A new Brand of silliness...

It seems as though this business with Brand and Ross has all gotten a little out of hand. I confess to being one of the few remaining in the country who view Jonathon Ross as a treasure instead of a liability. Maybe that's just because my parents have subjected me to too many hours of his radio show, but as far as I'm aware he's done enough hours of reasonably entertaining service to the media to mean that he shouldn't be cast out of good society for a few good natured jokes.

I mean, what Ross and Brand did seems rather akin to what Graham Norton's been doing for years. I recall Mr. Norton when David Tennant was a guest on his show, and them calling up a poor-unsuspecting gay gentleman after Norton advertised "The Doctor" on the personal ads page of a gay magazine. They sent a couple of rude and pointless texts, along with a picture of David with Jo Brand in the background. As far as I was concerned, celebrities leaving cringe-making messages on the answer-machines of the general public in the name of laughs was a perfectly reasonable practise. What we're essentially saying is that there is a new rule when the person receiving these messages happens to be an old, rich celebrity himself. Or rather, just an old geezer with absolutely no sense of humour.

I mean, he can't have missed the fact that his charming granddaughter defines herself as a "Satanic Slut" on her MySpace page and parades around as a member of a burlesque dancetroupe, having suggestive pictures taken of her wielding riding crops and with serious nipple-action on show. No, of course her life choices doesn't give Ross or Brand the right to call up her grandfather and make lewd comments, but it does, unfortunately, make him and his family the subject of discussion, and no doubt at times ridicule.

What this story really proves is that really is one rule for the rich and powerful and another rule for everybody else. It's all well and good to mock people as long as they have no power to get back at you, but the moment you piss off the wrong person apparently your job is on the line. I hope the BBC hold strong in keeping Jonathon Ross on air, because God knows he seems to be the only person left in the country who still has a comedic bone in his body.