Parkinson

I don't blame Meg Ryan for being upset with the lousy job the surgeon did on her mouth and the break up of her marriage, but it's not the British audience's fault. If she is anything of an actress she could at least have acted as if she was gracious and intelligent.

She came across as a wannabee intellectual snob without an intellect to be snobbish about.

Absolutely the best interviewer around. Has an amazing ability to make his guest feel at home. They simply talk about other things on Parkinsons than they do on any other talk show. With a lot of humor and intelligence, we get little anecdotes, funny and interesting stuff. Parkinson can get away with questions, the stars would normally not even bother to answer. But on Parkinsons there's this great atmosphere that makes everyone relax. Off course there's many funny shows on TV, but when you have watched Parkinsons, you feel not only entertained, but also a little wiser. Many times, you will sit around after the show, with a little happy smile on your face. To put it shortly, it doesn't get any better than this.

Parkinson could be entertaining, but he never had the charm of Johnny Carson in America. But then again, he apparently didn't believe it his job was to make his guests comfortable, but to make them uncomfortable with probing, intrusive questions. He was often paternalistic and disapproving to his female guests, which he defends as being "a man of his time." But I can tell you that women watching back in that time period also found him sexist, as when he asked a young Helen Mirren if her "attributes" (breasts) interfered with becoming a serious actress because they were distracting. I interpreted his different attitude towards women and men as simply his feeling superior to women and being intimidated by the men. One has to wonder if he has a secret hatred of women, he certainly felt he could do whatever he wanted, as the time when he kissed Lauren Bacall full on the lips because HE found her attractive. Parkinson would never be able to have a show in today's world and maybe that's a good thing.

I have just seen a 'Parky' show with the delightful Lesley Garrett. Apart from her marvelous voice, I was amazed at her vivacity and sense of humour. It was entertainment at it's best. Lesley was introduced as styling herself more like Gracie Fields than Maria Callas ... I'm sure she is truly loved for being herself.

If it wasn't for this type of show (and Parkinson show is the best of this genre) One would never see the other side of some of these celebrities, and we would be poorer for it.

It seems some people don't like the Parkinson show, these few people shouldn't watch it, especially when their jealousy for Parkinson's popularity shows so much.

ITV obviously bares a grudge against the BBC. The loss of the Premiership must still be fresh in the mind; why else would Parkinson air before Match Of The Day? As ruthless as it may sound, they're cunningly boring the audience to sleep.

Michael Parkinson has been peddling the same inoffensive, tired format for years now, and last nights episode was no exception. Guests included "the evergreen" Goldie Hawn, "the king of cool" John Travolta and, erm, "political correspondant" John Sergeant. 'Parky's golden rule is set out nice and clear from the outset: the bigger the star, the bigger the brown nosing.

He has neither the 'blokey' charm of Frank Skinner nor the wit of Jonathon Ross, but has somehow managed to remain increasingly popular throughout the years.

Unsurprisingly enough, Hawn was given an easy ride as far as questions go. Parkinson beamed on about her "glittering, successful career," clearly not having done his research. The fact remains that Hawn has not had a hit movie in nearly ten years. Her career is littered with far more misses than hits, but the way the he rambled on was like she'd won several Oscars. But she hasn't, and never will.

Next in the interviewee's chair was John Sergeant. Like Hawn, he too had a book to promote. This time though, it was about Margaret Thatcher. Sergeant claimed that with this book he "aimed to bring together the people who loved her and those who hated her." Parkinson agreed, but then again he would do. Hawn laughed uncontrollably at Sergeants mildly amusing political jokes, with one clear motive in her head: to make the audience believe that not all blondes are dumb.

John Travolta then took to the stage for his relentless barrage of lacklustre questioning. During his gruelling stint he was asked ridiculous questions such as "how do you manage to keep your feet on the ground?" This of course, was to a man, who, has two 747's parked in the driveway of his 60 acre mansion, and commands a $20 million fee for each film he's in. At one stage, Travolta told the story of the time he danced with Princess Diana - "I was told it was one of the highlights of her life" he beamed, "and one of mine too" he responded a good ten seconds later. At which point every middle aged housewife in Great Britain must of gone "Aw he's a lovely man." Parkinson then, for the first time in nearly 45 minutes asked a daring question - "Is their anytime in your career that you would point out as your lowest?" ("We've all had them," said Parkinson, obviously referring to the infamous Ali interview that occurred shortly after the invention of the wheel). Travolta though was allowed to skate around the question by referring to a time his car broke down.

And then it was back to sitting on the fence again for Parkinson, a position he's become rather too comfortable with throughout his career.