Michael Parkinson started his career in local newspaper journalism based in his native Yorkshire, progressing to regional TV reporting for Granada TV in the 60's, before being offered a chat show by the BBC in the early 70's. The first series was apparently a trial run, but it went so well that it continued for the next decade and became an integral part of British TV broadcasting in the 1970's.
Parkinson was perhaps fortunate that he had a wealth of talent to choose from in this period, most notably film stars from 1930's/1940's Classical Hollywood who were still very much alive and active in films, from Bette Davis to James Stewart, Henry Fonda to John Wayne, Bob Hope to Bing Crosby among scores of others, but also British acting and comic talent, from distinguished classical actors to the most popular of comedians, from Dame Edith Evans to Peter O'Toole to Morecambe and Wise to Peter Sellers.
At his peak, Parkinson was a remarkably astute and respectful interviewer, allowing such personalities to merely do their thing, interjecting occasionally with questions or soundbites that were mostly perfectly judged and kept interest going. It was also vital that the guests themselves were interesting, amusing or even intellectual to take the show into another dimension, most notably with scientist Jacob Bronowski, who had the gift of communicating ideas to the most humble and making them universally understandable despite his extraordinary depth of knowledge. There were occasions when things did not go as planned; one interview with the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali got out of hand when "The Greatest" objected to Parky's quibbles over content in one of his books, and his praise of Helen Mirren veered into virtual harassment, yet most of the time, interviews with such diverse and peerless talents as Orson Welles, James Cagney, Alistair Cooke, Spike Milligan and Billy Connolly were occasions to be savoured.
It was possibly the right time to call it a day in 1982 when Parkinson was offered a presenting role on ITV's new Breakfast TV station (TV AM), but this turned out to be ill-fated and he soon went back to the chat show format a little later on the same channel with less success than before, alternating between fairly routine stints as a TV and radio presenter (with the notable exception of Ghostwatch on the BBC), before being persuaded to return to his old chat show on the BBC in the late 90's, transferring to ITV a few years later, but by now most of the great film stars of old had passed away, as it was with the best of British acting and comic talent. One or two veterans made welcome appearances, but quality of guests now available was thinner on the ground, with the main man himself looking increasingly disinterested and bored with the celebrities now on offer. It doesn't take a great deal of talent if any to become famous in the 21st Century desert, and Parkinson was now perhaps realising there was little point in carrying on much longer, as the later series became a regrettable coda following the great years of the 70's, and his retirement from such deteriorating standards should have happened much earlier, but nevertheless, Parkinson represented the TV chat show at its zenith in the classic years, and leaves a legacy that will be remembered for the most positive of reasons.
RATING:8 and a half out of 10.
Parkinson was perhaps fortunate that he had a wealth of talent to choose from in this period, most notably film stars from 1930's/1940's Classical Hollywood who were still very much alive and active in films, from Bette Davis to James Stewart, Henry Fonda to John Wayne, Bob Hope to Bing Crosby among scores of others, but also British acting and comic talent, from distinguished classical actors to the most popular of comedians, from Dame Edith Evans to Peter O'Toole to Morecambe and Wise to Peter Sellers.
At his peak, Parkinson was a remarkably astute and respectful interviewer, allowing such personalities to merely do their thing, interjecting occasionally with questions or soundbites that were mostly perfectly judged and kept interest going. It was also vital that the guests themselves were interesting, amusing or even intellectual to take the show into another dimension, most notably with scientist Jacob Bronowski, who had the gift of communicating ideas to the most humble and making them universally understandable despite his extraordinary depth of knowledge. There were occasions when things did not go as planned; one interview with the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali got out of hand when "The Greatest" objected to Parky's quibbles over content in one of his books, and his praise of Helen Mirren veered into virtual harassment, yet most of the time, interviews with such diverse and peerless talents as Orson Welles, James Cagney, Alistair Cooke, Spike Milligan and Billy Connolly were occasions to be savoured.
It was possibly the right time to call it a day in 1982 when Parkinson was offered a presenting role on ITV's new Breakfast TV station (TV AM), but this turned out to be ill-fated and he soon went back to the chat show format a little later on the same channel with less success than before, alternating between fairly routine stints as a TV and radio presenter (with the notable exception of Ghostwatch on the BBC), before being persuaded to return to his old chat show on the BBC in the late 90's, transferring to ITV a few years later, but by now most of the great film stars of old had passed away, as it was with the best of British acting and comic talent. One or two veterans made welcome appearances, but quality of guests now available was thinner on the ground, with the main man himself looking increasingly disinterested and bored with the celebrities now on offer. It doesn't take a great deal of talent if any to become famous in the 21st Century desert, and Parkinson was now perhaps realising there was little point in carrying on much longer, as the later series became a regrettable coda following the great years of the 70's, and his retirement from such deteriorating standards should have happened much earlier, but nevertheless, Parkinson represented the TV chat show at its zenith in the classic years, and leaves a legacy that will be remembered for the most positive of reasons.
RATING:8 and a half out of 10.