I couldn't watch because it was age appropriate. Looking back, I think my mom just wanted to watch something by herself for once and not be bothered by her teenage daughter. That show was the Graham Norton Show. I didn't watch an entire episode until the start of last year. My Fridays during my senior year were booked since I HAD to watch Doctor Who and the Graham Norton Show. Oh social life.

The host of the show is Graham Norton. SURPRISE! He is an Irish comedian and has hosted a variety of shows over the past few years such as So Graham Norton and most recently Would You Rather? His comedy is much more adult humor orientated and most of his monologues are not appropriate for younger kids.   He normally has 3 to 4 guests on a show and also has a musical guest that performs at the end of the show. The questions asked on the show are not exactly conventional but the stories he gets out of his guests are always funny. The audience also participates in the show at times and are often subjected to humor that makes fun of them. Some lines are cringe-worthy and I don't think I'd ever have the confidence to stand up or make a comment during his show. 

At the end of his show he says "Stories from the Red Chair". Ordinary people climb into a big red chair and are shown on a TV screen in front of the guests, audience and Graham. Graham has a big red lever positioned next to him. Once the guest has introduced themselves, they begin telling their best story. Or at least what they think is a good enough story to be told on the show. Most of the time Graham does not like the story and pushes the lever down and up goes the chair, throwing the person backwards. That is generally funnier than the story they are telling. Actually, some of the guests don't even make it through the introduction round. 

There are tons of great clips from this show
Here's a clip of Daniel Radcliffe singing "The Elements":