Monday, February 25, 2008

Lily The Pink

Thanks to the televisual smorgasbord that is Catch-Up TV, Karen and I happened to watch Lily Allen & Friends yesterday. We had a spare half hour to fill and just thought what the hell (we live right on the edge, we do).

I was pleasantly surprised which was a shock given that my first point of reference for this type of programme was the God-awful Charlotte Church Show. But whereas the latter was genuinely sloppy, haphazard and anarchic in a totally uncool and crap way, LA & Friends was contrived to be anarchic and shoddy in a very polished, carefully timed and sharply edited way... the result was a show that was far tighter than Charlotte Church’s g-string could ever hope to be.

Now there’s a turn up for the books. The Beeb down and cool with the kids while Channel 4 dances in the background like an embarrassing, piss stained uncle at a family wedding.

But this is by the by. LA & Friends works only because Lily Allen is engaging, socially adept, un-phased by fame and happy to just be herself. I always got the impression that the Charlotte Church “perceived persona” was constantly in the way of the real Charlotte Church to the point where it rugby tackled her to the ground every time she got a clear shot at a touchdown. Charlotte was awkward, slow to respond to cues from her guests and seemed unable to engage with anyone. The result was a flat, uncomfortable show with a huge identity crisis. Charlotte just didn’t know what she wanted to be and her show only amplified her confusion – Singer? Interviewer? Comedienne? Porn star? Welsh stereotype? She didn’t know and neither did we.

Lily Allen on the other hand is refreshingly just Lily Allen. And her show does exactly what it says on the tin.

My boy, Ben, fancies Lily something chronic and Karen and I both approve. As Karen says, Lily is nice... but not too nice; she’s a bit naughty too. Ideal girlfriend material... though thankfully her admission that she was caught giving head to a boy at school when she was 14 seemed to completely pass our 6 year old by as he busily played with his Lego Bionicles on the floor...

Phew.

The only thing I didn’t like was the premise behind the “& Friends”. This wasn’t a Bruce Forsythe-esque reference to Lily’s showbiz pals but to the audience members themselves. They were all people who’d signed up to Lily’s web page on the BBC site and become her “friend” in the same way that everyone under 15 these days has 547 friends they’ve never actually met / shared an exchange with on their Facebook account. Really the show should be called Lily Allen & Stalkers.

Basically these Lily fans earned their place in the show’s audience pit by submitting embarrassing (probably apocryphal) anecdotes about themselves. You know the type of thing: “please tell us something really zany / rude about yourself for a chance to appear on the show...”

Hence Lily was able to spotlight one lady who’d given her BF a BJ to settle a £500 debt and a man who’d broken his thumb in a rushed masturbatory session that was interrupted by his GF coming home from work too early.

Hardly people you’d like to have as friends – let along want to shake hands with... I mean, can you imagine? Urgh.

There is something ineffably unhealthy about people who are so desperate to get on TV that they’ll happily admit to things on camera that would normally get them lampooned out of their local boozer back home in Nowhereville.

I wouldn’t want them anywhere near my Facebook page... (or my face for that matter).

My advice to Lily is simple: drop the “friends” – you don’t need them.

It’s better to be Lily No-Mates than Lily Nob-Mates.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't watch much TV so I always feel at a bit of a loss when people talk about TV stuff. But that doesn't stop me commenting of course!

I really struggle to understand why people a)want the sort of "fame" that involves embarrassing themselves in public (makeover shows, or revealing really personal info on TV) or why other people find it interesting and b)why people do have this obsession with gathering unknown "friends" on Facebook etc. Although I can see that I am being a bit of a hypocrite because I gather unknown friends on Blogger! But it's not quite the same thing, is it? Or maybe it is!

As for Lily Allen - yes she is a lot more appealing in every respect as far as I can tell than Ms Church who always irritates me when she opens her mouth to speak.

Lily Allen and Stalkers - haha, yes indeed!

Inchy said...

'Lily Allen' and 'appealing' are not words I would ever have expected to see in the same sentance. Having said that, I suppose she IS an inspiration. She's proved that you can be offensive and have NO talent and yet still be a succesful 'artist'.

Woohoo!

-eve- said...

Reluctant blogger has a point; I don't watch TV at ALL, so your blog TV reviews are the closest to TV that i get! :-)

> Basically these Lily fans earned their place in the show’s audience pit by submitting embarrassing (probably apocryphal) anecdotes about themselves.
LOL! Wow, that is very strange.. :-)

> Hence Lily was able to spotlight one lady who’d given her BF a BJ to settle a £500 debt and a man who’d broken his thumb in a rushed masturbatory session that was interrupted by his GF coming home from work too early.
*BOL* Hahahahahha....! :-)

*grins* nice one... nice pic, too! :-)

Rol said...

Lily Allen's friends include Mark Ronson, yes?

I rest my case.

The Poet Laura-eate said...

I think Lily Allen is one of the few upcoming talents who actually does have some talent. The proof of the pudding is surely in all the cheap LA imitators such as Kate Nash. Mark Ronson has jumped on her bandwagon a little late and at least hasn't got LA doing massacred cover versions - yet.
Haven't seen the show, but I assumed it probably would be a better than the Charlotte Church fiasco as LA is smarter and more savvy in every respect.
But yes, she should definitely drop the Facebook creeps and their masturbatory accidents!

Inchy said...

I wonder how many other convicted drug dealers can get their own TV show?

Steve said...

Hi Gina, bogging I think is quite different (he says smugly) as there is a discourse occuring - sometimes quite a deep and involved one. There is a true meeting of minds... unlike Facebook where you merely send goofy pics of "apps" to your Facebook buddies to clog up their pages even more!

Hi Inchy, thanks for dropping by. I'm picking up vague flutterings of malcontent as far as Ms Allen is concerned. Fair enough - each to their own. I must admit I haven't heard about the drug pushing malarkey. What was it - skunk? E? Somehow I can't see her proffering heroin to the kids... not that I condone lesser drug abuse at all but there are worse things she could be doing. Of course. She could be doing better too...

Eve, glad I'm offering you a secondhand television service for free. Maybe I ought to rename my blog Channel Bloggertropolis and have done with it? ;-)

Rol, I still don't know who Mark Ronson is. I was tempted to Google him but then realised I just couldn't be bothered. Maybe that says all I need to know about him?

Laura - I'm with you kiddo! Singing from the same hymn sheet so to speak.

Inchy said...

Hi Steve. Sorry if I come across a bit belligerent, but I really am sick to death of so called celebs being created and foisted on to the box. Each to his own, and I'm sure that some of the 'artists' that I respect may seem ridiculous to you. I'll calm down now and have a wee cuppa!

Steve said...

Inchy, belligerent is fine in my book. I'm convinced that "having a rant" is good for the soul! There is too much star manufacturing going on - though I suspect it's always been that way we just notice it more these days because we're all a bit more media savvy than our 70's and 80's counterparts. Trouble is there are far too many TV channels and not enough quality to go around!

The Hitch said...

Its good to know that Ben fancies lily, the boy isnt going to turn out to be a knob toucher.
*sigh of relief for any father*
Another plus is that if they should marry you get Keith Allen as a relative, mad ,bad and dangerous to know. Ideal in law for The Hitch

Inchy said...

I have the home shopping channel. 'Discover Diamonique' is never less than fantastic.

-eve- said...

*grins*

Steve said...

Hitch, having the "Sheriff of Nottingham" for a father-in-law would be another huge plus for my boy. For some reason the charms of the Lady Marian passed him by... I think he likes his women a bit "dirty".

Inchy, I must admit I avoid home shopping channels... eBay is enough for me.

The Sagittarian said...

Interesting choice of music for your Ben. When our "baby" (now 12) was about 2 she had a thing for the Rolling Stones. Hoorah. We missed The Spice Girls and all the crap chick/dick bands. Even now she has a good taste in music. (Mind you, we live in fear of Bill Wyman finding out about her....)

Inchy said...

"Likes his women a bit dirty"

???

I thought they all were anyway?

Steve said...

Hi Amanda, yes Karen and I have encouraged him to have decent musical tastes... though he seems to make the right choices himself more often than not. The Rolling Stones isn't a bad choice at all. But I share your reservations regarding Mr Wyman. I don't think even Anna Nicole Smith would have married him...

Steve said...

Only the good ones, Inchy, only the good ones... ;-)