Over on BBC1 last Saturday night, Jimmy Carr was waving around a cheque for £750 which had a blank space in the payee box.
No, it wasn’t Jimmy’s opening and best offer to HMRC for this year’s tax return.
He was merely displaying one of the prizes on Blankety Bank.
If you think that’s a bit harsh on poor defenceless Jimmy, then you’ve clearly never seen him in full flow.
Besides, that tax jibe has nothing on the brutal burn poor old Bradley Walsh suffered at the tongue of Jimmy’s fellow contestant Su Pollard.
Bradley is barely into his second run as host of this legendary gameshow, but it would appear Su has already made her mind up.
“You’ve got a long way to go to combine the talents of Terry Wogan and Les Dawson,” said Su, who, presumably, was out collecting flamingo feathers for the entirety of Lily Savage’s stint at the helm. “But I’m sure you’ll get there.”
I’m not sure what Bradley had done to deserve it. Perhaps Su was annoyed by, “Without Su Pollard there would be no Lady Gaga” - although, to be fair, the word “gaga” often pops into my head when I see her.
In any case, she was dead wrong.
Bradley is actually doing a great job on this revival, which has firmly added its name to an otherwise dwindling list of shows that the whole family can enjoy together.
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(Seriously, in these days of fractured viewing I can’t be the only person wondering what shared cultural references people will find to discuss at family gatherings in 30 years’ time.)
Bradley has somehow managed to transform Blankety Blank into a proper shiny-floor number - no mean feat, given the obvious limits to its format and budget.
So it was a bit of a surprise to hear him call it “the longest 33 minutes of my life.”
Really, Bradley? Because when we watch it at home the time absolutely flies by.
PS. Re Richard Madeley answering “sausage” when asked to suggest what Lorraine Kelly’s husband wakes her up every morning with.
Woah, Dickie. Don’t be judging everyone by your own standards.
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