Egon- watching late night television so you don't have to

That headline is actually a quote from the XFM radio station messageboards but I feel it applies equally well to this weeks Entertainment for Insomniacs, which concerns a new show hosted by Mr Bacon. But first, some background into just who this irritating ar*e is.

Richard Bacon first came to national fame as a presenter on the childrens TV show Blue Peter. he was sacked from that job after being caught taking cocaine in a nightclub, and moved to Chhannel 4's Big Breakfast. He currently hosts various movie premieres in the middle of the night on ITV, and hosts a Friday afternoon music show on XFM and weekend talk shows on Radio Five Live. However, this column concerns none of those, but his new project.

Bacon hosted the first night of Flipside TV on Channel 4, late night Monday. (The Tuesday show was presented by the even more irritrating Iain Lee). the premise of the show is simple. it is this column, on telly. I've a mind to sue. Bacon, or Lee, or whichever nauseating prannock happens to be hosting Flipside TV on any given night, is joined by three guests. On the opening night these were a fat bloke from 'The Office', a freelance journalist, and Boyd Hilton, the terminally smug editor of entertainment magazine Heat.

Bacon ands his guests watch late night TV. 'So what', you might think, 'Egon does that and we don't even pay him for it!' Too true. The twist here is that Flipside TV- made by MTV yet shown by Channel 4- bizarre- is a live programme in which they tell you what is on all the other sides and review such things as what Bacon's hair looks like in the Movie Premier he's presenting on ITV1, the fact that some film with Dick Sargent from Bewitched was on TCM, or the high speed acccidents being shown and recreated on Sky One.

One of the few classic moments on the show was a channel which basically involved a naked woman talking on the phone to anyone who rang up. So Bacon did. That was good. The rest of this show wasn't really.

There's only so much mileage one can get out of comparing the attractiveness of the people doing sign language on different channels, or using the interactive functions on news 24. The show has potential- a late night TV review show is a good concept and if someone wants to hire me, Entertainment for Insomniacs TV can go Live! But Iain Lee and Richard Bacon are irritating nonentities, as are the guests. This is a great concept in search of personnel to make it work.

And if you wnat to see Entertainment for Insomniacs TV, please contact a major broadcaster for me. However, if you'd rather watch Flipside TV, it's on Channel 4 every night starting somewhere between 12 and 2, depending on the schedule variations earlier on.

Entertainment for Insomniacs
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Egon

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