Piers Morgan Life Stories with Sir Richard Branson
Morgan: no 'Parky'
This week I tried my hand at my first TV review. I chose Piers Morgan’s show to write about because he is, or was, a journalist and I have never seen Richard Branson do a TV interview so thought it could be a pretty good watch. Oh, how I was wrong. Here’s what I thought:
Billed as his first “no-holds-barred” interview for more than 20 years, Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson was invited into Morgan’s shiny new hot seat for a grilling in last night’s Life Stories. The pre-match banter before the show was dramatic. Branson recalled previous run-ins with the ex newspaper editor and Morgan promised to pick the millionaire to pieces, saying he couldn’t wait to “get behind the beard and the boring pullovers.”
Morgan knew what questions to ask and when, craftily dropping the bomb that Branson was “having it off with his headmaster’s daughter at school”, following a conversation about his problems with dyslexia. However, unlike last week’s episode where guest Sharon Osbourne was more than happy to serve up the juicy lines on a plate, Branson wasn’t being so generous.
ITV were obviously hoping Morgan would fill the boots of Parky, but the show just doesn’t work in the same way. One of the problems is the structure. Any chance Morgan had to push Branson that little bit further, he was interrupted. Every few minutes his story telling was aided by highly irritating montages; full of childhood photos, clips of the millionaire on the news, and kind words from friends and family – all set to music. These disruptions left no room for Morgan to get down to the nitty-gritty with Branson, and the programme resulted in feeling rushed.
Last year Branson, said to be worth £3 billion, threw a glass of water over a US television presenter after being banned from plugging his airline. Whether Morgan was worried about getting wet or not, it was obvious that Branson had set him some boundaries. At no point in the chat show did the businessman actually get grilled by the ex-tabloid hack. No angry statements were read from those who have had their fingers burned doing business with him. Branson did admit to joining the Mile High Club at 20, but quickly moved the conversation on, telling Morgan, “let’s not get into that.” Perhaps this was due to his elderly parents sitting feet away, under a black and white projection of his ever-smiling family man image. He ended up giving Morgan some business advice, but just sounded like a PR machine.
If ITV are hoping for the next legendary chat show, then Life Stories isn’t it. However good Morgan may be at schmoozing with the stars and securing the big names, the show will always depend on how far he is allowed to push his guests. In the case of Branson, this was not far and the live audience were left with no insight other than the fact he worked hard – and has nice teeth.
Branson: nice teeth
Did you see the programme? Then I would like to know what you thought!
March 8, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Which is made even more funny as Morgan “blasted” Ross, Norton and Carr for their skills last month. I’ve not watched the show, but I suspect the amout of pre-negotiation and constant editing (and lawyers) would have made any ‘discoveries’ really hard to make.
The skill of the interviewer is in getting the guest out the comfort zone just enough so you can find out something new. That’s the tough bit, and short TV interviews where the guest is laser-focussed on a film or story to the point of stonewall any other approach makes this incredibly hard. especially as pre-records can just walk away.
Live, of course, means no safety net for the interviewer, but perhaps more importantly no safety net for the guest either. Would any channel risk that in the current climate?
March 8, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Spot on critique of the programme, Ally. I think Morgan’s gentle approach may have less to do with his interviewing style and more to do with PR niceties – one TV commentator pointed out that he might get under the skin of his interviewees a little more if he stopped only interviewing people who have the same agent as him!