The Graham Norton Show
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''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
chat show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sho ...
presented by 
Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator, and presenter. Well known for his work in the UK, he is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comedy ...
. It was initially broadcast on
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
, from 22 February 2007, before moving to
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton succeeding ''
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme features Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show) ...
'' in BBC One's prestigious late-Friday-evening slot in 2010. A show characterised by his opening monologue, adult humour, and
innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...
-laden dialogue and flamboyant presentation, Norton has received a number of awards, including the
British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance The British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance is an award given out by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts at their annual BAFTA Television Awards ceremony. This category has had minor name changes: *From 195 ...
three times (2011, 2012 and 2018).


History


BBC Two

The show mirrors ''So'' and ''V'' with strong adult humour along with Norton's monologue at the beginning of the show and often a musical guest to play out over the credits. Although the rude objects in "Graham's drawer" did not survive, the phone calls and hidden camera surprises have. These surprises are sometimes centred on the guests, such as
Sarah Beeny Sarah Lucinda Beeny (born 9 January 1972) is an English broadcaster and entrepreneur, best known for presenting '' Property Ladder'', ''Property Snakes and Ladders'', ''Streets Ahead'', ''Britain's Best Homes'', ''Sarah Beeny's Selling Houses, Ho ...
's dating website, a
TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior ap ...
on the South Bank when
David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...
appeared and a wine-tasting group drinking
Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner since 1989 who is one of the most prolific thespians in film history having completed over 250 films since 1967 alm ...
's wine whilst he was on the show. Some of the surprises, such as the wine-tasting, have been arranged through ideas submitted by viewers, stating where they will be when the show is recorded. At the end of the show, after any band or artist performance, an extra five minute section of the show was recorded, known as the "Cooldown". This section was seen in an extended weekend repeat, called ''Graham Norton Uncut'', and was also made available as a downloadable
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
. As well as showing the "Cooldown", it also included previously unseen parts from the original episode. This section often involved the audience, such as guessing an audience member's partner or playing mass
charades Charades (, ). is a parlor game, parlor or party game, party word game, word guessing game. Originally, the game was a dramatic form of literary charades: a single person would act out each syllable of a word or phrase in order, followed by the w ...
. After Norton's short monologue, he always introduced two guests. If there was a third guest, they were usually introduced later in the show. If the two guests are connected in some way (for example,
Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is ...
and his wife), they were the only ones introduced at the start. If musical guests were involved in the show, one of several things happened. Some performers, such as
Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the ...
, were on stage from the very beginning. Others, such as
Gareth Gates Gareth Paul Gates (born 12 July 1984) is an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was the runner-up in the first series of the ITV talent show ''Pop Idol'' in 2002. As of 2008, Gates had sold over 3.5 million records in the UK. He is ...
came on stage about 5 to 7 minutes before their performance for a short interview. Also, some musical guests only performed during the end credits and participated in the Cooldown section of the programme. However, all bands performed during the credits and were interviewed in the Cooldown segment.


BBC One

Once the show moved to BBC One, it moved to Monday nights and the guest list increased to three or occasionally four people with an accompanying reduction in Norton's signature pieces. A typical show consisted of one big celebrity name, a comedian sitting in the aforementioned ''comedy chair'' and a well-known musical personality who would all be introduced after the monologue. Sometimes, three guests are introduced at the top of the show with the musical guest brought in about 10 to 15 minutes before the end of the show. Unlike the BBC Two show, the BBC One show does not end with the musical performance, but with a new audience participation segment called ''That's All We've Got Time For'', where audience members sit in the famous red chair and begin to tell a humorous story. Norton and his guests listen to the stories and if Norton gets bored, he – or occasionally a guest – pulls the lever and the chair falls backwards, dumping the speaker from it. The red chair segment was inspired by comedian
Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...
's long-winded armchair monologues. After the end of ''
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme features Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show) ...
'', it was announced that ''The Graham Norton Show'' would be taking over the coveted Friday night slot. The show premiered on 22 October 2010.


Series

The first series began at 10 pm on 22 February 2007 on
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
and was originally slated to end on 24 May 2007 after 13 episodes. However, the series proved such a hit that it was extended for an additional six episodes. A 12-week second series began on 11 October 2007 and culminated with a Boxing Day special and a New Year's compilation from previous episodes. The show made its North American premiere on
BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary ser ...
on 2 June 2007, one week after what was supposed to be the final episode of Series 1 (before its extension). Series 2 premiered on BBC America on 20 October 2007. Unlike the previous series, each episode premiered in the United States only nine days after its initial UK broadcast. However, the final three episodes were broadcast in reverse order (with Episode 12 being shown on BBC America a few days earlier than on BBC Two. The same thing occurred in Series 4 with the Christmas special airing on BBC America 10 days before the BBC Two broadcast. Series 3 began its run on 17 April 2008. For series 3, the "Cooldown" segment had been dropped and the show was just the full uncut 45-minute version. The show continued to be broadcast in a 30-minute version on Thursdays at 10:00 pm with ''Graham Norton Uncut'', the uncut version, shown on Sundays at 11:00 pm in a 45-minute version. However,
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
in Wales sometimes would broadcast the Thursday edition later than the rest of the BBC Two regions, usually after ''
Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...
'' at 11.20 pm because they would usually have local programmes in the 10 pm slot. BBC Two Northern Ireland did the same and during series three, they broadcast Thursday's show on Friday nights at 10 pm on BBC Two Northern Ireland because of local programming on Thursdays. Series 4 began its run on 3 October 2008 at 10:00 pm on BBC Two (however, both BBC Two Wales and BBC Two Northern Ireland broadcast the show at a later time due to their regional programming). The Sunday uncut editions have been kept, with the first uncut edition broadcast on BBC Two late on Sunday night. Since its sixth series, ''The Graham Norton Show'' has aired on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
. As of January 2022, there have been 29 series of the show. In late January 2017, it was confirmed that Norton had signed a new three-year deal with the BBC which, along with his BBC Radio 2 show, Eurovision commentary duties and other projects for the BBC, would also keep ''The Graham Norton Show'' on BBC One until at least 2020. Norton said: "I think we've just done a deal for another three years, which, right now, feels like a long time." ''The Graham Norton Show'' had been produced from the ITV Studios on London's Southbank since it began in 2007. Norton had used the London Studios since 1998 for his first talk show on Channel 4, ''So Graham Norton''. The show produced its final episode from The London Studios on Thursday 15 February 2018 which aired on BBC One on Friday 16 February 2018. At the end of the final show, a photograph was taken of all the crew on the sofa along with Norton with a caption reading "Love, thanks and goodbye to The London Studios". The production of the show moved to Studio TC1 at
BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...
in West London, operated by BBC Studioworks. The first edition to be recorded at Television Centre was on Thursday 5 April 2018, which aired on BBC One on Friday 6 April 2018. Series 27, which began on 10 April 2020, adopted a slightly different format due to the continuing global coronavirus pandemic. Initially airing in an earlier timeslot of 9:00 pm and its running time reduced to 30 minutes, the programme was presented by Norton from his own home chatting to guests via video link. After four episodes, the show returned to its 10:35 pm timeslot. Series 28, which began on 2 October 2020, saw the programme return to the studio, albeit with some layout changes to allow Norton and the studio guests to observe social distancing. Each guest has their own chair positioned 2 metres apart from each other with Norton sat in the middle of the semi-circular layout. Guests who are based abroad continue to join in remotely via video link and a reduced capacity audience, wearing face coverings, were allowed to attend the recordings. From the sixth episode onwards, the studio audience was replaced by a
virtual audience A virtual audience is the use of videoconferencing as a substitute for an in-person studio audience or spectators during a television program or sporting event. A virtual audience allows users to attend a television taping or other event virtually ...
, due to the UK entering a new national lockdown. Series 30, which began on 30 September 2022, sees the return of the big red sofa with all guests sitting closer together, however the larger screen remains to beam in virtual guests. The programme is currently taping at
Television Centre, London Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...
.


International broadcasts

Across
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
, ''The Graham Norton Show'' is frequently shown on cable and satellite channels BBC Brit, formerly known as
BBC Entertainment BBC Entertainment is an international television channel broadcasting comedy, drama, light entertainment, reality and children's programming (some regions only) from the BBC, Channel 4 and other UK production houses. The channel broadcasts regi ...
. Episodes are usually shown a week after their original UK airing on BBC One, while reruns from past seasons are shown overnight or during the day. Swedish state television SVT streams the show with a delay of several weeks on its VOD service
SVT Play SVT Play is the brand used for the video on demand service offered by Sveriges Television, more specifically to the streaming services offered on the SVT website, svt.se, and its counterpart for mobile phones. The brand was introduced in Decemb ...
. In
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, the show is broadcast on Cosmote Series HD which is a pay channel available on
Cosmote TV Cosmote TV is the corporate name for two pay television services in Greece, owned by Greek telecommunication operator OTE. The two services are as follows: *Cosmote TV via OTT – Streaming platform *Cosmote TV via Satellite – Satellite tele ...
. The episodes are shown in English with Greek subtitles and are broadcast a few days after the UK. In Latin America, Poland and several countries in continental Europe, ''The Graham Norton Show'' is aired on satellite channel
BBC Entertainment BBC Entertainment is an international television channel broadcasting comedy, drama, light entertainment, reality and children's programming (some regions only) from the BBC, Channel 4 and other UK production houses. The channel broadcasts regi ...
. Episodes are usually shown a week after their original UK airing on BBC One, while re-runs from past series are shown over-night or during daytime. In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, the show began airing on Saturday nights in June 2007. Starting 11 April 2013, cable/satellite
network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...
BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary ser ...
aired new episodes on Thursdays. From 2014 to 2015, it then aired every Saturday night on BBC America, normally eight days after the BBC. In November 2015,
The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...
bought the series rights in the United States and took a break while negotiating a new contract with BBC America. On 18 January 2016, BBC America aired the 2015 New Year's Eve episode. On 21 January 2016, the network announced that the programme would be returning on Monday, 25 January 2016, with new episodes now airing three days after the BBC airing. In 2017, the series moved back to its original Saturday time slot. In 2018, the show moved to a Friday night time slot, which airs new episodes a week after the BBC airing. In
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, it is broadcast by HIFI. Older episodes also air during the week on
BBC Canada BBC Canada was a Canadian English language specialty channel that mostly broadcast television series originally produced by the BBC, the public-service broadcaster of the United Kingdom. The channel was owned by Corus Entertainment (80% & manag ...
. In
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, the show is broadcast on TV3 and its sister channel 3e one day after the BBC broadcast on Saturdays. In January 2015,
UTV Ireland Virgin Media Three, also called Virgin Three, is an Republic of Ireland, Irish free-to-air television channel owned by Virgin Media Ireland, Virgin Media Television. The channel was first launched by Northern Irish broadcaster UTV Media on 1 ...
aired the show every Sunday night. TV3 Group continued to air "Best of" Specials recorded prior to 2015. This arrangement changed in January 2017 when the TV3 Group bought UTV Ireland and changed it to "be3". TV3 then moved The Graham Norton Show back to their main channel, where it airs every Saturday, 24 hours after UK transmission, usually at around 10.pm. In August 2018, TV3 rebranded to become Virgin Media One, with The Graham Norton Show remaining on the channel. In
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, the series is broadcast on
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
on Friday nights, airing one week after the original broadcast in the UK. Additionally, for Pay TV viewers (
Foxtel Foxtel is an Australian pay television company—operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April 2018, superseding an earlier company from 1995. The service was establi ...
and
Austar Austar was an Australian telecommunications company. Its main business activity was subscription television but it has also been involved with internet access and mobile phones. It was founded in 1995 under the name Community Entertainment Tele ...
), it airs on
UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...
at 9.30pm Mondays, with repeats on Tuesdays and Saturdays. It previously aired on
ABC2 ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment pr ...
on Thursdays from 2007 to 2012. In
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, the show was originally broadcast on UKTV. Since the start of Series 11 on 4 May 2012, the show has been broadcast on TV3 on Friday nights. In
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
,
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
,
Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
and
Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
''The Graham Norton Show'' airs Saturday nights on
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
a week after the BBC broadcast.


Episodes


References


External links

*
''The Graham Norton Show''
at
BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary ser ...
*
''The Graham Norton Show''
at TV3 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham Norton Show, The Graham Norton 2000s British comedy television series 2000s British television talk shows 2007 British television series debuts 2010s British comedy television series 2010s British television talk shows 2020s British comedy television series 2020s British television talk shows BBC television comedy BBC television talk shows English-language television shows Television series by ITV Studios Television series impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic