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Look out, Ricky Gervais. Curb your waspish Buzzcocks putdowns, Simon Amstell. Wepent, Jonathan Woss. Ofcom looks set to spank you and Russell Brand for baiting Andrew Sachs with naughty comments about his (comparably naughty, apparently) granddaughter. Which could spell the end to a particular brand pun intended of aggressive, blokeish British humour. Indeed, it could result in the emasculation of much of what we watch and enjoy.
Think about it. Brand and Ross have been accused of being cruel to Sachs, of bullying him. Never mind that their phone stunt contained less innate cruelty than the average episode of the show Sachs is most famous for, Fawlty Towers. If bullying becomes impermissible on TV every reality show will disappear, and Simon Cowell and Anne Robinson will be redundant. Gordon Ramsay, whose Kitchen Nightmares is pure, orchestrated bullying, will be out of one of his many jobs.
I'm exaggerating, of course. But there's a serious point here. Many of us felt uncomfortable when the Bloke returned in the Nineties and Noughties, lairy of his aggression and female-unfriendliness. But we knew, deep down, that Frank Skinner was a natural and necessary corrective to Ben Elton. He was funnier, too. Comedy, like all art forms, renews itself by revolting against what's gone before, which often means pushing boundaries of taste.
Good taste is the enemy of good comedy. Bad taste gave us Max Miller, Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks, Chris Morris and more recently the hilarious Sarah Silverman, who's more outrageous than any bloke. Good taste gives us sitcoms like My Family. Tasteless comedy is cathartic, enabling us to laugh at the worst around us. That's why jokes circulate so quickly after a horrific event ("Fred West walks into a bar and says, 'Oooh, I could murder some Tennants").
Bad taste keeps us fresh, jerks us out of complacency, sometimes makes us question ourselves. (An Asian journalist, sent to see if the late Bernard Manning's act offended him, found himself paralysed with laughter by the line: "I went to a Muslim strip club: it was full of blokes shouting, 'Show us yer face.'") If Brand and Ross should be punished for anything, it's not being funny enough. Telling Andrew Sachs that you've "enjoyed" his granddaughter on a swing? Please, boys. You're just not trying.
Reader views (15)
The two should be sacked not only for the insulting, careless, infantile, thoughtless remarks - but also for admirably demonstrating during these calls their complete lack of comic 'talent' and the absurd inability to notice what's WAY over the negative side of the 'Acceptable' line. Fwankly 
I don't mind JR and and enjoy his show and consider that this 'act' was simply a lapse that he sincerely regrets. He's deomstrated that, although far from being a comic/otherwise 'genius', he's at least capable of presenting a decent level of entertainment. YES - riiritating at times, but still a good, basic-level entertainer overall (although I resent any of my telly licence fees going to him presently).
However, Russell Brand is another story altogether. I've wathced him several times and failed to see ANY intelligence, cleverness in anything that he does. His 'act' is simple: Talk about sex (oooooh...genius), grin at camera, say shocking, retarded, basic, primatial phrases - that way you'll get a section of stoned-out, PC chimps somehow transferrig that to being somehow 'clever'.
If Brand disappears from etertainment altogher, it will still be overdue. Sadly, sometimes the stronger a turd smells, the less one can ignore it. Thus Brand and his retarded bimbo followers may keep his infantile 'shockathon' going for some time yet.
JR - stay away from the retarded, untalented labial fold that is Brand ad stick to what you do best - entertain (not insult)
- Barrach, Inverness, 30/10/2008 13:48
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Goodbye and good riddance to them both please. Ross has had a few good moments but is vastly overrated and overpaid. Brand is ineffably tedious and lacking all comic virtues, notably timing delivery and humour. The bosses should go as well for allowing these dreadfully unfunny "personalities" to plumb the depths of their imaginations.
- Macrocket, Cork, Ireland, 30/10/2008 10:30
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Brand is a comic genius and it is sad that people have such dull lives that they get upset by this incident.
I am ashamed to be British if this is the reaction.
- Nick, london, 30/10/2008 10:03
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Amazing! Max Miller was banned from the BBC for not swearing, and still being very funny, but these creeps get away with it. They're trash.
- L.Taubler, London / UK, 29/10/2008 20:46
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It is a presumption on your part to write about the threat to " Much of what we watch and enjoy ". Get a grip !!! many people find the programs to which you refer a bore at best, whilst many more wouldn't watch them at all.......find them a complete turn-off.
The BBC should get rid of Ross and Brand and others of their ilk. This would leave considerable sums to spend on the sort of television programs that have made the BBC the envy of the world.
- Marie Pestano, Worcester Park, 29/10/2008 17:57
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Laughing at someone being bullied and picked on is NOT comedy. Nick Curtis cannot seriously name Brand and Ross in the same sentence as Lenny Bruce, Bill Hicks or even Sarah Silverman. They were/are comedians not bullies - the difference is obvious. Is this really the best that the British can do? It appears the Americans were right about Brand - not a comedian but a fake who covers up his lack of talent by bullying and humiliating people for other peoples' pleasure. Famous in the UK? Says a lot about British society and a distinct lack of talent.
- Kr, Cap Ferrat FRANCE, 29/10/2008 17:44
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This is the most ridiculous thing! I bet half the people outraged haven't even heard the podcast/radio show - i have and it wasn't half as bad as is being made out. In fact, i found it quite hilarious and had to stop my shoulders from bouncing up and down whilst listening on a crowded train. Yes, it is childish, no it doesn't deserve suspension! I doubt Andrew Sachs is even that bothered, he is clearly aware his granddaughter is a 'satanical slut' and she has even admitted to sleeping with Brand. I will be waiting for her story to appear in the News of the World, now that she's got Max Clifford representing her (hardly surprising!) Clearly the 'slut' has gained publicity she wouldn't have otherwise! Bring Back Brand!
- The Vicster, London, 29/10/2008 15:46
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Katherine of Sheffield. So you think it's ok to make obscene, threatening phone calls to an elderly man about his granddaughter. Sniggering and laughing in the most spiteful way about the possibility of that elderly man committing suicide. You think that's amusing? So it's ok if someone did that to you - about your grandaughter? Just try and imagine it. It's not "near the knuckle" humour - it's downright criminal behaviour and most people who have complained (an awful lot) have found it very disturbing and offensive.
- Skingsley, London UK, 29/10/2008 15:15
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Ricky Gervais's Office was extremely funny- I bought all the DVDs.
Leaving aside the current storm surrounding Ross and Brand, I don't think they should be commanding such large salaries with the BBC anyway. The Ross TV show is about Ross, full stop. His chat with the guests is infantile and trivial, setting them up to appear subordinate by the inordinate amount of air time devoted to the meaningless garbage spewing from Ross's mouth. Maybe that's what viewers want- to see guests sqirm, like Daniel Craig the other night.
As for Brand, shouldn't he be taken back to the baby apes cage at the London zoo?
- Martin Kostyrka, Stratford U Avon United Kingsom, 29/10/2008 14:43
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Who are the 'we' in 'what we watch and enjoy'?
Certainly no-one I know!!
- Mike Hanlon, Catterick Garrison, UK, 29/10/2008 14:41
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It is not just what they said which not only wasn't funny but childish and stupid on a par with two thirteen year old boys comparing appendages but more seriously it is what they did which warrents a sacking. You cannot allow public figures to use the telephone system to ring and harrass people (particularly elderly people)
Forget this is two overpaid and rather spoilt idiots and imagine this was kids thinking how cool it might be to make your grandparents life a misery by leaving rude messages and think where that may lead. They should be sacked because if I did that to one of them the police would be on my doorstep straight away.
- Julie, Wales, 29/10/2008 13:30
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No it's bad taste.
- Darren, London UK, 29/10/2008 13:25
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Some people just do not get it! What has made people angry, was the humor(giving Ross & Brand the benefit of the doubt)was malicious, the aim was to hurt and,embarrass an old man! It was not funny, it was cowardly, bullying behaviour from the bottom of the barrel! Should these two scumbags believe in the adage 'That any publicity is good publicity' they may be in for a bit of a shock, as I have not heard many apologists, from any age group, for their 'brand' of entertainment they call humor!
- Kevin Sullivan, Roehampton, London., 29/10/2008 13:20
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Nick Curtis, how can you defend the behaviour of Ross and Brand. Their behaviour was obscene and quite possibly criminal. You have completely missed the mood of the majority of people. I have been a fan of Jonathan Ross and watch his shows, but he completely went over the line in this incident, and he has had some pretty awful incidents to his name in the past too.
The problem with Ross is that he is rich and doesnt care about anyone or anything, he doesnt need the money.
Well maybe he will care when he realises he has lost everyones respect.
A twilight of Bernard Manning proportions awaits him...
He was given an OBE for "services to broadcasting". He has brought that honour into disrepute and should return it.
I am a huge comedy fan, but the behaviour of Ross and Brand is no better than the "youf" of today going round happy slapping or bullying other teenagers.
Maybe they are just mirroring a particular degenerate segment of society, but that element is not to be applauded, it is to be reviled.
The BBC as a publicly funded broadcasting authority should know better, and well done for suspending them both.
We can all hope now that they will be sacked at the conclusion of the investigation, as a clear signal to all in society that this sort of behaviour is not acceptable, and should never be set as an example to others.
If my grandfather had been treated like that I would prosecute the pair of them.
- Yvonne Evans, Essex, England, 29/10/2008 12:45
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Although the comments seem to have upset Mr Sachs and an apology has been issued by Ross & Brand and accepted. I do think this has been blown out of propotion. 18,000 complained is this because you heard the remarks or rumours of the remarks. I love the humour of Ross & Brand but also aware they can be near the knuckle with some of their comments, anyone who knows their humour will also know this fact. Did this matter with the financial climate as it is today really have to go to the Houses of Parliament, please hasn't the Pm got more on his plate than to be bothered with this. As my dear old dad use to say there's always the off button if you don't like something.
Long live Brand & Ross
- Katherine, Sheffield, 29/10/2008 12:37
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