Whoever posted that rather unpleasant James Hyman gag up here last week still gets my vote.

Oh look, they're using Hitler to get laughs now. How very amusing.

Who'd do a thing like that? Tut

I agree. Take this disgusting show off the air. Who do we complain to?

Why not try to repeat the classic "After dark" sting, ie. ring C4 claiming to be whoever is the boss of C4 nowadays, and demand it be taken off air immediately?

a fine plan steed...

Given that the average age of a frontaler is about twelve (& there are a lot of them, with tv's in there rooms secretly staying up to watch "illicit cutting-edge television") it seems unlikely that it will be canceled in the forseeable future unless someone does something.
This is what people mean when they talk about the dumbing down of TV, & it hasn't improved since the pilot.
End this televisual travesty now..

>Why not try to repeat the classic "After dark" sting, ie. ring C4 claiming to be whoever is the boss of C4 nowadays, and demand it be taken off air immediately?

Also known as the "Chris Morris" sting. (He certainly did it during his GLR stint. I don't think he's needed to do it during his later career.)

>Given that the average age of a frontaler is about twelve (& there are a lot of them, with tv's in there rooms secretly staying up
>to watch "illicit cutting-edge television") it seems unlikely that it will be canceled in the forseeable future unless someone does
>something.

Maybe if that were literally true (and provided we had some means of drilling this information into the heads of the People Who Decide), there might be a way to put an end to the wretched thing and all its kind. Most advertisers, if asked, would say they were not all that keen on an audience made up entirely of twelve-year-olds, who to a rough approximation have no money (and have not yet learned how clever and important it is to become saddled with as much debt as humanly possible).

There's a snag, though. People seem to be quite easily convinced that puerile, badly-made, trying-too-hard "ironic" reactionary tat in the 11OCS/Dotcomedy/Frontal genre *is* genuinely what the sophisticated hip young gunslinging disposable-incomed-to-the-gills professional type wants more than anything else in the world. And Lord knows, it might be true. But has anybody bothered to test the idea? All right-thinking persons who approximately fit the relevant "target market" are hereby called upon to make a declaration along the lines of the following:

"I (your name here), being (your age here, eg 23 if you're me -- obviously your contribution is more important if you are younger), gave up on this anaemic mess after (the time it took you to turn over, eg twenty minutes); am sick to the back teeth of having my interest courted by this kind of crud; can tell the difference between gratuitous but carefully-regulated swearing and 'controversy'; have found more 'cutting-edge' things in boxes of cornflakes; and would much rather have a repeat of something halfway decent from the days when Channel Four was on our side, or, God knows, in that slot, some Crown Green bowls or a safety lecture on the halogen halides or anything, really."

Well... it's a step in the right direction, surely.

To Channel 4, fellow forumsters, and anyone else who knows me.

Re: Frontal

"I Alasdair C Mackenzie, being 29 years of age, gave up on this anaemic mess after two minutes; I am sick to the back teeth of having my interest courted by this kind of crud; can tell the difference between gratuitous but carefully-regulated swearing and 'controversy'; have found more 'cutting-edge' things in boxes of cornflakes; and would much rather have a repeat of something halfway decent from the days when Channel Four was on our side, or, God knows, in that slot, some Crown Green bowls or a safety lecture on the halogen halides or anything, really."

That's better.

I Jon, being 27, gave up on this anaemic mess after 0 minutes; am sick to the back teeth of having my interest courted by this kind of crud; can tell the difference between gratuitous but carefully-regulated swearing and 'controversy'; have found more 'cutting-edge' things in boxes of cornflakes; and would much rather have a repeat of "Veronica 4 Rose", or, God knows, "After Dark" or anything, really. But not "Club X", please.

I Peter, being 18, gave up on this anaemic mess after 2 minutes; etc,etc..

Right, that'll work

"I, Justin, 30, now realise that Channel 4 will think my age somehow means I know fuck all about what I'm talking about regarding this piece of televisual shite, even though I know more about it than Natasha Bell, Lisa Rogers, James Hyman, or any fop at Initial Television, whose Managing Director Malcolm Gerrie, believe it or not, was producer of something called The Tube which, like it or not, did more for so-called "yoof" TV than the increasingly desperate post-Street-Porter nonsense foisted upon us once Frasier has finished of a Friday night...."

Will that do?

Of course, we could always start ringing Channel 4 with our own prepared statements, and insist that their own Duty Log write it down. On 020 7396 4444. Or we could write our prepared statement on a postcard and sent it to them at 124-126, Horseferry Rd, London SW1P�2TX. But remember, they can't return any of our prepared statements.

So how old is Malcolm Gerrie, roughly?